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About the Publication
Old pine tree on a rock from long long ago. Even when
the snow falls, the color of the needles does not change.
— Araki-ryu torite-kogusoku
An integrated body is the merging of an immovable mind
and moving mind. Because the will has experienced
an awakening, it is upright and not confused.
— Tenshin Bukō-ryū
Fifty years ago, Ellis Amdur undertook the difficult task of a full commitment to two Japanese martial traditions, each eighteen generations deep. As one can see even from these two brief quotations, they are fundamentally different in character, even when expressing much the same principle. He felt the tremendous weight of responsibility that he do justice to what had been bequeathed to him, keeping them absolutely separate.
As he put it, “When I am in my Araki-ryū dōjō, Bukō-ryū does not exist; when I am in my Bukō-ryū dōjō, Araki-ryū does not exist.” And he follows, “In any live situation, be it training or something more serious, they mix together as they choose. It is as if I have two lives within me, and they figure out their own working relationship.”.
Roots Still Cracking Rock is Amdur’s most personal book on martial arts. It reflects his lifelong struggle to be upright and not confused, an old pine tree whose needles do not change color, despite the snow.
Ellis Amdur has been a friend and colleague for 25 years. I have long appreciated his numerous treatises on Japanese classical martial traditions. Often provocative, Ellis sweeps away the veil of romanticism and reminds the reader that, at its core, koryū bujutsu is the study of conflict and violence tempered by Japanese etiquette, mindset and cultural evolution. He also adeptly addresses kata (pattern training) and shiai (freestyle combat), difficult subjects seldom represented with such intricate clarity. Whether you’re a student holding a sword or a scholar holding a pen, this comprehensive collection of essays challenges common assumptions and deepens one’s understanding of an arcane pursuit, one that remains frequently inaccessible to outsiders. Among all his books, it is this one that I believe to be most informative to students of Japanese martial arts. I will enthusiastically recommend this volume to the greater membership of the koryū ryūha I lead.
—Tobin Threadgill
Menkyo-Kaiden/Kaichō Takamura-ha Shindō Yōshin Kai
Product Details
Publisher: The Ran Network
Publication date: April 28, 2026
Language: English
Print length: 328 pages
ISBN-13: 979-8274525800
Item weight: 562 g
Dimensions: 15.84 x 2.36 x 23.46 cm
Part of series: The Budo Classics
Table of Contents
In Gratitude
Author’s Note
Foreword
The Arts Of War Were Not The Art Of War
Kata And Live Training In Koryū-Bugei
Steal The Technique
Taryū Shiai & Other Oppositional Matches Within Japanese Martial Traditions
Kendō: The Codification Of Live Training
Budō Begins With Rei And Ends With Rei
Shintō-Musō-Ryū Jō No Hinkaku: The Dignity Of The Jō
How Many People Does It Take To Create A Ryūha?
Whose Legacy Is It Anyway?
Studying More Than One Koryū
Enbu: Public Presentations Of Skill In Traditional Japanese Martial Arts & Kusarigamajutsu
Family Martial Arts: A Shadow Substrate Within Japanese Martial Traditions
Esoteric Training In Classical Japanese Martial Arts
Martial Virtue Within Koryū-Bugei: The Five Components
Martial Virtue Within Koryū-Bugei: There’s More
Teaching Over The Horizon
Tigers Hunt Alone
There’s No Time Left!
Afterword: The Spirit of Place
Glossary
Endnotes
Limited Special Edition Offer
Special Dedication Edition
A rare opportunity for dojos, associations, and dedicated practitioners to support Ellis Amdur’s Roots Still Cracking Rock.
To mark this significant release, The Ran Network is offering a celebrative special edition for readers and groups who wish to support both the work and its author in a meaningful way.
Order 4 or more copies and receive a custom dedication edition, featuring a printed dedication page inserted directly into each copy.
Dedication text
“A Special Edition In Gratitude For Your Support Of The Ran Network And The Writing Of Ellis Amdur
To ….”
The final line will be personalised with the name of your dojo, organisation, or individual recipient.
Why participate?
Publicly affirm your support for the preservation and transmission of martial traditions.
Establish a lasting, tangible connection with this important publication.
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Support the work. Honour the tradition. Be part of the record.
Ellis Amdur is an American martial arts pioneer, author, and crisis intervention specialist. Moving to Japan in 1976, he became one of the few Westerners to earn Shihan (master) licenses in two classical traditions: Araki-ryū and Toda-ha Bukō-ryū.Amdur spent decades blending martial principles with psychology, training over 800 law enforcement and healthcare agencies in verbal de-escalation through his firm, Edgework. As an iconoclastic author, his landmark books, including Dueling with O-Sensei and Hidden in Plain Sight, are widely celebrated for humanizing martial history and dismantling traditional myths. Amdur co-authored The Coordinator to help military and law enforcement personnel navigate high-risk social interactions and build critical tactical rapport. This text belongs to his specialized The Ran Network de-escalation series, which includes similar tactical communication manuals like The Accord Agent and The Good Stranger
