Unbelievable!!!

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Ok, I was at training tonight and we had a new guy turn up, great, he is trying out a few different things to see what works for him, good idea, but some of the things he has come up with, wow!

The thing that this stems from, he went into a Freestyle Karate club, a fresh starter no prior knowledge, and was told if you pay extra then you could be a Brown Belt by Christmas!!!!! How the heck is that possible?!

Personally, I’m teaching with a view to developing people and passing on my knowledge, trying to bring out the best of the individual. Maybe I’m being a little idealistic but the ability to pass on your knowledge and see people grow, to become the best they can be that’s got to be good hasn’t it?

If you want to be a Brown Belt, or a Black Belt, go and buy one, will that make you one? If you got your Brown Belt in 3 months how valid would that actually be? I couldn’t believe what I was hearing to be honest.

Along with that, would you want to be associated with that sort of thing? How would you react if someone came to you and said, I can get a Brown Belt here in 3 months, how soon would I get that with you? Are we turning into a production line, just churning out Black Belts all over the place? To me, it loses it’s meaning surely?

Rant over…For Now!

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A Promising Night At Training.

Hi all

Maybe there is fresh blood out there still interested in Ju Jitsu Training after all.

It’s always the same isn’t it, you get no new students along for ages, then they all come at once. I must admit that I was starting to get a little concerned. Recently as you’ll know from the posts, we had four students grade for their Black Belts, and at the moment we have another two who are getting ready to go for Brown Belt. Then there seemed to be a big gap to the odd one or two who occasionally turned up at lower levels. I was getting a little concerned really, as to how it would look to a newbie that might turn up and look through the doors and see a group of 8 blokes, at Brown Belt or higher and how intimidating that might be.

It could be that they may take it as re-assuring, a lot of people to learn from. However, I fear not, that first step throught he door is the worst as you may well remember yourselves if you’ve been training a while, and I think that it could be just that little bit too intimidating.

But then….Last night, I was talking to some students, turned round to watcht the seniors warm up after the juniors had gone, and was shocked to see 15 Seniors on the Mat!!!! Excellent, even better, half of them were relative newbies, white belt or lower. Brilliant. Really re-assuring to see that fresh blood come in to the club, new challenges, new ideas. All Good.

What else was good to see was two of the recent Black Belts helping out with the teaching, both Juniors and Seniors and rising to the challenge to take their training to the next level.

Leaves you hopeful as to the future really!

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Should You Teach Juniors This?

I was going to have a bit of a rant at this stage, but I’ve calmed down a bit since last

night!! Has anyone ever had students who are capable but lazy?

I’ve got one, a junior, and since they passed their Black Belt has become incredibly lazy,

it winds me up something chronic. I decided to have a word and try to get to the bottom of

this and sort it out and get them training again. Explaining how it’s a waste, of ability,

time, money etc. Not sure it got through. Then the comment causing the main rant at this

time.

“I’ve been going to a Judo club recently and it’s much better than this” Now that’s a

statement to start with!! She may have a point, it may be better for her, as we know,

everyone is different and what I do isn’t for everyone. However I’m still not on to the

reasons for this post. Apparently the Judo instructor was criticising the things I had

taught her, she didn’t know the chokes and strangles he was teaching her and was

criticising me!

I ended up biting I’m sorry to say,I had to remind her of where Judo actually came from,

and yes, I know chokes and strangles, probably as well or maybe even better, who knows than

the Judo guy. The difference is I don’t teach them to Juniors.

So, to my point, do Juniors have the necessary control to enable them to put a choke or

strangle on in training safely? If you know what you are doing you can put that lock on

just to the point they are going to pass out, but without causing any real damage. Could a

Junior do that?

In this day and culture of litigation, is it worth the risk? Personally I don’t do joint

locks chokes, strangles and pressure points with Juniors, it’s too risky, that’s my choice,

I’ve known it go wrong in the past and I’m happy progressing the way I am.

Sorry, it did turn into a rant!

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Does The Ego Have a Place in The Martial Arts?

Ego - an inflated feeling of pride in your own superiority to others!

So how many of you have turned up to a club, training night or seminar and come across an instructor or a student that is full of themself? You know what I mean, they are not open to new ideas, their technique is better than the one been shown. I have had so many stories of people who have gone to have a look at a class, then been battered around the room in sparring.

Why would anyone do that, Ego, it’s the only thing I can think of, the “I’m better than you ” syndrome, it’s surprising how common it is. Of course they’re going to be better at it than you, you’ve only just walked through the door!

If they need to prove themselves like that then that to me is a seriously over inflated ego that has no place in Martial Arts, I mean, how to put someone off from learning?!!

Confidence on the other hand, that is good, it can sometimes be mis-interpreted as arrogance and ego, two things that I totally abhore! Confidence is good, in life as well as the Martial Arts, just don’t let it spill over to the dark side!

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Mushin - The Hidden Advantage!

Mushin, it may or may not be something you have heard of before, I would guess, especially if you’ve not been practising for long that you’ve never heard it before.

Mushin means basically no mind, or empty mind. It’s the concept that during combat, be it an actual fight or sparring you do not have thoughts bouncing around your head, these interfere with your involvment in the moment. Such things would impede your response to an attack and could get you killed. Less if you’re sparring admittedly, but going back to the days of sword fights or even today in self-defence, a moments distraction could lead to disaster.

This distraction or thoughts could take many forms, it could be a case of:

It’s this attack so I could do this or this.

What if I over do it, what are the consequences

Why is this happenning to me?

What if I miss time it, how badly is this going to hurt?

What if I die?

Or any other thought that takes you away from the moment. You may think that they are all actually to do with the moment, but by the time your brain has processed these distractions you could be too late to react to the oncoming danger.

Where you should aim to be is relaxed, breathing easily with no thoughts of fear or consequence in your mind, you should let your body and your training take over.

Sounds easy? It’s not. It takes years to get to this level, it may even be a fair comment to say some people never will achieve it. It requires serious training, committed to repetition, doing the move over and over again. That’s the first part, it then requires relaxation and confidence in your abilities. In training for example, accept that at some point in your training, if you train hard, you will get injured. Accept it as a given, you will relax, conversly this generally leads to less injury!! It also lessens any fear you may have to the consequence of what you are doing.

The first time you react in your training without prior thought, you do a move that goes really slick, you throw somebody then afterwards realise, wow that was a such and such a move, you’re heading in the right direction.

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Why Do You Train In Your Specific Martial Art?

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Guest Post By Kevin Jackson

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This post started with this question - ‘I want to know why people train in the Martial Arts’. Then the more I thought about it, and thought about my own personal experiences I decided a better, or at least supplemental question is ‘why do you train in your specific art or arts’.

So Why the change in question?

Well if I were to ask why you train in the martial arts I would get a slight variation on the following answers:

- To keep fit

- For confidence

- To compete/sport

- For self defence

- For the artistic nature (possibly)

- Because of the overall love of it

- Because my big brother beats me up!!!

I think this is quite fair as a summary of the majority of answers to that question.

But to ask why you have chosen your art should provoke some more interesting answers. The younger readers, or those who have recently started their art, may simply reply:

“Because it looked like fun” or “To keep fit” and will revert back to the answers above because they haven’t always made the conscious decision to pick X over Y. This is no criticism, we all start somewhere and all of the above answers are perfectly valid.

However, the answers that I am personally interested in are ones which are more deeply considered. I personally have some very specific reasons why I started training in Ju Jitsu. I had gained a Second Dan Black Belt in Karate by the age of 16. This was great, I felt quite proud of myself and being a young man, would play fight with friends regularly. I soon discovered that if somebody came in close and grabbed me or attacked me from behind then I was effectively useless. However I didn’t know of any classes in the local area that would teach me what I needed to know. And in fact I didn’t know what I wanted to learn.

I started TaeKwon Do when I was 17 because I figured I could improve my kicking ability. Kicking always was, and still is, something I enjoy in the Martial Arts. I enjoyed TaeKwon Do and had lots of fun doing it, but again felt that I wasn’t learning the most practical skills for self defence.

So this brings me to my next point. In my nearly 10 years (as it was at this point) in Martial Arts I had tried competitions briefly but never really enjoyed them. I continued training due to my own enjoyment of what I was doing, because it was a form of exercise and a hobby I enjoyed. But I slowly began to realise that I wanted to learn how to defend myself and my loved ones in case of an unprovoked attack. As I had already identified some downfalls (lack of grappling skills) I began researching what I could learn to fill these gaps. I found that Ju Jitsu was the way forward, but at this time in my life I was just about to go to University.

In my very first week at University in Scarborough, UK, without looking I came across a poster for a local Ju Jitsu club… “BINGO!” I went along in the second week and have never looked back.

Starting this new Martial Art was and remains a new challenge, the change from Karate to TaeKwon Do had not been difficult or challenging. So many new skills to learn, such a breadth of knowledge to pick up and so little time!! What I got from this new challenge was a “new lease of life” on Martial Arts. My passion for them exploded and still burns brightly over 5 years on from my first class in Ju Jitsu. I have also gained the confidence to try other clubs and arts when I am away from home (which my work dictates that I do).

I feel that I have made a good start on filling the gaps in my knowledge of self defence. I continue to train in Ju Jitsu today because I consider it to be one of the most well rounded martial arts out there. For those who don’t know, Ju Jitsu combines strikes, throws, joint locks, chokes/strangles, weapons and more to defend yourself against an attacker. One description is that it covers three fighting ranges; In-Fighting (A.K.A Stand up Grappling), Out-Fighting and Ground Fighting. This completeness and roundness of skills makes me believe and have confidence that I am learning all that I can and all that I need to defend myself in almost all defensible situations. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not Superman (sadly!) and have lots to learn. But I feel, at least for now, that I am learning a very worthwhile martial arts for what *I* want to learn a martial Art for.

In the future my motivations for donning the “white pyjamas” and entering a dojo may vary to sport, or for the artistic nature, or just for the familiarity of an old hobby, and in this case I may try a new Martial Art or return to an old one. But for now I want to learn the best thing I can for self defence and I personally believe that to be Ju Jitsu.

And what do I feel I get from Ju Jitsu?

- Confidence to walk around at night (but the sense not to do it without taking due care and attention)

- New skills

- Fitness (as some sessions leave me sweating like crazy!!)

- Enjoyment of the classes I attend, the knowledge I share with others and the enjoyment of the fact that I am constantly tackling new challenges and conquering these personal challenges.

I hope I haven’t bored you with this ramble. I aim to have merely asked a question and provided you with my own answer. Granted I have given you more than you may need to know, and for that I apologize! But I look forward in anticipation to reading why you train in your martial art, whatever it may be. I particularly look forward to the reply from my fellow bloggers here on JuJitsuOnline.com as we are new as a group and this will help us get to know each other, and introduce you, the reader to the bloggers.

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Money In The Martial Arts

I guess I’m lucky, I started Martial Arts as a hobby, it turned into a way of life, I do have a full time job that pays the bills but still carry on teaching because I love the art, and enjoy passing on the knowledge, keeping it going and seeing my students develop.

Now I know some people have chosen to make a living from teaching and that I have no problem with, quite the opposite, I’d love to do the same, however, there are those out there who forget what it’s all about beyond the money and that I do have a problem with.

I’ll give you two examples of things I have seen in the last week alone that I have an issue with.

Firstly, a job advert I was passed, it was for a salesman, someone dedicated, and paid to go out there and sign people up to lessons on a monthly basis and get paid a salary for it!!!

Secondly, a kid who’d got a Black Belt in under a year!

Seriously, whats that all about then!!!

Maybe I’m too idealistic or rose tinted or naive, not sure but it just doesn’t seem right to me.

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Tags: jiujitsu, judo, jujitsu, karate, martial art

Is The Coveted Black Belt The Ultimate Goal?

So often it does seem to be that people treat the Black Belt is the end result, and this is something that both clubs and students are guilty of.

I think personally that this is wrong, don’t take this the wrong way achieving your Black Belt is huge, it’s a massive personal achievement. Even that is not particularly correct, it’s not just a big achievement for you the student, if your instructor is invloved and has an interest in your development then it is also a big achievement for them. However if you treat your training right then it becomes a by product of your ongoing development.

You get in there, you get learning specific techniques, then you develop the basic principles and some variations. It’s at this point you are starting to understand what you are doing more, it’s part of the development cycle. Somewhere in there you move up the grades, one of those is your Black Belt,It’s another stage that’s all really.

In many ways you only actually start to really learn it after your Black Belt, up until then there is always thoughts of Grading, even if you do want to focus on your training then gradings are always there niggling away in the back somewhere. After the Black Belt, then the pressure really is off, you can go back to the beginning and start to break it all down again from the start, using the knowledge you have aquired since your first steps through the door to delve into the inner workings of your first moves.

That’s were it takes real committment, a real desire to better yourself, but all too often that’s when people feel they’ve got there and quit….Why?

From the Instructors point of view, are these Black Belt Academy’s and a fast track Black Belt valid? Are they money making schemes? Will the person passing their Black Belt in a short space of time know the same as someone taking their time and understanding the principles and why, rather than just doing the steps because they’re told to?

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Tags: jiu jitsu, jiujitsu, ju jitsu, jujitsu, martial art

What Is The The Parent Art?

You so often here people comment on this is the parent art or that is the parent art of that, and in some cases there are definite traceable roots, ie, Judo from JuJitsu, Aikido from JuJitsu, but I read somewhere once that Kung Fu was the father of all arts.

How is that possible?

What is Martial Arts? Isn’t it the art of fighting basically?

People have been fighting one way or another since the dawn of time, on each corner of the earth thousands of miles from each other, so how can one fighting art be the father of them all?

I don’t get that? I wonder sometimes if my logic is flawed!

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Tags: jiu jitsu, jiujitsu, ju jitsu, ju jutsu, jujitsu, jujutsu

What Are The Different Styles Of Martial Art?

Now this is a big one, it’s quite often asked, and I suppose to someone outside of the arts, it’s a perfectly valid and easy question to answer.

To a Martial Artist then this can be a huge question.

Martial Arts are everywhere, so to list them all and their differences would take a long time, there are books trying to cover it, and they only touch the surface.

I’ll make a stab at going through some of the major ones at least to give you a flavour.

JuJitsu
It’s my favourite, so I’ll cover it first, a Japanese Martial Art, around for a long long time, hard to trace exact origins, but can be traced back to Samurai and long before. Includes everything, pretty much, punching, biting kicking, knees, eye gouge, pressure points, whatever it takes to win a fight. Striking is not something that Ju-Jitsu covers as much as some other arts, due in part to the history, this was a battlefield art, to be used when the weapons had been lost, however seeing as your opponent would usually be wearing armour,hitting them was not the best option, but throws, locks chokes, strangles all play a part. To what level or degree you are taught some of these will be determined a lot by the school that you go to. Over the last few years, and by that I mean ten to twenty there has been a rowing resurgence in Ju-Jitsu, but largely focused on the sporting side, due to the huge success of people like the Gracies, but then there are those of us that like to cover all of the other bits as well, the stuff that a sports rules usually stop you learning. Essentially, if you want a good all round Martial Art, one that is highly practical, then this is a good one.

Aikido
Again a Japanese art. In general terms, quite a modern artFounded by O-Sensei Morihei Oeshiba,this is an art derived essentially from Ju-Jitsu, focussing more on dis-engagement safely though, utilises the circular motions heavily, very good at using an attackers force against them. There are a lot of “soft” schools out there, the “flowery” kind, while they have their place, they represent a different thing to the original thing, If you have ever been thrown by someone who really knows what they are doing in Aikido, then it’s not soft and it works. I used to think that people just jumped and went with the throws, like Kotegai ish, and to an extent they do, but that’s because if they don’t go with it a bit, they lose their wrist. A good flowing art, hard on the joints, especially wrists and knees, very traditional.

Karate
Depends on what you read whether it’s an Okinawan art, but generally considered to have developed from Chinese Kenpo. Predominantly a striking art, good for fitness, and flexibility, compared to Ju-Jitsu, or even Aikido, little in the way of throws, the nearest you’ll get usually is ShukoKai, although these days you do get some schools calling themselves Freestyle Karate, that try to cover things like this, not sure as to how well they do it, I guess, like anything it depends on the instructor.

Iaido
A Japanese art, usually slow and controlled, covers drawing the sword from the scabbard, striking or cutting the opponent, removing blood from the blade and replacing the blade in the scabbard. A lot of ceremony, I’ve had it described to me as a control freaks art, I hasten to add this was said by a 2nd Dan in Iaido!

Kung Fu
A Chinese art, that has many many forms, used a lot in Films, can be very flashy, but can also be effective if done right. It has become very popular over the past decade or so, thanks to films with Jet Li, Jackie Chan and then big tours by the Shaolin Monks were people have been amazed by the things they do. Good for fitness, flexibility, if done very very well, then it can be good self-defence

Wing Chun
A Chinese Martial art, legend has it that it was created by Yim Wing Chun, and it is excellent as a close quarter combat martial art. Good at close quarters self-defence. Good at the trapping distance where a lot of arts are let down.

Pencak Silat
An Indonesian colletion of Martial Arts, when seen or tried, then some of the movements can seem very similiar to some forms of Kung Fu.

Escrima
A Filipino Art, focussing on stick and sometimes swords. Most modern Escrima you see tends to focus around the stick work, very fast and impressive when done right. Good ofr the focus

Krav Maga
An Isreali art, focusing on close quarter work, looking at neutralizing any threat as fast and hard as possible and getting out of there, used by Isreali special forces, uses anything and everything to win whatever the cost. Nasty, but effective

Stav
A Nordic Martial art, that has been likened, not by me, and it was not meant entirely seriously to Tai Chi and Kung Fu. It has a healing non impact side to it, focusing on breathing and stances, hence the Tai Chi reference, and an aggressive combat style, hence the Kung Fu reference. I’ve only ever seen one person teaching Stav and it was not a good recommendation, there will be some good instructors around who can make something of this.

Tai Chi
A Chinese art, although these days it tends to focus on the healing, gentle non -impact style, it is worth remembering that it is still a Martial Art, and as such it’s moves if taught and applied correctly, are still there to actually cause damage. Though more and more this side seems to be becoming diluted and potentially lost. At least in the West. Good for those less mobile, looking at the discipine and health benefits

Jeet Kune Do
Bruce Lee’s art. Say no more!
Actually, I will, based on Kung Fu, Wing Chun, it was then developed to incorporate other areas, to attempt to make a “complete” art. So takes the “Trapping distance” that Wing Chun covers better than most others, for example, and develops it and adds extras from other areas. Pretty much the most modern art I’ll have listed here, by a long way. A good allround art

Taekwondo
Korean Martial Art. Again worth noting that proper Taekwondo is not what you see in the sports, like the Olympics, I watched a couple of bouts and turned over the TV! Proper Taekwondo is still a martial arts, most clubs you will find today will be focussed on the sport side. Light, fast, and high kicks, as already stated, usually focussed on competitions, around forms or point scoring sparring. Good for fitness and flexibility.

Thai-Boxing
Thailand, suprisingly enough!! Started life as a sport, then as unarmed combat on the battlefields became a rarer and rarer thing it developed into a sport, the main sport of Thailand. punches, knees, kicks and elbows are the main weapons, fast and hard. Very Good for fitness, very effective striking sport.

Kickboxing
Sport, Pretty much everywhere - Full Contact Kick boxing developed from Thai-Boxing and other Martial Arts influences, the first bouts being seen in the early 1970’s. These days however it seems to be lighter contact, and a big emphasis placed on light fast strikes scoring points.

Capoeira
Brazilian - commonly known as the art of dance. Developed in the 16th Century with people playing musical instruments and others in the centre moving around, faking headbuts, kicks, etc. It’s very much about free flowing movement, very acrobatic, very good for flexibilty and fitness. Not particularly common.

Judo
Japanese Sport - Developed by Jigoro Kano from Ju-Jitsu, infact it was originally known as Kano Ju-Jitsu. These days it’s all about competition, it’s translated as the Gentle Way, though quite often the gentle side seems to be forgotten and there is a lot of strength used. A sport focussed on taking your attacker to the ground with throws or trips then rolling around trying to immobilise your opponent with locks or pins. Good for Fitness, can be good for flexibility.

Sambo
A Russian Martial Art, that splits into different areas, it has a pure sport side, that whilst it has been demonstrated at the Olympic Games, has not been recognised by them. A lot of similarities to Judo. It also has a practical self-defence side as well.

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Tags: aikido, jujitsu, karate, kickboxing, kung fu, martial art

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