empty_cup

something else which I forgot to mention (and is re-enforcing what other people has said), is, above all, be relaxed - in my limited experience, there has not been a single lock that I've had to use any force to apply correctly. Getting into the habit of using muscular power when putting on locks means that you may not be putting it on correctly, and you could be locking far more effectively. It takes a lot of practice to practice doing it relaxed, and of course, when you're sparring, and rolling around on the floor, it's a lot easier said than done - but grappling is so exhausting that you really need to conserve all the energy you can. Hope that helps EC

also, just because MT has phehomenal power, and is a bit of a brawler does not mean that when the rules are removed he would be able to fight as well as with the rules. Were he to meet someone who also fights with brawn, e.g. a heavyweight Muay Thai practitioner, or even a TKD figher, MT may not be able to get close enough to use his fists, before he's kicked into submission. Alternatively, put him against one of the heavier UFC fighers, who can get in close, and get MT on the ground - how well would he fare? Certainly, there are many people who could beat me - e.g. my JJ teacher but whoever you are, there is always someone who could out manouver / outpunch / outkick, / lock / grapple you. The trick is to get to the point where a punch is just a punch, and kick is just a kick, etc,

Hi, has anyone read the George Dillman book on Kyusho Jitsu? I do JJ, and am interested by it, but wondering if a) other people have practised it for a while b) anyone with reasonable JJ experience has read it? Many Thanks EC

Sadly that can often be the case. There are two schools of thought with regards to this 1) Even if it takes 2 hours go 2) Find a school nearer that you will train as often as you can When I was still at school I would travel an hour on a half sunday morning to go to one of my teachers classes. Now I'm married, and have a child on the way, I'm more inclined to the second. As it is, I love training, and would travel further than the 10 mins it takes me to walk, but on those cold dark nights, it makes it easier. Hope you find the right school / teacher / art EC

Jujitsu (as I am taught it) covers all fighting ranges. We learn only two kicks - mae geri, and mawashi geri, but still do work on them, a) in case we are fighting people who don't kick, or against kickers, so that we know how to close to a closer range. In punching range, we cover the fundamentals of boxing - my teacher prefers to fight strong side forward, but we are allowed to make our own choice as to which side to take. Then it gets interesting, there are loads of joint locks, though they are all variations on only a few techniques. Then comes the groundwork - a lot of groundwork! There are also styles of Jujitsu that do weapon work - some cover knives, and some cover other weapons like kubotan, whilst others cover traditional japanese weapons, though mostly I think you have to do an art like kenjutsu, or kobujutsu.

I think that there can be too much emphasis on whether you do BJJ or JJJ. As far as I know (and please correct me if I'm wrong) BJJ is essentially Jujitsu, but with more emphasis on the groundwork and grappling. You may find a teacher of non BJJ who teaches Jujitsu more 'Brazilian' than a teacher of Brazilian Jujitsu. Ultimately getting good basics in Jujitsu will stand you in good stead - if you then feel that you are not getting enough of one thing or another when you are more advanced is then up to you - which is essentially what JKD was all about - getting to a sufficiently advanced level that you could then start to mould that art to suit you - but only once you are knowledgable and practised enough to do so. Hope it's the art (and teacher!) for you! EC

yup - I have found also that when applying standing locks, the closer they are to your body, the less force needed to apply, and the easier to control. In addition, you want to be ensuring that their spine or neck aren't straight - if you control them, then you control the person. The added benefit is that if the spine isn't straight, then they are bending - when you apply the lock close to yourself, then they are bending towards you, which means that they can't use their closest foot to attack because otherwise, they would fall over! I can't make any claim to any of that - it was all learnt from my JJ teacher, who, like me, is short and slight in build. Hope that it's of benefit

Just to re-iterate what Davison said - (I too went from Shotokan [+others] to JuJitsu) - if the teacher tries to do any throws, or anything involving falling without a reasonable amount of breakfalling, they're a bad teacher. Simple as that. You *can* get really badly injured falling (same as you *can* get injured doing Shotokan), but you shouldn't. Learning to breakfall is essential, and can get boring. You should learn side to side, backwards and forwards. BUT, Jujitsu is amazing, it opens up an amazing, almost magical world, coming from an art like Shotokan - whilst I had a fantastic Shotokan teacher, who was also a Judo black belt, and a former amateur boxer, it simply does not have the range of techniques available to JJ. Enjoy!

Thanks tommarker, that's really helpful. To be honest, I'm most interested in learning the restraint type use of it - I'm not a law enforcement officer, or security person, I just prefer to see if someone can be restrained, using pain, without bashing the hell out of them - I'm hoping that it will work well with the locks I'm learning, and using in jujitsu. Thanks again EC

Thanks for that - I did find that site - unfortunately, it doesn't contain anything much of kubotan techniques. It does contain some useful info, as well as a load of links, but no kubotan techniques Cheers EC

Thanks - been reading for a while, but only just got round to joining, and posting. EC (oh, and notice how EC are also the initials of Eric Clapton - a fantastically gifted person, just in music, rather than MA)

If you need to take someone down from behind, and don't for whatever want to put on a sleeper hold, then getting a thumb in the jugular, and the rest of the grip in the carotid (or vice versa) works pretty well - put it on quickly, and the sudden pain is enough to get most people down - what you do then, though, is up to you! Plus you have the option, in a real emergency, of getting a solid grip behind the windpipe - this is very dangerous though, and only to be used when you're in real danger. EC

Hi, well, as it says, I've done Shotokan (1st kyu), Muay Thai, Krav Maga, and Jujitsu. Shotokan I enjoy, and had an amazing teacher, who set me on the path of martial arts. My biggest problem is the semi-contact kumite - it's just too difficult, and unrealistic, and not my thing. Also there was not enough close range work - there's some elbow use, but no knees, and no locks, or grappling. Muay Thai is just too damaging to yourself - training does not need to be really easy, but should not be as hard as it is (for me). But, it does allow you to feel what it's like to be hit, and to hit, and to know that when you're sparring, that you may take a hit, but then unleash a more powerful attack against your opponent, which more than counteracts. Krav Maga is good, but even though has locks in, not much emphasis was placed on them, and the instruction I received was not all that hot. They also did not include grappling, which considering the nature of the art seems odd. Finally, to my most recent art - jujitsu - love it - my teacher is inspirational, about the same size as me, and teaches the most well rounded method of fighting I have ever come across. We cover strikes (punching, kicking, elbowing, kneeing, etc), locks, and grappling. All this in addition to learning how to effectively change range - learning to kick, and grapple boxers, punch and grapple kickers, and generally fight the way your opponont does not want to. It's awesome! Anyway, that's me - an empty cup to fill with more knowledge, and application

It's interesting, because guns vs all other martial arts weapons is one of the problems martial arts films have always been fighting. Ever since Bruce Lee, where he went to the island, that had metal detectors to make sure that there weren't any guns. It was tenuous, but defense against guns has always been controversial. In reality, if you are facing an opponent who is trained and practised in the use of a gun, and does not want to take chances, your odds aren't great. In practice - how many people toting guns really do know how to use them that well, and are that cool-headed? Also, it depends on the situation - if their intent is to kill you, you're skating on thin ice - if they want to keep you alive, for whatever purpose, then your chances are much greater. Martial arts training can prepare you to react constructively, if ever god forbid, you are in such a situation. As someone rightly pointed out, if you are learning gun defence, and they run out of bullets, you need to know how someone will use a weapon, whether to pistol whip you, or more along the lines of a kubotan / yawara. My tuppence EC

That looks really interesting. The good thing about it, is that the stick punch conditions your forearms Beat your opponent and condition yourself in one step!