h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Further to our discussion about judo (I remember you mentioned your daughter is a jujutsu brown belt)...

Found this in-depth analysis explaining how jujutsu is really a misnomer (it's really a form of judo), and how the so-called BJJ schools are in fact preserving the real essence of Kodokan Judo

http://members.lycos.co.uk/fight/judo/judo.html

I think this is a particularly interesting bit:

"Now; if anyone wants to say that Judo after 1947 is the same as what you just read above, I have a question; where are the modern Judo texts teaching it?

Reread the contents of "modern judo' then read Kobayashi's quote again. Clearly something is amiss. Of course there is, and its called revisionist history. This should not be a new concept to most of you; you can see it every day in dozens of examples.

In this case Risei Kano had to create a new direction for Judo to get the Kodokan reopened. He did this and everyone got in line behind it..well, most people did. Fortunately for us we have people like the Gracies who didn't make those changes and by studying their methods we can see what Judo was like before it was changed."



The author attributes the rift between judo and so-called jujutsu to General MacArthur and American occupation policy in Japan.

"In approx. 1985; when a national health mag listed Judo Randori as the second most effective aerobic exercise in the world, second only to swimming; what did the judo people in America do with that information?"

Thanks for this. Very interesting, and puts some of my own observations in context.

I've no real experience in Japanese martial arts myself - only a very brief teenage flirtation with karate in a time when pounding the streets barefoot in northern UK towns was supposed to make you 'hard'. Subsequently too I've spent time in Japan working, and I love the place and its culture, but I know a lot more about its steel than its sport.

My younger daughter opted for judo as her sport, and we have no idea where she got the idea from. We were expecting her to follow her elder sister to the riding school. The first club she joined (and where she trained for three years) practised Brasilian Jujitsu and the senseis used the term 'judo' interchangeably. The article you linked seems to match their interpretation closely. The guy who ran it knew the Gracies, and they visited and gave a coaching session once during her membership.

She changed club when a sensei she partcularly likes broke away to start his own. That's the one she belongs to now, a father and daughter combination. It suits her because its technically serious without too much ritual (I'm afraid our conversation here would bore her) and because it has a younger membership with a more even gender balance. It's also more convenient to get to in distance and in timetable.

I was happy she changed clubs too, but not for her reasons. My concern about the other one was that it was too macho and aggressive. It's up to the club to moderate that, you might say, but in this case I'm not sure they could. They gave training for instutions such as the police, and some (by no means all) of the customers were intimidating.

I don't remember that too-close-to-psychopathic sort of a person from my own teenage years. I'm far from sure whether I'm seeing a distinction between the boxing hall and the dojo though. Maybe it's the difference between the 1970s and the 2000s, or between what you notice as an absorbed participant and as a detached spectator. It might even be the sentimental rose-colouring of memory.

I'm glad she trains, though. We were at the club's exhibition last night in fact, and she was very impressive and so were all her peers. It's good for her all round, and (sshhh!) so much better than those prissy horses.

I'm glad it was of some interest to you

I think your younger daughter has made a good choice of sport.
I've been into judo on and off since I was a kid. Occasionally I've had to stop due to injury (twisted joints, broken collar bone). As I've travelled abroad it's provided a great point of contact with local people in Turkey, Azerbaijan and Russia.

A couple of years ago, on seeing my weight creeping inexorably upwards, I decided to resume.

I find the early history of judo really interesting.
It seems the Gracies learnt judo from a Japanese fellow called Maeda, an expat who'd emigrated to Brazil. By rights the term jujutsu should be obsolete, as there are no more samurai (the various bujutsu have become budo). The bujutsu were truly military martial arts. In any event, it looks like the Gracies are doing a service to judo.

About the gender balance you mention, our club is quite mixed at junior level, but almost totally male at senior level. Some clubs have more of a mix, which of course is much better for women.

About those psychopaths you mentioned, maybe society has changed. It's ironic that people like that are into judo 'cos Jigoro Kano's aspirations for judo are really noble, and the ethos embodied in it is one of humble courage rather than macho posturing.

If you're interested, here's more info about Maeda and how he ended up teaching Carlos Gracie:

http://www.geocities.com/Colosseum/5389/maeda.html