Jujutsu Jazz 1

HENKA ON THE FLY. This aspect of training at our school promotes enhanced understanding and development of skills through improvisation -- somewhat analogous to studying jazz music -- in which the students cooperatively work within a creative framework (e.g. the physical and tactical techniques that comprise the syllabus of our school, or the melodic and rhythmic tendencies associated with a given style of jazz) to go beyond pure memorization and improve their abilities to spontaneously use their jujutsu. Students become comfortable addressing these lower-intensity random scenarios as preparation for near-full-speed-and-resistance drills such as those depicted in "Die a Thousand Deaths - Night of the Redman". Given the cooperative nature of this type of training, the tori (student defending against an attack) is expected to respond as efficiently and effortlessly as possible. The "henka" (technique variations) needed to address a given attack should naturally develop on the fly.

Jujutsu Jazz 2

This video presents a sampling of unscripted random attacks and responses emphasizing leverage, body positioning and body movement performed by two yudansha (black belts) at our school.

While strikes aren't emphasized in the particular henka (variations of formal techniques) captured on video here, when used the strikes are designed to immediately incapacitate the attacker, The footage for this video was captured during two recent classes, and is largely unedited (the video was shot with the camcorder's built-in slow-motion feature), except for our usual use of post-production video effects to emphasize key transitions / aspects of techniques.

Die a Thousand Deaths

NIGHT OF THE REDMAN. Jujutsu students of various training-experience levels take part in self-defense scenarios against semi-resisting attackers. The attackers wear Redman gear to allow for more realistic training speed and contact. Sometimes the students succeed, sometimes they fail. But they learn, and that's the bottom line.

The video demonstrates applied techniques and principles of Hakkoryu / Hakko Denshin Ryu / KoKoDo Jujutsu, including: Hakko-Dori (various escapes), Hakko-Zeme (entering strikes to face), Tachi-Ate (backhand knifehand strike to head / neck standing and on the ground), Uchi-Komi-Dori (shown against punch), Hiki-Nage (tori turns body while engaged in standing grappling to throw uke into the ground), and Metsubushi (typically executed as snap kicks). If you look further, there are also interpretations of Konoha-Gaeshi (neck crank) and various Atemi (e.g. rising knees, downward elbow).

Japanese Jujutsu and Shiatsu / Martial Arts and Massage

Footage from our March 21, 2009 class. Saturday classes typically involve four-plus hours of jujutsu followed by shiatsu, since we learn and practice both disciplines. As a result, we can (usually ;-) fix what gets tweaked on the mat, which is a nice perk in martial-arts training.

For those familiar with Hakkoryu / Hakko Denshin Ryu / KoKoDo Jujutsu, the following tachi-waza from shodan-ge are featured in the video: Hakko-Nage (a couple interpretations considered to be kihon), Kubi-Shime-Dori and Ushiro-Zeme-Otoshi (mostly henka from a rear arm choke).