Ellis Amdur (born March 27, 1952, in

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

, Pennsylvania) is a writer, an American practitioner of

martial arts Martial arts are codified systems and traditions of combat practiced for a number of reasons such as self-defence; military and law enforcement applications; combat sport, competition; physical, mental, and spiritual development; entertainment; ...

and as of 2024, retired crisis intervention trainer. He has published a number of books on martial arts, on crisis intervention, hostage negotiation, and fiction.

Career

Amdur began his study of martial arts in 1968, learning

karate (; ; Okinawan language, Okinawan pronunciation: ), also , is a martial arts, martial art developed in the Ryukyu Kingdom. It developed from the Okinawan martial arts, indigenous Ryukyuan martial arts (called , "hand"; ''tī'' in Okinawan) un ...

and traditional Chinese arts. He started training in

aikido Aikido ( , , , ) is a gendai budō, modern Japanese martial art which is split into many different styles including Iwama Ryu, Iwama Shin Shin Aiki Shuren Kai, Shodokan Aikido, Yoshinkan, Renshinkai, Aikikai, and Ki Aikido. Aikido is now practic ...

in 1973, and after moving to

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

, lived in Terry Dobson and Ken Nisson’s Bond Street Dojo. He also started training daily at Yamada Yoshimitsu's New York Aikikai school of aikido. After gaining a degree in

psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Its subject matter includes the behavior of humans and nonhumans, both consciousness, conscious and Unconscious mind, unconscious phenomena, and mental processes such as thoughts, feel ...

, Amdur traveled to

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

in 1976, and while there, entered the Tenshin Bukō-ryū Heihō and

Araki-ryū Araki-ryū (荒木流) is a Japanese koryū martial art founded during the Sengoku jidai by ''Araki Mujinsai Minamoto no Hidetsuna'' (荒木夢仁斎源秀縄). Araki-ryu is a comprehensive system that specializes in the use and application of ...

, two traditional koryu. He is

shihan is a Japanese term that is used in many Japanese martial arts as an honorific title for expert or senior instructors. It can be translated as "master instructor". The use of the term is specific to a school or organization, as is the process o ...

(full instructor) in both these arts, one of only a few non-Japanese to attain teaching licenses in any koryu. He has also studied

judo is an unarmed gendai budō, modern Japanese martial art, combat sport, Olympic sport (since 1964), and the most prominent form of jacket wrestling competed internationally.『日本大百科全書』電子版【柔道】(CD-ROM version of Encyc ...

Muay Thai Muay Thai or Muaythai (, , ), sometimes referred to as Thai boxing, the Art of Eight Limbs or the Science of Eight Limbs, is a Thai martial art and full-contact combat sport that uses stand-up striking, sweeps, and various clinch fighting, cl ...

and

xingyiquan 形意拳, Xingyiquan , or Xingyi, is a style of internal Chinese martial arts. The word approximately translates to "Form-Intention Fist", or "Shape-Will Fist". The style is characterized by aggressive, seemingly linear movements, and expl ...

. In recent years, Amdur has continued his training in several areas: a study of 'internal strength' paradigms, as suited to use within traditional Japanese combative arts; Arrestling, a mixed martial art specifically for law enforcement, created by Don Gulla; Amdur's 'new-old' development, ''Taikyoku Araki-ryu'' in which, in collaboration with established groups of expert martial artists, one or more 'modules' of Araki-ryu are studied in depth, and applied to the environment where the particular group functions (competitive grappling and law enforcement being two examples). Amdur developed and taught courses on tactical communication for law enforcement and corrections as well as social services and businesses.

Works

Amdur is the author of several books on the martial arts (''Dueling With O-Sensei'', ''Hidden in Plain Sight'', ''Old School'', ''The Phenomenologist'') as well as nineteen profession-specific books on crisis intervention, crisis negotiation, hospice social work and the art of psychotherapy, which are published under his own Edgework Publishing imprint. In addition, he has also published four works of fiction: * ''Girl with the Face of the Moon'' - WINNER: First Place in the Mystery/Thriller category of the 2023 Writer's Digest 11th Annual Self-Published E-Book Awards & READER'S VIEW: First Place Award - 2023/24 Historical Fiction Classic * ''Lost Boy'' * ''Little Bird & The Tiger'' - WINNER: First Place in the Mainstream/Literary Fiction category of 2023 Writer’s Digest Self-Published Book Awards * Along with

Neal Stephenson Neal Town Stephenson (born October 31, 1959) is an American writer known for his works of speculative fiction. His novels have been categorized as science fiction, historical fiction, cyberpunk, and baroque. Stephenson's work explores mathemati ...

, Charles C. Mann, and Mark Teppo, the graphic novel, ''Cimarronin''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Amdur, Ellis Martial arts writers 1952 births Living people American martial artists Ko-ryū bujutsu