Water Dragon
12-17-2001, 08:51 AM
But here's a good read:
TEACHING GRAPPLING: THE COMBAT WAY
by
Dr. William Durbin
Many people are interested in teaching grappling skills, but too many of them have only a peripheral knowledge of grappling skill and that from the perspective of sport Judo, which taught techniques developed only for sport, not intended for combat. Now I am sure this supposition needs to be explained from a historical point of view, and the answer is actually quit simple.
Jujutsu, which has become the generic term for empty hand fighting skills in Japan, is a term believed to have been coined around the sixteenth century, but actually subsumes quite a few fighting arts. Those arts which came under the generic term Jujutsu included; Kempo, Torite, Yawara, Kogusoku, Koshimawari, Wajutsu, Kumiuchi, Taijutsu, and many others.
Most of these fighting arts were looked upon as auxiliary to the weapon arts. What this meant was that primary training was given to the weapons skills and the empty hand training was designed to back up the weapons, not as an art practiced only by itself. On the other hand, the weapon skills were in need of support for those times when a weapon was broken or simply knocked out of the hands.
What has confused most people is that since Judo has laying techniques and Kodokan is based on Jujutsu, it is supposed that Jujutsu has a set of laying down skills. But remember the cause of Jujutsu, it was an art used to back up weapon arts, such as; Naginata jutsu (halberd art), Yari jutsu (spear art), and Ken jutsu (sword art).
Ask yourself what would happen to a warrior who was facing an opponent on a battlefield, surrounded by enemy soldiers, trying to kill anyone wearing your uniform. Picture that you are engaged in a struggle with an enemy soldier and fall to the ground locked in an embrace over a sword, you having lost yours. Now you could lock the person up and seek to hold them on the ground, but then one of the enemy warriors would run you through with a spear, slice you with a halberd, or remove your head with a sword.
It is obvious, just by putting the Japanese grappling art in context, taking it out of the realm of sports, that laying around in a battle could not possibly be an effective form of fighting. Where then did Kodokan Judo’s grappling skills come from and why were they practiced as a laying down fighting method?
The answer lies in history. It seems that in 1900, the Kodokan, had made quite a reputation for itself by matching against other Jujutsu Dojo in a type of Randori Shiai, free play competition, winning with standing throwing techniques primarily. Much of the reputation was made by the standing throwing skills of Shiro Saigo, a practitioner of Oshikiuchi, the art of Daito Ryu Aikijujutsu.
But then in 1900, the Kodokan matched itself against the Fusen Ryu. At that time Judo did not have Ne Waza, laying techniques, instead they fought standing up, as Kano had been taught in both the Tenshin Shinyo Ryu and Kito Ryu systems he studied. Both Kito Ryu and Tenshin Shinyo Ryu had excellent striking skills and effective throws, since they were created by actual Samurai. Kito Ryu was known primarily for it’s body throws, while Tenshin Shinyo Ryu was famous for it’s immobilizations, very similar to those which are utilized by Aikido today.
When Kodokan Judo faced off against the Fusen Ryu Jujutsu, the Jujutsuka realized that there was no way they could defeat the Kodokan Judoka on an even footing in a regular standing Randori, thus they decided to use a very sneaky tactic. According to one source, when the Kodokan men and the Fusen Ryu men squared off, the Jujutsuka immediately laid down on the ground. The Kodokan men didn’t know what to do, then the Fusen Ryu practitioners took them to the ground and used chokes and ground joint lock to win the matches. This was the first real loss that the Kodokan had known in eight years.
Kano took this to mean that if they were going to continue matching other Jujutsu schools they needed a full range of laying techniques. Thus with friends of other Jujutsu systems, among them being Fusen Ryu practitioners, Kano over the next six years formulated the Ne Waza of Kodokan Judo which included three divisions; Katame Waza (locking techniques), Shime Waza (choking techniques), and Osae Waza (holding techniques).
Many of these techniques, while originally designed for combat, were so highly modified for sporting events, that they no longer retained their original combat significance. In some cases the moves have no immediate combat significance outside of the sporting arena.
Due to the Randori Shiai competitions between Judo and Jujutsu schools, the standing and laying techniques became well known throughout the Oriental world. As the arts spread beyond Japan, especially during the early 1900s, Judo and Jujutsu practitioners popularized their arts by taking on all comers in side shows or at theaters. This led to the idea of trying out the skills in a wrestling challenge as being a way of testing ones skill and creating interest in the art. Yet many of the skills used in these events were designed only for ‘friendly’ competition and not intended for life and death battle on the battlefield or even for self defense on the street. Many of these skills are only good for civilized competition, even when it is extremely brutal.
What then are the combat grappling skills? First of all, there are throws. The idea of throwing, combat skills, is to injure the opponent when they hit the ground or to set them up for a finishing move, which was usually designed to break a limb or damage a joint. Throws were designed to be done standing, though there developed a set of throws that took advantage of an opponent making you fall, which you then turned into a throw which hurled them to the ground as well. These were counter throws or methods of taking a slip of the foot and turning it from a simple fall to the ground to a throw. In example, if a person is trying to throw an opponent with an Ukiotoshi, floating drop, but slips and begins to fall, they can change the standing throw into an Ukiwaza, floating technique, which throws the assailant in the same way, but as the defender falls to the ground.
Second there are joint techniques which generally attack the wrist, shoulder, or elbow. There are some designed to attack the knee, though these are less joint locks, though there are a few, and more low kicks intended to collapsed the knee or shatter the joint. Once again, these were intended for use standing.
Finally, there are chokes of three types. The first type attacks the air supply by collapsing the windpipe. These chokes were not originally designed to be applied gently, so that they cause a person to capitulate in competition. They were designed to be slammed on, many times causing severe damage which would kill their opponent quickly.
The second type of choke was a blood strangle. This was a movement intended to angularly apply pressure to the carotid arteries. By cutting off the blood to the brain an opponent can be rendered unconscious in just five seconds. But once again, these were developed for fighting in actual combat and death can result from a blood choke in just seven seconds.
TEACHING GRAPPLING: THE COMBAT WAY
by
Dr. William Durbin
Many people are interested in teaching grappling skills, but too many of them have only a peripheral knowledge of grappling skill and that from the perspective of sport Judo, which taught techniques developed only for sport, not intended for combat. Now I am sure this supposition needs to be explained from a historical point of view, and the answer is actually quit simple.
Jujutsu, which has become the generic term for empty hand fighting skills in Japan, is a term believed to have been coined around the sixteenth century, but actually subsumes quite a few fighting arts. Those arts which came under the generic term Jujutsu included; Kempo, Torite, Yawara, Kogusoku, Koshimawari, Wajutsu, Kumiuchi, Taijutsu, and many others.
Most of these fighting arts were looked upon as auxiliary to the weapon arts. What this meant was that primary training was given to the weapons skills and the empty hand training was designed to back up the weapons, not as an art practiced only by itself. On the other hand, the weapon skills were in need of support for those times when a weapon was broken or simply knocked out of the hands.
What has confused most people is that since Judo has laying techniques and Kodokan is based on Jujutsu, it is supposed that Jujutsu has a set of laying down skills. But remember the cause of Jujutsu, it was an art used to back up weapon arts, such as; Naginata jutsu (halberd art), Yari jutsu (spear art), and Ken jutsu (sword art).
Ask yourself what would happen to a warrior who was facing an opponent on a battlefield, surrounded by enemy soldiers, trying to kill anyone wearing your uniform. Picture that you are engaged in a struggle with an enemy soldier and fall to the ground locked in an embrace over a sword, you having lost yours. Now you could lock the person up and seek to hold them on the ground, but then one of the enemy warriors would run you through with a spear, slice you with a halberd, or remove your head with a sword.
It is obvious, just by putting the Japanese grappling art in context, taking it out of the realm of sports, that laying around in a battle could not possibly be an effective form of fighting. Where then did Kodokan Judo’s grappling skills come from and why were they practiced as a laying down fighting method?
The answer lies in history. It seems that in 1900, the Kodokan, had made quite a reputation for itself by matching against other Jujutsu Dojo in a type of Randori Shiai, free play competition, winning with standing throwing techniques primarily. Much of the reputation was made by the standing throwing skills of Shiro Saigo, a practitioner of Oshikiuchi, the art of Daito Ryu Aikijujutsu.
But then in 1900, the Kodokan matched itself against the Fusen Ryu. At that time Judo did not have Ne Waza, laying techniques, instead they fought standing up, as Kano had been taught in both the Tenshin Shinyo Ryu and Kito Ryu systems he studied. Both Kito Ryu and Tenshin Shinyo Ryu had excellent striking skills and effective throws, since they were created by actual Samurai. Kito Ryu was known primarily for it’s body throws, while Tenshin Shinyo Ryu was famous for it’s immobilizations, very similar to those which are utilized by Aikido today.
When Kodokan Judo faced off against the Fusen Ryu Jujutsu, the Jujutsuka realized that there was no way they could defeat the Kodokan Judoka on an even footing in a regular standing Randori, thus they decided to use a very sneaky tactic. According to one source, when the Kodokan men and the Fusen Ryu men squared off, the Jujutsuka immediately laid down on the ground. The Kodokan men didn’t know what to do, then the Fusen Ryu practitioners took them to the ground and used chokes and ground joint lock to win the matches. This was the first real loss that the Kodokan had known in eight years.
Kano took this to mean that if they were going to continue matching other Jujutsu schools they needed a full range of laying techniques. Thus with friends of other Jujutsu systems, among them being Fusen Ryu practitioners, Kano over the next six years formulated the Ne Waza of Kodokan Judo which included three divisions; Katame Waza (locking techniques), Shime Waza (choking techniques), and Osae Waza (holding techniques).
Many of these techniques, while originally designed for combat, were so highly modified for sporting events, that they no longer retained their original combat significance. In some cases the moves have no immediate combat significance outside of the sporting arena.
Due to the Randori Shiai competitions between Judo and Jujutsu schools, the standing and laying techniques became well known throughout the Oriental world. As the arts spread beyond Japan, especially during the early 1900s, Judo and Jujutsu practitioners popularized their arts by taking on all comers in side shows or at theaters. This led to the idea of trying out the skills in a wrestling challenge as being a way of testing ones skill and creating interest in the art. Yet many of the skills used in these events were designed only for ‘friendly’ competition and not intended for life and death battle on the battlefield or even for self defense on the street. Many of these skills are only good for civilized competition, even when it is extremely brutal.
What then are the combat grappling skills? First of all, there are throws. The idea of throwing, combat skills, is to injure the opponent when they hit the ground or to set them up for a finishing move, which was usually designed to break a limb or damage a joint. Throws were designed to be done standing, though there developed a set of throws that took advantage of an opponent making you fall, which you then turned into a throw which hurled them to the ground as well. These were counter throws or methods of taking a slip of the foot and turning it from a simple fall to the ground to a throw. In example, if a person is trying to throw an opponent with an Ukiotoshi, floating drop, but slips and begins to fall, they can change the standing throw into an Ukiwaza, floating technique, which throws the assailant in the same way, but as the defender falls to the ground.
Second there are joint techniques which generally attack the wrist, shoulder, or elbow. There are some designed to attack the knee, though these are less joint locks, though there are a few, and more low kicks intended to collapsed the knee or shatter the joint. Once again, these were intended for use standing.
Finally, there are chokes of three types. The first type attacks the air supply by collapsing the windpipe. These chokes were not originally designed to be applied gently, so that they cause a person to capitulate in competition. They were designed to be slammed on, many times causing severe damage which would kill their opponent quickly.
The second type of choke was a blood strangle. This was a movement intended to angularly apply pressure to the carotid arteries. By cutting off the blood to the brain an opponent can be rendered unconscious in just five seconds. But once again, these were developed for fighting in actual combat and death can result from a blood choke in just seven seconds.