Enter the Dragon!

An anonymous poster asked "What's the secret of a great turn-out?" in response to a picture of a packed mat . I'd say that there are several elements, primarily: A great class A core group of regulars A good time slot A convenient location Patience At least these are the factors that have conspired for my class.  It's always been a good class -- hands-on instruction in an excellent martial art -- but it's got better as I've developed as an instructor and a core group of regulars has coalesced.  This year I have been greatly aided by having Anthony assist with the large classes as well as all the colored belts.  Since Jiu-jitsu is predominantly a paired activity I can't teach a hall full of beginners single-handedly: students teach each other and I demonstrate and guide.  Learning this martial art teaches you how to teach one-on-one ... from day one. The core group of regulars also means that a newcomer observing the class for the first time sees a grou...

Congratulations to everyone who trained hard in the latter half of the year. Presentation day was on Sunday 19 December, and everyone who graded was successful. Well done: Lejoe: Orange belt (1 bar) in both jiu-jitsu and judo Damian: Orange belt (1 bar) jiu-jitsu and yellow (2 bars) judo Ashley: Yellow belt (2 bars) judo Tegan: Purple belt (1 bar) jiu-jitsu Ed:  Purple belt (1 bar) jiu-jitsu Congratulations also to everyone else who successfully graded from the Honbu, Monash Clayton, and Cockatoo.

The mat's looking pretty full nowadays. With a large class it's starting to get cramped during warm-ups: Warming up with some breakfalls And it's really full when everyone stretches out: The class at rest

John Coles is investigating the difference between throws and takedowns in the martial arts for his forthcoming book, and has written a couple of blog posts on the subject.  John points to some discussion of the various takes on the difference  this thread  from the Martial Arts Planet forum. An empirical exploration that anyone (with a bit of experience) can do is go through their style's syllabus and pull out the techniques explicitly labelled as throws and those labelled as takedowns and look for any differences of principle. That's what I intend to do!

I haven't been blogging much in the last couple of months, and with good reason: a new job, complete with learning curve and travel, and consequently a paring back on other activities.   A good friend told me that getting settled in to a new job typically takes three to six months, which sounds about right. Anyhoo, as part of my drive to get more organized in my new gig (and generally), I finally picked up a copy of Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity by David Allen -- perplexingly re-titled "How to Get Things Done" for the Australian edition -- something of a "sacred text" for the geeky Lifehacking movement. Here's an article from Wired magazine Getting Things Done Guru David Allen and His Cult of Hyperefficiency  that delves into the somewhat colorful background of the author. A synopsis of the approach, given at Google (46 minutes): What I hadn't realised previously, and what the video and the book make quite clear is that GTD i...

This first clip is of a wushu competitor performing a (winning) Chen-style-taijiquan-inspired routine: And this is Chen Bing of Chen village doing a section of  the actual Chen-style taijiquan cannon fist routine: Quite a difference!

Traditionally, jiu-jitsu is performed right-handed: "there are no left-handed swordsmen in Japan".  The jiu-jitsu syllabus is large enough that for self-defence purposes ambidextrosity is not required for many techniques: need the left-handed version of a technique?  Use something else instead. On the other hand(!) judo techniques are often practiced on the non-preferred side -- hidari in Japanese -- thereby developing the body evenly on both sides. For me, one of the best reasons to practice left-handed is to increase one's focus on what you're doing.  A reasonably well-grooved technique suddenly becomes challenging again.  I find myself changing from side-to-side, engaging in self-observation and self-teaching as I work to transfer the technique to the other side.  And the best thing ... the original migi side inevitably benefits too. Other reasons to practice left-handed: Injury : sometimes its unsafe to work on the regular side Rehab : I have been working ...

Congratulations to everyone from Monash Caulfield who presented for the mid-2010 gradings (all successful!): Anthony ,  Lisa , Lejoe , Damian ,  Ash , John , Lizzie , and Soksan . Almost everyone graded in both jiu-jitsu and judo, and several did multiple grades.  This was by far the biggest group who have graded from Caulfield, and all set a great example through their dedication and hard work. Well done also to all the other students who graded across our Federation.  I cannot stress enough how helpful it is to one's progress to be part of a group who are training together.  Cooperative learning and friendly competition are boons in this regard.

Some excellent writing on courtesy, humility, and example-setting from Charles C. Goodin's Karate Thoughts blog.  Start with these: Character 1-2-3 Domo arigato sensei These lessons don't just apply to karate, but (hopefully!) to all martial arts, and to living a good life.

I recently learned that one of our restraint and control techniques, which officially goes by the (not very descriptive) name of "wristlock technique" has gained an unofficial moniker: the Steven Seagal technique, referring to a scene from the critically panned Under Siege 2 .  If someone can send me a link to the requisite bit on YouTube I would be grateful, and will share. Then last night at training I demonstrated a knife disarm and threw the knife "out of play", apparently with a Seagal-like flourish.  So now we have two Steven Seagal techniques. Here's a nice demo that Seagal did in 1982 on The Merv Griffin Show: It includes some weapons self-defence, and kenjitsu at the end.  Note how, after taking the weapon from his assailant, he always indicates "the finish".

A former student -- he may well return! -- sent me a link to a real-life judo in the news story: Judo-trained dairy owner sees off armed youths A Levin dairy owner used his judo skills to fend off would-be robbers pointing a pistol at his head. Playford foodmarket owner Tushar Patel was walking out of his Bledisloe St dairy at 1.25pm on Sunday when he saw four young men, two wearing balaclavas, about to enter. He managed to dial 111 on his mobile before one of youths snatched his phone and tried to punch him in the face.  A former judo competitor in India, he deflected the blow, grabbed his phone, and held on to his attacker's wrist. He saw one of the group rushing towards him pointing what looked like a pistol at his head. "I thought, 'That is a bloody gun he has."' The gunman threatened to shoot Mr Patel, prompting him to push the man he was holding towards the gunman and yell out to his neighbour to call the police. The group ran off. "I was yelling loudl...

Over the weekend our organization had its winter gradings.   I sat on two grading panels observing and assessing students testing for jiu-jitsu and judo student grades ranging from 12th kyu to 1st kyu. Formal testing is only part of the assessment.  Other elements include: class hours, seminar attendance, points scored in judo competition, and their sensei's recommendation. The formal testing itself includes a physical component (demonstration of techniques and self-defence) and an oral component (knowledge and terminology).  Attitude is also assessed. Assessment is subjective -- which is one of the reasons we typically have three black belts per panel -- but here are some of the things that I look for in grading a physical technique (easily adapted to an oral explanation): Identification : Was the requested technique demonstrated? Completeness : Were all the technical elements present? Correctness : Were there any technical defects? Control : Was the technique executed s...

The acronym of the day is FOOSH.  It stands for Falling On OutStretched Hand.  John Coles has written an informative post on FOOSH injuries . I just like the sound of the word.  Say it out loud: "FOOSH".  But I bet that's not what you would say if you sustained a FOOSH injury! This is what a FOOSH injury looks like: Ouch!!  Search YouTube for "skateboard wrist break" for more disasters.   Link . This old post explains how the judo alternative, trained breakfalls, can lower the risk of FOOSH in day-to-day life.

Fabulous clip of 7 stone (44.5 kg) Miss May Whitley giving a lightning introduction to the role of unbalancing   in jiu-jitsu  before throwing her good friend "the bandit" repeatedly onto a hard stage floor.  Be sure to watch with the sound turned up to enjoy her wonderful accent and his howls of pain: Attacks and jiu-jitsu counters demonstrated: Handbag snatch : Arm-lock plus projection throw Rear choke : 1st shoulder throw ( kata seoi ) Straight punch : Reverse arm-bar ( waki-gatame ) Front kick : Inner-rear sweeping throw Front choke : Circle throw ( tomoe nage ) Thanks to Sue for highlighting this clip and more  on her blog. Simply spiffing: what, what!?

Here's some 90-year-old footage: judo randori from 1922 featuring a young Kyuzo Mifune (then only a fifth dan!) in action. Lovely throws: fluid yet powerful, opportunistic rather than pre-planned.  This is what we should be striving for!

Today I attended the funeral of our Kancho, who died last week suddenly and unexpectedly at his home. Barry William Bradshaw, 1939 - 2010 He will be sorely missed by his loving family, by his many friends and colleagues, and by the incredible number of students he taught, mentored and befriended in over 50 years as a martial arts instructor.  He lives on in all of us, as does his legacy.

Kyuzo Mifune was possibly the greatest judo technician ever.  Beginning Judo training at age 13 or 14, by 30 he was already a 6th dan under Kano,  and nicknamed "The God of Judo".   At 40, and all of 5'2" tall and 100 pounds, he defeated a 6' tall 240 pound challenger who was skilled in sumo. Mifune wrote one of the best Judo books, The Canon of Judo: Classic Teachings on Principles and Techniques .  Out of print for many years, a new translation is out as a reasonable price. Fortunately for us, there is reasonable footage of him as an old man throwing younger and larger opponents all over the place.  In particular, at 2:30 Mifune demonstrates  utsuri goshi   (our 9th hip throw) as a counter to harai goshi (5th hip throw), which I have been working on with a couple of my students; followed by utsuri goshi as a counter to  hane goshi (6th hip throw): Isn't that wonderful?  Observe how fluid and mobile Mifune is, generating enormo...

The judo I practice is a descendant of the method of the approach to judo devised by Mikonosuke Kawaishi  adapted for teaching Europeans and partially documented in his book My Method of Judo (out of print). One of my old posts includes a summary of Kawaishi's syllabus: The art of falling:  Breakfalls and rolls Methods of disturbing the opponent's balance Throwing techniques 15 leg throws 15 hip throws 6 shoulder throws 10 hand throws 15 "sacrifice" throws Ground-fighting techniques 17   immobilizations 29 strangles 25 arm-locks 9 leg-locks 6 neck dislocations Check out  this web page  for a complete listing of the techniques in his book.

In a battle of sword vs stick, I'll take the sword: Nice exhibition of throws, too.

I refer, of course, to my dragon pole, pictured below. Father, daughter, and dragon pole (circa 2007) In principle, a weapon is simply an extension of the body.  In practice, it takes a lot of intelligent  and diligent practice to attain that kind of mastery.  [I'm working on it...]  In the meantime, training with a weapon, especially a large weapon, is a valuable source of feedback for developing efficient body movement.  Weapons are great teachers. There is also a conditioning effect.  Look at the picture: talk about torque!  Repeatedly working through the hung kuen dragon pole set, or even individual movements as a drill, soon becomes a demanding workout. I like to practice the dragon pole movements not only with the big stick, but to a lesser extent with a 6 foot  bo,  and also with no stick at all.  After training with the dragon pole switching down to a  bo  feels like a toothpick! Nowadays we don't travel around a...

Kani basami  is judo's flying scissors throw, and was banned from competition because of the risk of breaking one or both of uke 's legs. It's a fun throw, and requires a strong breakfall from  uke .  In learning this throw it is helpful to put one hand on the floor, but it's much more satisfying to do it in mid-air. In wrestling you'll sometimes see the even more spectacular and dangerous flying head scissors variation, performed here  (at 1:20) by Scarlett Johansson's character in Iron Man 2. That's not allowed in competition, either!

For a bit of a change I taught a class built out of variations. Starting with our first leg throw (o soto gari) and the related ninth (o soto otoshi) I led the class through about 8 variations. We repeated the dose with around a dozen related hip throws and variations, all emerging from our nfirst hip throw (uki goshi). Because we practice osoto gari and uki goshi so much, even for the beginners this was viable. The related principles form a bridge to the variations. It is not a case of learning something completely unrelated, but rather building on what you already have. At the same time, learning a new variation is not just accumulation; there are distinctive points and refinements to be learned and most everyone runs into a particular variation that poses problems that need to be worked through. After this tour, we went back to some rapid-fire throw-for-throw practice on the first leg and hip throws with a variety of partners, which were -- gasp! -- now a bit better and more ro...

Kano's early Judo included distinctive striking techniques (atemi waza), and training in many weapons, as well as throws, groundwork, and revival techniques, all distilled from multiple jiu-jitsu ryu.  When Funakoshi brought Karate to Japan from Okinawa there was cross-fertilization with Judo, similarly with Ueshiba's aikido (Tomiki, I believe, was ranked 9th dan in both arts). So judo was an evolving composite, from which specialist streams have emerged.  You can see echoes of some of this stuff in the higher judo katas, but overall there seems to have been a loss of heritage, at least in mainstream Olympic Judo, due to multiple factors, including: optimization for a particular rule-set, with victory in competition as the main goal; popularization as a national physical exercise regime suitable for dissemination through high schools; and the banning of most martial arts practice in Japan following its defeat in WWII. Similarly, chinese boxing (kung fu) styles have e...

Our self-defence requirements include scenario training against differently trained attackers, and armed assailants.  That said, I think that intensive training in weapons and in a fist-and-foot style helps a lot in comfort and expertise in those kind of scenarios.  And that takes training time, whether in one art or many.  I have trained in ken-jitsu a little bit, and I like it.  In people who have done a lot of sword-work you can see it reflected (positively!) in their jiu-jitsu.  Similarly, as I make progress in chinese boxing, I am finding all sorts of cross-connections with jiu-jitsu. Real combat, especially when weapons are involved, is of course extremely dangerous.  Personally, I'd rather face a kick-boxer than an attacker with a sword.

I say both.  Despite our large syllabus, we spend most of our time practicing the fundamentals, both techniques and drills.  The higher techniques are practiced less often, but build on and compliment the principles instilled in the fundamentals.  This maintains interest, adds scope, and reinforces the fundamentals ( example ). At first only the basic techniques will be sufficiently internalized to pull off under pressure, but over time one's applicable repertoire becomes richer. An analogy is learning another language.  Maybe you only learn a handful of words and phrases by rote at first -- traveller's French (or whatever) -- but if you are serious, in time you will want to develop a richer vocabulary, a sense of the grammar, idiom, etc.  Even learning those first few phrases may be really difficult (at first), but it is not clear that restricting yourself to a small set that intensive practice of a small subset will lead to better results than a serious, broad...

In response to one of my posts from 2007,  Jiu-jitsu is Adaptable , an Anonymous commenter posted a couple of interesting and essay-length comments meditating on the merits and practicalities of many techniques vs few, and of different systems of martial arts, contrasting and comparing his experience of Jiu-jitsu with various other styles, including Krav Maga, Kali and Kick-boxing, and finishing up with the question: What do you think about cross-training and how do you train defenses against kickboxers and armed attackers? A few comments, broken across a few posts Cross-training Can be good, can be bad.  I appreciate that the hope is that by training in multiple arts you will be able to compensate for weaknesses in one art with the strength of the others, but I think that it is more complex than that.  Do you have time to train sufficiently in both arts to really get them? Do they blend harmoniously, or do they contain opposing principles and strategies? I have students ...

I have just finished reading the fabulous Wooden: A Lifetime of Observations and Reflections on and Off the Court by the all-time greatest ever college basketball coach, John Wooden with Steve Jamison .  Apparently still alive , but gravely ill at 99, Coach Wooden was profiled in Carol Dweck's fantastic book, Mindset, which I reviewed previously , and I am now reading some of the books recommended therein. Wooden's approach to teaching, coaching, and life, which led him to an unrivalled record as coach of the  UCLA Bruins, including 10 national championships, including a streak of 7 (the previous record was 2 in a row), was built on an unconventional but efficacious definition of success.  He disagrees with the dictionary definition: I knew how Mr. Webster defined it: "as the accumulation of material possessions or the attainment of a position of power or prestige, or something of that sort." Worthy accomplishments perhaps, but in my opinion not necessarily indicati...

Spot-on post from Jiu-jitsu Sensei: Everything I need to know I learned from doing hip throws . The more years I do hip throws, the more I seem to get out of it. At first it was simply the joy of slamming someone down on the ground effortlessly... Who am I kidding? I still enjoy that. But now I look at the hip throw and see how it has many parallels to life in general. Read on... The hip throws are the "core throws" of jiu-jitsu and judo, in more ways than one.

I have  previously written about how I think of martial arts training as having two poles Kata : Pre-arranged, cooperative practice (includes: sets, forms, drills) Randori : Competitive, sportive, game-like, chaotic practice (includes: sparring, games)  Taking the metaphor further, and visualizing these poles as the north and south poles of the world of martial arts training, one can explore the rest of the surface, with extreme structure and extreme chaos as the poles, and all other training methods in-between.   This article talks a bit about one way to move from cooperative combinations towards randori, step-by-step.  There are many, many such approaches to practice. Regardless of the method or methods of practice, the aim is to train the mind and body to internalize martial arts skill and ability.  The japanese term  tai-jitsu  (body art) captures some of the flavor of this; in chinese  gong fu  or kung fu (mastery from long practice) ...

Even a very well-honed and skillful technique won't necessarily work on everyone.  There are some flexible people in my class who certain joint locks won't work on; others are fairly impervious to strangles; various throws are more difficult to pull off against heavy, short or tall partners; particular pressure points are "dead" on some people. So: practice with many partners; learn variations; learn to flow into other techniques. If a technique doesn't work, work on it and improve it, and figure out what else it sets up.  I haven't met anyone yet who is impervious to all techniques.  When I do I'll ... run away!

Like this Far Side cartoon come to life, but arguably better, "ninjas" in Sydney came to the rescue of a mugging victim.  I kid you not: Ninjas rescue Sydney mugging victim A German exchange student was reportedly rescued from a violent assault in western Sydney after a group of men dressed as ninjas confronted his attackers. Two teens and a 20-year-old allegedly initially approached the 27-year-old medical student while he was on a train on Tuesday night and demanded he hand over his wallet. When the student refused and got off the train the three allegedly followed him. But the trio allegedly chose to launch their assault on the man in the most inopportune spot — outside the Ninja Senshi Ryu martial arts school in Penrith at around 10:10pm. As they allegedly grabbed the student's iPod and phone and kicked him to the ground, one of the ninjas raised the alarm with his teacher Kaylan Soto and fellow ninjas, all of whom came rushing out to help. "The first thing we sa...

Most everyone has heard "practice makes perfect".  If only it were that simple!  Some more accurate quotes: Practice makes permanent. They say 'practice makes perfect.' Of course, it doesn't. For the vast majority of golfers it merely consolidates imperfection. -- Henry Longhurst Practice does not make perfect. Only perfect practice makes perfect. -- Vince Lombardi Through repetition we burn movements into our brains and bodies, making them easier to repeat (for good or bad).  It is difficult to unlearn one way of doing things and replace or augment it with a better way; but unlearning is an unavoidable part of learning, and worth getting good at.  If we practice to do one thing, we'll need to practice further to undo it or evolve it into something else.  In practicing a new way, I discover how deeply ingrained the old way was -- habits are hard to change!  So: Practice as if you are the worst, perform as if you are the best. When you are not practicin...

"Crazy horse" is a tremendous game that you can play with small(ish) children, devised by the Gracie family, but equally good preparation for judo: Advantages: Great fun Builds skills in both parties Makes good use of the adult/child size difference Reasonably safe One of "ten playful jiu-jitsu games" demonstrated in the new Gracie Bullyproof  10 DVD set, this has got me curious about the other games, too: Discs 2-3: Gracie Games™  In the beginning, Rorion didn’t teach his children Gracie Jiu-Jitsu, he “played” Gracie Jiu-Jitsu. Using a series of 10 playful jiu-jitsu games, Rorion engaged his children in the learning process while informally introducing them to the fundamental principles of Gracie Jiu-Jitsu. The idea that most young children (say under 8) will struggle with more formal martial arts training, but love  all sorts of wrestling games and other horse-play rings true to me. I particularly like games that are intrinsically fun, rather than relying on compe...

In our classes, prior to the closing ceremony, it customary for the instructor to ask, "Are there any questions?".  Usually these are answered with briefly, then any announcements are made, and the we pack up, get changed into civvies, and go straight home*. This format is fine for covering Q&A about administrative matters, but not ideal for consolidating learning. While I have been toying with extending the time available to allow greater reflection and sharing about technical matters, I am coming round to thinking that keeping it brief is fine, and other approaches may work better anyway for enhancing reflection and learning. One approach that appeals is used by one of our Shihans.  After giving the class a new or challenging exercise to work on, he'll often get the group to debrief  by having the class form a circle around him and each in turn describe something they just learned or observed.  This encourages reflection, and also gives everyone the b...

I list the martial blogs that I regularly read on the right sidebar.  Some of the ones I enjoyed have dried up and stopped, so I'm on the hunt for replacements, especially (but not only) "Japanese" Jiu-jitsu blogs. What are your top recommendations?

Judo doesn't teach you to fly, but you will   learn to fall  (safely). A couple of weeks ago Lisa and Ash brought their digital SLRs to class and captured some nice action shots: Up in the air Seoi otoshi (4th shoulder throw): Sensei Dan, tori ; Brenton,  uke Hane goshi (6th hip throw): Damian & Lizzie Hane goshi (reverse angle):  John, tori ; Ash, uke   Remember to breakfall The moment before landing Lejoe's breakfall is a blur

When I started learning jiu-jitsu and judo, I immediately appreciated the broad, intricate and varied syllabus.  If I was unable to make a particular technique work, be it a throw, groundwork technique, or restraint & control application I was nevertheless making progress in other areas, which was good for my morale.  I would struggle for a few minutes with the problematic technique, try some things, get some tips, and often get a bit frustrated, but then my sensei would move us onto something else.  Over time, the progress on other fronts would help me get unstuck on my problem technique (really techniques), since the underlying principles all intersect and what I learned elsewhere I would eventually be able to apply.  From time to time techniques would cease to work, or fail on a particular partner, even in cooperative practice, but nothing was permanently stuck. By contrast, when I took some ken-jitsu (japanese sword class, performed initially with a wooden bo...

Dear reader As you can see, I have finally updated the template that controls the layout of this blog, including colors, fonts and what goes where on the side-bars.  I hope you like the new look! I'll continue to refine the layout, but I am keen to hear how I can make it work better for you : What do you like / not like? Suggest improvements And, while you are at it, please tell me what kind of posts you would like to see more of in the future. E.g. Principles Learning and teaching tips Connecting martial arts practice and real life Links to other online martial arts articles and resources Book reviews You name it (and I might do it!) If point me to examples of past posts that you liked (or don't! ;-), that helps me too. Also, since I have a few overlapping audiences, could you also tell me which camp you fall in?  E.g.: Prospective martial arts students, especially those considering learning jiu-jitsu My own students, and martial arts colleagues Other martial artists, includi...

How do you prefer to learn? Incrementally : a little bit at a time, able to show fairly complete proficiency at one ability or skill before proceeding to the next, slightly more challenging level; or Iteratively : Cycling through a number of skills and challenges, periodically returning, and gradually ratcheting up the challenge level. The first approach s sometimes referred to as mastery learning ; the second as spiral learning.  As always the devil is in the detail. Spiral learning approaches are great for those students whose pace matches that set for instruction.  On the other hand, if you're struggling with the pace it will feel too fast, and you may feel inadequate (or resentful); if it's too slow, you may well feel bored (but boredom can often be productively overcome ).  Mastery learning, on the other hand is by necessity individually paced, but can be a bit procedural from an instructional perspective. In my jiu-jitsu and classical judo classes I have learned (an...

Every so often I read a book that is so good that, on completing it, I re-read it straight away.   Mindset , by academic psychologist Carol Dweck is the latest.  Entertaining and highly informative, Dweck has a different take on the eternal nature vs nurture debate.  Her research centers not on the relative impact of nature and nurture, but rather on the impact of the individual's  belief in nature compared to nurture on their performance and personality.  It turns out that "mere" belief in nurture leads to better performance over time, and much more besides. With respect to any capacity, be it intelligence, sporting ability, musicality, etc. it is not too difficult to establish whether an individual takes a "fixed" mindset (the belief that, broadly speaking, you got it or you don't), or a "growth" mindset (the belief that that capacity can be developed and refined with effort).  People are not either purely "fixed" or "growth"...

From the numerous sayings attributed to the ancient Chinese sage, Confucius : "Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall." "It does not matter how slowly you go so long as you do not stop." "The cautious seldom err." "A person who has committed a mistake and doesn't correct it, is committing another mistake." "Hold faithfulness and sincerity as first principles." "By nature, people are nearly alike; by practice, they get to be wide apart." "I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand." "Respect yourself and others will respect you." "Every truth has four corners: as a teacher I give you one corner, and it is for you to find the other three." "Wherever you go, go with all your heart." And here's a selection of  Confucius jokes like the ones we used to tell in high school.

We had 18 people on the mat the other night, up from 15 the week before.  With 15 on the mat, it was already crowded, so this week we borrowed some jigsaw mats and put together a two-layer annex to the side of the main mat . Throwing practice on the main mat I sent the most senior students (plus Tyrone the tyro) to the annex during break-falling warmup.  It reminded me of when we started the main Monash University club at the Clayton campus under Sensei Tony in the mid 1990s.  We borrowed some hard mats from I think the resident judo and aikido clubs and got stuck in.  The problem was that although the experienced students quickly acclimatized, and soon relished the harder conditioning, we couldn't keep new students: you need to ease into that sort of thing.  [In time, we got some softer mats, and the membership grew accordingly.] Students gather around Anthony for R&C instruction on the annex  On Wednesday I had my assistant Anthony (a brown-belt)...

"Jiu-jitsu is originally from Brazil, right?" I've been asked this a couple of times lately.  With the rise of mixed martial arts, kicked off by the UFC in the early 1990s, and before that the "Gracie challenge", Brazilian Jiu-jitsu (which we used to call Gracie Jiu-jitsu) is now better known than Japanese jiu-jitsu. Jiu-jitsu was the unarmed martial art of the Japanese Samurai class, so it's definitely Japanese.  Right?  There were many schools of jiu-jitsu, and some of them had a heavy Chinese influence.  But legendarily,  the martial arts were brought to China from India, by Bodhidarma.  These things go back ... A similar story pertains to Karate.  Many people think of Karate as Japanese, but it was introduced to Japan from Okinawa in the early 20th century, and before that was adapted from southern Chinese martial arts, and even known as "Chinese hand" in parts of Okinawa. You have to draw the line somewhere.  So I say: Kung fu (Chinese boxing...

The hip throws are the most powerful throws in judo, but the term "hip" is somewhat misleading, referring as it does to the joint connecting the top of the femur (bone of the upper leg) to the pelvis, and the surrounding region. A more accurate term is loin, not in the sense of "loin cloth" or "fruit of his loins", but rather in the sense of sirloin steak, or tenderloin:   In human anatomy the term "loin" or "loins" refers to the side of the human body below the rib cage to just below the pelvis.  It is frequently used to reference the general area below the ribs. -- Wikipedia This area -- which can also be described as the lower torso, "the core" or even "the guts" -- has as its focal point the body's center of mass, known as hara or tanden in Japanese, and dantien in Chinese.  With reference to this point Feldenkrais writes in his book, Higher Judo, Ground Work : All movement of the co-ordinated Master is so...

"I should explain here that the underlying purpose of Judo is to enable a physically weaker person to defend himself against a physically stronger opponent, alike in mimic combat on the mats of the Dojo or exercise hall and in a genuine struggle for survival outside it.  Other things equal it is simply axiomatic to say that the stronger man must eventually win, but seeing that not infrequently the relatively poorer physique of one man is largely offset by his superior intelligence, skill, and agility, he may conceivably prove the victor in contest with his physically more powerful antagonist.  And admitting that there are always numerous gradations of sheer bodily strength among the pupils of any Dojo, the cumulative effect of assiduous study and practice of Judo is bound in the end to convert even a veritable tyro weakling into a physically vigorous and technically skilled Judoka." -- E.J. Harrison, Manual of Judo

The club where I started my training in jiu-jitsu is called  Tora-do ryu;  translation: "Way of the tiger school".  Here's a clip that shows a bit of what a real tigress can do: Stealth, speed, huge leap, balance, intent: wow! Snippets from the back-story: The 25-year-old mahout, Satya Pegu, who was badly lacerated, lost three fingers on his left hand, is in a hospital in Dibrugarh. Doctors are worried about the onset of gangrene and may have to amputate his left palm. Reconstruction of events and a video taken by the divisional forest officer, R.K.Das, graphically show how Joymala pinned down the tigress with her foot as it was trying to get up and attack the officers who had fallen on the ground. The team cautiously moved towards it and could get to almost 20 feet where she was growling away. Bodo could see her clearly and took a shot at it with the dart gun. The dart missed her and this enraged her so much that she charged and took a “flying” leap on to the elephant’s ...

They're remaking the 1984 martial arts / underdog /coming-of-age movie, The Karate Kid , with most of the action taking place in Beijing in the new version. Apparently, the more accurate title of The Kung Fu Kid will be used for the Asian release. Will Smith's son Jaden takes the title role (Daniel is now Dre), with Jackie Chan (nice!) as his mentor.  The trailer: And here's one of the best scenes from the original movie, in which young Daniel learns the application of his labours painting fences, waxing floors, etc. to self-defence: Release date for the new version is June 11, 2010.  Title aside, it looks promising.

Last Wednesday I had three white belts (new this year), four purple belts (our lowest tested grade), one yellow , and two orange belts.  Having a mixed-level class is great, in that many students get a chance to be junior, senior and peer, often all in the one class, but it's quite complicated.  Here's how I rotated the pairings on the night ... In the cooperative throwing section of the class: Demonstrated: leg throws 1 to 3 (see this Kawaishi method index of throws ) 2 x  pairs of purple belt (peer learning) 3 x white belt - higher belt (most experienced / beginner pairing) Demonstrated: leg throws 4 to 6 3 x white belt - purple pairs continued working on throws 1 to 3 (reinforcement) orange - yellow pair, and orange - purple pair worked on 4 to 6 (rotating through the purple belts) Demonstrated: leg throws 7 and 8 same as 4 to 6 Demonstrated: leg throws 9 and 10 same as 4 to 6 With this system of rotations: the white-belts spent most of their time on the most fundam...

I teach a two hour class once a week throughout the year, currently on Wednesday evenings. We study Jiu-jitsu , incorporating classical Judo . Who are my students? Young adults, women and men, most studying at the University (some not), recent graduates, some older guys (often with some previous martial arts experience).  They come in most shapes and sizes. Because of the hands-on nature of the class , and because most of the training is done in pairs, I can only take on so many new students at a time. Once people have been training with me for 6 to 12 months, I encourage them to pick up an extra class (or two) each week at our Honbu (headquarters).  This can be helpful in accelerating their progress through additional training hours and access to high-level instruction. You will probably like my class if your priorities include some of Self-defence Personal development Social development A discipline that challenges both mind and body Technical excellence All-round fitness ...

Brazilian Jiu-jitsu from the 1950's looks awfully like  classical judo , from which it descends. A nice old clip, featuring Carlos and Helio Gracie (Skip to the 2 minute mark if you find the introduction a bit slow): Good stuff!

For fans of the original Star Trek , here's William Shatner as captain Kirk showing young Charlie X a thing or two about judo*: Gotta love those Federation gis! Although Shatner does a reasonably good roll, the rest of his judo leaves quite a bit to be desired, in my view.  I'd certainly back legendary tough guy actor and judo black belt James Cagney  against him (click the link for an awesome clip), and similarly British judoka and Bond Girl Honor Blackman: Unfortunately I couldn't find the clip from Goldfinger of Blackman as the fabulously named "Pussy Galore" throwing Bond (Sean Connery) all over the shop.  Maybe someone can help me out? *Spotted on Sensei Strange's  aikido blog .

Last year Tans martial arts supplies organized a charity dinner / martial arts display that raised over $15,000 which was donated to the Australian Cancer Research Foundation .  Highlights: From 0:50 to 1:12 you can see my Federation colleagues in action, first doing the hung kuen chopper set, then a selection of throws.  I was confined to watching, applauding, and eating. It's on again this year: When: 7 pm Friday 26 March, 2010 Where: Happy Receptions, 199-203 Union Road, Ascot Vale Cost: $70 per person (includes banquet meal), tables of 10 available Attire: Neat casual RSVP: Catherine 9870 0813, 0413 006 028 Get along to support a good cause.