A Real Life Adept In Action, Poetry In Motion Options

[Zhan Shi]

I had never heard of this man before. His name was Moses Powell, and he founded something called Sanuces Ryu Jujutsu. Unfortunately, he died a few years ago. I'm speaking as an outsider here; my only knowledge of martial arts comes from books and documentaries. But this man has the most quick, fluid, and dangerous moves I've ever seen. You can see more of him and his students on youtube, just look for "Moses Powell" or "Sanuces", but the following video is a good introduction. Watch it here.

I know, from various comments, that at least some here on dumpshock practice martial arts. I'm looking for a competent, traditional school for jujutsu, and I could use some pointers for separating the real thing from the "mcdojos", or perhaps some online resource which provides the same. Since I don't want to get another thread shut down, if anyone could PM me with info, I'd appreciate it. Thanks.

[Method]

You should check out some modern aikido teachers.

Some of my personal favorites are:
Mitsunari Kanai Sensei
Yoshimitsu Yamada Sensei
And
Donovan Waite (seen here and here throwing my teacher, Todd Martin).

[Edit]: Where are you located?

[DMFubar]

Many years ago, I had the video that short segment was taken from. It was a compelation of masters of the martial arts, and Master Powell was the one master on it that to this day I remembered. For a man that size to be so graceful filled me with awe (especially as I am not a small man myself).

I am sorry to see that Master Powell has passed. He was a great man.

And as to schools for jujitsu, it mainly depends upon where you are located. For instance there is one instructor in the Houston, Texas that I would suggest, Darrel Craig. I have never actually met him, but I have heard nothing but good things.

Dr. Yang Jwing Ming also has a school in the Houston area where you can study Chin-Na, the chinese version of jujitsu. From what I have read, the systems are similar, though Chin-Na is often a subsystem of other styles (White Crane, Eagle Claw, etc.) and includes join locks, throws, and to a greater extent that jujitsu, pressure point strikes.

[Redjack]

I really liked this one:
Yoshimitsu Yamada Sensei
and this onehere
Though all are amazing.

[MaxHunter]

just keep away from schools that have lots of fancy useless junk, like accomplishment stars, special flavor-of-the-month pricey additional "courses", "student of the month" and quick promotion systems....

In my country, as if by fate, the best dojos are usually located in the not so best neighborhoods. Maybe it's because that way you get a pretty good incentive to learn your stuff right.

Cheers,

Max

[Method]

Yeah those clips of Yamada sensei and Kanai sensei are when they were much younger. Kanai sensei actually passed away a few years ago, which was a real loss.

Donovan on the other hand is really in his prime. You should see his ukemi (falling techniques). If I'm remembering right he was a black belt by the age of 14 and is now one of the youngest 7th dan shihan ever. He just keeps getting better.

I should clarify though, that the reason I bring up aikido is because the clips of Master Powell posted by Zhan Shi look more like modern aikido to me than juijutsu, which in the US at least has been greatly influenced by Brazilian styles. Although they all have similar roots...

[Wounded Ronin]

[Zhan Shi]

@Method: I'm roughly 40 miles south of Springfield, VA, in a place called Stafford.

Thanks for the advice all. As I told someone else, to my eye it seems like many "dojos" are trophy shops, geared more towards tournament competion. That's fine I guess, but I want mental/physical/spiritual conditioning, not a trophy case. And yes, I admit, should the need arise I want to be able to beat the crap out of an assailant. But I've never been an agressive person, so more direct styles such as karate don't appeal to me. Blocking a punch and twisting the guy's arm into a pretzel? Yup, that's more my style, so to speak.

[Raij]

The first half of the video looks like my old Genbukan Ninpo warm ups. :P Not intending to dishonor the memory of this man and his accomplishments, but those rolls are pretty elementary stuff in the scheme of things. In Genbukan, they held a bamboo rod about 3 foot from the ground and we had to leap over and come down head first into a roll without touching it. Each successful leap saw the bar raise. Usually we got it up to about mid-stomach level before capping out for the day but some could dive over the bar nearly at their chest. Now for a man so big, that's pretty unusual I'll admit, but I don't see the grace in motion there that some do.

The second half of the video was more interesting to me.

[Wounded Ronin]

[Wolfgang]

For what you're describing I'd look at Jujitsu, Aikido, and Hapkido. I've studied all of the above, with more time in Hapkido than the other two.

Unfortunately a lot of Aikido schools have gone the way of Tai Chi, which is to say that the teachers have no interest, and probably no experience and little training with, the martial aspect of this MARTIAL art. They are very into the spiritual and philosophical side and completely miss the martial application altogether. In post awakened 2070 this might lead to some powerful results, but isn't quite so effective in the mundane modern world.

There are also a lot of pacifists who get into the Aikido scene that try to teach that you can use Aikido without hurting an attacker. This may be true if you have 20 years of experience and are gifted to boot, but the truth is when you execute those throwing techniques properly on someone who doesn't know what's coming and doesn't know how to breakfall with the technique they are going to be seriously injured, probably a lot more so than if you just beat them into the ground.

Finally, it takes a lot more practice with Aikido to get to a applicable level of competency than it does a striking art.

Hapkido and Jujitsu are nice compromises because a good school should be teaching you how to block, punch and kick from the beginning as well as how to twist, throw and joint lock your opponent. I find them to be much easier to apply in a short time and you might gain some valuable insight into how unarmed combat works for traditions outside your own, and I don't feel that they loose out in depth with what they gain in breadth.

Besides just bad schools (which every art has in abundance) I'd look out for the blindly traditional teacher in Jujitsu or Hapkido that tells you that because these techniques worked for Samurai on the battlefield 700 years ago that they are still perfect today. You aren't in armor and it's mighty unlikely a mugger will be either. A realistic evaluation of a styles techniques in view of the modern condition has a lot of value.

I've got more to say but I have to run so I'll post more later.

--Michael

[Straight Razor]

i miss Aikido. i lived at an aikido dojo for a year. good times

[Cain]

There are three hard rules and two soft guldelines for finding a good martial arts school.

First hard rule: NEVER GO TO A SCHOOL CALLED MASTER SO-AND-SO'S ANYTHING. This includes second line advertising, as in: "Oom Young Doe, the Grandmaster 'Iron Kim' Style". Within martial arts circles, publically advertising yourself as a master shows an incredible lack of humility. Just ask yourself this: do you really want to go to someone who's so insecure, he has to tell everyone he's a master?

Second hard rule: NEVER GO TO A SCHOOL THAT WON'T LET YOU WATCH A CLASS. Do not be fooled by the "secret technique" malarkey: if their secret techniques were so special, why are they afraid you'll figure them out by watching them once?

Third hard rule: NEVER GO TO A SCHOOL WHERE YOUR PRIVATE LESSONS ARE NOT PRIVATE! (Temple Kung Fu, I'm talking to you! :grr: ) You'd be surprised how many people fall for that one. True, private lessons are how most instructors pay the bills. But be wary of any place that seems to by pushy about taking privates; and if you show up for a lesson and find two or three other students waiting alongside you, demand your money back.

First guideline: Avoid any place that will not let you get on the floor and train with them. OK, so there's some places, such as grappling schools, that can't let you on the floor for insurance reasons. But they'll be very up front about it, and will still let you watch a class. The bottom line here is: it doesn't matter how good the school is, if you and the instructor don't mesh, you won't learn anything. And the only way to find out if you mesh well is to get out there and try it. It's your money, you deserve to get the most out of it.

Second guideline: Avoid any place that demands more than three months tuition in advance. That includes exorbitant one-year "membership fees" as well. A school has a right to demand a commitment from you, but at the same time, a lot can happen in a year. You might discover that the school isn't right for you (see hard rule #2 and guideline #1) and then you're out a huge sum of money. Three months seems to be the industry standard: you have a fair chance to try them out, and they get a fair commitment out of you.

Luckily for me, I had been developing these rules for years, ever since I experienced my first McDojo at a very young age. That's where I developed Hard Rule #2, in fact. I can't promise that these rules and guidelines will prevent you from ending up at a cult or McDojo, but they should improve your chances.

[Critias]

And never, ever, pay to be a super elite member of their "two year black belt club!" or anything like that. In fact, if anyone offers you that, just punch them in the throat and leave immediately.

[Method]

Great advice all around, especially from Wolfgang and Cain.

Wolfgang's analysis of aikido is fairly accurate. I'd say if you go the aikido route stay away from "Ki style" or "Ki society" schools and be wary of any "independent" schools. Those tend to be the spiritual/philosophical/pacifist practitioners Wolfgang is talking about. Schools affiliated with the United States Aikido Federation (USAF), the Aikido Schools of Ueshiba (ASU) or any school that certifies its yudansha (black belt ranks) through the Hombu Dojo in Japan (as the both the former organizations do) tend to have better technical standards and actually teach you how to apply martial techniques.

Another thing that can't be over emphasized is Wolfgang's point about overly strict adherence to tradition. In terms of etiquette, tradition is paramount because it teaches awareness, which is crucial to an effective martial art. But in terms of technique any good teacher will be constantly striving to improve on the basics and incorporate new and effective techniques into his or her repertoire. Modern martial arts should be a personal evolution. This is not to say that you shouldn't try to do exactly what you are being taught, though. You have to get the basics before you can start adapting your own style.

I should point out that there are some very traditional schools of Japanese martial arts (called koryu) that have the sole purpose of transmitting the ancient techniques unchanged to future generations. These are literally the arts practiced by the samurai and handed down through chosen masters to be preserved as-is forever. The people who practice these arts take this responsibility very seriously, but also realize that the arts they are practicing are not directly translatable into modern conflicts or self defense scenarios. Thats not really the point. There is also no room for self expression or development of your own personal style. You are responsible to the art, not the other way around. If martial arts schools were english departments, these guys would be the mediaeval old english experts, and what you want is the creative writing department.

Cain's rules are a pretty good guide. Note that some school offer reduced price packages if you sign up for longer periods, but they should always offer the options to start and stop whenever you want and pay dues month by month. Also his first rule is very important. Watch out for anyone that claims to teach a traditional style, but calls them self "soke". A lot of ignorant westerners think that means "grand master" but it really translates more accurately to "founder of a distinct style". They can't be "traditional" and teach a "distinct style" right? I would also add a forth rule: Be wary of any teacher that forbids you to see or participate in another style or art.

The reality is there are way too many bad schools out there, and way to many westernized schools that have lost touch with their martial roots. But the good news is that the good schools tend to converge on the same principles when it comes to effective self defense, so if you find a good one in any art or style you will do just fine.

[edit for clarity]

[Straight Razor]

I'm an Aikido - kempo guy my self. I need to take some judo to round my self out.
I have had some really good instructors. From my Aikido teacher, who fancied him self a samurai borne too late. to my kempo instructor that was one of Ed Parker's disciples. they were both pretty strange people, but thew had the knowledge and were eager to teach.

And i had some really bad instructors. One aikido-ka allowed no talking in the dojo, at all... not even the instructor. that made it impossible to learn, or get feedback. A skilled, and well-meaning Kempo instructor that mixed clinical retards in with normal classes. And a kotoshogan school where you could black belt in 8mo

Running a dojo is a business, it is how instructors feed them self's. But be aware that many instructors are just after the money. they teach you in ways that are hard to learn and grow from so that you have to study with them for years and years.

A good instructor should be able to get you to you first don in about two years if you really want it, and your there 3 days a week. But remember the first black belt just means you know enough to really start learning the art.

[Cain]

[Straight Razor]

my instructor's name was Jim (i'm sorry but his last name escapes me)
he was belted by Chuck Sullivan.
but he studied at both Sullivan and Parkers.
he got his first don right after the parker / tracy split still bad blood there.

Jim is a really great guy. I wish i could clear out my schedule to go train with him more. fighting that man is like fighting a falling brick wall.

[Wounded Ronin]

[Straight Razor]

wow could you link that article.

jim doesn't promise anything like that. and he has plenty of photos, videos, and paperwork to back up his store.

[Cain]

[Wounded Ronin]

[hyzmarca]

The funny thing is that, due to the nature of Magic in Shadowrun, an Akido Master could, with some spirit bargaining, take his students on a naked metaphysical journey to the moons of Jupiter and an adept really could learn the Dim Mak from Doctor Grandmaster [Asian Sounding Name]'s matrix classes.

[Critias]

Wouldn't background count screw up the naked field trip to Jupiter's moons?

[hyzmarca]