Okuiri 奥 A Publication of the American JuJitsu Association American Eclecticism And 入 Th e Comeback Of Jujutsu by: BEN HARYO Ancient Elect icism superior Bojutsu (stick techniques) while What is Eclecticism? According to the Takagi’s Yoshin-ryu has superior Taijutsu Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia, 2002 (empty hand techniques). Afterwards, edition, Eclecticism (Greek eklegein, “to they adopted each other’s techniques. To Fall 2007 pick out”), in philosophy and art, is the this day, the Taijutsu of Takagi is taught formulation of systems of thought by choosing as part of Kukishin-ryu, while Ohkuni’s In this issue... from the doctrines of other, already developed Bojutsu is taught as part of Takagi Yoshin- American Eclecticism 1 systems. Eclectic thinkers combine what ryu. Kyōhan 2 they regard as the most valid doctrines. In the year 1934, a Yoshin-ryu master by Events 6 In the world of the Japanese martial arts, the name of Otsuka Hironori decided Letters 6 Eclecticism was the order of to merge the best parts of Upcoming Events 7 the day. Ancient Japanese Ancient Japanese his Yoshin-ryu with the best parts of Okinawan Profile 9warriors were not corrupted warriors were not by the illusion of “supreme Kenpo which he had learned Book Review 10 corrupted by the ultimate martial art”. Th at from Funakoshi (Shotokan Tournament Results 11 is, they did not consider any illusion of “supreme founder), Mabuni (Shito- martial art to be the most ultimate martial art”. ryu founder) and Motobu superior. Rather, they sought (Okinawan Kenpo master) to out existing systems and tried form the new martial arts of to synthesize new systems based on the Wado-ryu Karatejutsu (now Karatedo) and relative strengths of those older systems. Wado-ryu Jujutsu Kenpo. Th e art Otsuka Here are a few examples. created, Wado-ryu, is now more known as one of the major, Government-recog- At the t century, Kukishin-ryu master nized Karate styles in mainland Japan Ohkuni Onihei and Takagi Yoshin- but, in the beginning, it was registered ryu master Takagi Hideshige fought to the Japanese government in 1938 as the each other into a draw. Th ey concluded Jujutsu style Shinshu Wado-ryu Karate that their systems had comparative Jujutsu. advantages. Ohkuni’s Kukishin-ryu has ...continued on page 3 page 2 Okuiri Kyōhan Nothing Is Carved In Stone by: GEORGE KIRBY othing is carved in stone. I learned the an invitation to Budoshin Ju-Jitsu Yudansha to meaning of that phrase many years ago as I entered participate in a complete rewriting of the Black Belt N Handbook. Starting in January, 2006 I began solic- the teaching profession. I would write up lesson and instructions for my students that I thought were iting input from Yudansha. I asked them what was perfectly clear. Much to my chagrin I learned that missing. I asked them what needed to be rewritten what I thought was clear and what my students or explained better. We held meetings almost every thought was clear were two entirely diff erent galaxies. month or communicated by e-mail. I got lots of Rather than being obstinate and insisting my kids feedback and there were constant modifi cations. By were just dense, or several watts shy of a working June, 2007, we came up with an 80 page handbook light bulb, I worked with them to redo instructions that seemed to cover all the bases. Fifteen Budoshin so that they would understand what they were to do Ju-Jitsu Yudansha, from throughout the U.S. and in and I would get the kind of quality work I wanted. I Canada, worked very hard to help me to produce the learned that while there is only one way to screw in a 3rd edition. light bulb, there are many kinds of light bulbs. What’s diff erent in the rd edition? In one word: In order to start teaching ju-jitsu in my junior high detail. A lot of processes are described more carefully school, I had to come up with in a more user-friendly manner. Th ere are also some If you have not course requirements, expec- additional requirements for Yudansha: looked at your belt tations, goals, and all that • Enhanced kata and waza require- “professional” stuff . Th e fi rst ments for Shodan and Nidan rank requirements Budoshin Ju-Jitsu Student • Th e addition of specifi c additional Handbook was a result of that for the past 10+ kata for Nidan through Godan years you really eff ort. Over the past 30 years it went through many major • More specifi c instructions for need to do so. and minor revisions, with a Instructor Certifi cation great deal of student input, to • Establishment of Seminar Instructor and become the t edition in use today. It is more user- Master Seminar Instructor Certifi cation friendly than ever before. • Establishment of seminar requirements In the late 1980’s, a confl ict I had with one of my for Yudansha in the areas of technical black belts established a real need for a Black Belt skills and dojo management Handbook. Th e fi rst edition was fairly crude and the • More specifi c guidelines for second edition (early 1990’s) was not much better. Rokudan through Judan. By 2004 it became obvious that it was out of date and not meeting the needs of my black belts. I issued ...continued on page 8 E-mail: [email protected] Autumn 2007 page 3 Ancient Eclect icism ...continued from page 1 Hakko-ryu was perhaps the fi rst In the year 1942 a student of Takeda Sokaku (Daito- Judo, Kendo and Aikido. Some still ryu founder) by the name of Okuyama Ryuho decided practice Jujutsu, but their numbers truly “nonviolent” to combine the Aiki Jujutsu of Daito-ryu with the are eclipsed by those who practice martial art. techniques of Shiatsu (fi nger pressure massage) to form sport martial arts. Th erefore, the Hakko-ryu Jujutsu. Unlike other arts which focuses on development of Jujutsu became nearly stagnated in its killing or disabling the opponent, Hakko-ryu was perhaps own birthplace. amongst the fi rst truly “nonviolent” On the other hand, Jujutsu fl ourished in USA. Th ere Ancient Japa- martial art, because it contains were Jujutsu schools in America before WWII, the most the doctrines of “no challenging nese warriors did famous was Prof. Okazaki Seishiro’s Kodenkan Danzan- others, no injurying the opponent, not consider any ryu in Hawaii. After WWII many U.S citizens, mostly no excess strength in execution”. soldiers, were exposed to the methods of Jujutsu during martial art to be Aikido founder Uyeshiba Morihei, their stay in Japan as part of the Allied Occupational another student of Takeda, also the most superior. Forces. Th ese people returned to the U.S and became stressed the same pacifi sm approach pioneers of Jujutsu. And guess what? Eclecticism was when he was older (after WWII). their strongest characteristic. Here are a few examples. Th at is why many observers noticed that the earlier form of Aikido (“prewar Aikido”) is very diff erent from the Antonio Pereira studied old (Prewar) Judo with Mifune modern form of Aikido (“Aikikai Aikido”). Th e former Kyuzo, Sosuishi-ryu Jujutsu with Prof. Shitama and stresses practical self-defense, and the latter stresses a Aikido with Uyeshiba Kisshomaru. He combined those more pacifi st approach to self-defense. traditional arts with Karate and military hand-to-hand combat training. Th e result was Miyama-ryu Jujutsu, one Th erefore, it is safe to conclude that Eclecticism was the of the fi nest example of eclectic Jujutsu founded by non- order of the day when Japanese martial artists decided to Japanese. modernize their ancestral arts to become more relevant to the situations of early 20th century. Adriano Emperado created a new, Jujutsu-based martial art called Kajukenbo, which is a combination of KArate, Modern Eclect icism JUjutsu, KENpo and However, the second half of the t century, after the BOxing. Th is style was “no challenging others, WWII, showed us that innovation in Japan had slowed one of the fi rst examples down to a crawl. Th e younger generation of Japanese of “Made in America” no injurying the opponent, were raised in a “business competition” environment. martial art. no excess st rength Th ey were taught to become successful businesspersons. in execution”. Th is contributed to the meteoric rise of Japan amongst Edmund Parker trans- the most successful industrial countries in the world, formed the Kenpo Jiujitsu arising from a nuclear wasteland into a colossus of of Mitose Masayoshi and Kenpo Karate of William technology and wealth. Th is shift of focus to become Chow into a new eclectic blend called American Kenpo “modern person” has its victims as well. One of them Karate, perhaps one of the fi rst true methods of American is Jujutsu. Most young Japanese are not interested in Karate. their own Jujutsu arts while those remaining few who Prof. Wally Jay modifi ed the Danzan-ryu techniques practice martial arts prefer to practice the modern arts of he learned from Prof. Okazaki by introducing his own E-mail: [email protected] ...continued on page 4 page 4 Okuiri Modern Eclect icism ...continued from page 3 “Small Circle Th eory”, which he formed after he studied some of the areas where the Americans modifi ed (for other martial arts such as Judo, Kung Fu, Aikido and better or for the worse, depending on your point of view) many more. He called his new art Small Circle Jujutsu, the traditional systems.