Danzan Ryu Jujitsu

At Soryukan, the style of jujitsu that is practiced is called Danzan Ryu Jujitsu. This is one of the more commonly found styles of jujitsu in the United States, but it is still relatively hard to locate training in Pennsylvania. Not many schools exist yet, but our state is fortunate to have a few Danzan Ryu schools (Soryukan being one of them, of course!).

Soryukan is affiliated with the American Judo & Jujitsu Federation as a standard member school. The AJJF is the oldest Danzan Ryu organization in the country, and is based in California. As mentioned, other AJJF Danzan Ryu schools exist in Pennsylvania, and Soryukan members regularly interact with students and instructors from these schools. Activities for AJJF Danzan Ryu students are held several times per year in the area.

All jujitsu students at Soryukan are required to obtain and maintain membership with the AJJF. This is done for several reasons. Membership with the AJJF provides tangible benefits to the student, such as a subscription to the Kiai Echo, the quarterly newsletter of the AJJF. Also, AJJF membership provides a registration of student rank. While rank is not the goal of training, it is a measurement of progress. Occasionally, a student will find that life dictates that they need to relocate, either for work, school, family, or some other reason. By having a nationally registered rank, if an AJJF Danzan Ryu school is accessible at their new location, the student would be able to present themselves to that school and be recognized as having acheived a certain level of competency in Danzan Ryu based on their AJJF-registered rank. Ranks are awarded at the discretion of the instructors up to (but not including) black belt ranks. Those ranks are bestowed by AJJF examiners and organizational leadership approval upon completion of a rigorous examination process.