The various Indian Martial Art Systems that I have come across (and some that I have heard off ) are (In fact there are so many styles in each of them)

1. Kalaripayattu (obviously, and no credits for guessing)
2. Adi Murai
3. Silambam
4. Adi Thada
5. Kuttu Varisai/Kuthu Varisai
6. Varma Adi/Varma Ati/Varma Kalai
7. Marma Vidhya
8. Tamizh Murai/Tamil Murai
9. Ghusthi
10. Thang Ta
11. Garadi
12. Vajra Mushti
13. Pehalwani
14. Gatka

In fact there are many more out there, and I am hopeful that I will come across them and that I would be able to list them here and also provide you with details of the same here.

In fact, presently in India there are masters who teach the various oriental styles. A few among the styles practised out here are Kung Fu/Gong Fu, Okinawan & Japanese Karate-Do, Jujutsu, Aiki-Jujutsu, Tae-Kwon-Do, Ninjitsu, Judo and Shorinji Kempo. The list would be longer than you would be expecting it to be….

There are other styles like Muay Thai/Muay Boran, Krav Maga, Sambo and Pankration being taught here. I personally think that i have not been able to mention the entire list of systems being taught here.

There are martial arts systems that are nation specific among the above mentioned and also on the missed out list.  I will have them updated in the future posts.

As earlier said I would definitely update any Martial Art that I have missed here as soon as I come across one. Plz do not hold any hard feelings for missing out any system that you practise. I am sorry and I am human. To err is human and I stand by it………

Keep coming back,  I am really sorry for making this post a bit lengthy, but you see I had to……….

Expecting that you come back soon to visit this blog……..bye……….for the day……

It took some effort a will of steel to get my a** off my cozy bed and get ready for a 6:30 am Tai Chi class at Lalbagh… that was my first class! After that there has been no looking back at all…

Each morning begins with the greeting of cool breeze of trees in Lalbagh, and the touch of warm sun’ rays… with the practise of harnessing the hidden martial powers…

And if you are a part of our kickboxing classes or have interacted with Ashwin, you just cannot help but get hooked to his addictive enthusiasm for Tai Chi.

An art, which so far has been highly underrated and misjudged… I was pleasantly surprised when Ashwin, threw people 3-4 times his size and weight all over the place… with a seemingly simple move… and with practically no effort… it seemed easier and more powerful than even jujutsu!

Tai Chi, is all about the forms and weight-shifting, effortlessly… each move seems easy, yet is very technical and is a covert lock or throw. When I first saw Tai Chi, I was reminded of a dance, then I realised, it is a dance but a very deadly one.

Not only does it help you develop a strong internal power, your movements start becoming more defined and accurate in a fight… each strike, lock becomes more subtle and smooth.

So, what is so special about Tai Chi in Lalbagh… well, the canopy of trees overhead seem to guide your every move. It is probably one of the most mystical feelings I have ever had… the soothing breeze, and energy from the trees, or chi so to say from the trees… give the whole practise a very surreal experience.

For a change, I have understood what patience and slowing down means, and it is not necessarily a bad idea either!

I realised there is no other better way to start a day… I might be groggy in the beginning, but by the end of my session, I more alert and relaxed… not to mention more productive than the days I miss the Lalbagh Tai Chi sessions.

You know folks, I should be motivated to get slimmer and trimmer, but I’ve just been lazy. My pants have been fitting me a little tighter, and my asthma has been bothering me a little, but I have been able to hack it. I’ve also been snoring like a den full of bears.

Hey, all was okay, but…

What I could not hack was when one of my co-workers called me fat today.

NOW I am motivated to get back to exercising. I actually like working out, but I’ve just been lazy.

Shame on me for not being a self-starter, but hey, I am surely motivated now. I can’t have people calling me fat.

I’m going to be 40-years-old on February 4th, 2010, and I want to show people that 40 is the new 30. I plan to be 40 and fly. You’ll have to call me Fly Ty.

I had knee surgery last December 2008, but that is no excuse for me gaining the weight I’ve gained.

Now, I am not that big, but I don’t like the way I’ve been feeling and my belly is definitely getting rounder. THAT is NOT cool!

I’m 5′, 9.5″, and weigh in at 236 lbs. I promise you, that I’ll be 210 lbs by my birthday. I know exactly what to do. It is just that I haven’t been doing anything.

Below is the program that I’ll be starting out with. My buddy, Raymond Brennan, over in the UK pulled my coat to this. My man in tights looks crazy, but trust me, it really does work.

He wrote it for martial artists, but anyone can do these routines as they get you functionally fit (i.e., real world conditioning that you can use in everyday life).

Check this out:

Strongfortism for the Martial Artist [and everyone else]

Reprinted by permission of the author, Copyright © Raymond Brennan 2002-2007. All rights reserved.

A number of years ago, a friend of mine in the martial arts world convinced me to try bench-pressing. He had been doing it for a while and believed that it added to his grappling skills and added more power to his punches. He was very convincing and meant well, so I decided to give it a go. My experience of barbell training prior to that was negligible to say the least, so I went down to the local gym and was instructed on correct form for the bench press. I also wanted something for the lower body, so I took instruction in the deadlift from one of the personal trainers there too. Because of my lack of prior experience, I never lifted without a spotter for the first month. My friend was lifting using a system of heavy weights for low reps. For example, he would press 50% of his body weight five times, take a brief rest and then do another five presses. He upped the weight every four weeks. He followed a similar scheme for the deadlift, though the weights lifted were much heavier. Together with a warm-up period on the stationary exercise bicycle of ten minutes, the whole session took about half an hour. Also, I trained three times a week, as the importance of giving the muscles a rest and allowing them to recover from the exertion of shifting iron was made clear to me in no uncertain terms.

How did it go ? Well, the idea of taking care of all my physical exercise needs by only training for thirty minutes three time a week was very appealing in itself. Also, I only had two exercises to learn and practice. What could be simpler or more convenient? It seemed to me to be a good use of my time, not too complicated and the social scene in the gym was appealing in its own right-a refreshing change from early morning solo training in my bedroom.

I was already fairly strong, yet my chest filled out nicely. I developed the right curves in the right places, my shirts got tight, my legs became much firmer and I got compliments from people on how well I was looking. On the mat, my strength increased, especially on the ground when getting out of locks and when applying holds. My punching power increased too-I actually cracked a makiwara once, to the accompanying sound of sharp intakes of breath and grudging appreciation from the other budoka present. My head swelled almost as much as my ego, let me tell you.

So why did I stop lifting heavy iron? Given all of the above advantages and benefits, why aren’t I doing it any more?

After a while (around six months in my case), I noticed that my range of motion was decreasing. For example, if someone on the mat was standing directly in front of me, I could push him or her very hard and (I am sorry to say) injured a number of my training partners in this manner without meaning to. In short, I was loosing the control and finesse, which is so necessary to train in a safe manner, especially when training with a beginner. I had replaced finesse with clumsiness. Note also that I said “directly in front of me”. If someone moved slightly to one side, I was as weak as a kitten. My strength at odd angles had actually decreased, as had my torso flexibility. All an opponent had to do was step to one side and I was finished. I couldn’t turn into my opponent, as fast as I used to and even if I did, the strength was just not there. My legs and lower back went the same way. This became especially obvious if I was involved in takedowns. If I made contact with my opponent’s leg, it had to be the lower calf. My erstwhile ability to throw from knee or lower thigh hooks seemed to evaporate. My legs were stronger, but they were also slower. Finally, I noticed that I was landing very hard indeed on breakfalls and shoulder rolls. From formerly having a smooth and silent roll, I now sounded like a gunnysack when I hit the mat. Friends pointed out to me (after some observation) that my lower back appeared to have stiffened to the extent that my upper and lower body appeared to be at odds with each other, rather than working as a harmonious whole with fluidity of motion. In plain English, I was getting stiffer and stiffer. An unwelcome by-product of this was that my endurance decreased. I was using up so much energy merely moving around that I had none left over for dealing with opponents. After ten minutes or so, I was out of breath, my entire body felt tired and had to keep stepping off the mat for short breaks.

Coupled with all of the above, I started getting a nagging pain in the back of my right shoulder. It was not sharp by any means. It was more of a gradually creeping numbness, which spread around the back of the shoulder. I mentioned this at the gym and was told “Sounds like an over-use injury. A lot of benchpressers are prone to these. Lay off the bench for a while and see how it goes”. I confined myself to deadlifts only for a month, but the nagging pain got worse. Further, my arm started going dead at odd moments when on the mat. Apart from the obvious danger this presented (try doing a forward roll with one arm suddenly useless and your chin tucked in under your arm and you’ll see what I mean) , it meant that martial arts gradually became out of bounds for me.

At that stage, fate intervened, as I emigrated to the UK, then got an office job and the following year got married. This all meant that I had no time for any regular form of training for a few years. My pain went away and I forgot all about weight lifting. I practiced martial arts solo and sporadically, but didn’t train regularly at a dojo for a number of years, as my life became full.

When my son was a year old, I was able to return properly to martial arts ie. Join a dojo again. As my training had only been intermittent, I found that I needed to ramp up my physical condition rapidly. Unfortunately, the old saying “Make haste slowly” never entered my head. I decided to stay away from bench pressing, but definitely do dead lifts. This time, I bought a barbell set and trained in my garage. The dead lifts worked my lower body OK, but I had nothing for the upper body. I heard about the side press and tried that, even buying a book on the Internet about how to perform the side press correctly. All went well again for a while. I lifted heavy weights for low repetitions and dropped the warm up altogether. I made good gains in a short period of time and was consequently able to strut my stuff on the mat with the best of them. I quickly got a reputation as a tough training partner-which was what I wanted, truth be told. One day, I had a hard time of it at work. I had a new boss who was a well-balanced individual-he had a chip on both shoulders and more hangups than your average art gallery. I wasn’t concentrating at all and the traffic on the way home that evening resembled a funeral procession more than anything else. My mind was most definitely not on training, yet I got changed into T-shirt and tracksuit bottoms and went out to the garage anyway. I did my two sets of deadlifts, rested, then picked up the barbell for the side press. The barbell was over my head when I remembered an incident at work earlier. I relaxed my grip and my concentration and -yes, you have guessed it-I brought the barbell down at an awkward angle. Immediately, I heard a crunching noise in my shoulder, followed by searing pain. A trip to the doctor confirmed that I had damaged cartilage in my right shoulder and traumatised rotator cuff muscles. The only cure for it was complete rest to the shoulder for a number of months. No weight lifting. No martial arts. “Great” I replied,”that is fabulous news”. However, I was not smiling.

Not unsurprisingly, I swore profusely for several moments and then resolved to find an alternative means of training, if and when I was ever able to train again. There and then, I parted company with heavy iron. I thought about my experiences for a period of time and came to the conclusion that it was unsuitable for me for the following reasons (all of which are evident in the tale of woe I have inflicted on you so far) :

1. Danger
I got one lift wrong, I let my concentration lapse for one moment and ended up idle for several months. Do I really want to train in such a risky fashion? Do I hell! I don’t know about you, but I can’t control my thoughts all the time, nor do I want to. Spock on the bridge of the Starship Enterprise is a fictional character, isn’t he ? Everyone has off days from time to time-it is part of being human. It shouldn’t mean that I run the risk of painful physical damage. No-one can perform every repetition of every exercise perfectly, regardless of what the exercise actually is. Something more forgiving than heavy iron was required.

2. Loss of Flexibility
As a martial artist, I need to be able to move across many planes of motion and from many angles. Particularly when engaged in a close-range art such as Zen Judo or Aikido, body turning and balance shifting are all-important. The last thing I want is to tighten up to such an extent that I can’t turn into an opponent, am unable to move fluidly around the mat and can’t breakfall compactly or roll across a shoulder softly. Also, should I need to apply strength for a takedown(which isn’t technically very good but can happen), I need to be able to apply it from as many angles as possible. Having great strength from one angle is OK, if that is the only angle I ever move along. However, as anyone who has spent twenty minutes in a dojo will know, at close quarters one has to be able to move across a wide range of angles and planes of motion. The same is true of strikes-ask any boxer. Being limited is the last thing I need and any mode of training which does this should not be part of any martial artist’s reportoire.

3. Muscular Hypertrophy and Rest
If you lift heavy, you should take the next day off. This is so that your muscles can rest and also change to meet the increased workload being placed on them, either by getting firmer or larger. Fine-except that power lifting is not my primary area of interest. I am only interested if it helps my martial arts training. In addition to physical conditioning, I also want to be able to practice the elements of my art. As any martial artist knows, there is no substitute for regular and consistent practice, particularly if learning a new technique or kata. If I am tired after weight training and have to rest the next day, when I can practice martial arts? Even more importantly, I am a husband and father. I like taking my kids to the park, telling them bedtime stories, playing games with them and so on. I like spending time with my wife, going around the shops with her etc. I am also employed by a company to do a job and do at least a full day’s work every weekday plus the occasional weekend. In short, I can’t be tired and I can’t be distracted, otherwise important areas of my life will suffer. I need to be fresh and have enough energy to get through the day. I can’t rearrange my life around “rest days”, “maximum days” or gym opening times.

4. Lack of Symmetry
Deadlifts are good for the legs. Bench or side pressing is good for the shoulders and chest. They do work other muscles besides those, but these muscle groups are the main focus of these lifts. My own experience was that I was all “arms and shoulders”. I was “top heavy”, if you’ll pardon the expression and therefore my balance became increasingly easy to break.

5. Loss of Endurance
It may sound obvious, but endurance is like anything else-use it or lose it. Even ten minutes of concentrated throwing can be exhausting. Mix in a few takedowns, traps and ground holds and the end result is a lot of huffing and puffing and a torso wringing in sweat-and that is when the injuries happen. I found that devoting all my energy to strength training meant that my endurance suffered and badly. Just before my shoulder injury, I found that I was taking an average of ten breaks per training session, because I simply no longer had the stamina to keep going. Why didn’t I run a few miles on the days when I wasn’t lifting? I tried it-and found that my knees sounded like a bowl of breakfast cereal. I hadn’t enough energy. It was that simple.

6. Boredom
This is a personal point, but I found that after four months solid lifting, I was dreading a training session. Doing two or three exercises over and over again is, in my experience and with hindsight, mind-numbingly boring. There are distractions in any gym during rest periods between sets, for example an attractive gym bunny clad in figure-hugging lycra and/or spandex doing a bent-over row, or her sister bouncing up and down on the treadmill. Just remember what I pointed out above about the need for concentration. And no, I am not being sexist-just honest. By this time, though, I am training alone in my garage, so the view isn’t as nice as it used to be.
Enough said.

7. Strength in Motion
The only way to improve at resistance training is to increase the resistance. This is the case whether the resistance takes the form of iron, bodyweight, cables or some combination of all three. However, a martial artist has an additional need-the need for strength in motion. Systems like Zen Judo or Aikido are characterised by constant motion and circular movements. Systems such as Shotokan Karate are primarily linear and strike-based, yet the need for moving strength is just as great. The best way to gain strength in motion is to train in motion and the best way to do that is by using whole-body movements when exercising. Lying on a bench or standing over a barbell while grunting inanely will not meet this need in particular.

8. Weak muscles and Correction of One-sided Movement
I had an injury as a teenager playing football, which resulted in me spending four months with my right leg in plaster of paris. Up until recently, the muscles in my right leg were smaller and weaker than my left. I always leaned more on my left side and on the mat, my counters and takedowns were always initiated from the left side. This is a serious handicap on the mat, as it makes you predictable. I could lead from either side, having been trained to do so, but I always instinctively led from the left. Bench or side pressing and deadlifting makes no allowance for physical irregularities of this nature. It did nothing to help my weak side and merely accentuated an existing imbalance. To finally correct this, I figured out that I needed some exercises which isolated various body parts and trained them specifically. I can’t imagine that I am unique in this. A lot of people get injuries of one type or another.

So, I had identified these eight problem areas. What to do? The solution lay in the training methods of one of the old-time “Mail Order Muscle Men”. Through participation in a number of internet message boards, I was directed to two websites devoted to the old-time strongmen , which had their entire courses freely available for download, thanks to the hard work of people such as Roger Filary, Gil Waldron, Gordon Anderson and many others. I owe these people a debt of gratitude for making this information available.

I perused both websites and tried out a number of these old-time courses, many of them dating from the early to mid twentieth century, though a few are even older than that. Many of the names on there — Eugen Sandow, Joe Bonomo, Martin “Farmer” Burns, Sig Klein, Maxick, Otto Arco, K.Y. Iyer , to name but a few — will be unknown to most people today. Yet, in their own era, these men were renowned far and wide for their feats of strength and endurance. I urge anyone with an interest in sound, sensible methods of physical culture which have had proven results to visit both of these websites. The addresses are:

www.sandowplus.co.uk; and www.maxaldingplus.com

The second website is devoted exclusively to the training methods of Maxick and has a number of his Muscle Control courses freely available. However, I am interested here in going to the first website, which is where you will find the Strongfort course, all ten Lessons of it. There are also a number of booklets written by Lionel Strongfort, one of which is entitled “Intelligence in Physical Culture”. I heartily recommend a reading of this. With its sensible, rational and honest approach to exercise, health and strength, it is typical of what appealed to me about Strongfortism from the start.

So what does Strongfortism consist of? It is much more than a set of exercises. It contains detailed instructions on diet, sleep, bathing and skin care as well as a number of tips on dealing with head colds, chills and psoriasis and is well worth reading for these alone, quite apart from the exercises. It is equitably suitable for males and females. Mrs. Strongfort published a book in the 1920s for women which had basically the same exercises, except that they were illustrated by her rather her husband.

However, in this article, I am concerned with the exercises. Though dumbbells are used in most of the exercises, they are very light. I have been practising Strongfortism myself for over six months consistently at this point and am only using a pair of five pounders. I find that they provide more than enough resistance. Strongfort himself states clearly in several places that , for the majority of people, heavy lifting is not advisable. Over a period of time, it can tear down the body, whereas his exercises are concerned with building the body up. He did lift heavy weights himself and had a gym in Newark, USA for a number of years. However, he was very careful about who he selected as students and was reportedly quite particular about technique. He also advocated slight moderate increases in the amount lifted. For most people, his course is more than sufficient to meet the needs of physical culture. The bulk of his own personal training (despite the fact that he was a professional strongman and held shows in several major cities) was done using his own exercises.

Strongfort did not believe in deep breathing exercises, being of the opinion that they placed an undue strain on the heart. He was also against training to failure, as this tears down the muscles and internal organs of the body and over the long term does far more harm than good. He was in favour of breathing normally while exercising and advocated exercising such that a slight local fatigue was the desired object. He did not regard his exercises as weight-training, but rather as a system of callisthenics with a little added resistance. They number over thirty in all and are a mixture of isolation-type moves, whole body movements, tensing exercises and ballistic drills. They are arranged in such a way that each part of the body is exercised then rested, in turn. Like any good system of exercise, they begin with the core and work outwards. Lesson One is mainly a set of stretching exercises to prepare the body for the coming exercises. The second and last exercises in this Lesson alone are excellent for the spine and abdomen. By the time you get to Lesson Ten, you should be able to manage a one-legged squat without much trouble and a one-armed dip with relative ease. Believe me, it takes someone fit and strong to be able to do either one.

Because of the large number and different type of exercises contained therein, the interest of the person is held throughout a training session. However, the next Lesson builds on the work of the preceding one. Muscle groups are strengthened in preparation for coming exercises. Hence, it is important that the exercises be done in the order in which they are given and that none are excluded. Overall, the exercises are gentle and could easily be done by someone over the age of fifty. This is important for those of us under fifty, as it means that we won’t be worn out by the time we reach the magic half-century, due to damaging exercise methods in our youth.

Strongfort, like a lot of the old-time “Mail Order Musclemen”, did not give repetition figures for most of his exercises. This seems to have been standard practice for the most part in those days, especially the early twentieth century. I found this difficult to cope with, brought up as I was on sets and repetitions. Through trial and error, I devised a scheme of repetitions, which I offer for your perusal. You may come up with a better one, or at least one more suited to your own needs and likes. If so, fine by me.

Each Lesson is meant to be added to the ones preceding it and there are 10 Lessons in all. A new Lesson is to be added every two weeks. I train six mornings a week, Monday to Saturday and rest on Sunday. When I began Lesson One, I proceeded like this:

Monday to Wednesday First Week-five reps each exercise Lesson One
Thursday to Saturday First Week-ten reps each exercise
Monday to Wednesday Second Week-fifteen reps each exercise
Thursday to Saturday Second Week-twenty reps each exercise
I then dropped the reps for Lesson One to ten from here on out and added Lesson Two in the same manner. Thus, by the time I got to Lesson Ten, I was doing ten reps for all of the exercises in Lessons One to Nine on the first Monday of that fortnight, before doing the Exercises in Lesson Ten.
I hope this is clear.

I raised eight issues about training with heavy iron. I propose to relate how Strongfortism overcame these issues. Remember that this is not opinion or theory, but rather my own concrete experience.

1. Danger
What danger ? After six months, I have moved from 4LB dumbbells to 5LB ones. Strongfort sold his own brand of dumbbells, which were sent out with the course. The heaviest they went up to was 8LB. One’s weekly grocery shopping these days is much heavier. Strongfort admonishes in several places to avoid strain. Keep exercising consistently and regularly and “practice will make you perfect”. The lumbar region of my spine is no longer being strained by holding huge weights overhead and my knees are no longer getting supra-bodyweight shocks like they used to. My joints are getting exercised as much as my muscles, so I have no stiffness of motion. There is a lot to be said for common sense and a rational approach to exercise.

2. Loss of Flexibility
The only effect Strongfortism has had on my flexibility is to increase it markedly. Also, I now have pain-free movement, despite having a number of old injuries. A lot of the exercises, particularly in Lessons One to Five, are merely stretches with added resistance. After my morning session of Strongfortism, I feel (and look) much more limber than before.

3. Muscular Hypertrophy and Rest
My muscles were a bit sore for the first fortnight, but it was very mild indeed compared to what I had when I did heavy lifting. Also, the soreness was due to the muscles and joints loosening up, not as a result of strain. It was a “strengthening soreness” if that makes sense. Since then, I have had no soreness, yet my muscles have increased in size, plus I have a lot more definition and tone. My upper back in particular resembles an anatomy chart. I don’t consider myself overly vain, but I am human all the same. Also, my kids especially are grateful for Strongfortism, as I now have (almost) enough energy to keep up with them.

4. Lack of Symmetry
Symmetry is a must, in my opinion, for anyone engaged in any kind of grappling activity. This is because of the need to be able to move in a large number of planes of motion and across many angles. The same is true for people who train in striking arts. The power in a punch starts, not in the shoulder of the punching arm, but rather in the abdomen if not the snap of the hip. In other words, muscular arms and legs alone won’t cut the mustard. The torso and all of the stabilising muscles need to be worked on also. Strongfortism, because of its scientific and graduated approach and the means by which it takes a trip around the body, ensures symmetry of development. Also, you are only as strong as your weakest link. You may have bulging biceps, but they won’t be much good to you on the mat if your abdomen has the consistency of day-old soup. One punch there from your opponent and the only thing you will be punching is yourself, after you are lifted up from the floor. The simplest and most effective way ’round this is to have no weak links and that is possible if you train for symmetry.

5. Loss of Endurance
It certainly was not obvious to me at first glance, but subsequent experience has shown to me that Strongfortism builds endurance just as much as it does strength. An average morning session with all ten Lessons contained in it takes anywhere between forty and fifty minutes. During that time, even though the exercises are gentle, the body (either all of it or one part) is in constant motion. Oddly, I have never felt tired after a session of Strongfortism. I do feel some localised fatigue sometimes, but I have never felt weary. Rather, I feel energised and invigorated. I have enough energy left over for the rest of the day. To my mind, that is how exercise should make one feel. I am not overdoing it , but neither am I doing too little.

As regards martial arts in particular, I can hold my own without any trouble on the mat. If I am beaten these days when sparring, it is due to lack of skill on my part, not because I have run out of steam and need to take a break or because my muscles have given out. Also, my rolls are soft and fluid and my breakfalls are firm without feeling as if I have been kicked by a ploughhorse.

6. Boredom
Despite the lack of lycra-wearing gym bunnies in my garage in the mornings, the low reps and sheer number of exercises mean that my attention is held throughout a training session. Changing exercise every ten reps, as well as avoiding overdoing it, means that I constantly have something new to think about when exercising.

7. Strength in Motion
A good number of the exercises are whole body exercises, particularly in the last three Lessons. Their similarity to martial arts moves (both striking and grappling) is readily apparent. However, the same is true of Lesson Four. Nearly every normal plane of motion and angle is covered in one or other of the exercises. On the mat, I have definitely found that my strength has increased across the board, unlike the solitary angle of power that heavy lifting gave me.

8. Weak muscles and Correction of One-sided Movement
As I mentioned earlier, I had some muscle wastage in my right leg. While it didn’t mean I had to use a walking stick, it did interfere with my martial arts practice and made me predictable. Lessons Two and Three in particular helped me to correct this, as the exercises are to be done on each side. I simply did a few more repetitions on my weak side, until it came into line with my strong side. With Strongfort, symmetry is one of the foundational principles of his system of exercise. I never appreciated how important this is to martial arts in particular until recently — since I have become a lot less predictable on the mat than I used to be.

***Raymond Brennan can be reached at nafs65@hotmail.com***

To know math facts with automaticity and accuracy, students must be able to recall an answer without thinking twice. In fact, a true recall is a smooth as looking at someone’s face and knowing their name immediately. It takes practice and without that, you see kids counting up, guessing wrong and fatefully stalling out in math.

I created a multiplication fact memorization rewards program out of necessity and a need for parent buy in. I rolled my 1980’s jazzercise trampoline into the classroom and told the kids that they needed to memorize their multiples of 3 through 12. I explained that they wouldn’t “pass” unless they could say their multiples aloud in between each jump on the trampoline they were marveling at. Students immediately bought into the idea, but thought it was going to be too easy.

I decided to tie in a rewards program similar to most martial arts systems, where you “test” for a belt. A parent of one student owns a JuJutsu Academy and bought me 16 feet of every color belt they use at their academy. Next, a sweet grandparent volunteered to cut, sew and grommet each student a keychain-size belt that they can earn by jumping their multiples. The endless hours of sewing and promoting this program were worth it when the students were given their first testing day in math class last week.

To put anxieties aside, I let students “try” the tramp while jumping to their multiples of 2. They got the feel for speaking while jumping, timing each multiple as their feet hit the ground, and some humility. I set the groundrules for the program:

No laughing. (unless someone falls off a 4-foot diameter trampoline)
Hold all applause to the end. (passive agressive way to tell them to clap.)
You can “try out” during math class or after school. (if you prefer a smaller audience)
You have to say each multiple (through 12) before your feet hit the tramp.
No gloating.
Keep your keychain of belts in a safe place. (not easily replaced)
Practice on the ground. That’s easier than the tramp.
Milk your parents for all sorts of gratitude once you get your black belt!

The first “try outs” were a huge success. Some stumbled, but their confidence did not. The room was buzzing with studens practicing for their white belts (3’s). Next, they cheered eachother on as they earned their belt and set goals for the next one. Some were promising a black belt by Thanksgiving. Others were talking about whether their jumbo trampoline at home would be an advantage or disadvantage. Only one week in and the buy-in is huge.done

white: 3’s
yellow: 4’s
orange: 5’s (easy motivator)
green: 6’s
blue: 7’s
purple: 8’s
brown:9’s
black: 12’s

So, the obvious question is…How will memorizing multiples help students learn their multiplication facts? First, students will look at a multiplication problem and automatically narrow their answer choices down to the 12 numbers called out while jumping. They will slowly narrow product choices to those within a reasonable range. When a student is asked 6×8 and they incorrectly answer 68, you can simply remind the student that 68 was NEVER a multiple they called out during their whole trampoline experience. Ruling out impossible answers helps students to grasp the reality of how many facts they really need to memorize.

Keep an inventory of which facts your student knows. Use many informal routes for quizzing throughout the day. If they are stumped, have them jump the multiples. See if that helps. It should. But if not, consider this: Their hearts are healthier, confidence is up and they have trained their brain to think quickly.

A total re-vamp of the original film, this limited-edition 2-disc Director’s Cut offers exclusive looks at rare practice footage, new chapters, and a multitude of historical images and scrolls rarely seen. Plus, over 200 minutes of bonus footage. Only 1000 copies of this Special DVD set will be made available, so order NOW!   From October 9th, 2009 until November 9th, 2009, all pre-sale buyers will save $15 off of the regular retail price of $59.95 (for a total of $44.95 +sh). The first 300 orders will receive a FREE limited-edition full-color ‘SHINOBIWINDS’ poster.   * ALL PRESALE ORDERS WILL BEGIN BEING SHIPPED NOVEMBER 23RD. http://www.shinobiwinds.com

Here are my rondori rules that I am developing for jujitsu class. The rules are intended to teach reflexes that are appropriate for self-defense rather than sport, which is the reason why camping out ion the guard is penalized.
Applied Martial Arts
1. Forbidden
a. Since techniques are often done at full speed and with force during rondori, for safety, the following techniques are forbidden during rondori (see mon shiai)
i. Any striking
ii. Eye gouging
iii. Pulling the hair, ears or lips
iv. Pinching
v. Fish hooks in the mouth
vi. Locks to any joint below the elbow (yubi tori, katate tori)
vii. Twisting attacks to the knee (heel hooks, etc)
viii. Throws and takedowns that are leveraged with a locking technique (waki gatame, shigarami, kote shigarami)
2. Scoring
a. Scoring is optional, as rondori is intended as a drill, not a competition.
3. Tachi Waza (standing techniques)
a. Rank restrictions
i. Tachi waza with white belts will be at half speed and with a higher rank unless otherwise noted by Sensei. The purpose of the presence of the higher rank is to allow the white belt to practice against token resistance and to protect the white belt.
ii. Throws will be restricted to leg sweeps only for blue belts and white belts unless otherwise noted by Sensei.
iii. All throws except sacrifice throws are allowed on Green belts.
iv. All throws are allowed on Brown Belts and above.
v. Kani sute is not allowed, nor is tani otoshi.
vi. Use of any forbidden technique will not score any points or win the match; the perpetrator will lose a point, receive a warning, and on the third offense, lose all points and forfeit the match.
vii. If a forbidden technique causes injury to the opponent severe enough that the injured party cannot continue, the perpetrator will forfeit the match and lose all points.
b. Scoring
i. It is possible to earn three points for a throw.
ii. If a throw or takedown is performed and it is clear who performed the throw, the thrower earns one point.
iii. If a thrower remains standing, or lands in a control position (gatame) he earns an additional point.
iv. If the thrown person’s feet both leave the ground, the thrower earns an additional point.
4. Newaza rules
a. Scoring
i. These rules apply whenever at least one player is not standing on both feet.
ii. A player that holds his opponent in any pin position will earn one point for each ten seconds that the opponent is pinned. This ten second count will continue even if the pin position changed. If you were to hold your opponent to the ground for thirty seconds, you would score three points. If the opponent escapes from the hold, the count resets to zero.
iii. A pin position is any position where the holder is on top of the opponent regardless of the opponent’s relationship to the floor. This includes:
1. Eri gatame, kata gatame, kesa gatame, and similar positions
2. Juji Gatame, Yoko Gatame, side control, and similar positions
3. Tate shiho gatame, the mount, and similar positions
4. Shiho gatame, and similar positions
5. Ushiro gatame
a. Ushiro gatame still scores like any pin mentioned in sections ii and iii even though the holder may be underneath his opponent if they are both facing the ceiling.
6. Any position similar to the above where the pinned player is facing the ground or to the side.
7. The guard (do osai, do jime, or any time a player is lying on the floor at a lower elevation than his opponent with the intent of using his legs to control the opponent). The person on the bottom is considered to be pinned for the purposes of this rule.
iv. If there is no clear “pinner” and “pinnee” the ten second count stops and goes back to zero.
v. Sweeps and reversals
1. If a pinned player escapes and puts his opponent into a pin position with one attack, that player earns one point.
b. Submissions
i. Rank restrictions
1. White belts will not use any submissions of have any submissions used on them.
2. Blue belts and above may use and have joint locks used on them (subject to section 1).
3. Green belts and above may use and have chokes used on them.
4. Brown belts and above may use and have any submission used on them (subject to section 1).
ii. Any time a player causes his opponent to signal defeat (tapping out) or causes him to lose consciousness with a choke, he will immediately win the match.
5. Mon Shiai
a. Mon Shiai is a slower version of Rondori where all techniques may be used. Mon Shiai is performed at half-speed.
b. Strikes are allowed.
i. Strikes to head the head will have no contact.
ii. Strikes to the body will have light to medium contact.
iii. Locking techniques will be performs gently and only to the point where the technique is clear, and not to the point of a tap out.
iv. There is no scoring in mon shiai as it is a drill.

After Kickboxing and Juijutsu classes, its time to make way for among the oldest, most powerful martial art Tai Chi. With Meridian Tai Chi, Ashwin aims to spread this powerful martial art in the city of Bangalore.

In Kickboxing, one uses their own energy in a fight, in Jujutsu the opponent’s energy and power is used… Tai Chi goes one step further it uses the energy available around.

Says Ashwin Mohan “ Many martial artists have told me that nothing compares to Tai Chi… which, initiated my curiosity into the art. Neville was the first to show me what internal power was, and what it can do… breaking bricks from one inch… after that Sifu Ranga Rao taught me the various forms in Tai Chi.”

Tai Chi Chuan works on the principles of Daoism, the book of Changes, I Ching that talks on the theories of the 5 elements. In Tai Chi the first harmony is said to exist when the xin and yi are harmonised, xin represents the emotional mind and yi represents the wisdom mind. Only then is intent said to be formed.

“Tai Chi works from the level of intent, which causes the required neuro-chemical changes. Without intent even kickboxing cannot be practised, but the difference here is, in Tai Chi you are taught to develop the intent. It is the intent that moves energy or chi” Adds Ashwin.

Tai Chi involves both the Yin movements and Yang Movements. When the weight is on the back foot, it becomes a seemingly soft movement, therefore it’s a Yin Movement; when the weight is on the front foot, its an aggressive movement and a Yang movement.

“It is because of the Yin movements, which seem soft, that it is assumed that Tai Chi is a soft art, but when the movements are done mindfully, it generates a lot of chi and power.” Says Ashwin.

Meridian Tai Chi is a unique combination of the 5 styles of Tai Chi: Chen, Yang, Hao, Wu and Sun. The grandmaster for Meridian Tai Chi is Sifu Ranga Rao.

Meridian Tai Chi, believes in bringing out the martial aspect of Tai Chi. “There is hands on application from day one, which, no other school of Tai Chi in India does; so that one can feel how the technique is. Sparring sessions, two man drills are a part of our Tai Chi class. Tai Chi is a martial art, and Meridian Tai Chi teaches it as a martial art… not as anything else. To be a Martial Artist, you need to be strong person both mentally and physically… and Tai Chi too is about that.” Adds Ashwin.

And well, not to forget the non-stop entertainment and comedy… weird one-liners and loads and loads of FUN!

Dr. Kacem Zoughari’s newest work, titled The Ninja (ISBN: 978-0-8048-3927-3), is expected from Tuttle Publishing  on December 10th,    2009. This book is written in English and promises to be the most thorough review of the history of Ninjutsu ever published outside of Japan. (click title to pre-order)

History:

Tokugawa Ieyasu (1542-1616) captured an overwhelming victory at the landmark battle of Sekigahara where his army stood  opposed by a coalition of lords loyal to Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1537-1598) led by Moori Terumoto (1553-1625). In 1603, to  consecrate his victory, Ieyasu received the title of shogun from the emperor Goyozei, a feat which his two predecessors, Oda  Nobunaga (1534-1582) and Toyotomi Hideyoshi, were never able to achieve. He then put in place a new warrior government,  or bakufu, in the city of Edo, modern day Tokyo.

This new era, which would last nearly two and a half centuries, was characterized by a long period of peace where the  warrior roles and customs would change dramatically. However, it must be noted that the Edo period was far from being  trouble free – many dissidents who rallied around the son of Hideyoshi, Toyotomi Hideyori (1593-1615), and opposed the  powers that be needed to be dealt with. The siege of Osaka castle in 1614 would prove to be the end of Hideyori, and the battle  of Shimabara in Kyushu in 1637 marked the end of Christianity and other dissident groups in Japan.

Throughout this period, the relative peace would lead to a flourishing of many schools of bujutsu, the teaching of types of  weapons and techniques that up until this time were transmitted to the elite in the greatest of secrecy during the Sengoku period

(1480-1570), and would now shift from the shadows into the light and would finally end up being used by the law enforcement that came into fruition under the new Tokugawa government during the Edo period.

The warriors or bushi, would have to very quickly adapt themselves to this new era where all combat, duels, and quests of vengeance would be prohibited and condemned systematically by the government. Similarly, the warriors who would take up posts in law enforcement in the city of Edo, capital of the new government, could no longer be able use radical techniques that aimed at killing one’s adversary, but rather techniques that would disarm and control without taking life.

As well, a type of weapon whose transmission was kept secret at the heart of a weapons school, would become the new symbol of order. This transmission encompassing a large variety of weapons was called To no mono, Soto no mono, and Kakushi buki.

Transmission of To no mono and Kakushi buki:

That which we call the To no mono or Soto no mono (外之物) literally; “exterior things” or “object found outside the field of vision”, etc. is a science transmitted at the heart of a Japanese school of combat, dispensing multidisciplinary instruction of  combat empty handed or with various weapons applicable to the battle field, brawls, duels, etc. This science was transmitted as secretly as possible along with the practice of kenjutsu, jujutsu, bojutsu, etc.

It forms a part of the profound principles, o-gi (奥義), essential techniques, goku-i (極意), and reverse techniques, ura waza (裏技), which were not transmitted until the other disciplines like kenjutsu, ju-taijutsu, etc. were mastered and most importantly, that the disciple had the complete confidence of the master. In effect, the transmission of soto no mono included two types of teachings unique to bujutsu which are called kuden (口傳), oral transmission and taiden (體傳), corporeal transmission.

However, in the case of the transmission of soto no mono, the oral and corporeal transmissions took on a whole new meaning as they included technical details unique to the manner of using the body and weapon as taught in the soto no mono. We discover here as well, another meaning for the term soto no mono that suggests more strongly that it pertains to types of weapons that are far from the “beaten path”, and therefore unorthodox, and that are not to be practiced in public view. In this way it is indeed a skill on the fringe, outside of the usual combat methods of the school but that applies to the core physicality that remains the driving force of the school.

As well, at the time a candidate acquires this transmission, he also receives in addition to the menkyo kaiden (免許皆伝 : attestation to the mastery of the disciplines taught by the school), several densho (傳書 : work of transmission for the techniques of the school) and makimono (巻物 : scroll in which are transcribed an index of the techniques, history, technical terms, and the genealogy of the school) and most importantly he is given the ku-densho (口傳書 : work containing all of the kuden of the school relating to techniques and the use of weapons of soto no mono) and the e-densho (絵傳書 : work containing sketches and technical outlines for the fabrication of the weapons of soto no mono, see photo 1). It goes without saying that these last two works cannot exist one without the other and of course not forgetting the art of using the body freely in its entirety in all situations.

Because the weapons employed by the soto no mono were created for critical combat situations where the situation was moving in favor of the adversary, we always find a portion of every densho reserved for the practice and use of the weapons of soto no mono. The shinkage-ryu kadensho-soto mono no maki ( 新影流家傳書．外之物之巻 : Family Transmission of Strategy, chapter, soto no mono) written in 1632 by Yagyu Munenori Tajima no kami (1571-1646) of the Yagyu Shinkage ryu, or perhaps the Shinto-ryu bokuden hyakushu (新當流．朴伝百首 : The One Hundred Poems of Bokuden, Shintoo-ryu school), a densho that presents all of the oral teachings of Tsukahara Bokuden (1486-1571) founder of the Shinto ryu also called the Bokuden ryu, are good examples; the translation of  the latter is as follows:

“The art which we call soto no mono is taught outside of the main body of techniques of the school, though it is an extension of the basic teachings of the school. It is not an art which can be perfected in the course of training in the dôjô, as it is a practice devoted to real situations; one has to practice in such a way that it can be used at any moment in everyday life…”

We understand starting from the first few lines that the soto no mono is a practice that encompasses some unique weapons, the driving force of which comes from the basic teachings of the school, whether that be kenjutsu, bojutsu, etc., and that outside of training in the dojo it is a practice that must be constantly polished in everyday life in order to be able to face any aggression or danger that could arise.

The rest of the text goes even further to pinpoint a more specific name for these kinds of weapons that was already being transmitted before the period of feudal wars or the sengoku period:

“…Possessing the practical knowledge allows one to face any weapon in the most difficult of situations: Knowing the methods and techniques related to unorthodox weapons that are not practiced in the basic system taught directly by the school. Even when we do not carry the two swords at our belt, we must have this type of weapon hidden on our person and face an assailant by relying on the basic physical movement taught by the school. This is the essential principle of kakushi buki.”

This passage effectively illustrates the uses of what would later become known as the symbolic weapons of protection and order in the application of justice by the new Edo police. In fact, one would only make use of these unorthodox weapons in a difficult battle against a “strong” weapon, for example; sword against spear, sword against naginata, sword against stick, sword against kusari-gama, or even sword against empty hand or simply against an assailant armed with projectile weapons i.e. shuriken. Moreover, it enlightens us to the fact that this was a type of weapon that was not taught in the school where the discipline could be focused around kenjutsu, bojutsu, or jujutsu whose use and mastery depended upon the essential movement which remained the heart of the practice. This leads to the fact that these adepts who received this knowledge were real experts in the wielding of a wide array of weapons like the jutte, tanbo, tessen, naeshi, kusari fundo, shurikenjutsu, etc., and so the teaching would be kept secret as it was very dangerous.

We understand immediately that in order to use that which is hidden from the view of the assailant, and more importantly, to do so without giving off any intention that might give away the use of the weapon, requires a flexible mastery of the entire body; of the breathing, the emotions and feelings, and the ability to gauge instantly any crisis situation, etc.; in other words, a state of absolute peace that transcends the natural ability of man to keep his cool in the middle of a dangerous situation. All of these aspects must come together in one movement; wherein lies the soul of the use and practice of the weapons of soto no mono.

Therefore, we are able to more deeply grasp the meaning of kakushi buki (隠し武器), literally “hidden weapons” or “weapons that we hide” stemming from the fact that they are exterior (soto no mono) to the field of vision, distant without being separate from the practice; absent all the while being present.

All of the schools that came about in the Muromachi period (1378-1489) like the Kage-ryu, Chujo-ryu, Nen-ryu, Kashima-ryu, Shinto-ryu, Tenshin shoden katori shinto-ryu, Bokuden-ryu, and of course the famous jujutsu schools such as the Shosho-ryu, Takeuchi-ryu that were born in the sengoku period, had a curriculum of techniques teaching the use of kakushi buki or soto no mono, and often with their own proprietary weapons.

Of course, it goes without saying that the schools of ninjutsu, by the secretive nature of this art as a whole, developed a wide range of kakushi buki through a science of combat materialized by a natural movement devoid of rigid forms that merge exceptionally the contrary principles, the aspects of force, long and short distances and diverse weaponry, called juppô sesshô no jutsu (十方折衝之術).

The schools which we have mentioned above were among the top schools in the practice of bujutsu both with weapons and empty hand. They all attracted many practitioners and their skills were highly sought after by the prominent warlords of the time. Weapons like the tessen (鉄扇); the fan worn by high ranking warriors, courtesans, and kabuki actors, despite its unassuming appearance was nonetheless a formidable weapon. Moreover, when it is used in the context of a dangerous attack where the adversary is using a weapon like the sword, its effectiveness demonstrates a real mastery of body movement, of distance, and of space. There are three types of tessen (photo 2): the maiogi (舞扇) used by no and kabuki artists as well as in other popular dances; the sensu (扇子) for everyday use; and the gunsen (軍扇) carried by warriors and that would be later used by high ranking police officers of the Edo period.

It was also customary for the warrior not to tarnish his sword and to therefore control with either the tessen or the naeshi (萎えし see photo 3), the tanbo (短棒 photo 4) or the jutte (十手 photo 5), after having disarmed the assailant without injuring him. Moreover, these same types of weapons that would later be used as the semi-exclusive weapons of the police of the Edo period, grew out of the troubled sengoku period where their mastery was limited to a small entourage of initiates and select high ranking warriors.

The jutte was also a weapon that was kept secret as its teaching, from the beginning of the sengoku period, gave one the ability to reverse a situation at any moment. The essence of the jutte is based upon the Heiho Niten ichi ryu (兵法二天一流) of Miyamoto Musashi (1584-1685) who learnt the secrets of its use from his adoptive father Miyamoto Munisai (16^th century), master of the renowned Tori ryu kenjutsu(當理流剣術). This school would later perpetuate itself under the name Jutte tori ryu(實手當理流) and its transmission is found within the Enmei ryu(圓明流) which is known under the name Enmei jutte ryu(圓明實手流) or as the tetsujin jutte-ryu(鉄人實手流).

However, the jutte from this school is completely different; in fact it was exclusively created for use in situations where the combat could become suddenly disadvantageous. If we take a look at photo 6 it becomes clear that the jutte transmitted by the enmei ryu was a multi-purpose weapon. Photo 7 shows different orientations of the jutte in its most basic form. The e-densho (photo illustrates the dimensions and materials needed to create this weapon.

Similarly, the term as well as the Sino-Japanese character that describes the jutte differs according to the period and the school. In fact, even though it is read jutte (十手), a reading that comes from the language spoken in the city of Edo, we also see the readings jitte, jutte, jittei, and juttei. As well, the reading of the first character (實) was one of makoto, minoru, jitsu which means; to stand its ground, truth, real, etc. Therefore it consists of a simple weapon with an unassuming appearance, but that will, in the hands of an expert in the movement of the body, “stand its ground” immediately in all “real” situations.

The ancient schools of bujutsu that secretly dispensed teaching of this weapon left their names etched in the history of the bujutsu, to note; Kage ryu, Shinkage ryu, Yagyu ryu, Komagawa kaishin ryu, Kukishin ryu, Takeuchi ryu, Shosho ryu, etc.

This weapon was also used by the Dôshin(同心) Shihai-kaikyu(支配階級), Machi-kata(町方), Oniwaban(御庭番),Onmitsu(隠密), Metsuke(目付), Teppô- tai(鉄砲隊) who were all at different levels, groups that made up the police in Edo, put in place by the Tokugawa. The Tokugawa family was the only one who knew how to judiciously employ the ninja of Koga and Iga. They entered into the service of the Tokugawa beginning at the battle of Ujizane castle in 1562 where Ieyasu freed his family that had been taken hostage, and at the time of the siege of Honnô temple in 1582 where Oda Nobunaga committed suicide.

The ninja of Koga and Iga that were in the service of the Tokugawa formed the basis of the new Edo police. Each had their own role, as not all of them were expert marksman, technicians, or spies; and they were divided among the groups mentioned above. The machi-kata lived on the outskirts of Edo where crime was rampant. They did rounds with a type of weapon like the 1.80m stick (bô), the sword and jutte, and a rope used to subdue the criminal with a high degree of skill unique to Japan known under the generic title tori-nawa-jutsu (捕縄術) or hôjo-jutsu which included as well shibaru-jutsu (縛術); the art of tying up (photo 9). This art which consists of binding the adversary during combat or of tying him up while controlling him with a joint lock, existed already in the old schools of the sengoku period.

Later on, schools like the Muhen-ryu (無辺流), Toda-ryû (戸田流), Kiraku- ryû (気楽流) and Araki-ryû (荒木流) that came into existence in the Edo period; whose lineages stem from the Takeuchi ryu that was already teaching tori-nawa-jutsu during the sengoku period, began to develop themselves.

The Shihai-kaikyu were groups that repressed trouble at the time of disturbances and revolts that could have materialized from general discontent. They too, possessed the same types of weapons.

The Oniwaban and Onmitsu brought together all the qualities of combatant, spy, marksman, and strategist. A striking example was Hattori Hanzô (1543-1596), nicknamed Oni Hanzô “Hanzô the demon” who was the head of the Onmitsu, the secret police in charge of monitoring the actions of the different daimyo that held strategic regions, not unlike the metsuke. His residence was constructed near one of the gates of the Tokugawa castle in Edo that had the name “Hanôo no mon”, the gate of Hanzô. Today, one of the Tokyo metropolitan train lines has the name “Hanzô-mon-line”, as it designates the station where the residence of Hanzô existed long ago

The Oniwaban were charged with the duty of protecting the living quarters of the Tokugawa family in Edo castle. As it was prohibited to draw a sword or any weapon within the confines of the castle, we understand how weapons like the jutte or the tanbo which stem from the use of the naeshi, were used to disarm and control the adversary. We can clearly see the reasoning behind using a ninja for this type of police work; in effect, the Tokugawa entrusted this mission to a group of specialists, established experts in the art of operating discretely and above all silently, in order to avoid any ruckus.

The teppôo-tai was a group armed with firearms, the majority of whose members were survivors of Negoro temple, renowned for its mastery and construction of firearms; that was later destroyed by Oda Nobunaga in 1560. This armed unit protected the shogun as he was leaving the castle. They carried the name Okubo hyaku-nin-shu (大久保百人衆), the hundred men of Okubo, as the group had established itself in the district of Okubo that is presently located along the yamanote line, a principal line on the Tokyo metropolitan rail system.

Totally representative of this police force was the art of kakushi buki, highly valued for its inconspicuous appearance and of course for the multiple uses that it offers. The naeshi (萎えし) whose use would give birth to the art of the tanbô, was used very early on by the police as it allows one to control the vital points and joints to restrict the mobility of the adversary and could also be used against any weapon in any space. The Japanese version of this weapon shows that its use allows one to annihilate the resistive power of the adversary.

It is therefore a weapon that allows one to “steal”, to take away the freedom of movement of the adversary, which for a weapon of inoffensive appearance is very significant and which explains the choice of this weapon to arm the various police units in Edo and also the fact that its transmission in the past was kept secret. The naeshi was obtained from a bow that had been broken, which explains the ancient term yume ore tsue (弓折れ杖), “cane born from a broken bow”. It goes without saying that the methods and materials required to create this type of weapon, like all of the others, varied according to school, person, region, etc. They could be made of wood, iron, composite materials, etc.

The warriors from the periods prior to the Edo period used the naeshi but under the ancient appellation hana-neji (鼻捩), to control their mount or a stubborn animal, which corresponds well to the meaning of the word; hana, the nose and neji from the verb nejiru which signifies to twist or torsion. To control an animal by hitting his nose, which implies knowledge of the vital points, and a subtle knowledge of the human body transmitted conjointly with the art of the soto no mono.

Later on, the use of this instrument as a weapon of control without seeking to injure or take life, slowly but surely spread. It is immediately obvious that the use of the naeshi, just like that of the tanbo, requires an exceptional mastery of the art of moving the body as well as a strong focus and foresight of the situation that arises when this type of weapon is used.

Two famous schools that began at the beginning of the Edo period taught the arts of the naeshi and tanbô which resulted from them. The first is the Yagyu shingan ryu jujutsu (柳生心眼流), for the first weapon; and the Asayama Ichiden-ryu taijutsu(浅山一傳流) for the tanbô. The latter school would eventually be responsible for the diffusion of the tanbo and of tori-nawa-jutsu to police throughout Japan as the techniques that it presented were extremely effective.

Throughout the entire Edo period, those who we would call the tori-mono (捕者), the trappers who used all of these weapons, also called tori-mono (捕物: weapons for trapping, to apprehend a criminal) that originate from the transmission of the kakushi buki, soto no mono, and from the ancient schools of bujutsu, would spearhead a police force that judiciously incorporated the concept of controlling without injuring in the application of justice. This reveals that the ultimate knowledge of these weapons lies in the control of the body and spirit, and forms the cornerstone of the most efficient application of an equitable form of justice in the service of the disadvantaged.

Dr. Kacem Zoughari.

Aquí os dejo un pequeño vídeo del 16º Enbu de Itsukushima Kobudo. Aunque se puede ver una exhibición muy tradicional, es de destacar que, al igual que ocurre en estilos como el Nihon Jujutsu, utilizan técnicas muy sencillas y eficaces para resolver el conflicto, sin necesidad de florituras y encadenamientos interminables como estilos de jujutsu más occidentalizados.

A mí personalmente me ha llamado la atención una técnica en el 1:02; utiliza dos alturas para pasar por dentro del oponente y gracias a la luxación, dejarle completamente desequilibrado.

Como siempre, espero que os guste.

AVAILABLE SOON – SHINOBI – Winds of the 34 Generation SPECIAL EDITION: A total re-vamp of the original film, this Director’s Cut offers exclusive looks at rare training footage, new chapters, and a slew of images and scrolls never-before-seen. For complete information and to view a preview, please visit:

http://www.shinobiwinds.com

Judo, meaning the ‘gentle way’ is a modern Japanese martial art and sport founded by Dr. Jigoro Kano around 1882. The object of Judo is to throw one’s opponent to the ground, immobilize or subdue one’s opponent with a grappling technique or forcing the opponent to submit by locking or choking the opponent

Judo’s history can be attributed solely to Dr. Jigoro Kano. As a young boy, Dr. Jigoro Kano, was a frail child and was constantly picked on by bullies even in his late teens. Dr. Jigoro Kano began his martial training at the age of 18 and learnt under a master of Tenjin Shin’yō-ryū, Fukuda Hachinosuke. After his masters death, he joined another school under the master, Iso Masatomo, whose school concentrated more on Katas. When Iso Masatomo fell ill, Kano who had become an assistant instructor by then felt he had more to learn and took up another style, Kitō-ryū, under the master Iikubo Tsunetoshi. The Kitō-ryū  style emphasized throwing techniques to a much greater degree than Tenjin Shin’yō-ryū and placed more emphasis on free practice.

Kano was devising new techniques while he was learning, when he decided start Judo. He decided to reform jujutsu with techniques based on scientific principles with the focus of developing a young person’s mind body and martial art prowess He achieved this at the age of 22

Ju, means gentle or soft and do means way, road or path. Kano saw judo as a means for improving oneself physically, mentally, emotionally and morally and extended the physical principle of maximum efficiency into daily life, evolving it into “mutual prosperity”. In this respect, judo is seen as a holistic approach to life extending well beyond the confines of the dojo.

Some must know facts about Judo.

A judo practitioner is known as Judoka. A judo teacher is called ‘sensei’. The word sensei comes from sen (before) and sei (life) which basically means one who has preceded you. Judo practitioners wear white uniforms called judogi, which means ‘judo uniform’.

While judo includes a variety of rolls, falls, throws, hold downs, chokes, joint-locks, and strikes, the primary focus is on throwing (nage-waza), and groundwork (ne-waza). Throws are divided in two groups of techniques, standing techniques (tachi-waza), and sacrifice techniques (sutemi-waza). Standing techniques are further divided into hand techniques (te-waza), hip techniques (koshi-waza), and foot and leg techniques (ashi-waza). Sacrifice techniques are divided into those in which the thrower falls directly backwards (ma-sutemi-waza), and those in which he falls onto his side (yoko-sutemi-waza).

The ground fighting techniques (ne-waza) are divided into attacks against the joints or joint locks (kansetsu-waza), strangleholds or chokeholds (shime-waza), and holding or pinning techniques (, osaekomi-waza).

Some Judo Throws

A kind of sparring is practiced in judo, known as randori meaning “free practice”. In randori, two adversaries may attack each other with any judo throw or grappling technique. Striking techniques (atemi-waza) such as kicking and punching, along with knife and sword techniques are retained in the kata. This form of pedagogy is usually reserved for higher ranking practitioners (for instance, in the kime-no-kata), but are forbidden in contest, and usually prohibited in randori for reasons of safety. Also for reasons of safety, chokeholds, joint locking, and the sacrifice techniques are subject to age or rank restrictions.

In randori and tournament (shiai) practice, when an opponent successfully executes a chokehold or joint lock, one submits, or “taps out”, by tapping the mat or one’s opponent at least twice in a manner that clearly indicates the submission. When this occurs the match is over, the tapping player has lost, and the chokehold or joint lock ceases.

Katas are practiced in Judo with a partner for the purpose of perfecting judo techniques.

Some official Katas which is recognized now in Judo-Free practice forms (Randori), comprising two kata: Throwing forms (Nage no Kata) ,Grappling forms (Katame no Kata); Old style self-defence forms (Kime no Kata); Modern self-defence forms (Kodokan Goshin Jutsu); Forms of “gentleness” (Ju no Kata); The five forms (Itsutsu no Kata); Ancient forms (Koshiki no Kata); Maximum-efficiency national physical education kata (Seiryoku Zen’yō Kokumin Taiiku no Kata)

Although an excellent fully loaded martial art, Judo has also developed into a sport which has been included in the Olympics as well. As a sport, the object of Judo is to throw  him to ground and pin him on his back or force him to submit using a choke, strangle or armlock, resulting in an immediate victory.

Judo is also a great martial art in terms of self defence, being used around the world for many military and defensive tactics training. Judo helps build stamina, speed, strength and tenacity as one will be sparring against a resisting opponent. It provides great conditioning as one keeps getting thrown with significant force. Many of Judo throws have been incorporated in MMA (mixed martial art) as well.

Like any other old martial art it does have its drawbacks as many moves require the Judogi, strikes are usually taught to only the higher dans (black belts and above), an over emphasis of rules and Judo being taught strictly as a sport, but that’s the beauty of present day and age where you can take the best of techniques and apply it in today’s world and make it more applicable

Judo is different for different people, but it surely is one great martial art, great for overpowering a bigger person, great for fitness and great for surprising unsuspecting people who try to attack you

Judo in a competitive environment (as you can see it’s not as easy as you may think it is)

Combat: We hear that you have recently completed your Phd. in Japanese Studies, so it’s Dr. Zoughari  now isn’t it?

Kacem Zoughari: Yes, so now I’m a Doctor, but I never heal anyone! I finished the Phd. but I never  aimed for the title, the most important thing was to finish the work. That was more important for me.  Because it was six years of study and a lot of things happened within my family at this time, it was a very  terrible, tough time. But at the same time there were good things too, I met a lot of people. It’s not so  much an achievement, for me it’s just the start. So when people say ‘Dr. Zoughari’ I feel a little bit shy, I  don’t think of myself as a doctor, just a Japanese researcher. But thank you very much.

Combat: So could you tell us about the title of your thesis and the scope of your research.

KZ: I changed the title twice. At the beginning the title was ‘Martial Arts History, Truth and Structure’, and as I worked more, researching, collecting scrolls and meeting with masters, one of my mentors at University, a professor said it would be nice to call this work ‘Tradition of the Movement’, so I said ok and in French it became ‘Tradition du Movement dans les écoles de combat classiques du Japon à partir des documents les plus anciens’ – in English: ‘The Movement’s Tradition in Classical Combat Schools of Japan based on ancient scroll’.
I didn’t use the words ‘martial art’ because I deal with scrolls and studies where those words didn’t exist. All my studies are about the technical way of fighting and using weapons on and off the battlefield. So the word I use is Heiho (or Hyoho at that time), which people usually wrongly interpret as ‘strategy’ but it’s much deeper than that – it’s every aspect of war and fighting, including strategy of course but also tactics, fighting many people, leadership on the battlefield, all the planning for war, number of soldiers, food, etc. etc. – so it’s a lot of things, heiho itself.
And this word came from China, so I deal with the primary word. Even though the word ‘Budo’ is a very old word we still have to wait 8 or 9 centuries until it starts to be used. It was never used in the Warring States period or in scrolls, people started to used the word ‘budo’ in the Meiji era.
So, as I said, the title of my thesis is ‘The Movement’s Tradition in Classical Combat Schools of Japan based on ancient scroll ‘. It’s about 800 pages and divided into 3 parts.
The first part is called ‘The Master’, it deals with history and historical context, the primary scrolls, the masters life, initiation into martial arts, the how and why, the primary schools, can we translate ‘ryu’ as ‘school’, etc. etc. So it’s a very deep investigation into the field, using a lot of historical and family chronicles to present the context and how a master should use one disciple rather than another. It also explains the transmission.
The second chapter is called ‘Densho’ or transmission document. In this I explain how to read a scroll, the purpose of the scroll, I describe it and also the things that aren’t written, what are the keys you need to understand what’s written. Even things like the ink used and how to understand if it’s a real scroll or not. I show the different kinds of scroll for the successor of a school, or a shihan, etc. etc. After that there is an analysis of three scrolls: Kage mokuroku (影目録), Shinkage Ryu Heiho mokuroku (新影流兵法目録事)and Tsuki no Sho (月之抄). Also, the Heiho no Kadensho (兵法家伝書). I explain which ones I use; I used only originals or copies of originals, no English or French versions. Everything in Japanese, and even then there are 5 or 6 versions for each one and I read every version just in order to be able to do things correctly. Of course this doesn’t deal with only kenjutsu – it deals with every martial art.
And finally the last part, the most important, deals with the movement: form and structure. What was the movement of a master like Kamizumii Ise no kami, Yagyu, Tsukahara Bokuden, Hattori Hanzo, Izasa Choisai, Jion Nenami, etc What was the type of movement? What helped those masters to reach an economy of movement? An ergonomic type of movement – very efficient, very flexible even when they got to a very old age, how could they make that? What is the process? The psychological, the physical process? – And I explain that.

Combat: To anyone interested in martial arts doing research like this sounds like a dream career, but the reality is a lot of hard work, for instance you need to achieve quite a high level in Japanese before you can even begin to research properly?

KZ: Yes it’s true. I started Japanese Studies at University in 1994, after my second trip to Japan. Before that I had some experience learning by myself, and was learning with a young Japanese woman. But the way she was teaching didn’t really attract me so I said that I would like to learn Japanese from martial arts books, but even for her, being Japanese, she couldn’t understand it! We worked on kanji like that.And even when I started Japanese studies… Well, if you say ‘I want to do something on martial arts’ most of the professors look at you like a jerk, ‘who is this guy, does he think he’s going to be a samurai or something’. And if you use the word ‘ninja’ it’s much worse. So I had a lot of obstacles, a lot of mountains. Anyway I had the chance to push more, to have access to a lot of things too, because I know some people and had to work a lot. I received a grant from the French government’s foreign affair department call Lavioisier’s grant a very high class grant, very difficult to have. From that point I started to go to Japan more and do many things. So it’s a lot of work, you need to know not only kanji but many types of kanji, very old kanji, you need to be aware of kanbun or classical Japanese (Chinese), be aware of history, of Buddhism, of sociology – a lot of things. Because when you read a scroll, when you read martial arts documents you need to be aware of many things in order not to make mistakes. Also what’s very important is to get out of the prejudice, to get out of the main fixed idea of martial arts. This is very difficult for most people, when they want to do research on martial arts they want to express that their master or the school is the greatest and everything else is stupid. So they forget the context and don’t take enough objectivity, don’t take enough distance; when you’re a researcher you have to always be in the middle and present the facts, only the facts.Of course I am interested in legends, myths and things like that, but what is more important for me is what really exists, how it works and if we can relate it. And in university it’s like that, it’s very difficult to become a scholar on martial arts, there is no class on martial arts, I had to do everything myself: put forward the methodology to show the scroll, to find the scrolls that are authentic – not something written by anyone and bought in Jimbocho or some kind of shop in Japan, and passed off as ‘this is what my master gave me’.No, no, no you need to understand, you need to do tests, you need to know about Carbon 14 and things like that. Otherwise it’s not research. I mean just for my thesis I have over 200 books, and not only on the Yagyu or Shinkage Ryu, but every school, all those from Shinkage Ryu but also you need to study Tenshin Shoden Katori Shinto Ryu, Kashima Shinkage Ryu, Jujutsu schools like Takenouchi Ryu, Shosho Ryu, all the main schools, all. You need to be aware of everything, spear, everything. And also the customs of the warriors of that time, the way of fighting, the clothes, armour, what type of sword, the history of the sword, the work of the silversmith. It’s a lot.

Combat: One school you particularly researched in great detail is Shinkage Ryu. Some modern martial artists may not be familiar with it, please could you tell us something about the school?

KZ: Yes, the thing is, when I started to do the research for my thesis, I needed to have the scrolls, but also real records – historical records that don’t have any doubt, they are identified and accepted within the scholarly world. Firstly in Japan – if it’s accepted in Japan it’s accepted everywhere. So you need to have access and be able to find the scrolls where there is no confusion about who wrote it and what it is. And the best school, with the most old things is Shinkage Ryu, we have the Kamizumii Ise no kami writing, but previous masters like Tsukahara Bokuden, Matsumoto Bizen no kami, Issai Chozanshi – we don’t have, there are reasons for that, no problem I can explain it one day. But Shinkage Ryu has all those kind of things, but you need also to be aware of the name of the school, the history of the school and the scroll of the school I just mentioned. So Shinkage Ryu has things, and the good thing is in Shinkage Ryu, the Yagyu family as well, you have scrolls that show the martial art, the transmission, between 3 periods – end of Muromachi, Momoyama-azuchi and Edo, so you can see how the movement transformed and how things have changed. So it’s very easy to see part by part and understand why the movement has changed, why it’s lower, why it’s higher, why you teach like that etc. etc. So that was the reason why.
Of course if I do something on Jujutsu, and I did a little bit, it’s a lot of research, it would be on Takenouchi Ryu, because they also have all the scrolls, the older Inka was written in 1580, something like that. But what they give is not enough, but it’s good for example to research into jujutsu. And this is one of the things I am working on right now.

Combat: Many of us have trouble with old English, Shakespeare, Chaucer, etc. How can you ensure the accuracy of translating old Japanese, when even modern Japanese isn’t a first language for you?

KZ: Yes, so do I in French! So here again, I am very happy to be a scholar for that and to follow a very accurate and deep methodology in my university in France, INALCO – same in Japan. With this you need to have a high standard of reading, you need to know the language and every word and it’s meaning at the time when the scroll was written. When you are aware of that your translation will be deeper. Do you understand why?
Because when you translate old Japanese with modern day English or French it’s good if you want to sell a lot of things, but you miss a big part of the scroll, you miss a big part of the explanation. Sometimes, and it’s the same for old French, a lot of people don’t use old French, but you need to be aware of that because this I think pays respect to the one who wrote the scroll or wrote the book, to give him the possibility to match the same high quality level of language. And to explain you have a lot of footnotes, you have a lot of things you can do for that, so I think it’s very important, if you don’t do it you miss a lot. Because for example, for Japanese it’s kanji, we use words, Japanese use ideograms – one kanji can mean a lot of things, and sometimes a master can create his own kanji and give it it’s own meaning, so if you’re not aware of that… well you’re lost…
If you translate just the name of the technique as it is, it’s a big mistake – before technique there is a movement, sometimes the name of the technique doesn’t have any connection, no relation to the technique itself. That’s why you need to have the master’s image and have the relation with the master, and after it depends on the degree of this relation. Always it depends on the degree of the relation, it’s not because everyone goes to the source that they have the source in their heart and whole body.
For example, see this water? Let’s say this is the source of what you’re looking for, we are 4 or 5 people and we take this pure water, this clear water, the knowledge you see, it’s clear, and when you put it to your mouth, already the water is mixed with your breath, your skin and things, and it changes, it changes and it becomes yours. It’s still the water, it’s still flowing but it becomes yours – it’s not the pure one. Now when you drink and it stays pure, through here, to here, to here [throughout your body] – that’s great. This is how the transmission should be, and this is how it has been. Of course it has to evolve, but still – stay liquid.

Combat: In talking about Koryu and Kobudo some people may recognise kobudo from Okinawan weapons training, but that’s something different isn’t it?

KZ: Yes, it’s completely different. Most people practise what they call ‘martial art’ coming from a translation of the word ‘Bugei’ – ‘bu’ war and ‘gei’ art, martial art. But the problem is most people who think about martial arts have an experience with Judo, Kendo, Karate, Aikido, Shorinji Kempo – things that have been created in the Meiji era, at the moment when Japan was learning a lot from Western people and a way of using the body from Westerners. And the way the body is used in judo, kendo, karate, aikido have been deeply influened by the way of movng from Western’s sport. All of those things have been turned into sports, and mostly been developed in the academic world, university. And you don’t have people doing koryu, mainly people who have strong experience in judo, karate, kendo, aikido . Koryu and those “martial-sports” are completely different – the way of using the body is very different. Its also important to mention that the word koryu is new, as wella s as the word kobudo. They have been made up in the Meiji era, and especially Taisho, in order to show the difference between what come from the past, useless not fonctionnal against what is new and more functional. Before in Edo period for instance you never used those words.
What we want to express by kobudo is… You have budo, gendai budo which means nowadays martial arts – judo, kendo and everything born in the Meiji era, and kobudo is things which have come before. So between Muromachi and Edo; Muromachi , Momoyama-azuchi and Edo – Muromachi is 14th century, Momoyama-Azuchi is 15th century and Edo is 16th century, even in the Edo era you cut it into 2 parts – first part and second part, also the Bakumatsu – the end of the Tokugawa Shogunate.
So even in that you have many types of old school, all have special characteristics: some are created in the peaceful era, some just between the peaceful era and the warring states period, some during the warring states period – all those things are called koryu, which we translate as old school but it’s more like ‘classical’.
So what we mean by koryu – it’s everything before judo, karate, kendo, aikido. For example in judo Kano sensei practised mainly Kito Ryu and Tenshin Shinyo Ryu, especially Tenshin Shinyo Ryu at first, then afterwards Kito Ryu. This word koryu, we consider these koryu, classical schools but they are completely different to what judo is now, and even before. Because what Kano had was a very limited transmission of this school, even though he studied a lot and he was a clever man, but what he was looking for was an educational system. So judo = gendai, kobudo = Kito Ryu and Tenshin Shinyo Ryu. The same goes for the nowadays jujutsu and the olden days jujutsu.
Now what happened in Okinawa is a little bit different, it’s not really attested by records because Okinawa used to be the bridge of diplomatic relations between Japan and China, so you cannot have a place, soil, where there is war. So you don’t have a lot of records about war in Okinawa, it’s always a place of diplomacy, people come to exchange things , there was a Chinese Embassy there, etc. etc. And in the 16th Century the Shimazu han (clan), very strong samurai with a reputation of being very fierce, very brave, invaded Okinawa and there is no record that people used peasant weapons to fight against the warriors, soldiers – in Okinawa you don’t have that. You have of course nobles, court people, but most of the people who used to practise karate were peasants or rich merchants – completely different, they were not warriors, it was not their job. Doesn’t mean that their practise was wrong, it was very high level, effective self-defense, but not something from the battlefield. And later some people of course used the tools, peasant tools, work tools as a weapon and they call this kobudo. But the word budo even cannot fit for karate, it’s completely different, budo means ‘the way of war’. Of course some people use ‘the way of stopping war’ or ‘the way of stopping the halberd’ but it’s a way of war and by war you mean battlefield, killing.
So we need to at first understand the nature of the word, his evolution and the definition of the word, be aware of the context where it’s been used, because nowadays people use the word budo as they want, and koryu as they want. In order to make things a little bit more general: judo, karate, kendo, aikido – this is gendai budo – so ‘nowadays sports martial arts’ or ‘martial arts turned into sports’, you have rules, even the way of moving is completely different, nothing is made for killing, of course you may injure someone but it’s ok, there is no weapon inside, in aikido they used to practise jo and ken but its very rare nowadays. Of course some still practise jo and ken, especially people who used to practise a lot with Morihiro Saito, you have also some master who used to do Iai, judo, karate and they study this in order to make their aikido deeper etc. etc.
Of course you have iaido where you use a sword, but only on one side, most of the form are fixed, even if there are many iai’s schools, but you still have competition, where everything is focus on the ethics, the rei, so this is really gendai budo. When you start to talk about koryu you start to talk about something that doesn’t have too many people who practice. – a master, we follow an order, techniques are pretty much old… sometimes they might change a little bit… and the way of ranking people still follows the Edo period system, what we call the Menkyo Shiki or Menkyo Seido: this system is the fellowing: mokuroku, dai mokuroku, or mokuroku, chu mokuroku, dai mokuroku, menkyo kaiden, then you become shihan and you open your own school. So this is the difference, one is more classical, before Meiji, before the 18th century, and the other is after the 18th century.
I’m sorry if that was too much, but there is a lot to say about that.

Combat: So talking about menkyo and menkyo kaiden, we often see people claiming such things. Could you tell us something about that please and what kind of documentation and licensing should traditionally go with such titles.

KZ: This is a very good question. Actually I’ve dealt with it in my thesis, and it takes me around 20 pages and 50 footnotes.
First, the more old attestion given by a master to a disciple was not menkyo, but was call Inkajo, or Inka, and this comes from Injin koka no ryaku used in Buddhism, especially esoteric Buddhism – there are a lot of records on that. In Buddhism you used to give a kind of ‘attestation of transmission’ from the master to the student to attest, to certify, that this student received certain Buddhism teaching from me, from that he becomes a master. Martial artists needed to use something, so they used the same things, so here you can see the influence of the religion into the martial art. And the first word we have in Japanese is inka, inka means only ‘attestation’ – it’s a certificate, that’s it, nothing more. It attests that you have seen things and the master who gave you that thinks that you have the level. But the problem is (and this is already since the 14th century, and in Buddhism since the 10th century) in martial arts the older attestation we have is the Ichinin, Ikoku inka or Hitori Ikoku inka – it means one attestation for one man into one province. This one has been written by Kamizumii Ise no kami, and the older one 1566, ’65 – before that we don’t have any. So when you read this one you can understand all the transmission modes; the problem is sometimes the master needs money, he needs to eat so he might sell it , and that’s why you have 4 ways of giving a menkyo.
The first one is Giri, giri-yurushi, it means giving because of duty. You are samurai under a warlord, you’re a good master but have a duty to give it to him, otherwise it’s not good. Doesn’t mean that the guy is good, you have to give it to him, giri.
Second is of course Ie-yurushi, family, because of the blood, doesn’t mean that the son is good but he uses the name, it’s money.
Number three is kane-yurushi, you sell because you have to eat if you don’t have a position. And the last one, very famous and very rare at the same time, Ude yurushi, the one who has the capacity, the one who is good because he shows something. So this exists and we have a very good statement about that written by Yagyu Mitsuyoshi Jubei, the elder son of Yagyu Munenori, where he explains this, and he said ‘my father used to do this, to follow this’. And this thing you can see in Kamizumii’s way of acting and many masters: Musashi, Tsukahara Bokuden, Matsumoto Bizen no kami – everyone did that. You know in Japan during the 10 century Monk from various temple used to sell the ‘attestation of enlightenment’! So you see for example when they need money to take care of a temple the monk goes to the temple and, ‘you’re good, you’re good’ [makes as if offering a certificate]. The guy gives money an you get a new statue, here it is.
So when you receive the inka or inka-jô with this you also receive a scroll. So at that time (the time of Kamizumii Ise no kami and a little bit before, Muromachi/Momoyama-azuchi period, 14th/15th century) things were not really fixed yet; a scroll was about few explanation of the highest technic of the school, the goal to aim, the way the highest technic have been found, the main names of techniques and things like that. This type of scroll was call mokuroku. People translate mokuroku as a technical index, but it’s more than that – for the one who received this from the master that he loved it’s not just a technical index, it’s more than that. I will talk about that later because we are dealing here with the densho and presentation to the student, so it’s a little bit bigger than that.
Anyway, mainly you achieve a certain level under a master, there are few levels. The first level is mokuroku and you receive that, so it’s a kind of scroll with the names of techniques of 3 levels. If we are in a time like the Edo era they create more levels like mokuroku, chu mokuroku, dai mokuroku – this is also a way to keep students close to you and to keep the money coming, it was a business, martial arts, already by the Edo era, there are a lot of records about that – a lot of records about that.
And after that you get also levels like Chu gokui, Gokui and finaly Menkyo kaiden. Kaiden means “stairs”, so menkyo kaiden can be understood as the certificate of all the different levels of the school. So when you receive this you’re (normaly) good, enough to create your own school, but not enough good to become the next successor of your master, or the next soke. Because the tite of soke it’s different and includ other aspects. When you receive menkyo kaiden you receive always scrolls with it. So you have two types of scroll, you have Makimono (the rolling scroll) and Densho, which is like a book. ‘Den’ means transmission and ‘sho’ (kakeru) means book or writing, so ‘writing of transmission’. There are many types of those books, depending on the master, the level, finance, if he knows how to write or to read, if he wants to do it –a lot of aspect connected with the master’s private nature, history and knowledge. Among the scrolls, some dealt about, for example, the history of the school, how it came about, the main techniques, the direction you need to follow, technique names, sometimes with explanation sometimes with no explanation, sometimes the mains weapons of the school with explanations how to make it, fighters of other schools, etc. etc. So when you receive menkyo kaiden, automatically you need to receive that, this is the rule of the classical school, of the koryu – you don’t have that… it’s not… well… you’re a strange menkyo kaiden. But it means nothing technically, it has meaning for the ones attached to the paper, because in all martial arts whatever the school the only one real is who can be the last standing man, the one who can face everyone. This is the real menkyo kaiden, and history proff that the one who have the full capacity, talent and the knowledge to face everyone dosent really need of any paper, because his talent and his movement (technic and mind’s attitude) represent the reality of the master and is school, not one piece of paper that can be falsified or buy. There are a lot of case in japan where someone received a menkyo kaiden but not because he is good, he might buy it, or just help the master in something important to do like the promotion of the art or the school. Sometimes the menkyo kaiden can be given just because one is very old in the practice, or to honored a talk or a word to someone’s family… here its not about the capacity of face anyone, its more because of personal problem and human relation. So it’s not because you claim yourself to be a menkyo kaiden, or receive this from the master that you are like the master. Its really important to understand the fact of the nature or the degree of relation with the master and the place of the disciple (the one who received the mnekyo) in the master’s heart. His place in the school of the master, ect. Its not because someone lives long time close to the master who frequent his classes twice or three times per week that he is automatically in the master ‘s heart. The main probleme and its very human,is that everyone (whatever the school or the organization) wants to believe that he have a very deep and unic relation with his master. But I deeply think that fact goes beyond words, as well as reality(master’s disciple’s relation) and action (capacity, talent and knowledge) goes beyond paper and other certificate; the main problem is to accepted and recognize. So a Inka, a menkyo, or menkyo kaiden, whatever the certificate, reflects the relation you have with the art, the school and with the master itself, the way you are (your physical and mind attitude), and a lot more things too, a lot of things that no one knows directly but that open to our heart as you grow in the art and come closer to the master’s heart. If you buy it, if you gave money to help the dojo or to promote of the master’s art, if you’ve been close with the master or with one of his shihan, or if you’ve been the one who’s done the paperwork for the master and you receive this because you’ve been here for a long time… here it is. Did I answer enough?

Combat: Yes I think so, thank you

KZ: But it’s very deep, and we can go more, but then it becomes a small thesis and I don’t think people will be very happy to read that!
Combat: So there are lots of people claiming titles like Soke, Shihan etc. As a researcher, how is it possible to verify certain claims? And related to that, how is it possible to verify whether certain documents are legitimate, and also that’s what being practised and interpreted is correct?

KZ: This is a very good question; very difficult to answer by, ‘you do this, you do this, you do this’ – there is a methodology, when you do research you cannot shut down any leads, you have to be very wide and to watch everything and at one moment you need to choose. And when you choose there is of course a responsibility, what scrolls or what things you’re going to read.
First, in order to know if a scroll is good (if it’s a real one) you need to read it, have it in your hands and touch it, you need to have this kind of relation with the paper.
Second, you need to study what kind of paper they used, what type of ink, what type of words. If those type of words had been used at this time in history. You need to be aware of and collect all the information about the writer. This can be good information, bad information, good for the writer, bad for the writer – you need to be aware of everything. When you have this you need to meet after all the students, or find all the documents written by the students of this master. Why some are different etc. etc. When you have all this amount of things, you start to dig and to see things – what goes together, what is in confusion, what sources oppose each other. And at this moment, when everything is clear and on the table, you can (a little bit) start to have a lead. Doesn’t mean that it will bring you to the truth, but it brings you to one truth. So for that you need to be aware of a lot of aspects, the general historical aspect, sociological aspect, but also the human aspect. This is very important, maybe sometimes more important, because the human sometimes is what’s going to make you choose this student rather than this one. Maybe because this one I like him and this one I hate him, I don’t know, maybe I don’t like his head! All the masters and foundator of shcool are human. So their life, parent’s education, faith, reflect in their practice and the way they transmit their art. In many cases, those different aspects can (or can not)influence deeply their character and mind during the processes that lead them to the level of master. So there are questions like : ‘why does he write down this for this disciple, and not for another one; why is this thing is impossible to do for this disciple…’. This are the general question that its important to answer when someone studies scroll and the history of the master. After for the technical side’s studies, its important to have a clear image of what you read. When this image is clear must find people, master, instructors who can adapt the explanations to actions, who can do this. So for that you need to met the master, to talk with him, to create a trust ambiance, a trusting relation; and step by step things come. And this is not coming in 1 day, 2 days, a week eh? It’s a lot of time, because martial arts are always about trust – it’s like between a man and a woman. And the more people have practised in a way which is very dangerous the more so. Because the question in a master’s heart, from the beginning to the end, is about: “Why should I give to you, someone I don’t know, what it’s taken me a lifetime to polish?” Now if you transpose this phrase, this way of thinking into the 16th century, 14th century, it makes more sense. Some masters have kept this inside, some do it more in a sports way, some do it for a business, some are between, and so it’s very difficult to become a trustable disciple. This is one very important thing. Second, in order to know if a scroll is a real one or not you need… well, there are researchers in Japan who do things on martial arts in university, and they are not stupid – there are scrolls and you know they are old, you know they’re real things because there have been studies on that, they have been researched on various aspect like the paper, the words, the technical lexica, the signature – the Kao, it’s a kind of, not a stamp, but a seal – so everything has been studied, everything. And you can use those studies that have been done for very famous names like Oda Nobunaga, Tokugawa Ieyasu, Hideyoshi – they have their stamps and things and you know if they know how to write, how to read. And before you just need to compare, after all they lived in the same area and at the same time, there is a common way of talking, a common way of using words etc. etc. so when you are aware of that you just do that. But if for example someone says I have a scroll written in the 16th century and on the cover of the scroll it’s written ‘budo’ you can be sure that this has been made up. Because the word ‘budo’ never appears in any scroll from the Edo era or before. So just by this you need to be aware of the context, you need to be aware of what judo, karate, kendo, aikido is; you need to be aware of this kind of movement (judo, karate, kendo, aikido) where you use the hip and there is no connection with the weapons and armour and things like that. Well I don’t say that with aikido there is no connection with weapons, it comes from using a weapon, but it’s not what Ueshiba sensei did, and it’s completely not what Takeda Sokaku sensei, the master of Ueshiba, did. In Iaido of course there is sword, but they use only one side, if you ask them to use it with the left – of course you have some techniques with the left, but some. So it’s… it’s very different, you need to be aware of all those kinds of things, you need to study everything and never, never, never have a kind of fixed mind about martial art – you need to like everything and to give to them all, every one, every martial art – and get into their history according to the certain fact. So when you are aware of that you can find it. Did I answer well?

Combat: Yes, very well, thank you. And in answering you touched on another question: in older times things were very different maybe, especially when people were really fighting, you wouldn’t teach just anyone because they might use it against you. So could you please tell us something about that, and that again relates back to trust and the nature of a proper student-master relationship doesn’t it?

KZ: Hmm, yes. So the first thing is you cannot use the word ‘teacher’ for martial arts uh? It’s impossible. ‘Teacher’ is for school, you teach; in Japanese this is Kyoshi, ‘master’ is Shisho – a master. The master never teaches, he transmits, he doesn’t say ‘a, b, c, d… you put your hands like this…’ A master pushes you to develop the more deeply how to see things, the art of looking and observation – because if he teaches and explains to you everything he shuts down your capacity to survive and to adapt yourself, for a warrior this is impossible and if you apply this to Ninjutsu it’s more deeper. You cannot teach, if you teach it’s like a condemnation if you want, you put him in a place where he cannot do anything. It’s like if you help someone to eat, you always cut up his food and after he always waits for that, because humans are like this, we take automatism very quickly. So first, there is no teacher – teacher is for fixed things, sports things, school; this is reason why the word Ryu cannot be translated as school, because primary master and foundator of ryu never acted like teacher, he never had a dojo. He was the dojo: wherever place he goes. A little bit like religion, when you have faith everywhere you go is the same – so here is a very important aspect to know and studies as well..
From that point, the relationship between the master and the disciple start. Because, and its important to never forget it, the practice of the martial arts start from a episode of life that deals with a relation with someone or something. In other words, we can say that the heart of the art is about human relation, a very deep relation. So First the master need to trust the one in front of him, and giving trust at that time (16th, 14th century), it’s not something easy. That’s why it’s sometimes the master give it to his son, but there are also a lot of examples in history where the son kills the father, and where they kill each other. So I think that its very important to be aware… be aware of the man’s heart, so that’s why the master need to stay with disciple, to study him, to measure him. And there are a lot of examples like that in many, many, many student-master relationships. Even between Ueshiba sensei and Takeda Sokaku sensei, Hatsumi sensei and Takamatsu sensei, even Kuroda Tetsuzan sensei and his father and grandfather – so this is very important, the nature of the relation with the master will show and reflect what you receive – full transmission, partial transmission, selling transmission, business transmission etc. etc. And the relationship is very deep, it’s like a father and son – but with a ‘plus’ – a father will never kill the son but a master could kill the student if you did something wrong. Here it is…
At that time… nowadays people wear suits, play and act as the master. But its very different. In order to be a master must have fellow a certain process and pass through different aspect of life that can help to see a certain type of Light that can lead and help other people or one and unique disciple. So it’s a lot of circumstances and facts of life that push someone who have the capacity and the heart to become a master.
One aspect of this principle of being a master is : a master is a master if there is a disciple, the reason of a master to pass down his knowledge. The reason for living of a master, is to find a disciple – there is no master if there is no disciple, we know about the master because the disciple talks about him and the previous one, we know about our grandfather because our father talked about him, you always need a link, that’s why we call this a master-discipne chain, if there is no chain there is no link, if there is no link you forget.

Combat: You mentioned Kuroda Tetsuzan, and during your research you travelled around Japan?

KZ: Yes, but not only Kuroda Tetsuzan sensei: Kono Yoshinori sensei , the late Yagyu Nobuharu sensei, the late Nawa Yumio sensei, Sakai Eiji sensei from Asayama Ichiden Ryu, there is Hirakami sensei – someone who has what, 5 or 10 menkyo kaiden in many schools, iaijutsu and things, I’ve met a lot of people from many schools, a lot of instractors. I don’t count them, because you know when you start to count people it’s like you try to make something big of it. I’ve met a lot of remarkable master. Among them, some were very nice, some were diplomatic, some were very, very Japanese.

Combat: So did you practise with them, discuss history etc.?

KZ: Well, ‘practice with them’… It’s a little bit like in my case saying ‘I practise with Hatsumi sensei or I practise with Ishizuka sensei’ – this is a big word. You don’t practise with them, you go to their class or yu attend to their class – point. Now, when going to their class, did I practise with the students or did I sit at the side and talk with them, this is the question. I have relation with all of them and used the same attitude with all of them.
I cannot go to their class and ask for practice with them or ask question like this – who am I for them? Nothings! I was in Japan for me of course, but firstly I had a grant and this grant given by France (Grant Lavosier, a very famous grant) allowed me a certain amount of money for doing research, and I did not have time to spend as I wanted or for doing selfish things. The main reason is that I have to write donw things, to show the thesis, to show the result of my investigations and researches. So of course I have bought a lot of books, dvds and things like that but my work is also to go into the field, and investigate in the field and meet with those master. So if I do the class like the others I am a student like the others and they treat me like the others, and I don’t have time for that. So I have to go and ask politely some questions (if first they want to answer) and tell them what I want to do – I need to be clear with them first and let them know that I was not here looking to buy a menkyo kaiden, or to become one of their ‘executive branch’ or ‘shibu-cho’, this or this. No, I was here to talk about their art and the relation they had with their previous master in front of everyone and bring this into the light. Because I find this wonderful , I find this rich and unique. So sometimes, the metting is like: ‘ok, how are you? Blah, blah, blah’ we met and so you need a lot of time. Well, I’ve met with them but I didn’t practise with them in personal way. Sometimes, they catch my hand and show things and explain: “here we do it like that or like this”, “feel this”, “this is this type and this is this like that” – but that’s it, that’s it. They don’t consider me as a student which is normal and logical. In the other hand I consider them as a master because they have a knowledge and they master something. This is the reason why I am very thankful to them because they explained and gave me a lot of things that I wrote down and I explained in my thesis. In a certain way I can say that yes, I am a student – in a certain way, but I am not a disciple. I am someone who comes to the class, listen, take and use, nothing more. The role and level of the disciple is more deep. I respect those masters very well but I am not one of them their student, I never practise what they do. Doesn’t mean I’m not interested? Not at all, I am very interested in all the schools that I have seen especially Kono Yoshinori, Sakai sensei in Asayama Ichiden Ryu, Kuroda Tetsuzan, there are a few more – Mori sensei, Hirakami sensei, I really love what they did, but I was already involved with something, so if you start to despatch yourself like that you know what happens… well you cannot… you completely “disintegrate”! What I’m looking for is to be “integrated”. So yes, I’ve met those master, some are nice, some are clever, some are very gentle, some are accurate, some are strange, some are… well, it’s life…

Combat: Everyone’s different then?

KZ: Everyone is different, but this is what is beautiful! This reminds me the following story: “ one day a disciple aske to a holy man : ‘why did God create people differently?’ the holy said ‘because God loves diversity’. And if you want to find the unity you need to be looking for the multiplicity and the diversity. Here it is.

Combat: So from meeting with those masters and your own practise and research, are there any ideas or characteristics that you find in common regarding a good attitude and good way to practise?

KZ: Yes. Yes, yes – well first they are Japanese so they always amplify the etiquette, they might hate you but etiquette is etiquette. So it’s kind of ceremonial, and for me ceremonial, I don’t care about that, eh, I have studied this too much, I know the ceremonial. Me – I am looking for what makes people alive, what makes the art alive. I understand ceremonial, I respect ceremonial, but when ceremonial steps over the effectiveness it kills the art. Now at the same time I also understand that sometimes effectiveness can be hidden inside the ceremonial, for example some masters can show a lot of good things like Kono Yoshinori sensei and even some master in Kyudo, Ogasawa Ryu, there are things in the way of walking, they way of standing, it’s great, but sometimes it’s too focused on that and you forget to shoot the arrow, and do it from both sides. But anyway they have (most of the people who practise koryu), they have common words, some are more clever or more talented to explain in an easy way and to open your eyes in an easy way. For example Kuroda Tetsuzan sensei has used words that no one has used before, or if someone has used them they have used them not in the same way as him. Same with Kono Yoshinori sensei – he used some kind of aspects or concepts for using the body that no one has used before too. Doesn’t mean that this doesn’t exist.
So returning to the question, yes of course some of the masters deal with the same points, same concepts and aspects of using the body. You can see also some similarities between the ways of movement and between some bodies too. Some go more deep, go less deep, some just a little bit, some keep on practising, some half practise and just stay with what they’ve accumulated – but the common points, most of the time (it depends on the master) but most of the time it’s the same.
After it’s the way of applying, some will do only with their students and will never accept that you do something different or you attack in another way, you have to stay within the Kata and things like that. So, well… it’s a personal choice of the master…

Combat: So is there anything from all your research and practise that comes out as being a good attitude for practise?

KZ: A good attitude is to be open. Not open because of self interest, because you want it, because you need something – but really open. To let people come and to welcome them wherever they come from, whatever the religion, whatever the ethnicity, whatever the country – this is the best attitude, to never have predetermined intentions, the door is open. Like a wise man said ‘I don’t have a door – you’re welcome to come and if you want you’re welcome to get out’, so this is the best attitude – to accept everyone. Why? Because God, or whatever you believe, have send to the master the student who knock at his door, the situation has put the master in a position where people come to him. If the master shut them out, if he close the door… well he should always remember that eh was in the place of the student. This s the reason should never forget the mind and spirit of one student or disciple. This is the first thing.
Second thing, the type of attitude like: ‘you are not Japanese, you cannot understand’ this is completely stupid nowadays. A lot of Japanese study a lot of different things –painting, music… from different countries, and they devote themselves a lot. It ll be easy to said them the same thing . there are also the attitude of those foreigner who lives for quite long time in a country and act like they were Japanese or Chinese and always take the opportunity to lecture people… they act like they are more Japanese than Japanese or Chinese…this is simply out of the art, not related with the talent or the knowledge in the art, but just show how ego can be.
Being simply and truly open its very important, it’s the right attitude. To be open and to accept everyone In Japan with the etiquette, you can “accept” (or tolerate) people, you’re “polite” according the common etiquette, but it doesn’t mean that you really mean it So to be really sincere, really open and deeply – this is the best way to learn and to share.
It’s better to give than to wait to be given back, the return. So a master is someone who should give and never wait to be given back – I think. And this is what I have experienced with a few masters in Japan, especially Hatsumi sensei and Ishizuka sensei, and not in a ceremonial way. And I can let you know that Japanese are very strong for the ceremonial, for example for a lot of masters everything like the relation itself is all about ceremonial – you give something and he gives back the same, just because it’s duty.
But here I’m not talking about the common duty, I’m talking about something very deep, very human – so this is for me the right attitude, the best, the top attitude, after you have many aspects It changes according to master or disciple’s characteristics, the way they have been educated, the way they have been raised by their parents, their process, how they grew etc. etc.

Combat: So that’s a good attitude for a master, for a student?

KZ: Well I strongly think that, he master has to always, always, never forget that he was (and still in a certain way) a beginner – always keep a beginners mind or the initial mind that lead him to the practice. So the master has to be open, but the student also should be always open. You need also to always question yourself and also question the reason of the word of the master and not just to absorb everything blindly. The student or disciple has to think, he has to use is head and heart– because as a real disciple, he is a real master. The master was a disciple before, its logical. So I can said that a master knows very well what really mean to be a disciple. So I think that someone who practice martial art need to ask himself why? and when? And from that the real relationship – what we call Shitei kankei (master-student relationship) born.
Hatsumi sensei became Takamatsu sensei’s successor because he had something that the others didn’t have. It’s not only technique, because the technical side is part of the process of being a master. The very essential aspect is the heart, what he was deeply inside – and this aspect was always the essential one in the transmission in every school. You can be a good shihan, and stay just a good shihan, it’s always better to go to the ultimate. Ultimate is what is about the heart of a master and his art, his movement reflect this ultimate.

Combat: Switching the emphasis a little bit; readers from a karate background especially will be familiar with the word ‘kata’ but in koryu and the kind of martial arts we’re talking about it means something very different doesn’t it? Could you tell us something about that and it’s value compared to things like sparring and competition in modern budo.

KZ: The problem with this is it’s a thesis in itself,! It’s very long so I will try to reduce everything. First you have 2 kanji for kata – one means the form and the other is the structure, what is inside the form. First its important to know that in classical martial arts create before the Edo period, the kata transmission, did not exist. We need to wait until the end of the Edo period in order to find the word kata use in a way more formal like in the sport martial arts of meiji perdio. In most of the scrolls of Jujutsu, Kenjutsu and Yari twriteeen during the first part of Edo period, the actual word ‘kata’ doesn’t exists. The word used was more Uchi tachi/Shi Dachi, that’s it. The Kata like you find in karate or in certain school was later, much later used in order to make easy the way of learning and teaching the technic to the student. There is another historical aspect to not forget and that help to elaborate the notion of Kata, especially during a peaceful era and master have time to think and to search what s the best word that suit his technic and what he found. From that many words, notion, concept have been used, some come from Buddhism, theatre, No, ikebana, Sadô, and so on. Secondly, when martial arts start to become more open the master or the instructor need to teach to a wide number of people. He need to create stuff, he need to create form in order that no one hurts each other, the movement of the master is too difficult: his way of moving, his way of walking are like the river flow. This type of movement can not fixed in a kata. So students try to create something in order to reach that. And here come the notion o Kata. The main problem is that in order to reach the level of the master most of the student of disciple are stiff and stick on the kata, they think ‘yes, this is how the master moves’ – there is no proof that the master moves like that. By definition the master’s word or movement cannot be understood and catch by the disciple. It’s like a son who tries to understand his father, his role and action… It takes time, its necessary to have the same process, so this is one thing. So when martial arts became more popular, like I said, you need to create more things like that. But according to my research and the studies of few scrolls from various school, I have find 3 types of kata, actually 2, but you can divide into 3. There is what we call Tanren Gata or Jissen Gata. Tanren means renforcement, built and polish the body. The taren gaa represent all the fighting technic that help you to built your body and your mind, to reforce it and also to open his accuracy as well as the health aspect. [both roles – how to apply and how to receive]. The Jissen (or Shinken) is real actual fighting and represent all the technic for fightinig and include of course the element of Tanren gata, actually tanren gata and jissen gate are one. Tanren, the renforcement and taking care of your body, because if you practise strongly but you hurt yourself, the D-day you have to use the technique the forgotten wound might come up and change your movement or maybe not be good for you.. So tanren, renforcement of the body, take care of the body, and jissen – they were the primary techniques. The other type of kata is call Hyoen Gata. Hyoen gata represent all the technic for demonstrate in front of the public, to bring people, to earn money, etc. During the Edo perdio, especially the end of the Edo, the hyoen gata was used a lot. In karate, judo, aikido also there is a lot of hyoen gata, but there is also tanren and jissen gata as well. Not in the same way as koryu or kobudo, it’s more like self defense, self defense is not battlefield’s technic Self defense is against one or two in certain type of situations, war is different. In warfare there is a lot of things, there is everything. So this is one of the differences in kata: tanren gata, jissen gata, hyoen gata. But in case of koryu, rather than kata you should look at this as technique, it’s technique, it’s fighting technique, it’s not like doing something against an imaginary enemy and things like that. Kata can be translated like a sequence or modulation of form that conceals previous masters teachings. If the disciple or the student knows how to read it or to decode, if he have the keys to read it, he can find a lot of things. The problem is that sometimes the kata can become stiff, a lot of pieces can be forgotten. It includes also a lot of aspects like timing, like maai (distance), space, controlling and being aware the space, rhythm, breathing, etc Now compared to the sparring and things like that that you having in Boxing, Muay Thai, MMA – it’s a little bit different because martial art – it’s for killing. Because each technic are made and create for kiiling, most of them are born in the battlefield for survive, its impossible to use them in a sparring way where a lot of rules are fixed, even in MMA. Here comes the main argument used by a lot of people who practise martial arts. I can even said sincerely that most of them hide themselves behind this argument.. I hear often things like: ‘We are different, what we do is budo, it’s real, what you do is just sport’ – but when they face some MMA practitioner they can do nothing… And on the other hand, when someone does too much sparring…its impossible to keep this type of practice, the same energy when you get to a certain age, so the limit is very important. One aspect very important and very limited is the rules, even if the sparring can healp for a lot thing, in the street, in a real fight there is no rules, not times, no count down, no friend, no coach behind and no money at the end… Kata is interesting but you need also sometimes to see what is good in kata and what is not, what is effective, what is logical and what can make you practice longer and what cannot. Sometimes in Kata there are movements that are not good for the body, completely not heathy and against the bio-mecanics – So I think that its essential to think about that. And it’s the same things with sparring, there are some aspects that are not good. For exemaple choosing the type of sparring, the one who ll do the sparring. For example if he is very nervous or violent, you touch him a little bit, and suddenly, he becomes crazy and he hurts you, how many times does sparring finish like… well…of course there s the opposite as well.So it’s a middle to find, the between, the inner space between to type of things, of thought.: Nowadays, the kata is a very educational system or method – the classical martial art is not for education, it has been turned into education, when it’s turned into education it bcome very different from what he was. The Culture of the body, culture of the mind, it’s not education, it’s something very deep. That’s why there is ‘cultivate’ and ‘educate’, I’m sure you see the difference, they are of course close together, connected, but different. When you talk about someone educated and someone cultivated, I’m sure you see the difference?

Combat: Yes.

KZ: So put this in a martial art and you will see.
Of course I don’t say that people doing MMA, sparring and things are not good. Actually it’s good, it’s good to be aware of that, to do the same, to have the experience of that, and to face people who do this. If you cannot, what you do is your own way, it’s like you choose the people with who you want to practise. Real fighting, real situation, you don’t choose anyone, you don’t choose the situation, you don’t have time to do your sparring, you don’t have your coach, you don’t have a lot of that. It’s you at the right moment – what can you do? It’s what you are. And in a certain way, in MMA and fighting sport, in sparring as well you find also this idea, because you try hard, because you give your best you earn respect in ti-his way, you show what you are. For reach that level, there is a very important preparation where everything is controlled, the diet, the muscle, the technic, and in certain case a little bit of…. hem… helpful ‘medication’ – but you don’t die, you may get hurt, after it’s finished you shake the hand of the guy. In a Real art is every day fighting against yourself, fighting against your own habit, your bad habit. This why its not everyone who can do that and reach the highest level.

Combat: So you have a knowledge about lots of martial arts…

KZ: No, I have just read books, it’s not knowledge, because in ‘knowledge’ you have ‘know’ and ‘edge’ – so it’s being on the edge of everything. I’m just at the bottom of everything. And it’s good, like this as more as I studies I learn humbleness and respect. This can be the best teaching from the Time spend in the studies of other art.

Combat: Could you tell us what it is you practise, and why you choose that one when you know about so many others?

KZ: Well, this is a little bit personal but I practise the 9 schools in an organisation called the Bujinkan. So these nine schools are connected and related with an art called ninjutsu – a strange art for a lot of people, and not rally considered as an art for a lot of Japanese, even for some practitioners of Japanese martial arts,.Some Japanese masters even think like that because there are a lot of cliché, images, fixed information presented in mnay book and by many so call master..
So I practise the nine schools which are connected with that. I follow the master of the nine schools Hatsumi Masaaki, the only disciple and successor of Takamatsu sensei. I’m close with one of the oldest students of Hatsumi sensei. His name is Ishizuka Tetsuji sensei. Actually right now, after a few of the old students created their own organization and fellow their own purpose, he is the oldest student of Hatsumi. I am following Hatsumi sensei the master, but I’m close with Ishizuka sensei because he help me to understand his master which is Hatsumi sensei. When I am I Japan I attend to Hatsumi sensei’s class and Ishizuka sensei’s class. Of course there is many other Japanese shihan in the Bujinkan organization and everyone can choose the one he likes.
Why I choose ninjutsu, the art? Because historically it’s the ultimate – there is no limit, everything Is covered studies and practice. It’s the art and technic of Japan primary spy, where its essential to go and think three times ahead before the danger. Its also important to understand the nature of the danger, this is also the meaning of ‘Shinobi’. In order to reach the ultimate level its essential to study a lot of things because its crucial to know the information and to deal with it Must be aware of the capacity and the style of any kind of man or enemy. So its an art where its necessary to study everything, and at the same time to learn to remain humble and to stay in the shadow – never to show what you can do, never to show yourself or to pretend that you know, or to show your knowledge etc. – it’s completely the opposite with ninjutsu. In my case, I prefer to say I practise nothing, I’m just a practitioner, which is true, just a practitioner, I don’t looking for high rank or position. I’m not interested in things like that. I just interest in pratice and go deeper I the practice and fellow the principle of the master, nothing more nothing less.
So yes, I choose ninjutsu because to me, historically, it’s the ultimate, when you put ninja in an area they ca do everything and always achieve their mission.… because they don’t have any rules, they have to follow only the rules they have in their heart, to survive, for them and their family.This survival ideologies, this special mind, this way of thinking, has influenced the way of moving and the way of using the body, historically. Now I like ninjutsu because simply I like this – it’s not because I like to put on a black cowl and running around in the night, or chasing young girls – I’d be crazy to do that, even some like to do it! No, I like ninjutsu because there is everything, there are many weapons, there is something fun for me. But I like other martial arts too, it’s really important for me as well. I respect every martial art, I love all martial arts, there is some I love more than others because I found them more open, more wide – I like things which do not break the body and do not fixed close the mind. Sometimes there is art, form, martial arts form that really reduce people’s mind and people’s bodies, and you have to wait for the kind of practitioner who is clever and open enough to change that, and the other people think ‘oh, this man, what he does is wrong’ but no, it’s not.

Combat: You mentioned following Hatsumi sensei and Ishizuka sensei, what is it about those masters that inspires you?

KZ: Well, these were the first I met during my frist trip in Japan in the summer of the year 89. it’s like for example, you go to a restaurant and the food was good, so you stay, until the food is not good, then you change – the problem is, the food is always great! Each time I go the food is great so I stay, and I’m very happy, they feed my appetite. But not like a religion can do Because they are just a man, man is just man, they lives and dies, th art like the religion always stay……
But the respect I have for those men, is difficult to express by words I have met a lot of professors, I’m close with other martial arts masters etc., all are nice, all have good points and bad points, but the good thing with Hatsumi sensei and Ishizuka sensei, they are maybe the first ones from who took everyone in the same way, they dosen’t have any of the: ‘oh, you are not Japanese, you cannot understand this’ or something. Especially Hatsumi sensei, I never saw someone like him, he’s a man of gifts – this man always gives, he gives. Of course, after, what you do with the gift, this is your problem – but this man gives. And I have been with him enough to see that, and he’s always like that. I spend a lot of time with him because I was living in Noda city where he lives. I walk with Hatsumi sensei many times. But I’m not the only one to walk with Hatsumi sensei in the Bujinkan, a lot of people did it. Among them some have lived in Japan for years, some also think they are close or think it makes them close, but it’s no problem for me. Close is just a problem of space, I’m talking about the heart, this is very different to know if you are close to someone with the heart, especially with a master like him, who you don’t know what he thinks, how it is. He is… complicated simple. It’s too simple, so simple it’s complicated for us, it’s too simple. It’s like when you watch the river and ask to yourself why the river is beautiful? It’s too complicated – he is like that, simply Simple.He is very strng to give to anyone what they looking for or wishes, this is the reason why I said its very difficult to know if someone is close or not, really close, in the heart of the master. With Ishizuka sensei it’s the same, but I have spend more time because I was mainling living in his housse, so here also my relation with him is very special and its more a world where there is no word to discribe and its fine in this way. Sometimes there is nothe word you need for express what ou feel for someone, its like trying to give wings to the words….it difficult and I prefer keep this in my heart. I have found with those masters a kind of openness, they are so open, so warm – I didn’t find this with other people. O course I’ve met some master with warmness, like Nawa sensei , a great and wise gentleman, now I understand why Hatsumi sensei loved him and they used to do a lot of things together. Unfortunately he died in 2006 but I ll never forget him and ll keep all the letter I have from him. I must mention also Sakai Eiji sensei from Asayama Ichiden Ryu, this man is a flower, a man of good, very warm. But I know Hatsumi sensei, Ishizuka sensei… huh, I know! I mean I frequent them more. So there is something in them, difficult to describe – it’s not a question of charisma or something like that, some people love other masters that I found not completely interesting, but this is, you know… your own taste. It’s impossible to discuss, everyone chooses. I like them.

Combat: We hear that one of the major Japanese publishers, Tuttle, will be putting out your new book later this year. We’re told it’s the result of more than 10 years research and contains a lot of information from primary sources, some which have never been translated into English before. Could tell us a bit more please?

KZ: It’s a book about the history of ninjutsu. It deal with many aspect of history, the history based on historical fact, history based on scrolls. There is also everything I found in order to put ninjutsu in the place it has to be.
A lot of people think that ninja is base on black stuff and things like that, and here, historically, I explain the different reasons, where the image comes from, because we have the image that comes from the Japanese theatre, the image that comes from the Edo period, the image that comes from historical chronicle and literary chronicles, many things.
And in order to understand ninjutsu, its necessary also to be aware of the histrical context and also the other martial arts. So the book deals with many things, history of martial arts, classical martial arts – very quickly. And a lot about ninjutsu history – the primary facts, historical facts, where they were, who. And there is one part about Takamatsu sensei – how someone like Takamatsu sensei could see the art, so I take a text that he wrote called Ninjutsu Hiketsu Bun as it’s known by people, I had the chance to see the original 3 times in Hatsumi sensei’s home, and I have worked on that. But the text is very long, the only one thing we know is only one piece like this [indicates just a short passage of text]. So I use this text, I translated directly from the Japanese, and I make a lot of footnotes and things to explain the words – what it can mean. And from that, according to the few pieces of information we have from Takamatsu sensei’s Shinden Shura roppo, it’s on of the few newspaper articles that were done by him, I had a copy of the original, and I translate directly from Japanese and I try to match this with Takamatsu sensei’s process and try to give some leads from ninjutsu things.
So it’s not my opinion – I ask questions, I listen, I write it as it is, I give some kind of development about that and let people choose. I also try to explain different things between martial arts and sports martial arts inside. There is a lot of footnotes, that deal with a lot of principal schools like Tenshin Shoden Katori Shinto Ryu, Kashima Shinkage Ryu, Kage Ryu, Shinkage Ryu, the Yagyu family, Miyamoto Musashi, there are parts of scrolls from Takenouchi Ryu, Maniwa Nen Ryu – all the schools that normally, when someone practise ninjutsu or other classical schools, should be known that and respect. Things about Kano sensei, Gichin Funakoshi, Otsuka etc. etc.
So yes, it’s about all those aspects, I wrote a book in French, but I wanted to do in English so I change everything and wrote something more accurate than the French version. It ll be 3 or 4 times more accurate, more pages, more pictures, more scroll pictures etc. than the French version. I wanted something more wide.
Of course now when I read it again, because it’s been a long time – I wrote this book in 1999, so when I read it I found some mistakes but I’m already onto the second one which will be deeper with Bansenshukai, Shoninki, Ninpiden translations, and more and more. Also a few letters from masters translated, so I hope people will enjoy.
I wrote this book not to present myself or promote myself, because there are no pictures of me, no background about me, nothing. It’s martial arts through the eyes of a practitioner… plus, in a scholar’s way, in order not to, you know, serve the soup to one person more than another.

Combat: Thank you, thanks for your time Kacem.

KZ: The pleasure was mine.

Na primeira vez que entrei num dojô de Judô, aos 7 anos, a primeira coisa que reparei (talvez por estar vazio) foi na foto de um senhor de idade que ficava ao lado de um pequeno altar, ambos pendurados na parede.

Perguntei ao professor quem era aquele “velhinho” e ele me respondeu com reverência na voz: “Este é Jigoro Kano, o criador do Judô.”

Para muitos, essa história que escolhi para introduzir meu texto pode parecer boba, mas quem conhece o Judô entenderá os seus muitos significados. Todos os dojôs que visitei têm a foto de Jigoro Kano nas suas paredes. É a mesma foto, sempre: preto e branca, Kano Sensei usando um kimono preto ornado, em posição marcial, séria. O que mais me chama a atenção na foto é a maneira como ele olha para o dojô (realmente parece que ele, apesar de ter partido há muito tempo, está lá…). Seu olhar, ao mesmo tempo que parece paternal, é duro e severo.

Assim é o Judô: suave e leve, mas ao mesmo tempo forte e perigoso.

O livro desta dica (finalmente!) conta a história da criação dessa relativamente jovem arte marcial. Numa época em que o Japão abria seus portos e cidades à cultura e comércio ocidentais, a própria cultura do país se perdia em meio a adaptações de estilos, bebidas, comidas e entretenimentos.

A sociedade passa a se comportar e vestir-se de acordo com as convenções ocidentais. Os antigos valores passam a ser considerados ultrapassados e inadequados. Assim como as duas artes marciais símbolos da cultura japonesa: o Kenjutsu e o Jujutsu.

Em meio a toda essa revolução, que levava o Japão a deixar de lado seus valores, um professor resolve se opor a esse movimento. Estudioso do Jujutsu, ele passa a aprimorar os movimentos e golpes da luta, transformando-a em algo mais profundo, mais próximo aos valores e à filosofia dos samurais. A “arte” (jutsu), nas mãos de Shogoro Yano (o personagem que representa o mestre Kano) se transformou no “caminho” (do). Um caminho que, com suavidade, levaria o Japão de volta aos tempos em que era uma grande nação, orgulhosa de sua cultura milenar.

Os outros personagens que vão se juntando a Yano durante o livro são fictícios, porém inspirados em pessoas reais, que fizeram o Judô se tornar uma arte marcial poderosa e mundial. O único que foge a essa regra é o personagem título, Sanshiro Sugata. Jovem, rebelde, sangue quente e pavio curto, Sugata, apesar de ser o único personagem 100% fictício, é o perfeito retrato do Judô. No desenrolar da estória, ele vai se tornando maduro, disciplinado e perfeito: o fiel depositário da nobre missão iniciada por Yano.

O livro é uma verdadeira lição de força, perseverança, brio e determinação, ao mesmo tempo que ensina que leveza, pureza e honra são atributos complementares e indissociáveis dos anteriores. Assim como o símbolo escolhido para representar o Kodokan (dojô fundado por Kano na vida real e por Yano no livro).

Agora, algumas curiosidades:

- Foi esse o livro que inspirou ninguém menos que Akira Kurosawa, em 1943, a rodar o seu primeiro filme, o também Sanshiro Sugata;

- Tsuneo Tomita, o autor, é filho do primeiro discípulo de Jigoro Kano;

- O temível yama-arashi não é ficção. É um golpe real, poderosíssimo e atualmente usado com muita restrição;

- O símbolo que representa o Kodokan é… Ah! Leia o livro e, depois, leia o livro escrito pelo próprio Kano Sensei, que resenharei em breve;

- O original foi editado em japonês (claro!) e só foi traduzido para o português;

- O livro não é vendido em qualquer livraria. Um dos lugares que vende é esse aqui. Se não tiver mais e se estiver interessado, passo outros caminhos das pedras. É só me escrever.

Jujutsu is an internal and external art. An internal martial art is one that use internal energy an external martial art uses external energy.

External energy’s sources are visible, i.e. bones as levers and flexed muscles as potential energy sources.

Internal energy is the energy that is said to move in your nadis or meridians or lines of energy that run invisibly in all parts of our bodies. These operate outside of our awareness and are regulated by the breath and the mind.

Ju Jutsu means gentle art.

I have studied with many teachers, who all agree that the kata or choreographed drills are all illustrating the principles of a technique (waza)  and not really how you should fight. Through drilling the kata a student understands the principle. Then like a fruit, you throw the peel and eat the flesh, i.e. throw the technique and keep the principle.

If done mindfully and slowly the principle is revealed. If done vigorously and with speed the muscle memory is trained. Jujutsu has slow meditative movements like tai chi and hard speedy movements like karte.

Typically the traditional Jujutsu school has a collection of techniques documented in a scroll (densho). The scroll is deliberately vague, essentially a mnemonic whose meaning has to interpreted by a master. Only the best students even get to read the scroll. It’s more of a memory tool for the master than the student.

Every scroll has 3-4 levels of difficulty for the kata. Each level woud contain 7 kata.progressing from beginner, practitioner, expert and master. so 28 principles may have to be grasped before you become a master.

Anxious students ask ” how long before I learn jujutsu?” my answer is, “the more intelligent you are the faster you learn”

In addition to all this level stuff the scroll will recommend muscle and tendon strengthening exercises i.e. isometric (kurai-dori) and isotonic exercises unique to the style and internal energy development exercises (ibuki)

Jujutsu is famous for it’s fall breaking techniques (ukemi) and for it’s grappling (kumiuchi) it also had deadly strikes (atemi) to pressure points (kyusho)

The soul of jujutsu is zen buddhism. In zen buddhism, the idea is to recognise the fact that you don’t exist. That which you call ‘me’ is not a thing but a concept. It cannot be sensed with the senses, it can only be abstracted in the mind. Zen rejects non sensory percepton as unreal. If you cannot perceive it’s effects with any of your five senses, it does not exist for you. If you realise you don’t exist then it follows that you cannot be killed.

Understanding this is crucial for a student of jujutsu. One you ‘get it’ that you cannot die because you don’t really exist in the way you think you do, then fear of death bids you goodbye. And you become japanesly calm

Come and join me to experience the heart of jujutsu. We will train from 7am to 9pm on weekends at Benson Town from Sept.Call me on 9845396360

Bangalore Jujutsu club turns 3 this September!

Sid training in ukemi at the first dojo of Bangalore Jujutsu Club in 2006

]]> http://cwienn.wordpress.com/2009/07/16/bela-diri-jepang/ Thu, 16 Jul 2009 13:31:11 +0000 winnie http://cwienn.wordpress.com/2009/07/16/bela-diri-jepang/

Aikido
Aikido(合気道,aikidō) adalah salah satu seni beladiri asal Jepang yang diciptakan oleh Morihei Ueshiba ( 植芝 盛平 Ueshiba Morihei, 14 desember 1883-26 april 1969, disebut juga sebagai ousensei 大先生、翁先生 ” guru besar” ) berasal dari Daito Ryu Aiki-Jujutsu. Daito Ryu Aiki-Jujutsu diciptakan pada era modernisasi Jepang yang berlangsung sekitar tahun 1800-an. Beladiri ini merupakan kombinasi dari ilmu pedang Kenjutsu dan Jujutsu yang juga merupakan bentuk seni beladiri tradisional Jepang. Pengaruh Kenjutsu tampak dalam pengaturan gerakan gerakan atau langkah langkah kaki. Sedangkan pengaruh Jujutsu tampak dalam penggunaan teknik kuncian dan lemparan.
Ueshiba menginginkan aikido tidak hanya sebagai perpaduan seni beladiri, tetapi juga ekspresi falsafah pribadi yang bersifat damai dan universal. seumur hidupnya sampai saat ini Ueshiba’, ia telah menyusun aikido dari koryu (old-style seni perang) menjadi seni beladiri yang menyebar dengan mendidik dan menciptakan seniman-seniman beladiri di seluruh.
Kata ” aikido” berasal dari tiga huruf kanji:
• 合 – ai – bergabung, menyelaraskan
• 気 – ki – roh, hidup energi
• 道 – dō – jalan, cara
Seni beladiri ini diciptakan dengan menekankan harmonisasi dan keselarasan antara energi ki(気, prana) individu dengan ki alam semesta. Aikido juga menekankan pada prinsip kelembutan dan bagaimana untuk mengasihi serta membimbing lawan. Prinsip ini diterapkan pada gerakan-gerakannya yang tidak menangkis serangan lawan atau melawan kekuatan dengan kekuatan tetapi “mengarahkan” serangan lawan untuk kemudian menaklukkan lawan tanpa ada niat untuk mencederai lawan. Berbeda dengan beladiri pada umumnya yang lebih mengutamakan pada latihan kekuatan fisik dan stamina, Aikido lebih mendasarkan latihannya pada penguasaan diri dan kesempurnaan teknik. Teknik teknik yang digunakan dalam Aikido kebanyakan berupa teknik elakan, kuncian, lemparan, bantingan. Sementara teknik teknik pukulan maupun tendangan dalam praktiknya jarang digunakan.Falsafah falsafah yang mendasari Aikido, yaitu kasih dan konsep mengenai ki inilah yang membuat Aikido menjadi suatu seni beladiri yang unik.
Dalam Aikido ini juga tidak mengenal sistem kompetisi atau pertandingan, seperti beladiri-beladiri lainnya. Namun sistem kompetisinya lebih bersifat embukai (peragaan teknik).
Sistem tingkatan yang harus dilalui oleh seorang praktisi Aikido hampir sama dengan yang digunakan oleh seni beladiri asal Jepang lainnya, yaitu sistem Kyu untuk tingkat dasar dan Shodan untuk tingkat mahir. Secara singkat, praktisi yang berada di tingkat kyu 6 sampai kyu 4 menggunakan tanda berupa sabuk yang berwarna putih. Sementara praktisi yang mencapai tingkatan kyu 3 sampai 1 menggunakan sabuk berwarna cokelat. Tingkatan selanjutnya adalah Shodan. Praktisi yang mencapai tingkatan ini ditandai dengan sabuk yang berwarna hitam serta aksesoris tambahan berupa celana panjang bernama Hakama. Celana seperti ini biasa dipakai oleh para samurai pada zaman dahulu.
Hingga saat ini Aikido juga banyak memiliki banyak cabang-cabang “teknik” atau “style” yang juga memperkaya teknik-teknik yang tidak meninggalkan teknik dasarnya. Misalnya aliran Nisyo yang lebih menekankan style teknik-tekniknya kepada padang (boken) dan tongkat/stik (jo). Juga aliran Iwama yang lebih menekankan teknik-tekniknya kepada kecepatan dalam mengatasi serangan lawan (nage).

Judo
Judo (bahasa Jepang: 柔道 ) adalah seni bela diri, olahraga, dan filosofi yang berakar dari Jepang. Judo dikembangkan dari seni bela diri kuno Jepang yang disebut Jujutsu. Jujutsu yang merupakan seni bertahan dan menyerang menggunakan tangan kosong maupun senjata pendek, dikembangkan menjadi Judo oleh Kano Jigoro (嘉納治五郎) pada 1882. Olahraga ini menjadi model dari seni bela diri Jepang, gendai budo, dikembangkan dari sekolah (koryu) tua. Pemain judo disebut judoka atau pejudo. Judo sekarang merupakan sebuah cabang bela diri yang populer, bahkan telah menjadi cabang olahraga resmi Olimpiade.

• Sejarah Judo

Sebelum Judo
Pegulat sumo zaman dahulu kala menjatuhkan lawannya tanpa senjata. Hal ini menginspirasikan teknik-teknik bela diri jujutsu. Sumo pada awalnya hanya dinikmati kaum aristokrat sebagai ritual atau upacara keagamaan pada zaman Heian (abad ke-8 hingga abad ke-12).
Pada perkembangannya, Jepang memasuki masa-masa perang di mana kaum aristokrat digeser kedudukannya oleh kaum militer. Demikian pula olahraga yang sebelumnya hanya dijadikan hiburan, oleh kaum militer dijadikan untuk latihan para tentara. Pada masa inilah teknik jujutsu dikembangkan di medan pertempuran. Para prajurit bertempur tanpa senjata atau dengan senjata pendek. Teknik menjatuhkan lawan atau melumpuhkan lawan inilah yang dikenal dengan nama jujutsu.
Pada zaman Edo (abad ke-17 hingga abad ke-19) di mana keadaan Jepang relatif aman, jujutsu dikembangkan menjadi seni bela diri untuk melatih tubuh bagi masyarakat kelas ksatria. Gaya-gaya jujutsu yang berbeda-beda mulai muncul, antara lain Takenouchi, Susumihozan, Araki, Sekiguchi, Kito, dan Tenjinshin’yo.

Awal mula Judo
Kano menambahkan gayanya sendiri pada banyak cabang jujutsu yang ia pelajari pada masa itu (termasuk Tenjinshiyo dan Kito). Pada tahun 1882 ia mendirikan sebuah dojo di Tokyo yang ia sebut Kodokan Judo. Dojo pertama ini didirikan di kuil Eisho ji, dengan jumlah murid sembilan orang.
Tujuan utama jujutsu adalah penguasaan teknik menyerang dan bertahan. Kano mengadaptasi tujuan ini, tapi lebih mengutamakan sistem pengajaran dan pembelajaran. Ia mengembangkan tiga target spesifik untuk judo: latihan fisik, pengembangan mental / roh, dan kompetisi di pertandingan-pertandingan.
Perbedaan Judo dan Jujutsu
Terjemahan harafiah dari kata ‘judo’ adalah ‘cara yang halus’. ‘Cara’ atau ‘jalan’ yang dimaksud disini memiliki arti konotasi secara etika dan filosofis. Kano mengungkapkan konsep filosofinya dengan dua frase, “Seiryoku Zen’yo” (penggunaan energi secara efisien) dan “Jita Kyoei” (keuntungan bagi diri sendiri dan orang lain). Meskipun disebut halus, namun sebenarnya judo merupakan kombinasi dari teknik-teknik keras dan lembut, maka dari itu judo dapat pula diartikan sebagai ‘cara yang lentur’.
Jujutsu, pada sisi yang lain, memiliki terjemahan harafiah ‘kemampuan yang halus’. Latihan jujutsu dipusatkan pada cara-cara ([[kata (bela diri)|Kata]]) tertentu dan formal, sedangkan judo menekankan pada latihan bebas teknik tertentu dalam perkelahian bebas (randori). Hal ini membuat pelatihan judo berjalan lebih dinamis.
Para kontestan jujutsu menggunakan seragam yang relatif berat (hakama). Para praktisi awal judo menggunakan semacam celana pendek, namun tidak lama kemudian mereka lebih memilih menggunakan busana Barat yang dinilai lebih memiliki keunggulan fungsi dan mengijinkan pergerakan yang lebih bebas. Seragam modern judo (judogi) dikembangkan pada tahun 1907.
Teknik-teknik jujutsu, selain teknik dasar seperti melempar dan menahan, menggunakan pukulan, tendangan, bahkan menggunakan senjata pendek. Pada sisi lain, judo menghindari tendangan dan pukulan-pukulan yang berbahaya, dan lebih dipusatkan pada teknik membanting yang terorganisir dan teknik bertahan.

Penggunaan akhiran -do dan -jutsu
Banyak cabang beladiri Jepang yang mempunyai awalan yang sama namun memiliki dua akhiran ‘-do’ dan ‘-jutsu’. Bujutsu dan budo serta Kenjutsu dan kendo adalah beberapa contohnya. Perbedaan dasar dari kedua akhiran ini adalah ‘-do’ berarti ‘jalan’ dan ‘-jutsu’ yang artinya ‘jurus’ atau ‘ilmu’. Selain itu dalam bela diri berakhiran ‘-do’ biasanya lebih banyak peraturan yang tidak memungkinkan seseorang untuk terluka akibat serangan yang fatal, namun tidak demikian halnya dengan bela diri yang berakhiran dengan kata ‘-jutsu’, misalnya di dalam kendo, hanya bagian tangan, perut, kaki, dan bagian bawah dagu yang boleh diserang, sedangkan kenjutsu membolehkan serangan ke semua bagian tubuh.
Secara umum, budo (‘bu-’ artinya prajurit) adalah pengembangan dari bujutsu yang telah disesuaikan dengan zaman sekarang (untuk olahraga, bukan berkelahi). Beberapa contoh bujutsu yang dikembangkan menjadi budo:
• Jujutsu -> Judo
• Kenjutsu -> Kendo
• Aiki-Jujutsu -> Aikido
• Kempo jutsu -> Kempo Do
• Karate jutsu -> Karate Do
• Battoujutsu/Iaijutsu -> Battoudo/Iaido

• Judo sebagai cabang olahraga

Judoka perempuan
Kaum perempuan pertama kali diterima sebagai judoka pada tahun 1893, walaupun pada saat itu kaum olahragawati dianggap sebelah mata di dalam struktur masyarakat Jepang. Meskipun demikian, kemajuan yang dramatis ini hanya berlangsung sebentar, karena pada hakekatnya mereka masih dijauhkan dari pertandingan-pertandingan resmi, dengan alasan keselamatan fisik.
Setelah Perang Dunia II, judo bagi laki-laki dan perempuan diperkenalkan keluar Jepang. Persatuan Judo Eropa dibentuk pada tahun 1948, diikuti dengan pembentukan Federasi Internasional Judo pada tahun 1951. Judo menjadi salah satu cabang olahraga resmi Olimpiade pada Olimpiade Tokyo 1964 di Tokyo, Jepang. Judoka perempuan pertama kali berlaga di Olimpiade pada Olimpiade Barcelona 1982 di Barcelona, Spanyol.

Tingkatan Judo dan warna ikat pinggang
Dimulai dari kelas pemula (shoshinsha) seorang judoka mulai menggunakan ikat pinggang dan disebut berada di tingkatan kyu kelima. Dari sana, seorang judoka naik tingkat menjadi kyu keempat, ketiga, kedua, dan akhirnya kyu pertama. Setelah itu sistem penomoran dibalik menjadi dan pertama (shodan), kedua, dan seterusnya hingga dan kesepuluh, yang merupakan tingkatan tertinggi di judo. Meskipun demikian, sang pendiri, Kano Jigoro, mengatakan bahwa tingkatan judo tidak dibatasi hingga dan kesepuluh, dan hingga saat ini karena hanya ada 15 orang yang pernah sampai ke tingkat dan kesepuluh, maka tidak ada yang pernah melampaui tingkat tersebut.
Warna ikat pinggang menunjukkan tingkatan kyu ataupun dan. Pemula, kyu kelima dan keempat menggunakan warna putih; kyu ketiga, kedua, dan pertama menggunakan warna cokelat; warna hitam dipakai oleh judoka yang sudah mencapai tahapan dan, mulai dari shodan, atau dan pertama, hingga dan kelima. Judoka dengan tingkatan dan keenam hingga dan kesembilan menggunakan ikat pinggang kotak-kotak bewarna merah dan putih, walaupun kadang-kadang juga menggunakan warna hitam. Tingkatan teratas, dan kesepuluh, menggunakan ikat-pinggang merah-putih atau merah. Judoka perempuan yang telah mencapai tahap dan keatas memiliki garis putih yang memanjang di bagian tengah ikat pinggang hitam mereka.
Lantai Judo
Pertandingan judo diselenggarakan di atas karpet atau matras (tatami) berbentuk segi empat (belah ketupat) dengan sisi 14,55 meter atau sepanjang 8 tatami yang dijajarkan. Selain dialasi matras, kebanyakan dojo judo sekarang menggunakan pegas di bawah lantai palsu, untuk menahan benturan akibat bantingan.
Di awal pertandingan, kedua judoka berdiri di tengah-tengah tepat di belakang garis sejajar dengan diawasi oleh juri. Sebelum dimulai, kedua judoka tersebut menunduk memberi hormat satu sama lain dari belakang garis. Di sudut atas dan bawah belah ketupat duduk dua orang hakim, dan di belakang masing-masing judoka, di luar arena yang dibatasi matras, duduk judoka-judoka dari regu yang sama, dan duduk pula seorang pencatat waktu dan seorang pencatat nilai.
Pertandingan diselenggarakan di dalam arena di dalam matras yang dibatasi oleh (dan termasuk didalamnya) garis merah (jonai). Luas arena tersebut adalah 9,1 meter persegi dan terdiri dari 50 tatami. Waza atau teknik judo yang dipakai di arena diluar garis merah (jogai) tersebut dianggap tidak sah dan tidak dihitung.

Seragam Judo

Seragam (gi) longgar yang dikenakan seorang judoka (judogi) harus sesuai ukurannya.
1. Jaket
Bagian bawah jaket menutupi pantat ketika ikat pinggang dikenakan. Antara ujung lengan dengan pergelangan tangan selisih 5-8 cm. Lengan baju panjangnya sedikit lebihnya dari dua pertiga panjang lengan. Karena jaket ini dirancang untuk menahan benturan tubuh akibat dibanting ke lantai, maka bahannya umumnya lebih tebal dari seragam karate (karategi) atau bela diri yang lain.
2. Ikat pinggang
Ikat pinggang harus cukup panjang sehingga menyisakan 20-30 cm menjuntai pada masing-masing sisi.
3. Celana
Celana yang dipakai sedikit longgar. Antara ujung celana dengan pergelangan kaki selisih 5-8 cm. Celana panjangnya sedikit lebihnya dari dua pertiga panjang kaki.

• Mengenakan seragam

Celana dikenakan dan tali celana dikencangkan. Jaket kemudian dikenakan dengan sisi kiri di atas sisi kanan. Kenakan ikat pinggang dengan cara meletakkan tengah-tengah sabuk di depan perut, kemudian kedua ujung sabuk diputar melingkar di belakang pinggang kembali ke depan; pegang kedua ujung sabuk, lalu talikan dengan kedua ujung berakhir secara horisontal. Talikan dengan kencang sehingga tidak lepas pada saat pertandingan.

• Peraturan pertandingan

Pertandingan judo diadakan antara perorangan dan juga beregu. Beberapa kompetisi membagi pertandingan menjadi 8 kategori, berdasarkan berat tubuh. Kompetisi lain membagi pertandingan berdasarkan tingkatan dan, umur, dan lain-lain. Ada juga yang tidak mengenal pembagian apapun.
Satu pertandingan judo berlangsung selama 3-20 menit. Pemenang ditentukan dengan jalan judoka pertama yang meraih satu angka, baik dengan bantingan maupun kuncian. Jika setelah waktu yang ditentukan tidak ada pemain yang memperoleh satu angka, pemain dengan nilai lebih tinggi menang atau pertandingan berakhir seri.
Judo, sebagaimana olahraga lain dari Jepang, diselenggarakan dengan penuh tata krama. Kedua judoka membungkuk memberi hormat satu sama lain pada awal dan akhir pertandingan.

• Awal pertandingan

Judoka menghadap satu sama lain, meluruskan telapak kaki mereka di belakang garis masing-masing di tengah-tengah arena dan berdiri tegak lurus. Lalu mereka saling membungkuk pada saat yang sama. Kemudian mereka maju satu langkah, diawali dengan kaki kiri, dan berdiri dengan posisi kuda-kuda alami (shizen hon tai). Sang juri atau wasit lalu berkata “Mulai” (Hajime) dan pertandingan pun dimulai.
Akhir pertandingan
Kedua judoka kembali dalam posisi kuda-kuda alami dan menghadap satu sama lain satu langkah di depan garis mereka masing-masing. Juri kemudian mengumumkan hasil pertandingan, dan kedua kontestan mundur selangkah ke belakang garis dimulai dengan kaki kanan. Mereka lalu membungkuk lagi dan keluar dari arena.

• Sistem penilaian

Satu angka (ippon) dapat diperoleh dengan jalan:
• Bantingan (nage waza): Jika judoka dapat mengungguli teknik lawan dengan membantingnya dengan tenaga dan kecepatan dengan punggung membentur lantai terlebih dahulu.
• Kuncian (katame waza): Jika judoka berhasil mengunci lawan sehingga ia mengucapkan kata “Aku menyerah!” (maitta), atau menepuk lantai dua kali dengan tangan atau kaki, pingsan, atau jika kuncian tersebut berlangsung paling sedikit 30 detik (osae waza) dan diumumkan bahwa pertandingan berakhir (osae komi)
Setengah angka (waza ari) dapat diperoleh dengan cara:
• Bantingan: Jika teknik judoka cukup bagus namun tidak sampai layak untuk menerima angka penuh.
• Kuncian: Jika judoka berhasil mengunci lawannya selama paling tidak 25 detik.
Dua waza ari berarti satu angka, namun setengah angka saja tidak cukup untuk menentukan seorang pemenang, maka oleh para perancang pertandingan dibuatlah sistem angka tambahan.
Tambahan (yuko dan koka) yang tidak peduli berapapun tidak akan mengungguli satu ‘Setengah-angka’, namun dapat menjadi penentu jika masing masing judoka memperoleh nilai yang sama (1W1Y0K – 1 Waza dan 1 Yuko menang melawan 1W0Y9K – 1 Waza dan 9 Koka). Angka tambahan ini diperoleh jika teknik yang diperagakan tidak cukup bagus untuk memperoleh nilai setengah (yuko) atau tidak cukup bagus untuk memperoleh yuko (koka). Tidak jarang suatu pertandingan ditentukan dengan banyaknya yuko dan koka yang diperoleh (karena satu angka otomatis menang dan dua setengah-angka juga otomatis menang)
Jika jumlah nilai yang diperoleh kedua judoka sama, maka kadang-kadang suatu pertandingan menggunakan sistem pemungutan suara antara kedua hakim sudut dan juri (dengan total tiga suara).

• Teknik terlarang

Teknik-teknik atau waza yang berbahaya tidak diijinkan penggunaannya. Total teknik terlarang berjumlah 31 (32 untuk perempuan). Judoka akan dikenai empat tingkatan sanksi, tergantung seberapa berat pelanggaran yang dilakukan. Untuk tiap-tiap jenis pelanggaran, pertandingan dihentikan sejenak dan kedua judoka kembali ke garis masing-masing.
Pelanggaran ringan (shido) adalah peringatan untuk pelanggar peraturan yang tidak seberapa berbahaya. Judoka diberi peringatan awasete chui jika melakukannya untuk kedua kalinya. Pelanggaran ini memiliki nilai berkebalikan dengan satu koka. Beberapa tindakan yang akan mendapat peringatan:
• Seorang judoka kehilangan semangat bertarung dan tidak menyerang selama lebih dari 30 detik
• Melepas ikat pinggang lawan atau ikat pinggang sendiri tanpa ijin dari juri
• Melilit tangan lawan dengan ujung ikat pinggang (atau ujung baju)
• Memelintir atau berpegang pada ujung lengan baju maupun celana lawan
• Memasukkan bagian seragam lawan manapun ke dalam mulut (menggigit seragam lawan)
• Menyentuh wajah lawan dengan bagian tangan atau kaki manapun
• Menarik rambut lawan
• Mengunci telapak tangan lawan dengan telapak tangan sendiri selama lebih dari 6 detik dalam posisi berdiri
Pelanggaran kecil (chui) adalah peringatan untuk pelanggaran yang lebih berat dari pelanggaran ringan. Pelanggaran ini memiliki efek negatif sebesar yuko Beberapa contohnya sebagai berikut:
• Memasukkan bagian kaki manapun ke seragam lawan, baik ikat pinggang maupun jaket, selama kuncian dilakukan lawan
• Mencoba mematahkan jari lawan untuk melepaskan genggaman lawan
• Menendang tangan lawan dengan kaki atau lutut untuk lepas dari cengkeraman lawan
Pelanggaran berat (keikoku) adalah pelanggaran yang dapat dikenai sanksi dan teguran keras. Judoka yang melakukan pelanggaran ini akan dikurangi nilainya sebesar setengah angka. Dua pelanggaran kecil memungkinkan dikenainya sanksi yang sama. Contoh pelanggaran-pelanggaran berat:
• Mengunci lengan lawan (kansetsu waza) di manapun selain di sikut
• Menarik lawan yang tergeletak menengadah ke atas di lantai dan kemudian membantingnya kembali
• Seorang judoka melakukan tindakan berbahaya apapun yang bertentangan dengan jiwa judo.

Pelanggaran serius (hansoku make) adalah pelanggaran yang dapat membuat seorang judoka didiskualifikasi karena melakukan pelanggaran yang sangat berat sehingga membahayakan baik lawannya maupun orang lain. Empat kali peringatan (shido) juga dapat dikenai sanksi ini.

• Posisi tubuh dalam judo

Posisi tubuh yang benar merupakan bagian yang penting di dalam judo.

- Posisi duduk

Duduk bersila (seiza) Dari posisi berdiri, kaki kiri ditarik ke belakang, lalu lutut kiri diletakkan ke lantai di tempat di mana jari kaki kiri tadinya berada. Lakukan hal yang sama dengan kaki kanan, dan kedua kaki pada saat ini harus bersangga pada jari kaki dan lutut. Kemudian luruskan jari kaki sejajar dengan lantai dan pantat diletakkan di atas pangkal kaki. Letakkan kedua tangan di atas paha masing-masing sisi. Untuk berdiri, lakukan prosedur yang sama dengan cara terbalik.
Memberi hormat (zarei) Dengan bersila, bungkukkan badan ke depan sampai kedua telapak tangan menyentuh lantai dengan jari tangan menghadap ke depan. Diam dalam posisi ini selama beberapa saat, kemudian kembali ke posisi bersila.

- Posisi berdiri

Memberi hormat (ritsurei) Berdiri dengan kedua pangkal kaki didekatkan, bungkukkan badan ke depan sekitar 30 derajat dengan telapak tangan di depan paha. Diam dalam posisi ini selama beberapa saat, kemudian kembali ke posisi berdiri.
Posisi alami (shizen tai) Kaki dibuka sekitar 30 cm dalam posisi natural dengan berat badan yang dibagi sama rata di kedua kaki. Istirahatkan otot bahu dan tangan. Ini adalah postur dasar dan alami judo.

Posisi bertahan (jigo tai) Dari posisi alami, kaki dibuka lebih lebar, lutut ditekuk agar pusat gravitasi tubuh lebih turun.
Melangkah (suri ashi) Cara berjalan di dalam judo dengan cara telapak kaki menyusuri lantai untuk menjaga kestabilan. Pastikan langkahnya sama rata dan pusat gravitasi tetap di posisi yang sama agar dapat bergerak lincah ke segala arah.
• Kanan-kiri (ayumi ashi): Seperti berjalan biasa, telapak kaki melewati satu sama lain ketika berjalan
• Kanan-kanan (tsugi ashi): Setelah kaki pertama maju, kaki kedua yang maju tidak melebihi posisi kaki pertama

- Posisi jatuh dan berguling
Menguasai posisi ini memungkinkan untuk melindungi diri sendiri ketika dijatuhkan atau dibanting lawan dan mengurangi ketakutan ketika dilempar oleh lawan.
Jatuh ke belakang (ushiro ukemi) Kaki disatukan dan tangan juga disatukan, jatuhkan punggung ke matras dengan tangan lurus di samping tubuh dan telapak tangan menyentuh lantai untuk menahan jatuh. Lindungi bagian belakang kepala dengan menyentuhkan dagu ke tubuh.
Jatuh ke samping (yoko ukemi) Dari posisi berdiri, jatuhkan diri ke belakang, angkat kedua kaki satu persatu, kemudian angkat kedua tangan di depan tubuh. Berguling ke kanan (atau kiri) matras dengan kepala tetap dilindungi agar tidak menyentuh lantai. Kemudian tahan tubuh dengan tangan dan telapak tangan kanan (atau kiri).
Jatuh ke depan (mae ukemi) Jatuhkan diri ke depan dengan kedua telapak tangan di depan muka, sikut ditekuk. Jatuh tertelungkup dengan ditahan oleh kedua tangan, badan diluruskan, otot perut dikencangkan, dan tahan tubuh dengan ditahan oleh kedua tangan dan jari kaki (lutut diangkat).
Berguling ke depan (mae mawari ukemi) Berguna pada saat dilemparkan oleh lawan. Dari posisi berdiri, kaki kanan dimajukan telapak tangan kiri disentuhkan ke lantai. Bahu kanan kemudian dilemparkan ke depan dengan telapak tangan menghadap ke belakang, ini dilakukan bersamaan dengan kedua kaki menjejak lantai dan berguling ke depan. Kedua kaki dan tangan hendaknya menyentuh lantai secara bersamaan.
Teknik Judo
Teknik bantingan judo (nage waza) dapat dibagi menjadi teknik berdiri (tachi waza) dan teknik menjatuhkan diri (sutemi waza). Teknik berdiri dibagi lagi menjadi teknik tangan (te waza), teknik pangkal paha (koshi waza), dan teknik kaki (ashi waza). Teknik menjatuhkan diri dibagi lagi menjadi teknik menjatuhkan diri ke belakang (ma sutemi waza) dan teknik menjatuhkan diri ke samping (yoko sutemi waza)

Teknik kuncian judo (katame waza) dapat dibagi menjadi teknik menahan (osae waza atau osaekomi waza), teknik jepit (shime waza), dan teknik sambungan (kansetsu waza)

Teknik menyerang (atemi waza) dengan tendangan atau pukulan bahkan dengan senjata pisau atau pedang kadang digunakan untuk latihan bagi judoka tingkatan tinggi, walaupun dalam pertandingan resmi hal tersebut dilarang (demikian pula pada saat latihan bebas (randori)

1. Teknik bantingan (teknik berdiri)
• Sapuan lutut – hiza guruma
• Jegal dari belakang – o soto gari
• Jegal dari depan – ‘ko uchi gari
• Sapuan samping – deashi barai
• Bantingan paha – uchi mata
• Bantingan pangkal paha memutar – o goshi
• Bantingan pangkal paha angkat – surikomi goshi
• Bantingan pangkal paha sapuan – harai goshi
• Lemparan bahu – seoi nage
• Menjatuhkan tubuh – tai otoshi
• Lemparan guling belakang – tomoe nage

2. Teknik kuncian (teknik berbaring)
Teknik kuncian (katame waza) disebut juga teknik berbaring (ne waza) karena teknik ini dilakukan ketika seorang judoka atau lawannya berbaring menghadap ke atas atau ke bawah.
• Kuncian pinggang – kesa gatame
• Kuncian bahu – kata gatame
• Kuncian empat sisi – yoko shiho gatame
• Kuncian empat sisi atas – kami shiho gatame
• Kuncian belakang – kataha jime
• Kuncian kalung – okuri eri jime
• Kuncian tangan – ude garami
• Kuncian tangan silang – ude hishigi juji gatame

Pertolongan pertama judo
Seringkali di dalam pertandingan judo, seorang judoka mengalami asphyxia, di mana judoka mengalami kesulitan bernafas karena kekurangan oksigen. Untuk itu, judo telah mengembangkan suatu pertolongan pertama untuk mengembalikan kesadaran mereka yang terkena asphyxia atau aspiksia. Hal ini dapat terjadi jika kuncian yang dilakukan terlalu kuat sehingga lawan berhenti bernafas sesaat. Orang tersebut segera memerlukan pertolongan darurat di tempat.

Jujutsu

Jujutsu (bahasa Jepang: 柔術, jūjutsu; juga jujitsu, ju jutsu, ju jitsu, atau jiu jitsu) adalah nama dari beberapa macam aliran beladiri dari Jepang Jepang. Adalah tidak betul jika dikatakan bahwa Ju-Jitsu mengacu pada satu macam beladiri saja.
Jujutsu (juga dieja Jujitsu, Ju-Jitsu atau Jiu-Jitsu)adalah sebuah sebutan kolektif untuk beberapa aliran seni beladiri yang berasal dari Jepang. Jujutsu pada dasarnya adalah bentuk-bentuk pembelaan diri yang bersifat defensif dan memanfaatkan “Yawara-gi” atau teknik-teknik yang bersifat fleksibel, dimana serangan dari lawan tidak dihadapi dengan kekuatan, melainkan dengan cara “menipu” lawan agar daya serangan tersebut dapat digunakan untuk mengalahkan dirinya sendiri. Dari seni beladiri Jujutsu ini, lahirlah beberapa seni beladiri lainnya yang mempunyai konsep defensif serupa, yaitu Aikido dan Judo, keduanya juga berasal dari Jepang.
Jujutsu terdiri atas bermacam-macam aliran (Ryuha), namun pada garis besarnya terbagi atas dua “gaya”, yaitu tradisional dan modern. Gerakan dari kedua macam “gaya” Jujutsu ini adalah hampir sama, namun jurus-jurus Jujutsu modern sudah disesuaikan dengan situasi pembelaan diri di zaman modern, sedangkan jurus-jurus Jujutsu tradisional biasanya mencerminkan situasi pembelaan diri di saat aliran Jujutsu yang bersangkutan diciptakan. Sebagai contoh, Jujutsu yang diciptakan di zaman Sengoku Jidai (sebelum Shogun Tokugawa berkuasa) menekankan pada pertarungan di medan perang dengan memakai baju besi (disebut Yoroi Kumi Uchi), sedangkan yang diciptakan di zaman Edo (sesudah Shogun Tokugawa berkuasa) menekankan pada beladiri dengan memakai pakaian sehari-hari (Suhada Jujutsu).
Teknik-teknik Jujutsu pada garis besarnya terdiri atas atemi waza (menyerang bagian yang lemah dari tubuh lawan), kansetsu waza/gyakudori (mengunci persendian lawan) dan nage waza (menjatuhkan lawan). Setiap aliran Jujutsu memiliki caranya sendiri untuk melakukan teknik-teknik tersebut diatas. Teknik-teknik tersebut lahir dari metode pembelaan diri kaum Samurai (prajurit perang zaman dahulu) di saat mereka kehilangan pedangnya, atau tidak ingin menggunakan pedangnya (misalnya karena tidak ingin melukai atau membunuh lawan).
Aliran Jujutsu yang tertua di Jepang adalah Takenouchi-ryu yang didirikan tahun 1532 oleh Pangeran Takenouchi Hisamori. Aliran-aliran lain yang terkenal antara lain adalah Shindo Yoshin-ryu yang didirikan oleh Matsuoka Katsunosuke pada tahun 1864, Daito-ryu yang didirikan oleh Takeda Sokaku pada tahun 1892, Hakko-ryu yang didirikan Okuyama Ryuho pada tahun 1942, dan banyak aliran lainnya.
Jujutsu Tradisional dan Non-Tradisional
Di Indonesia, ada beberapa perguruan Jujutsu/Ju-Jitsu yang cukup populer. Di berbagai kota besar dapat dijumpai perguruan-perguruan Jujutsu/Ju-Jitsu, antara lain PORBIKAWA [1] (Persatuan Beladiri Ishikawa) yang didirikan oleh Master Ishikawa (dan diteruskan oleh murid utama beliau, Bp. Tan Sing Tjay), perguruan Jiujitsu Club Indonesia (JCI) [2] yang didirikan oleh Bp. Ferry Sonneville pada tahun 1953, perguruan Institut Ju-Jitsu Indonesia (IJI) dengan pendiri-pendirinya: Drs. Firman Sitompul (DAN X) dan Prof Irjen Pol Drs. DPM. Sitompul, SH., MH (DAN X) pada tahun 1982, perguruan Goshinbudo Jujutsu Indonesia (GBI) [3] yang didirikan oleh Bp. Ir. C.A. Taman M.Eng, Nanadan Renshi-Shihan dan Bp. Ben Haryo S.Psi, M.Si, Godan-Shihan pada tahun 1997, perguruan Take Sogo Budo yang didirikan oleh Bp. Hero Pranoto pada tahun 1995, dan perguruan Samurai Jujutsu Indonesia (SJJI) yang didirikan oleh Bp. Budi Martadi pada tahun 2000.
Perguruan PORBIKAWA, JCI, IJI dan Take Sogo Budo telah mengembangkan berbagai teknik beladiri baru yang disesuaikan dengan bangsa Indonesia, misalnya dengan mengkombinasikan teknik-teknik dari beladiri lain kedalam silabusnya dan menciptakan teknik-teknik baru yang lebih sesuai dengan situasi pembelaan diri di Indonesia. Sehingga disebut sebagai perguruan yang independen dan tidak terikat dengan tradisi dari negara asal Jujutsu (Jepang).
Pendekatan yang berbeda diambil oleh Perguruan Goshinbudo Jujutsu Indonesia (GBI)[4] berafiliasi dengan JKF-Wadokai (beraliran Wado) dan Kokusai Dentokan Renmei (beraliran Hakko-ryu) [5] sedangkan Samurai Jujutsu Indonesia (SJJI) berafiliasi dengan Kokusai Jujutsu Renmei [6]. Kedua perguruan diatas beraliran Jujutsu tradisional/murni, karena gerakannya didasarkan pada teknik-teknik Jujutsu Jepang sesuai aslinya, tanpa perubahan atau inovasi lokal dari anggota-anggota yang ada di Indonesia. Di perguruan GBI misalnya, diajarkan waza (teknik) yang berasal dari Hakko-ryu Jujutsu, Shindo Yoshin-ryu Jujutsu dan Ryoishinto-ryu Jujutsu, Sedangkan di perguruan SJJI, diajarkan teknik dari Hontai Takagi Yoshin-ryu Jujutsu, Asayama Ichiden-ryu Jujutsu dan beberapa aliran lainnya. Karena itu kedua perguruan ini disebut sebagai Jujutsu tradisional atau “ortodoks”.
Ciri khas Jujutsu tradisional antara lain adalah tidak memiliki format pertandingan/kompetisi, serta masih menjalin hubungan dengan hombu dojo (dojo induk) yang ada di negara asal Jujutsu, yaitu Jepang. Sedangkan Jujutsu modern (seperti Gracie Jiu-Jitsu dari Brazil) biasanya menekankan pada pertandingan/kompetisi dan sudah tidak memiliki hubungan keorganisasian dengan negara asalnya (Jepang).
Beberapa orang ahli Jujutsu di luar Jepang ada yang mengembangkan aliran seni beladirinya sendiri, yang kemudian diberi nama Jujutsu untuk menjelaskan bahwa walaupun aliran tersebut diciptakan diluar Jepang, namun awalnya berasal dari beladiri Jepang. Beladiri Ketsugo Ju-Jitsu ( [jujutsu] ) misalnya, diciptakan sendiri oleh Prof. Harold Brosious dari USA setelah mempelajari Jujutsu Jepang dan melakukan berbagai pengembangan. Demikian juga dengan Small Circle Ju-Jitsu yang diciptakan oleh Prof. Wally Jay.

Karate

Karate (空 手 道) adalah seni bela diri yang berasal dari Jepang. Seni bela diri karate dibawa masuk ke Jepang lewat Okinawa. Seni bela diri ini pertama kali disebut “Tote” yang berarti seperti “Tangan China”. Waktu karate masuk ke Jepang, nasionalisme Jepang pada saat itu sedang tinggi-tingginya, sehingga Sensei Gichin Funakoshi mengubah kanji Okinawa (Tote: Tangan China) dalam kanji Jepang menjadi ‘karate’ (Tangan Kosong) agar lebih mudah diterima oleh masyarakat Jepang. Karate terdiri dari atas dua kanji. Yang pertama adalah ‘Kara’　空 dan berarti ‘kosong’. Dan yang kedua, ‘te’　手, berarti ‘tangan’. Yang dua kanji bersama artinya “tangan kosong”　空手 (pinyin: kongshou).
Menurut Zen-Nippon Karatedo Renmei/Japan Karatedo Federation (JKF) dan World Karatedo Federation (WKF), yang dianggap sebagai gaya karate yang utama yaitu:
1. Shotokan
2. Goju-Ryu
3. Shito-Ryu
4. Wado-Ryu
Keempat aliran tersebut diakui sebagai gaya Karate yang utama karena turut serta dalam pembentukan JKF dan WKF.
Namun gaya karate yang terkemuka di dunia bukan hanya empat gaya di atas itu saja. Beberapa aliran besar seperti Kyokushin , Shorin-ryu dan Uechi-ryu tersebar luas ke berbagai negara di dunia dan dikenal sebagai aliran Karate yang termasyhur, walaupun tidak termasuk dalam “4 besar WKF”.
Di negara Jepang, organisasi yang mewadahi olahraga Karate seluruh Jepang adalah JKF. Adapun organisasi yang mewadahi Karate seluruh dunia adalah WKF (dulu dikenal dengan nama WUKO – World Union of Karatedo Organizations). Ada pula ITKF (International Traditional Karate Federation) yang mewadahi karate tradisional. Adapun fungsi dari JKF dan WKF adalah terutama untuk meneguhkan Karate yang bersifat “tanpa kontak langsung”, berbeda dengan aliran Kyokushin atau Daidojuku yang “kontak langsung”.
Latihan dasar karate terbagi tiga seperti berikut:
1. Kihon, yaitu latihan teknik-teknik dasar karate seperti teknik memukul, menendang dan menangkis.
2. Kata, yaitu latihan jurus atau bunga karate.
3. Kumite, yaitu latihan tanding atau sparring.
Pada zaman sekarang karate juga dapat dibagi menjadi aliran tradisional dan aliran olah raga. Aliran tradisional lebih menekankan aspek bela diri dan teknik tempur sementara aliran olah raga lebih menumpukan teknik-teknik untuk pertandingan olah raga.
Teknik Karate
Teknik Karate terbagi menjadi tiga bagian utama : Kihon (teknik dasar), Kata(jurus) dan Kumite (pertarungan). Murid tingkat lanjut juga diajarkan untuk menggunakan senjata seperti tongkat (bo) dan ruyung (nunchaku).
N Kihon
Kihon (基本:きほん, Kihon?) secara harfiah berarti dasar atau fondasi. Praktisi Karate harus menguasai Kihon dengan baik sebelum mempelajari Kata dan Kumite.
Pelatihan Kihon dimulai dari mempelajari pukulan dan tendangan (sabuk putih) dan bantingan (sabuk coklat). Pada tahap dan atau Sabuk Hitam, siswa dianggap sudah menguasai seluruh kihon dengan baik.
N Kata
Kata (型:かた) secara harfiah berarti bentuk atau pola. Kata dalam karate tidak hanya merupakan latihan fisik atau aerobik biasa. Tapi juga mengandung pelajaran tentang prinsip bertarung. Setiap Kata memiliki ritme gerakan dan pernapasan yang berbeda.
Dalam Kata ada yang dinamakan Bunkai. Bunkai adalah aplikasi yang dapat digunakan dari gerakan-gerakan dasar Kata.
Setiap aliran memiliki perbedaan gerak dan nama yang berbeda untuk tiap Kata. Sebagai contoh : Kata Tekki di aliran Shotokan dikenal dengan nama Naihanchi di aliran Shito Ryu. Sebagai akibatnya Bunkai (aplikasi kata) tiap aliran juga berbeda.
N Kumite
Kumite (組手:くみて) secara harfiah berarti “pertemuan tangan”. Kumite dilakukan oleh murid-murid tingkat lanjut (sabuk biru atau lebih). Tetapi sekarang, ada dojo yang mengajarkan kumite pada murid tingkat pemula (sabuk kuning). Sebelum melakukan kumite bebas (jiyu Kumite) praktisi mempelajari kumite yang diatur (go hon kumite) atau (yakusoku kumite). Untuk kumite aliran olahraga, lebih dikenal dengan Kumite Shiai atau Kumite Pertandingan.
Untuk aliran Shotokan di Jepang, kumite hanya dilakukan oleh siswa yang sudah mencapai tingkat dan (sabuk hitam). Praktisi diharuskan untuk dapat menjaga pukulannya supaya tidak mencederai kawan bertanding.
Untuk aliran “kontak langsung” seperti Kyokushin, praktisi Karate sudah dibiasakan untuk melakukan kumite sejak sabuk biru strip. Praktisi Kyokushin diperkenankan untuk melancarkan tendangan dan pukulan sekuat tenaganya ke arah lawan bertanding.
Untuk aliran kombinasi seperti Wado-ryu, yang tekniknya terdiri atas kombinasi Karate dan Jujutsu, maka Kumite dibagi menjadi dua macam, yaitu Kumite untuk persiapan Shiai, yang dilatih hanya teknik-teknik yang diperbolehkan dalam pertandingan, dan Goshinjutsu Kumite atau Kumite untuk beladiri, semua teknik dipergunakan, termasuk jurus-jurus Jujutsu seperti bantingan, kuncian, dan menyerang titik vital.
Pertandingan Karate
Pertandingan karate dibagi atas dua jenis yaitu :
1. Kumite (perkelahian) putera dan puteri
2. Kata (jurus) putera dan puteri
1. Kumite
Kumite dibagi atas kumite perorangan dengan pembagian kelas berdasarkan berat badan dan kumite beregu tanpa pembagian kelas berat badan (khusus untuk putera). Sistem pertandingan yang dipakai adalah reperchance (WUKO) atau babak kesempatan kembali kepada atlet yang pernah dikalahkan oleh sang juara. Pertandingan dilakukan dalam satu babak (2-3 menit bersih) dan 1 babak perpanjangan kalau terjadi seri, kecuali dalam pertandingan beregu tidak ada waktu perpanjangan. Dan jika masih pada babak perpanjangan masih mengalami nilai seri, maka akan diadakan pemilihan karateka yang paling ofensif dan agresif sebagai pemenang.
2. Kata
Pada pertandingan kata yang diperagakan adalah keindahan gerak dari jurus, baik untuk putera maupun puteri. Sesuai dengan Kata pilihan atau Kata wajib dalam peraturan pertandingan.
Para peserta harus memperagakan Kata wajib. Bila lulus, peserta akan mengikuti babak selanjutnya dan dapat memperagakan Kata pilihan.
Pertandingan dibagi menjadi dua jenis: Kata perorangan dan Kata beregu. Kata beregu dilakukan oleh 3 orang. Setelah melakukan peragaan Kata , para peserta diharuskan memperagakan aplikasi dari Kata (bunkai). Kata beregu dinilai lebih prestisius karena lebih indah dan lebih susah untuk dilatih.
Menurut standar JKF dan WKF, yang diakui sebagai Kata Wajib adalah hanya 8 Kata yang berasal dari perguruan 4 Besar JKF, yaitu Shotokan, Wado-ryu, Goju-ryu and Shito-ryu, dengan perincian sebagai berikut:
• Shotokan : Kankudai dan Jion.
• Wado-ryu : Seishan dan Chinto.
• Goju-ryu : Saifa dan Seipai.
• Shito-ryu: Seienchin dan Bassaidai.
Karateka dari aliran selain 4 besar tidak dilarang untuk ikut pertandingan Kata JKF dan WKF, hanya saja mereka harus memainkan Kata sebagaimana dimainkan oleh perguruan 4 besar di atas.
Luas lapangan
• Lantai seluas 8 x 8 meter, beralas papan atau matras di atas panggung dengan ketinggian 1 meter dan ditambah daerah pengaman berukuran 2 meter pada tiap sisi.
• Arena pertandingan harus rata dan terhindar dari kemungkinan menimbulkan bahaya.
Pada Kumite Shiai yang biasa digunakan oleh FORKI yang mengacu peraturan dari WKF, idealnya adalah menggunakan matras dengan lebar 10 x 10 meter. Matras tersebut dibagi kedalam tiga warna yaitu putih, merah dan biru. Matras yang paling luar adalah batas jogai dimana karate-ka yang sedang bertanding tidak boleh menyentuh batas tersebut atau akan dikenakan pelanggaran. Batas yang kedua lebih dalam dari batas jogai adalah batas peringatan, sehingga karate-ka yang sedang bertanding dapat memprediksi ruang arena dia bertanding. Sisa ruang lingkup matras yang paling dalam dan paling banyak dengan warna putih adalah arena bertanding efektif.
Peralatan di dalam pertandingan Karate
Peralatan yang diperlukan dalam pertandingan Karate
1. Pakaian Karate (karategi) untuk kontestan
2. Pelindung tangan
3. Pelindung tulang kering
4. Ikat pinggang (Obi) untuk kedua kontestan berwarna merah/aka dan biru/ao
5. Alat-alat lain yang diperbolehkan tapi bukan menjadi keharusan adalah:
o Pelindung gusi (di beberapa pertandingan menjadi keharusan)
o Pelindung tubuh untuk kontestan putri
o Pelindung selangkangan untuk kontestan putera
6. Peluit untuk arbitrator/alat tulis
7. Seragam wasit/juri
o Baju putih
o Celana abu-abu
o Dasi merah
o Sepatu karet hitam tanpa sol
8. Papan nilai
9. Administrasi pertandingan
10. Lampu merah, hijau, kuning sebagai tanda waktu pertandingan dengan pencatat waktu (stop watch).
Tambahan: Khusus untuk Kyokushin, pelindung yang dipakai hanyalah pelindugn selangkangan untuk kontestan putra. Sedangkan pelindung yang lain tidak diperkenankan.
Falsafah Karate

• Rakka (Bunga yang berguguran)

Ia adalah konsep bela diri atau pertahanan di dalam karate. Ia bermaksud setiap teknik pertahanan itu perlu dilakukan dengan bertenaga dan mantap agar dengan menggunakan satu teknik pun sudah cukup untuk membela diri sehingga diumpamakan jika teknik itu dilakukan ke atas pokok, maka semua bunga dari pokok tersebut akan jatuh berguguran. Contohnya jika ada orang menyerang dengan menumbuk muka, si pengamal karate boleh menggunakan teknik menangkis atas. Sekiranya tangkisan atas itu cukup kuat dan mantap, ia boleh mematahkan tangan yang menumbuk itu. Dengan itu tidak perlu lagi membuat serangan susulan pun sudah cukup untuk membela diri.

• Mizu No Kokoro (Minda itu seperti air)

Konsep ini bermaksud bahwa untuk tujuan bela diri, minda (pikiran) perlulah dijaga dan dilatih agar selalu tenang. Apabila minda tenang, maka mudah untuk pengamal bela diri untuk mengelak atau menangkis serangan. Minda itu seumpama air di danau. Bila bulan mengambang, kita akan dapat melihat bayangan bulan dengan terang di danau yang tenang. Sekiranya dilontar batu kecil ke danautersebut, bayangan bulan di danau itu akan kabur.
Aliran Karate
Seperti telah disinggung diatas, ada banyak aliran Karate di Jepang, dan sebagian dari aliran-aliran tersebut sudah masuk ke Indonesia.
Adapun ciri khas dan latar belakang dari berbagai aliran Karate yang termasuk dalam “4 besar JKF” adalah sebagai berikut:
1. Shotokan
Shoto adalah nama pena Gichin Funakoshi, Kan dapat diartikan sebagai gedung/bangunan – sehingga shotokan dapat diterjemahkan sebagai Perguruan Funakoshi. Gichin Funakoshi merupakan pelopor yang membawa ilmu karate dari Okinawa ke Jepang. Aliran Shotokan merupakan akumulasi dan standardisasi dari berbagai perguruan karate di Okinawa yang pernah dipelajari oleh Funakoshi. Berpegang pada konsep Ichigeki Hissatsu, yaitu satu gerakan dapat membunuh lawan. Shotokan menggunakan kuda-kuda yang rendah serta pukulan dan tangkisan yang keras. Gerakan Shotokan cenderung linear/frontal, sehingga praktisi Shotokan berani langsung beradu pukulan dan tangkisan dengan lawan.
2. Goju-ryu
Goju memiliki arti keras-lembut. Aliran ini memadukan teknik keras dan teknik lembut, dan merupakan salah satu perguruan karate tradisional di Okinawa yang memiliki sejarah yang panjang. Dengan meningkatnya popularitas Karate di Jepang (setelah masuknya Shotokan ke Jepang), aliran Goju ini dibawa ke Jepang oleh Chojun Miyagi. Miyagi memperbarui banyak teknik-teknik aliran ini menjadi aliran Goju-ryu yang sekarang, sehingga banyak orang yang menganggap Chojun Miyagi sebagai pendiri Goju-ryu. Berpegang pada konsep bahwa “dalam pertarungan yang sesungguhnya, kita harus bisa menerima dan membalas pukulan”. Sehinga Goju-ryu menekankan pada latihan SANCHIN atau pernapasan dasar, agar para praktisinya dapat memberikan pukulan yang dahsyat dan menerima pukulan dari lawan tanpa terluka. Goju-ryu menggunakan tangkisan yang bersifat circular serta senang melakukan pertarungan jarak rapat.
3. Shito-ryu
Aliran Shito-ryu terkenal dengan keahlian bermain KATA, terbukti dari banyaknya KATA yang diajarkan di aliran Shito-ryu, yaitu ada 30 sampai 40 KATA, lebih banyak dari aliran lain. Namun yang tercatat di soke/di Jepang ada 111 kata beserta bunkainya. Sebagai perbandingan, Shotokan memiliki 25, Wado memiliki 17, Goju memiliki 12 KATA. Dalam pertarungan, ahli Karate Shito-ryu dapat menyesuaikan diri dengan kondisi, mereka bisa bertarung seperti Shotokan secara frontal, maupun dengan jarak rapat seperti Goju.
4. Wado-ryu
Wado-ryu adalah aliran Karate yang unik karena berakar pada seni beladiri Shindo Yoshin-ryu Jujutsu, sebuah aliran beladiri Jepang yang memiliki teknik kuncian persendian dan lemparan. Sehingga Wado-ryu selain mengajarkan teknik Karate juga mengajarkan teknik kuncian persendian dan lemparan/bantingan Jujutsu. DIdalam pertarungan, ahli Wado-ryu menggunakan prinsip Jujutsu yaitu tidak mau mengadu tenaga secara frontal, lebih banyak menggunakan tangkisan yang bersifat mengalir (bukan tangkisan keras), dan terkadang menggunakan teknik Jujutsu seperti bantingan dan sapuan kaki untuk menjatuhkan lawan. Akan tetapi, dalam pertandingan FORKI dan JKF, para praktisi Wado-ryu juga mampu menyesuaikan diri dengan peraturan yang ada dan bertanding tanpa menggunakan jurus-jurus Jujutsu tersebut.
Sedangkan aliran Karate lain yang besar walaupun tidak termasuk dalam “4 besar JKF” antara lain adalah:
1. Kyokushin
Kyokushin tidak termasuk dalam 4 besar Japan Karatedo Federation. Akan tetapi, aliran ini sangat terkenal baik didalam maupun diluar Jepang, serta turut berjasa mempopulerkan Karate di seluruh dunia, terutama pada tahun 1970an. Aliran ini didirikan oleh Sosai Masutatsu Oyama. Nama Kyokushin mempunyai arti kebenaran tertinggi. Aliran ini menganut sistem Budo Karate, dimana praktisi-praktisinya dituntut untuk berani melakukan full-contact kumite, yakni tanpa pelindung, untuk mendalami arti yang sebenarnya dari seni bela diri karate serta melatih jiwa/semangat keprajuritan (budo). Aliran ini juga menerapkan hyakunin kumite (kumite 100 orang) sebagai ujian tertinggi, dimana karateka diuji melakukan 100 kumite berturut-turut tanpa kalah. Sosai Oyama sendiri telah melakukan kumite 300 orang. Adalah umum bagi praktisi aliran ini untuk melakukan 5-10 kumite berturut-turut.
2. Shorin-ryu
Aliran ini adalah aliran Karate yang asli berasal dari Okinawa. Didirikan oleh Shoshin Nagamine yang didasarkan pada ajaran Yasutsune Anko Itosu, seorang guru Karate abad ke 19 yang juga adalah guru dari Gichin Funakoshi, pendiri Shotokan Karate. Dapat dimaklumi bahwa gerakan Shorin-ryu banyak persamaannya dengan Shotokan. Perbedaan yang mencolok adalah bahwa Shorin-ryu juga mengajarkan bermacam-macam senjata, seperti Nunchaku, Kama dan Rokushaku Bo.
3. Uechi-ryu
Aliran ini adalah aliran Karate yang paling banyak menerima pengaruh dari beladiri China, karena pencipta aliran ini, Kanbun Uechi, belajar beladiri langsung di provinsi Fujian di China. Oleh karena itu, gerakan dari aliran Uechi-ryu Karate sangat mirip dengan Kungfu aliran Fujian, terutama aliran Baihequan (Bangau Putih).

Kempo
generik untuk beberapa aliran Seni bela diri yang berasal dari Jepang dan banyak menggunakan permainan tangan. Jadi bukan nama satu aliran saja melainkan nama dari banyak aliran dan metode. Arti dari Kempo sendiri adalah beladiri dengan permainan tangan (didalam bahasa Mandarin disebut Quanfa).
Adapun beberapa aliran Kempo yang terkenal di Jepang dan negara-negara Barat adalah:
1. Tenshin Koryu Kempo, seni beladiri yang sudah berusia ratusan tahun sejak sebelum zaman Tokugawa (Era Meiji). Guru besar terakhir dari aliran ini adalah Ueno Takashi. Beladiri Tenshin Koryu Kempo ini berasal dari kombinasi antara Jujutsu aliran Shinto Tenshin-ryu, teknik persenjataan dan tangan kosong Asayama Ichiden-ryu dan Shinto Muso-ryu dengan jurus Daken Taijutsu aliran Hontai Kijin Chosui-ryu Kukishinden Daken Taijutsu. Salah satu pewaris dari aliran ini adalah grandmaster Shoto Tanemura dari Genbukan Dojo
2. Nihon Kempo, seni beladiri modern hasil ciptaan Master Masaru Sawayama. Beladiri yang unik dan merupakan kombinasi teknik pukul-tendang dari Karate dengan teknik bantingan dan pergumulan dari Judo dan Jujutsu. Sekarang sudah menjadi sebuah olahraga yang diminati di berbagai negara.
3. Kosho-ryu Kempo, seni beladiri turun temurun dari keluarga Mitose. Grandmaster terakhir dari aliran ini adalah Masayoshi Mitose yang kemudian menurunkan ilmunya kepada murid-muridnya yang berkebangsaan Amerika. Sehingga aliran Kempo ini dikenal dengan nama American Kenpo Karate.
4. Shorinji Kempo, seni beladiri berasal dari gabungan Indo Kempo (Ilmu Bela diri dari India) dan ilmu ketabiban Tiongkok kuno yang diciptakan oleh Bodhidharma/ Dharma Taishi/ Tatmo Cowsu seorang biksu Buddha untuk diberikan kepada calon bikhsu sebagai pendidikan keagamaan pada Zen Budhisme, pada tahun 550 M, disebarkan sesudah perang dunia ke 2 oleh So Doshin.

Kendo
Kendo (剣道 Kendō) adalah seni bela diri modern dari Jepang yang menggunakan pedang. Kendo berasal dari kata “Ken (剣)” yang artinya “Pedang”, dan “Do (道)” yang artinya “Jalan”. Jadi arti Kendo secara keseluruhan adalah suatu jalan/ proses disiplin diri yang membentuk suatu pribadi Samurai (侍) yang pemberani dan loyal. Kendo menggabungkan unsur-unsur bela diri, seni dan olah raga. Dalam latihan, Kendo menggunakan peralatan seperti:
• Seragam: Kendo Gi dan Hakama
• Pedang dari bambu (Shinai)
• Bogu, yang terdiri dari:
o Men (pelindung kepala)
o Do (pelindung badan)
o Kote (pelindung tangan)
o Tare (pelindung paha dan kemaluan)
Latihan Kendo [(Keiko (恵子))] terdiri dari berbagai macam tujuan untuk mengembangkan diri. Seperti halnya bela diri lain, Kendo memerlukan disiplin tinggi dan dedikasi penuh untuk latihan, seperti etika (religi), postur tubuh dan teknik melangkah, dan cara mengayun pedang yang benar.

Teknik Kendo

Ada 4 jenis serangan dalam Kendo, yaitu:
• 1. Men
o Tebasan kepala. Sasaran tebasannya adalah dari ujung dahi sampai dagu.
• 2. Kote
o Tebasan tangan. Jika lawan menggunakan ‘Chudan-no-kamae’, maka sasaran adalah tangan kanan, tetapi jika lawan menggunakan ‘jodan-no-kamae’, sasarannya adalah tangan kiri. Jika lawan menggunakan dua pedang (‘nito-ryu’), maka kedua lengan dapat dijadikan sasaran.
• 3. Do
o Tebasan badan. Sasarannya adalah sisi kiri atau kanan perut.
• 4. Tsuki
o Tusukan. Sasarannya hanyalah leher.
 Untuk teknik Tsuki, sangat diperlukan keahlian tinggi dan pengaturan sasaran tusukan yang tepat, oleh karena itu jurus ini hanya boleh digunakan oleh anggota senior, dan tidak disarankan untuk digunakan pada saat pertandingan, kecuali telah disetujui oleh pelatih [Sensei (先生)]
Berikut ini adalah beberapa teknik latihan kendo:
• Ashi-sabaki (Teknik melangkah)
o Ayumi-ashi
o Haraki-ashi
o Okuri-ashi
• Kihon (Teknik Dasar)
o Seme
o Suburi
o Joge buri
o Sa-Yu Men
o Shomen
o Nikkado men
o Haya suburi
o Kiri kaeshi
• Waza (Teknik lanjutan)
o Taiatari
o Tsuba zeriai
o De-bana
o Harai
o Hiki
o Kaeshi
o Nuki
o Suriage
• Keiko (Latihan)
o Uchikomi-geiko
o Kakari-geiko
o Jigeiko
o Shiai-geiko

Fundador de la Genbukan Ninpo Bugei y maestro en estilos de jujutsu y ninjutsu, estudió con Takamatsu sensei junto con su primo Masaaki Hatsumi.

Beginning Course in Miyama Ryu Combat Ju Jutsu

Shihan Donald Koz is offering a 15 week course in Miyama Ryu Combat Ju Jutsu, a classical Japanese martial art that originates from the Samurai of feudal Japan. This class is designed for the beginner. No prior martial arts experience is necessary. This non-competitive system is suitable for men and women. You will learn joint locks, throws, wrist locks, pressure points, blocks, punches and the critical thinking you need to defend yourself from real world attacks on our streets.

Miyama Ryu Combat Ju Jutsu is a street oriented self-defense program that is currently used by various law enforcement agencies including the U.S. Treasury Department, Criminal Division and the U.S, Military, specifically the Marines and Army.

Shihan Donald Koz has over 32 years experience in this system and is a retired Federal Law Enforcement Special Agent from the U.S. Treasury Department. He was the developer of their self defense program and was the Use of Force training coordinator. He has been teaching this program at the College of DuPage for 20 years and currently teaches the Defensive Techniques program at Harper College. He is also the Vice-Chairman of the International Miyama Ryu Combat Ju Jutsu Federation.

This program is being offered through the Japanese Cultural Center, 37 East Northwest Highway, Palatine, Illinois in the Palatine Centre. Classes will be held on Wednesday nights from 7:15 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.

Cost is $150.00 for 15 weeks   Uniform and book are additional and are required.

Space is limited. If you have any questions or would like to speak with him, you may contact Shihan Koz at 630 550-1384 or at Donald.koz@sbcglobal.net

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