Albany Samurai Arts

Albany Samurai Arts is guided by James Williams Sensei, a martial artist with over six decades of experience and a lineage tracing back to the Yoshida clan and traditional samurai schools. Williams Sensei’s background spans a wide array of disciplines, including kenjutsu, iaijutsu, Aiki-jujutsu, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, and Systema, blending these arts into a curriculum rooted in the classical samurai martial traditions known as Nami Ryu Aiki Heiho. This system emphasizes the flow of energy in waves, using physics and subtle movement to gain tactical advantage, a principle that connects the sword arts directly to unarmed combat techniques. Training at Albany Samurai Arts centers on the study of traditional Japanese weaponry such as the katana, wakizashi, and tanto, alongside Aiki-jujutsu applications that remain faithful to their original combative intent. Classes focus on practical self-defense skills and strategic principles developed by samurai warriors, adapted for modern situations. The school’s approach includes Friday evening sessions devoted to weapons and Aiki-jujutsu, while Sundays offer both open mat time and extended weapons training, allowing students to explore both armed and unarmed aspects of the art. Open mat sessions are available for adults, providing space to practice skills in a less formal setting, while the weapons and Aiki-jujutsu classes maintain a structured curriculum emphasizing awareness, blending with an opponent’s force, and tactical deception. Albany Samurai Arts operates out of the Chinese Martial Arts Academy studio in Latham, NY, maintaining a focus on preserving and transmitting the ancient martial strategies of the samurai through disciplined, physics-based training.

Recent Check-ins

No recent check-ins

Open Mats

Community Feed