Saturday, June 11, 2011

Jan de Jong/Tsutsumi Hozan Ryu Jujutsu Nidan Demonstration - Introduction to the Art: Pt 1


I have successfully engaged in the technological world :). Yes, I have actually been able to edit a video and post it on YouTube.

The video is Sensei Greg Palmer's demonstration grading for Jan de Jong's second dan jujutsu grading. As you may have gathered from previous posts, I am of the opinion that De Jong's dan grades were developed by De Jong himself. And I hold the view that he held a strong view as to the promotion of the art that he loved. The nidan gradings have an examination whereby the candidate has to produce a demonstration with a minimum of six of his/her students. The demonstration is to be 20 minutes explanation of the Jan de Jong/Tsutsumi Hozan Ryu jujutsu and 10 minutes 'fast action'. The aim of the demonstration is to introduce the entire art to the general public.

Greg's demo was presented in 1985. I'd only been training jujutsu for two years, and all the other participants only a bit longer. Training under Greg was a seminal moment for me. He was the first teacher/mentor for me in my life. During this period, I learnt how to excel.

We trained two or three times a week for six months. And for no other reason than we were training.

This demonstration is take two. The first, the actual grading, was perfect. Even the things that went wrong went right. Unfortunately, the video of the grading did not work out. So, De Jong got us to do it again a couple of weeks later. This video is that demonstration.

De Jong openly acknowledged that Greg's demo was the very best nidan demo grading that was ever produced. I am proud to have been a part of that demonstration. I am more proud to have been a part of the facilitation of something that Greg cherished.

5 comments:

  1. Thanks John,nice video of some people who were and are friends of mine.

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  2. Whoever you are Anonymous, and according to one quote you have always been a women throughtout history, you're welcome. The following posts will complete that deomonstration grading and preserve for posterity Sensei Greg Palmer's talents in some many aspects of jujutsu and the jujutsu taught by Jan de Jong - which he had such an enormous respect for.

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  3. Hi John,

    You've engaged the technological world. Well done. See? There's always new challenges...

    Great video. I enjoyed it. Did I hear correctly a series of techniques referred to as wrist crush? Never heard that term. I like it.

    Quick question. I noticed that the hands of the students are held quite low. I'm curious what the thinking is behind this. Is the low position a part of the de Jong system? Thanks.

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  4. Journeyman. Thanks for (a) reading my blog, and (b) the kind words provided in relation to the video.

    Wrist cruch is tekubi hishigi. I'd have to go back to the video to see if Greg referred to a series of wrist crush techniques. We only teach tekubi hishigi and yoko tekubi hishigi (side wrist cruch) as wrist crush-type techniques. There is a series of joint techniques applied to the wrist, which includes these two wrist crush techniques.

    Good quick question. The answer is - there is no thinking behind the hands being held low. In truth, it never occurred to me until you identified it. Given we use taisabaki (body movement) exetensively to evade an attack, the kamae (engagement posture) is not really considered all that important. Having said that though, some do assume particular kamae in order to faciliate particular defences.

    The question is very insightful because of the issues it addresses.

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  5. Thanks for the thoughtful responses. I do like the term wrist crunch.

    I've been back and forth on hand position and what's most effective. I'll enjoy watching part 2.

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