In response to a comment on post questioning when teaching martial arts became not enough

My previous post was regarding the focus, marketing driven, on fitness when teaching martial arts: 'When did teaching martial arts become not enough?' That focus is exemplified for me with the rebranding of my old school by its new principals from Jan de Jong Self Defence School to Jan de Jong Martial Arts Fitness.

I am pleased to say that my post attracted a comment from a knowledgeable and thoughtful student of the martial arts. They referred to Kano's Kodokan Judo, a text that needs to be studied rather than just read. Kano was a man and martial artists far ahead of his times, as I demonstrate in my The Science Behind All Fighting Techniques.


The second chapter of Kodokan Judo is titled: 'Principles and Aims of Kodokan Judo.' The first section is titled: 'Judo as Physical Education.'

What has to be understood is that Kano was on a rescue mission when he developed Kodokan Judo. He studied traditional forms of jujutsu and despaired at the decreasing number of students studying jujutsu. Jujutsu was a Japanese cultural institution that was in danger of being lost to the Japanese people so Kano developed Kodokan Judo to appeal to the Japanese people in order to be a vehicle for them to then become interested in studying the traditional jujutsu.

One of the main marketing strategies that Kano adopted was to turn the traditional fighting art of jujutsu into a sport, and, a form of physical education. These were marketing strategies to generate interest by the current generation of Japanese so that they would then go on to study traditional jujutsu, the traditional cultural icon of the Japanese.

Those martial arts schools today who rebadge, rebrand, or focus on physical education, physical fitness, do not have such noble motives. It is purely a cynical marketing exercise to attract new students who are not necessarily interested in studying martial arts per se.

I will leave you with a comment that I received from a grand child of de Jong regarding this matter: 'I recall someone speaking of a conversation they had with my grand father who had come from another martial arts school and asked “why don’t you condition your fighters” and his response was something to the effect of “why would I condition my students when the intention is for the fight to go for the shortest time possible.”' De Jong to a T.

When did teaching martial arts become not enough?

When did teaching/learning martial arts become not enough? Is teaching/learning martial arts relevant anymore?

I am continually seeing fitness appended to martial arts when advertising or promoting one's teachings. My old school, or at least the school that emerged from my old school, rebranded itself from Jan de Jong Self Defence School to Jan de Jong Martial Arts Fitness. The WA Institute of Martial Arts advertises 'Martial Arts Fitness is here.' I just saw another advert/promotion directly coupling martial arts with fitness.

Is a dojo now also a gym? What is the focus of the teaching, martial arts or fitness? Do you ever see cricket, football, basketball etc directly coupled with fitness? 'Football fitness is here.' 'Netball fitness is here.' You don't see other physically activities desperately trying to establish relevance by appending their activity to fitness.

If the focus is on fitness, what impact does that have on martial arts teaching?

Efficiency is a feature of Jigoro Kano's teachings. Efficiency means less effort. The more efficient your tactics and techniques the less effort required to execute them. Does that mean that teachings which teach efficient tactics and techniques are less because they don't focus on fitness which requires more effort?

I understand the marketing impulse to try and extend the brand from martial arts to the fitness industry given the interest in martial arts appears to be waning. But does extending the brand mean that the brand loses meaning? Or that the product is over extended? Is aikido a means to get fit rather than to learn aikido?

When I teach, I am only interested in fitness insofar as it contributes to martial arts effectiveness. I am not interested in teaching fitness for the sake of fitness. If you are unfit and effective, it's all good to me. If you want to get fit, for whatever reason, join a gym. Go for a run. Stop driving your car and walk to work or school.

The two best instructors in the Jan de Jong Self Defence School were Shihan Jan de Jong and Sensei Greg Palmer. Nobody would ever accuse them of being fit, however, they were extremely effective as practitioners and most definitely as teachers. When I wanted to learn martial arts, I'd go to them before any of the other 'fit' instructors.

Ken Tai Ichi no Kata and The Core of All Learning

The following is a link to a post on my Shihan Jan de Jong OAM 9th Dan blog where I use Yoseikan's ken tai ichi no kata to discuss the core of all learning which is the second chapter in my The Science Behind All Fighting Techniques.

Moral and Physical Courage

The recent Australian cricket ball tampering scandal (sandpaper-gate) works as a case study for the 'enigma of courage' as General Sir Peter de la Billiere puts it in the forward to 2007 edition of Lord Moran's classic The Anatomy of Courage:

Moral courage is higher and rarer in quality than physical courage. It embraces all courage, and physical courage flows from it. We are all faced with decisions requiring moral courage in our daily lives, even at home – disciplining and teaching our children for example. It is applicable in business, in law, within institutions such as schools and hospitals. It takes moral courage to stand up against the crowd, to assist a victim of bullying or to reveal negligence where others would prefer it to remain hidden. Moral courage implies the belief that what you are doing or saying is right, and are willing to follow through your conviction regardless of personal popularity or favour. So easy to expound, so demanding to achieve. In my experience a person of high moral courage will seldom fail to demonstrate an equally distinguished level of physical courage.

There is no doubt that the three cricketers involved in this cheating scandal possessed physical courage, but did they possess moral courage? The courage to stand up against the crowd, which in this case was the 'leaders' of the team.

I agree with de la Billiere. Moral courage is rarer than physical courage. As Mark Twain says, 'It is curious that physical courage should be so common in the world and moral courage so rare.'

Unfortunately the lack of moral courage is so common place that there is no lack of examples. Take for instance Senator Michaella Cash's weaselly 'apology' when she attacked the reputation of the women working for Bill Shorten. Unfortunately the lack of moral courage has become a feature of modern politics.

The martial arts teach physical courage, but does it teach moral courage. Many would sanctimoniously suggest that it does, but does it really? We teach physical courage. We develop ways and means of developing physical courage. But do we do the same with moral courage? And if so, how?

My experience with Jan de Jong's Self Defence School is that we were adept at teaching physical courage, however, some of the instructors demonstrated a lack of moral courage. How do we go about teaching moral courage?

PS: This post arises out of my work on the tentatively titled Fear and Fight: Understanding Our Natural and Learned Responses to a Threat.

Authenic Profits - A guide to runnning a martial arts business (Five Stars)

Ashley Read is the author of Authentic Profits: Run a Part-Time Martial Arts Business You Can Be Proud Of which can be obtained from Amazon on Kindle.

Reading my biography to the right you will see I have extensive qualifications and experience in business and the martial arts. In addition, I have direct experience of the martial arts industry having assisted in the running of the Jan de Jong Self Defence School which included the development and implementation of a business recovery plan which proved to be highly successful. Thus, I am uniquely positioned to opine on Read's book.

The books is based on theory and experience, however, the theory is only used to inform practice in a practical way. The advice, based on my qualifications and experience, is sound and will assist all in the martial arts industry no matter their motive.

Some of the advice is counter-intuitive and contrary to popular wisdom, however, based on experience it works. Some of the principals espoused by Read were featured in my business recovery strategy that successfully turned the fortunes of the JDJSDS around after nearly two decades of decline in a highly competitive industry.

I cannot endorse the book nor the advice provided in the book more enthusiastically. In particular the focus on relational practices rather than transactional. Transactional is a leaky bucket whereas relational attempts to plug up the holes in the bucket (business) so less water (students) have to keep being poured into the bucket.

The only thing I would add to Read's book, and which supports his advice anyway, is the effect of focusing on relational business can be quantified through a KPI known as 'life-time value.' If you can increase the life-time value of a student then you increase profits and decrease costs. L-TV is calculated as the average time a student spends at the school multiplied by the average membership fee. I focused on this KPI within the recovery strategy for the JDJSDS and it helped in turning a two decade decline in student numbers and income into an upward trajectory.

Read uniquely combines business, psychology, and martial arts. Read is a qualified psychologist and thus provides interesting insights into instructors (or teachers, you'll understand the difference by reading his book), students, marketing, and motives.

The only criticism I would have is that he uses so-called American-English, although, to his credit, he does explain to the reader that his school, Spirit Defence, is spelt 'defence' instead of 'defense' because that is the way English-English speakers spell the word. Okay, he doesn't exactly put it like that but he does inform the reader that others in the English speaking world do not use so-called American-English spelling. Okay, maybe he doesn't exactly put it that way as well, but you get my drift.

Highly Recommended. Five stars *****.

Not Giving Into Fear

Jan de Jong Martial Arts Fitness, the school that arose out of the Jan de Jong Self Defence School after Shihan Jan de Jong OAM 9th Dan passed away, recently advertised a Young Women's and Young Men's Self Defence Course. Within the advertisement was:

What makes this course different from our normal classes? We get really specific about your need to adapt to the charging world. In particular not going into fear, but recognizing that that is where you might feel like you are being drawn, and be better equipped to deal with it.

The first thing to note is the poor grammer, spelling, editing, and use of the so-called American English. However, of particular note is the reference to giving (not going) into fear. How do they teach someone not to give into fear? In fact, why would you want to teach someone not to 'give into' fear when fear is an emotion that was selected for in nature because it conferred a survival advantage on an individual?


What do most, if not all, martial arts schools know about fear? Why do they demonise (Blogger is trying to get me to use American English but I will resist their attempt at American cultural imperialism) fear when fear is the reason the human race exists today? And then, what do they do to train their trainees not to 'give into' fear? Anything specific that targets fear?

'Giving into fear' ... the action tendency most associated with fear is flight. To run away when scared. If more people had have given into fear in the trenches during WWI, there would not have been millions of soldiers on both sides of the conflict killed. Giving into fear would appear to have been a pretty good thing to do for the individual soldiers at that time.

You see, here's the thing. Martial arts and other combative activities are not primarily interested in an individual's survival. They are interested in fight behaviour. They teach fight behaviour and they develop ways and means to support fight behaviour. Fight behaviour, for whatever reason, is the priority, not survival per se.

The soldiers on the Western Front, Gallipoli, and elsewhere where 'encouraged' not to give into fear through such abstract notions as patriotism, loyalty, duty, honour, cowardice, comradeship, etc. These are all abstract notions developed by man so that the intellect can rule over the survival-based amygdala.

You see, the amygdala, the home of emotion, truly cares about you. Survival is its only priority. When's the last time you saw a lion ashamed about running away from a fight it could not win?

How do you teach someone not to give into fear? Ah, there are countless ways to do so, but do the martial arts (a) actually train someone not to give into fear, and (b) if so, do they know that that is what they are doing?

Stress training is one specific way to train to not give into fear. Stress training is different from training. The way I describe it is that training is learning to fire a gun while stress training is learning to fire a gun when someone is firing at you.

What is stress? I'll save you from embarrassing yourself - you think you know but you don't. As Hans Selye, the father of the stress concept, famously said: Everybody knows what stress is, but nobody really knows. I know what stress is, when stress is referred to in stress training. Stress is anxiety-fear. Stress training is actually designed to counter the effects of anxiety-fear on performance.

Do martial arts, is Jan de Jong Martial Arts Fitness, teach stress training? Yes and no, although they don't know it and only indirectly and incompletely.

It's a fascinating subject and the subject of yet another book I'm writing.

Leaky Bucket Strategy to Retaining and Aquiring Students

See the post on my blog, The School of Jan de Jong, which presents a case study of the strategy I employed to save the Jan de Jong Self Defence School.

The case study might be used to develop a similar strategy to retain and/or acquire students for your school and whether you are the principal or not.

Duty of Care

Injury and pain are two phenomena that are at the very heart of all fighting methods. They are a major feature in the definition of offensive and defensive aggression and violence. Explicit explanation of them are also noticeably absent in the literature associated with preparing a person to survive a violent encounter.

I'm currently writing a chapter on injury referencing the theories and concepts of injury science. Injury science is a relatively new science that studies injury and the causes of injury. It is also a science that has hitherto not been explicitly referred to within the literature associated with preparing a person to survive a violent encounter.

The following is one section of that chapter which deals with duty of care. Duty of care is a concept that is often referred to by lawyers and non-lawyers alike but which many non-lawyers have never actually studied. Lawyers only know it from a legal standpoint, not from a practical standpoint.

Duty of Care

The modern concept of duty of care was first defined by Lord Atkin in the famous landmark case of Donoghue v. Stevenson. This case was an appeal to the House of Lords England by Mrs Donoghue who became ill after drinking a bottle of ginger beer that was contaminated by a decomposing snail. She subsequently sued Stevenson, the manufacturer. Finding in favour of Mrs Donoghue, Lord Atkin said: 'The rule that you are to love your neighbour becomes in law, you must not injure your neighbour; ... You must take reasonable care to avoid acts or omissions which you can reasonably foresee would be likely to injure your neighbour.'

How does a person or organisation discharge their duty of care? By taking reasonable care to avoid acts or omissions that would likely injure a person to whom a duty of care is owed and which are reasonably foreseeable. The Donoghue v Stevenson case focused on who the 'neighbour' is, who a duty of care is owed to, however, let's get back to core of the problem – injury and the cause of injury.

If you want to avoid injuring a person, surely it behoves you to first understand what causes an injury. Injury science not only provides the means to understand what causes an injury, it provides means and ways of understanding and identifying means and ways of preventing and controlling injury. In this way, the theories and concepts of injury science have a great deal to contribute to the discharging of a duty of care.

The Japan Judo Accident Victims Association (JJAVA) was established in response to 108 student (aged between 12 and 18) fatalities in Japanese junior and senior high schools from 1983 to 2009 as a result of judo accidents. Their mission is to 'support victims and find ways to reduce death and serious injury among students in Japan through introduction of effective safety measures as standard practice in the sport of judo.' The first thing that injury science would offer in support of the JJAVA mission is: injuries are not accidents.

Sommers explains that 'the term "accident" denotes an unforeseen, unexpected event that is the result of chance, fate or destiny. It is also used to describe human error or mistake, which thereby excludes the person from the consequence of injury' (emphasis added. If the above fatalities are the result of an accident, then by definition they are unforeseen and there is no breach of a duty of care. There would be no legal obligation for the instructors or school authorities to take reasonable care to avoid these injuries because they are unforeseen 'accidents.'

When arguing for the need to discontinue the use of the word 'accident' when referring to unintentional injury events, Langley refers to a survey of women whose children had been injured. The results showed that many of them had not taken any action to prevent a reoccurrence of the event resulting in injury. The findings suggested this was not because such events were perceived as being too difficult to control, or action was inappropriate, or that the event was useful education for the child. Rather, many mothers saw the incidents as something which by definition could not be prevented – an 'accident.'

'Accidents will happen' – this was a post on an internet forum by an internationally renowned (but unnamed here) martial arts authority discussing the JJAVA experience. What impetus is there to find ways to reduce death and serious injury among students if the fatalities and serious injuries are the result of accidents, and accidents will happen? By definition they are unpredictable and unpreventable.

Sommers suggests that a better understanding of the nature of injury in the past few years has led to a reconceptualisation of injury as a largely preventable event. The JJAVA mission of preventing future fatalities and serious injuries is supported by the injury science mantra that injuries are not accidents. The JJAVA mission would be further supported by reference to injury science theory. The duty of care espoused by Lord Atkin only refers to preventing injuries. Injury science goes beyond mere prevention. Injury science offers solutions to prevent and control injury should injury occur. Injury science offers solutions that limit the exposure to legal liability associated with a breach of duty of care. Injury science goes beyond the mere legal to our moral and ethical duty to prevent and control injury generally.

******

The above is a first draft. After reading it in this post, I am struck with the emphasis that duty of care is NOT just a legal duty. It is not something that is dealt with by purchasing insurance. It is a moral and ethical duty before it is a legal duty. It is not a risk that is transferred to a third party via insurance; it is a risk you address youself in order to discharge your moral and ethical duty of care. And how can you address your duty of care if you don't know what causes an injury?

Secondly, surely your public liability insurance premiums should be reduced if you can demonstrate your comprehensive efforts at discharging your duty of care. Much the way health insurance premiums should be reduced if you do not smoke. By definition, injury science offers the means and ways to address injury risk issues, which the insurance companies could adopt to reduce premiums for those who utilise these ways and means.

Thirdly, injury science's mantra, injuries are not accidents, makes a mokery of coroner's 'accidental death' rulings. There is no accidental death. One-punch deaths, which have been a subject of previous posts on this blogs, are not accidental deaths. The legal system defined them as so up until, in Western Australia, specific legislation assigned responsibility for one-punch deaths to the aggressor who initiated the process that led to the death. The legal system is slowly catching up with injury science.

Lastly, while locating an image to insert at the top of this post, I noticed that a number of martial arts organisations offer services to the public, particularly the corporate public, that are designed to assist in discharging their duty of care. Even the school I previously taught at offers these services. Given Lord Atkin's explanation of duty of care, surely it compromises the ability to assist in discharging a duty of care if one is unaware of the causes of injury. To put it another way, surely it enhances the ability to assist in discharging a duty of care if one is aware of the causes of injury.

My book will be the first in the literature associated with preparing a person to survive a violent encounter that will address this issue directly.

Straight Arm Lock/Arm Bar/Ude Kujiki - Take Two

I originally posted this blog using a particular image of what appeared to be the defender stepping toward the attacker when executing the technique. I used this image as it highlighted a particular issue I wanted to explore, however, it was pointed out to me that the technique in question, while looking similar to the straight arm lock under review, was actually different and is the applied forces are intended to produce a different affect. I take that comment on board and apologise unreservedly for taking licence with that image. This blog recasts the previous with a more appropriate image. For those who have already read this blog (and there have been quite a few of you) the amendments are contained in the end part of this blog. This has also given me the opportunity of including a little more information which I neglected to include in the original of this blog.

I've recently been contacted by a group of fellow martial artists who are interested in the biomechanics of the martial arts. The interaction reminded me of the work I commenced on understanding joint-locking techniques (kansetsu waza).

The photograph to the right is of a straight arm lock, also commonly known as an 'arm bar', and in Japanese as ude kujiki. The photograph is not the greatest, but it was taken at the late Greg Palmer's dojo with two of his former junior students. Greg was a senior instructor of Jan de Jong, was one of my instructors, had a depth of understanding and love of jujutsu possibly second to none at the Jan de Jong Self Defence School, and became a friend and training partner of mine. Out of respect and in memory of Sensei Palmer, I'll use this photograph for illustration purposes.

The straight arm lock is a technique taught by many, if not most, martial arts. It is one of the few kansetsu waza which is permitted in judo competition, and is often seen in mixed martial arts competitions. It can be applied using the arm, as in the photograph above, or the hip while lying on your back, as in the photo to the right. It can also be applied with the leg, hip while standing, stomach, hand, forearm, shoulder, neck, head, and with weapons.

Jan de Jong included theory gradings in his dan (black belt) grades. These are oral gradings which examine the candidates knowledge of techniques and tactics, the proficiency being taken as given. If a black belt represents a teaching qualification, as it most definitely does in Jan de Jong jujutsu, the candidate's theoretical knowledge should most definitely be examined.

How do you study for this theory grading? Unfortunately biomechanics in biomechanical or martial arts texts will not be of much help. Vieten (2008) provides an overview of the English-language martial arts literature related to biomechanics. He found the percentage of biomechanics papers among the literature in martial arts is very low compared to some popular sports and suggests ‘the biomechanics of the martial arts is still in its infancy’ (562). Too true. My work is about growing that infant. This blog is about growing that infant, and possibly encouraging others more qualified than myself to take up the challenge.

Welcome to your theory grading, or part thereof. A typical question De Jong would ask, and which Palmer often referred to when explaining the theory examination, was: What are the forces involved in ude gatame ude kujiki (arm set arm breaking; the first techique illustrated above)? This, as it turns out, was a very insightful question. The problem was that De Jong and the candidates only had a layperson's understanding of 'forces'. If they'd have had a mechanical/biomechanical understanding of forces, the answers would have not be so convoluted.

Kreighbaum and Barthels (1996; K&B) explain that 'because forces account for the motion and changes of motion of all things in the environment, including the body and the body segments, it is important for the movement specialist to understand what forces are and how we can picture them as they are applied to or by the body' (80). Firstly, 'a force is something that causes or tends to cause a change in the motion or shape of an object or body' (80). It's not just a change in motion which forces cause; they also cause a change in shape which is referred to as 'deformation' in mechanics. If the deformation of the body's tissues is significant enough, it will lead to injury. Secondly, given the preceding explanation of forces, it is important for martial arts instructors and students to understand what forces are and how they can picture them as they are applied to or by the body. The beauty of it all is that it is so easy - 'easy peesy Japanesey.'

'A force can be thought of as a push or a pull; ... a blow or impact, or gravity' (K&B 1996: 80). Forces have four unique properties: magnitude, direction, point of application, and line of action (K&B 1996). In initially answering our theory question, all we need to do is identify all of the points of application and describe their direction and whether they are a push or a pull. That is it - easy peesy Japanesey. Forces are what makes the technique work. They are the essence of the technique.

See: http://www.kojutsukan.blogspot.com.au/2011/06/using-forces-to-understand-and-explain.html

With the ude gatame ude kujiki, there are three points of application. The right hand is applying a pushing force to the back of uke's (receiver of the technique) flexed hand back towards uke; the left hand is grasping and applying a pulling force on uke's wrist away from uke; and the elbow is applying a downward force to uke's elbow. That is it - easy peesy Japanesey. Next question.

What is the purpose of ude gatame ude kujiki, or any kansetsu waza for that matter? Kansetsu waza is a seperate class of technique. This can be seen in numerous texts and in numerous systems. For instance, the Kodokan Judo classification of techniques initially classifies all their techniques as nage waza (throwing techniques), atemi waza (striking techniques), and katame waza (grappling techniques). Katame waza is subdivided as osae komi waza (immobilisation techniques), shime waza (strangulation or choking techniques), and kansetsu waza (joint locking techniques).

The kata gatame ude kujiki (shoulder set arm breaking) illustrated to the right can be turned into a shoulder throw. In jujutsu, throws often involve initially locking up the joint in order to throw an opponent. They are also used to take an opponent to the ground without causing both the opponent's feet to leave the ground. This is my biomechancially-based definition of a takedown technique. Kansetsu waza are often used as immobilisation techniques, as is often seen in aikido. They are also used as kuzushi* (unbalancing) techniques. They are used as pain compliance techniques, and, which is probably the first explanation that would most likely be given, they are used to disable an opponent by injuring their joint. If I was examining a candidate and they gave me the last answer, I'd immediately ask them how often is the ubiquitous wrist twist used to disable an opponent by injuring their wrist. The humble wrist twist is most often used to take an opponent to the ground (takedown technique not a throwing technique as is so often described in aikido and many jujutsu systems)in order to execute another technique, a 'finishing' technique.

Firstly, it can be seen that kansetsu waza is a class of technique which overlaps with many other classes of techniques. It has multiple personalities. Secondly, so what? So what? The technique may look the same, that is to say it has the same points of application of the forces, but the direction and magnitude of the forces will differ depending on the purpose of the technique.

What is the physiological effect of applying forces to the extended elbow when executing ude kujiki? Here there is no authoritative answer. I was astounded, when researching the science behind joint locking techniques, that I could find no detailed explanation of the effects of kansetsu waza when forces are applied and the joint is moved beyond its range of motion. If any reader knows of such information, and only authoritative information is of interest, I'd appreciate it being forwarded to me and I will duly share it with the world via this blog.

Why not refer to medical or forensic texts? I did. However, between 80% and 90% of all injuries that occur to the upper limb are the result of a fall on an outstretched hand (FOOSH injuries; see http://http://www.kojutsukan.blogspot.com.au/search/label/FOOSH). Consequently, the medical and forensic literature focuses on these types of injuries. The forces are applied in a different direction when landing on an outstretched hand compared to when forces are applied at right angles to the posterior aspect of the elbow when executing an ude kujiki.

The bones of the elbow joint are the humerus, radius, and ulna. The olecranon of the head of the ulna fits into the olecranon fossa of the humerus which limits the hyperextension of the forearm and provides stability to the joint. Dislocation refers to the complete disruption of of a joint so that the articular surfaces are no longer in contact. Dislocation of the elbow results in, among other things, extreme pain and inability to move the elbow. Elbow dislocations are classified with reference to the position of the ulna relative to the humerus following injury. Dislocation of the elbow can be posterior or anterior:

• posterior – the forearm bones are displaced posterior to the distal part of the humerusand accounts for the majority of all elbow dislocation injuries.
• anterior - the forearm bones are displaced anterior to the distal part of the humerus and are extremely rare. Consequently the data on these types of injury are likewise rare.

In layperson terms, with a FOOSH injury more than 90% of the dislocations of the elbow involve the ulna sliding up the back of the humerus because the forces are being transferred from the hand to the forearm and to the elbow. The forces are applied in a different direction when an ude kujiki technique is executed; they are applied to the posterior aspect of the elbow, which means the injury may be different. After all, Whiting and Zernicke (2008) include in their seven factors which combine to determine the nature of an injury, the tissues injured, and the severity of an injury, 'direction (where is the force directed?)'.

Anterior dislocations are often described as occurring when the elbow is flexed and it receives a blow. The olecranon can lever the humerus and slide in front of it, or, it can be fractured. This is often referred to as a 'fracture-dislocation'.

I apologise for not being able to identify the source of the following quote. It is included in my notes without reference, and I need to go back to my notebooks to identify the reference. However for the purposes of this blog I will proceed without the reference.

Given elbow dislocations are the one joint technique allowable in judo (wrist, shoulder, and knee techniques were forbidden due to the risks of injury associated with the techniques), a sport practiced around the world for a century, and there is no reference I can find in the literature on extreme elbow injuries as in the case of a fracture-dislocation in judo, I might hypothesise that the abovementioned dislocations without fractures are not uncommon when an external force is applied to the posterior aspect of the elbow.

What type of dislocation and injury occurs when executing ude kujiki? Given they are permitted and used in judo and mixed martial arts, you might have thought there would be information published on this issue. You might have thought wrong. If I am mistaken, I'd appreciate reader's directing me to the source that would correct my misunderstanding. This blog is, as stated above, a call to arms to encourage others to study these most basic of questions: What injuries are intended to be inflicted when a joint-locking technique is executed? In the case of ude kujiki, in my mind it is the comparatively rare anterior dislocation with a possible fracture of the olecranon

The technique to the right is described as a 'step in arm lock.' Comment on the technique? This is a question which De Jong would often pose using photographs from books, etc? Firstly, a tactical issue. Stepping toward the opponent while applying this technique exposes the defender to the risks posed by the attacker's free hand. Secondly, stepping forward changes the forces applied by the hand at the wrist. Now it is pushing rather than pulling. This has the effect of 'close packing' the elbow joint increasing rather than decreasing its stability (increasing rather than decreasing its resistance to forces). Thirdly, I would hypothesise that should the combined forces result in a dislocation of the elbow, it would result in a posterior dislocation whereas when forces are applied to stretch the elbow joint and then forces applied to the posterior aspect of the elbow, they might result in an anterior dislocation and/or a disclocation-fracture.

Notes

*Interestingly, Jigoro Kano explains that 'the basis of kuzushi is pushing and pulling' (1986: 42). Kano, the originator of the use of biomechanics to understand and study the tactics and techniques of the martial arts - to a degree and possibly unwittingly.

References

Kano, J. (1986). Kodokan Judo. Tokyo: Kondansha International

Kreighbaum, E. and K.M. Barthels. (1996). Biomechanics: A qualitative approach for studying human movement. 4th edn. Boston, Massachusetts: Allyn and Bacon.

Vieten, M.M. (2008). Application of biomechanics in martial art training. In Handbook of biomechanics and human movement science, edited by Y. Hong and R. Bartlett. Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge.

Whiting, W.C. and R.F. Zernicke. (2008). Biomechanics of musculoskeletal injury.2nd edn. Champaign, Illinois: Human Kinetics.

Women's Self Defence Courses - Effective or Not? - Pt 1

I'll use the Women's Self Defence (WSD) course developed by Debbie Clarke while she was an instructor with the Jan de Jong Self Defence School (JDJSDS) as a case study to study the issue of WSD courses generally. See http://southerncrossbujutsu.com.au/martial-arts-taught/self-defence-for-women.aspx for her current work.

Clarke's WSD course was designed as a six week course with lessons of 2 hours duration per week. Variations of the format were developed when teaching the course to female students at various high schools in the Perth metropolitan area. One elite private girls school included it as a compulsory course for all their year 11 girls.

A feature of the course was that it was designed by a woman for women based on a female experience of violence. It was also designed to be taught by a woman to women. I was the only male instructor within the JDJSDS to be trained in teaching the WSD course, and to teach it for a number of years. This was because I was working full-time for the JDJSDS at the time, and the other (senior) instructors did not hold the WSD course in high regard. They taught 'martial arts', something that has to be trained for years, with dedication, before you can be effective in surviving a violent encounter.

One thing that is never in short supply of in the martial arts is opinion. Most people involved seem to have one on many violence related subjects, and they are not adverse to sharing their opinions. One commonly held opinion, particularly by male martial artists, is that WSD courses are largely, if not totally, ineffective. Or worse, they provide participants with a false sense of security.


One thing that is also never short supply of in the martial arts is uninformed opinions. The martial arts are bastions of anti-intellectualism for the large part. God forbid that research would be undertaken in order to inform these opinions, including those associated with the effectiveness of WSD courses.

In researching Beyond Fight-or-Flight, I came across this article in the Journal of Interpersonal Violence: Self-Defense or Assertiveness Training and Women's Responses to Sexual Attacks by L.R. Brecklin and S.E. Ullman, 2005, 20: 6, 738-762.

Self-defense classes aim to prevent violence against women by strengthening women's capacity to defend themselves; however, little research has examined the effects of self-defense training on women's attempts to fight back during actual attacks. This study investigated the relationship of self-defense or assertiveness training and women's physical and psychological responses to subsequent rape attacks.

In this and the next couple of blogs, we'll look at various aspects of this study and the content of the article.

Self-defense training prepares women both mentally and physically for potential assaults (...) by providing them with opportunities to learn, observe, and practice physical, social, and cognitive skills through the use of role-plays, discussion, and simulation exercises (...). Women's self-defense tactics are meant to be practical, simple, and effective in common situations, so that all women can learn them regardless of age, size, previous experiences, and physical strength (...). Women's self-defense lessons often include learning how to create impromptu weapons (e.g., comb, keys) and how to use body parts (e.g., fists, elbows, knees) against the offender's particularly vulnerable body targets (e.g., eyes, jaw, nose, groin) in various situations (...).

Firstly, the '(...)' replaces the references that Brecklin and Ullman have referred too. This will be consistently employed in direct quotes from the article in this blog. Secondly, their description of self-defence courses corresponds with Clarke's WSD course. Their discussion on self-defence courses generally refers to numerous other studies which, unfortunately, are hidden away in academic journals:

After completing self-defense classes, evaluations have shown increases in the following domains for women: assertiveness, self-esteem, perceived control, anticipatory behaviors, self-efficacy, masculinity attributes (e.g. active, independent), anger, dominance, self-defense skills, physical competence, and decreases in anxiety, depression, hostility, fear, and avoidance behaviors (...).

I wonder, did the increase in masculinity attributes include an increase in arrogance? Note the increase in anger. What do you think that is all about? My sourcing this article had to do with research into our evolved survival mechanism and our learned survival mechanism for Beyond Fight-or-Flight. Most people do not understand that the fight-or-flight concept is only associated with fear. However, the literature associates violence with fear, anger, no emotion, and positive emotions. Each of these emotions entails different subjective feelings, physiological responses, cognitive capabilities, action tendencies, and behavioural responses. Fight-or-flight is only looking at one small part of a larger 'violence elephant'.

Studies have found that successful rape resisters were more assertive, confident, dominant, perceived more control over their lives, and showed more initiative, persistence, and leadership compared with women who were raped (...), demonstrating that psychological changes because of participation in self-defense training may have substantial implications for subsequent rape avoidance. Increasing women's assertiveness skills is especially important in light of a recent prospective study showing that low assertiveness specific to situations with men was predictive of future victimization in a sample of 274 college women (...). Empowering women with the tools to respond to threats may serve to both protect and liberate them (...).

It's not looking good for the WSD course detractors.

Although self-defense training may have positive psychological and behavioral effects on female participants, very little empirical research has examined whether self-defense training is related to actual rape avoidance among women who later face a rape attack. In Bart and O’Brien's (1985) landmark interview study of 51 rape avoiders and 43 rape victims, rape avoiders were nearly twice as likely to have learned self-defense as women who were raped. In a descriptive study, Peri (1991) found that of 8,000 female graduates of Model Mugging, a self-defense course, 120 have reported using nonphysical strategies (e.g., screaming) to avoid an assault. In addition, 46 out of 48 graduates of Model Mugging who were physically assaulted after the course chose to fight back physically and reported being able to disable the offender enough to avoid further harm (Peri, 1991). This prior research suggests that self-defense training may be related to rape avoidance for participants; however, more rigorous studies are needed to verify this relationship.

If these studies were more generally known, they could be used to support the efficacy of these WSD courses. This in turn increases the confidence of the participants in the efficacy of these courses which could increase their commitment to the instruction and the implementation of the instruction.

Numerous empirical research studies have examined the role of victim resistance in rape incidents, using police reports and retrospective self-report surveys. Victims' use of forceful physical resistance (e.g. hitting, kicking, biting) is typically related to avoiding completed rape (...). In prior studies examining the temporal order of assault events (e.g. offender attack, victim resistance, rape or injury outcomes), forceful physical resistance (FPR) was not related to greater injury (...) but was still related to avoiding completed rape. Nonforceful physical resistance (NFPR) (e.g. fleeing, blocking blows) has also been found to be related to less rape completion (...) and unrelated to physical injury (...). Several studies have shown that forceful verbal resistance (FVR) (e.g. screaming, yelling at, or threatening offender) is related to rape avoidance ...), but its relationship with physical injury has been inconsistent. Forceful verbal resistance was linked to greater physical injury (...) in studies without sequence information (...); but in one study, analyzing sequence of events, this strategy was unrelated to injury (...). Finally, nonforceful verbal resistance (NFVR) (e.g. pleading, begging, reasoning) has been found to be related to greater severity of sexual abuse and unrelated to physical injury (...). Based on this research, it appears that the techniques taught most often in self-defense training (e.g. hitting, kicking, yelling) are related to rape avoidance, implying that self-defense may reduce women's severity of sexual victimization.

Firstly, it is not uncommon to see and hear of law enforcement officials advising females to not resist a sexual assault because it is likely to increase the violence involved. The studies suggest this is simplistic reasoning - which should come as no surprise in this area. The risk of increased violence appears to be dependent upon the type of resistance, rather than resistance per se. Secondly, all of the above behaviours are identified in Beyond Fight-or-Flight in the chapter which expands upon the original fight-or-flight concept in terms of behavioural responses. The reference to the fight-or-flight concept and related theory in terms of understanding violence is seriously limited. The question that needs to be asked, and which is not in the many academic disciplines I've been researching and integrating to write Beyond Fight-or-Flight, is: what emotion is being experienced when these behaviours are enacted? Fear is the obvious answer; but what about anger? After all, the action tendency of anger is fight as per emotion theory and Walter Cannon's original fight-or-flight model.

And finally, the research implies that WSD courses may reduce women's severity of sexual victimisation. Right now, it's 15:love in favour of WSD course supports vs their detractors. Next blog we'll have a look at the findings of this study and associated comments.

History of Jan de Jong - Peter Clarke

Peter Clarke was a senior instructor with Jan de Jong.

Peter is unique. He was the first to complete the final technical grading of Jan de Jong's jujutsu, third dan, and was immediately, and quite rightly, upgraded to fourth dan. He was also the highest grade in Jan de Jong's pencak silat.

Peter and myself assisted Mr de Jong in developing his grading system for his aikido, and were graded shodan by actually engaging in the grades that De Jong developed. We were also involved with Mr de Jong at his dojo at home where we were 'encouraged' to undertake the Australian Ju Jitsu Association (AJJA) dan grades that he and Mr de Jong developed. Congratulations - we were graded fifth dan.

Peter has included his speech and a commentary about his speech on the Southern Cross Bujutsu website concerning the history of Jan de Jong: http://southerncrossbujutsu.com.au/articles/jan-de-jong-history.aspx.

To Peter's credit, he prefaces his speech with the following comment: 'There are now matters in the speech which I now know to be either quite wrong or perhaps dubious.' How often do you hear or see someone, let alone within the martial arts, qualify their previous statements with this sort of comment? This speaks volumes for Peter's character - and comes as no surprise.

Mr de Jong would sometimes expressed his exasperation with Peter because of his 'lawyerly' approach to jujutsu. He is a lawyer (don't hold that against him). It's no secret that I often exasperated De Jong, and his senior instructors, with my 'analytical' approach to jujutsu (I am an accountant, among other things, don't hold that against me). But our analytical approaches dovetailed with De Jong's evolving analytical approach to his jujutsu.

Peter is the only instructor I ever requested to assist.

The general rule within the Jan de Jong Self Defence School, post 1970s, was that you gain a black and white belt and assist an instructor before you teach a class on you own. I remember a conversation with Maggie de Jong (Mr de Jong's daughter and now principal of the Jan de Jong Martial Arts Fitness school) in which she explained this general rule to me. I reminded her that I was asked to teach my own branch after two years, and only being an orange belt and having never assisted any instructor whatsoever. She responded with the comment that I was 'exceptional'. I appreciate her comment, with gratitude, but suggest what she probably meant was that I was the exception.

I commenced jujutsu in 1983. By 1985 I was teaching, and I never stopped. I ended up assisting Mr de Jong in his classes, and of course in the numerous seminars I accompanied him on throughout Europe, Australia, and Indonesia. But there is only one person I ever requested to assist - Peter Clarke. I attended his Saturday afternoon classes, but I knew I could learn, and wanted to learn, more from him. I wanted to be his apprentice of sorts. So I requested, and the request was granted, to assist him in one of the northern suburbs on a Saturday morning.

I recently watched a DVD the Jan de Jong school produced which included footage of Peter demonstrating techniques along with his fellow senior instructors. In my professional opinion, he is a class above. I always recall Peter performing a simple technique in one of the Friday night instructor classes where his movement were so fast that they appeared, and are remembered, as segmented frames in a movie reel.

I believe we've never seen the best of Peter Clarke. Why? Because he's had 'average' attackers throughout his career. This is a controversial statement as the majority of the time his attackers have been his fellow senior instructors. Don't get me wrong, they are exceptional practitioners; it's just that they are rubbish attackers. I know. I wanted to test myself for my gradings by asking Peter and another senior instructor to attack me for my revision grading for my revision black and white grading. Unheard of. They provided 'strong' attacks, but, with no commitment. The attacks were strong, but, there was a huge degree of 'control' involved. No full commitment. From that, I've learnt that attacking is an art in itself.

I would give anything to see Peter go full tilt with attackers that had no regard for their own safety - like me, Jamie Francis, Dave Palmer, Marcus. The senior instructors talk of the commitment of their instructors and how it is not exhibited in their students. I would give anything to see those former instructors go full tilt with Peter Clarke just to see what he is truly capable of. I have no hesitation in suggestion that I would not have been disappointed.

Perfection

I enrolled in the Jan de Jong Self Defence School in the second week of April 1983. My first class was with Ian Lloyd (who today, I'm pleased to say, is a good friend of mine). I didn't start off by doing one class a week. No. I started off by doing two classes a day, six days a week, plus training outside of classes.

It wasn't that it was convenient. Sure, I could do a lot of the classes at the main dojo, 996 Hay Street, Perth, but to add the second class I would have to travel to a suburban branch on some days. I recall sitting in the corridor of a Midland gym, spraying my wrists with 'spray-on ice' and strapping up my wrists because they were so painful. The first wrist twist in the class would undo my pathetic attempts at massaging my wrists through the class. But I continued on. Feeling each and every wrist twist.

I'd never been dedicated to anything before in my life. I'd never applied myself to anything. I'd finished my undergraduate degree at the University of Western Australia the year before where I started off with straight As and ended with straight Cs in the final year. I was saved from Fs because the course was only three years long allowing me to progress from A to B to C. There was definitely a negative correlation between my marks and my social life, aka football club and tavern. Why did I start off my jujutsu experience/journey by doing two classes a day, six days a week, plus ex-class training, given, I'd never applied myself to anything before; never aspired to anything before; and never committed myself to anything before?

It wasn't because I was looking for a way to defend myself. It wasn't because of any sporting aspiration as we did not participate in any form of combat sport. In fact, Jan de Jong was, as many other significant figures in the martial arts were, not a supporter of the concept of combat sports. It wasn't some spiritual pursuit, nor a desire for self-improvement. It definitely was no machismo thing either. Jujutsu had no prestige so there was no attraction to gain some 'status' by training jujutsu. Why?

I've often been asked about my commitment; possibly clinically diagnosed as obsession. I would respond with my Pavlov dog response; that I saw myself improving each and every time I stepped onto the mats. That was hugely motivating for me. I was the quintessential Pavolov dog. ... But I've come to appreciate there was more. More what I saw than what was not necessarily revealed.

March 9. 1877. I have never known such a disciplined people. From the moment they wake, they devote themselves to the perfection of whatever they pursue.

This is a line from The Last Samurai. The Japanese culture is known for its pursuit of perfection. 'Japanese traditional culture included the concept that people should strive for perfection in everything they did' (Japan Unmasked: The Character and Culture of the Japanese. Boye Lafayette De Mente)

Anthony Bourdain was the host of a food/travel TV show with an episode in Japan where he tended to focus on the Japanese cultural 'obsession' with perfection. He went 'in search of the relationship between a perfect piece of sushi and a perfect knife blade, the common ground shared by the martial artistry of kendo and the subtle aesthetics of Japanese flower arranging.' Throughout the episode Chef Bourdain returns again and again to the idea of perfection, asking each of the masters he interviews (sushi, kendo, and ikebana) if they believed in the concept of perfection and whether they felt they had ever achieved it in their field of expertise. Paradoxically, though all of them believed in the idea of perfection, they universally agreed that achieving it was very unlikely and, more importantly not the point. What truly mattered was continually improving your performance – doing a better job each time you took up the task at hand. He has a scene with a cocktail waiter that demonstrates the commitment to perfection in his preparation of a cocktail for Bourdain and his guest.

'A man can be an artist ... in anything, food, whatever. It depends on how good he is at it. Creasy's art is death ... he's about to paint his masterpiece.'

Even though De Jong did not emphasise it, nor did his instructors, the way he taught his jujutsu intimated a perfection path. There was a focus on detail, an attention to detail, and an emphasis on detail. For whatever reason, even though the senior instructors did not focus on the attention to detail to the same degree that I did, the hint was there. The tantalising intimation.

Many believe that you cannot train jujutsu (or aikido or judo) on their own. I would train for hours on my own. Training bodymovements. Training the hands in unbalancing or executing the technique. Training for perfection. When I trained with my partners I'd be training the distancing and execution, because I'd trained the positioning previously. And my aim was, albeit unwittingly, the perfect technique. I recently re-established contact with an instructor of another school who looked to De Jong for guidance - Shihan John Beckman. He responded to my email saying that of course he remembered me, I was the jujutsuka with the precise techniques, or words to that effect. I was precise. That is what I trained for. That was the focus of my training. That is what attracted me to De Jong's jujutsu.

Ujio (played by Hiroyuki Sanada) training his sword work in The Last Samurai is a powerful image of the Japanese pursuit of perfection.

As I now understand, this is what attracted me to the jujutsu taught by Jan de Jong. In engaging in this pursuit of perfection, I learnt to excel in many other areas of my life. I'd learnt how to pursue perfection. Unfortunately, I'd also learnt how to pursue perfection, which is a goal that is not often shared within our society.

Jan de Jong Pt 20 - Jan de Jong Self Defence School: Towards 2000

Jenny Armstrong wrote an article that was published in Blitz magazine circa 1999 titled: 'Jan de Jong Self Defence School: Towards 2000'. She provides, in my opinion, one of the best descriptions of Jan de Jong.

It is soon evident that while martial arts may be his (most-valuable) 'hobby', as he will describe it, a variety of topics hold an interest for him. He has a keen and probing mind, yet open to life's new experiences. Although in his seventies, Jan de Jong has an iron firm hand-shake and the mental engagement of a much younger person. His appearance is like that of a sturdy unquailable, colonial gentleman - wearing a button-up top in a life-essence red, his grey beard adds a distinguished frame to his face; his eyes are attentive and sharp.

Yet there is none of the pompousness that the word 'colonial' tends to evoke. Rather there is a tendency for laughter, a certain irreverence even, which makes him instantly likable.

Armstrong nailed it. She also writes that 'immediately on meeting him he is easy to talk to.' Too true. I recall a letter De Jong once showed me. It was written by a young mudansha ('one without a black belt';kyu-level practitioner) who had attended one of his seminars in Europe. The letter expressed the author's surprise and gratitude that De Jong had paid him personal attention during the seminar. De Jong paid mudansha and yudansha (black belt holder) the same amount of respect and attention.

De Jong had a way with people, but not in a manipulative or self-serving way. There wasn't a person on a grading day, the student or the guests they invited, that didn't feel special and appreciated. De Jong paid as much attention, if not more, to the guests the student had invited. The comments directed toward the student at the end of the grading were often for the benefit of the student's invited guests.

Other possible applications of jujutsu techniques fascinate him, as does any phenomena or new technique he feels may be added to jujutsu to make it stronger (he describes himself as a postage stamp collector, collecting new techniques).

De Jong's reference to himself as a 'postage stamp collector collecting new technique' can, I believe, be found in his grading system, if not the grading system itself, as I've argued in previous blogs.

Armstrong wrote of my role as uke (receiver) to De Jong's tori (taker):

His explanation of the concept is enforced by demonstrations on his (apparently) hapless instructor John Coles. Fortunately, John is aware of the techniques and seemed to know what to expect (a rather painful demonstration of a wrist-lock had earlier given me a decent appreciation for his methods and I was happy for him to demonstrate on John and not me).

Recall Armstrong's reference to 'iron firm hand-shake'. A student of De Jong's in Holland during WWII, Kees van Deijk, also remembered De Jong's grip when he wrote to me in 2004: 'I knew Jan during the years 1944-1947. The first thing that struck me was that he was rather thin, but it appears that he was a strong person, in particular his hands/fingers.'

I recall the 'hapless instructor John Coles' tapping-off before De Jong could apply the joint-locking technique he was proposing to demonstrate for the participants of his European seminar one year. De Jong was a little annoyed and asked me not to tap-off before he had applied the lock. I informed him I was tapping-off because his grip was crushing my hand. For the record, he didn't ease up on either his grip nor his expectation that I wouldn't tap-off before he'd applied the lock.

I will always remember the last time I saw De Jong. I visited him at home about three weeks before he passed away on 5 April 2003. I was shocked to see the ravages that cancer had exacted upon this once vital man. He was skin and bone. We chatted, as we often did, and the conversation turned to jujutsu, as it often did. As soon as the conversation turned to jujutsu, he propped himself up into a sitting position on the couch he had been lying on. He thrust his emaciated arm in direction and instructed me to grab it. Feeling more than a little self conscious, I grasped his forearm. No sooner had I done so than he had adroitly disengaged my grip and applied a lock. I wasn’t surprised at the skill, that was a given, even under these circumstances. What I was astonished at was the strength of the grip of this man who was quite obviously being ravaged by this horrible disease. This was still the grip that could force me to tap-off from the pain of the grip alone. This was still the grip that Armstrong referred to as, and found it sufficiently memorable to remark upon, an 'iron firm hand-shake'. This was the same grip that Van Deijk remembered from more than 50 years previous, being applied by a 'rather thin [person], but it appeared that he was a strong person, in particular his hands/fingers.' His grip, for me, has come to represent his life force. Forever strong, and unreliant upon the physical limitations of the human body.

The last thing De Jong gave me was a series of photocopied images he'd pasted together to form a series of moves. He wanted me to study and demonstrate them at the pencak silat instructor's class. The last thing he asked me to do was to bring him what I'd written on my then proposed how-to book on his jujutsu because he wanted to contribute to it. His mind was still active, and he was still working on his martial arts right up until his death. His body may not have been up to the task, but that didn't stop him.

Through writing these blogs I've had the opportunity of studying the 'school of Jan de Jong'. This study has been revealing, and it has led me to a greater appreciation of De Jong's legacy. It provided the wonderful opportunity of making contact with students from De Jong's past, like Van Deijk and Harry Hartman. This led to their generous donation of their photographs taken during those times (including De Jong as a boy scout in pre-WWII Indonesia).

Writing these blogs provided me with the opportunity of discovering a copy of the Jan de Jong: the man, his school, and his ju jitsu system booklet that I wrote for De Jong, in which he wrote: 'Thanks for all your help! Jan de Jong OAM, 9th dan'. This booklet was a self-published affair and was sold by the De Jong organisation throughout Australia and Northern Europe. The content forms the base for much of the content on the Jan de Jong Martial Arts Fitness website, albeit unattributed.

I think I'll leave the story here. However, the story will be updated from time to time I'm sure. I'll sign off the Jan de Jong story with Van Deijk's words:

Now that I'm writing (typing) I see Jan before me (often with his smile), who gave me jujutsu lessons, which formed a part of my character in my life. I will never forget him!

Jan de Jong Pt 18 - Logo

A big part of the Jan de Jong story is his logo. His logo was based on an ex libris he commissioned during WWII. An Ex libris, or bookplate, is a small graphic label or print that is glued to the inside cover of a book with the purpose of identifying its owner. The Latin phrase 'Ex libris ...', means 'the books of...', and is usually followed by the name of the owner of the book. The designer De Jong commissioned to design his ex libris was Wim Zwiers. In researching this blog, and yes, I do research these blogs, I came across this explanation of why an ex libris is made:

Ex-libris have been a constant tradition for over five hundred years. They are a challenge to an artist to produce a small graphic art work for a friend, for a customer or for himself with a special purpose: identifying the owner of a book. Pasting a beautiful ex-libris in one's books not only discourages theft and reminds borrowers that a book must be returned, but is also a way of paying tribute to the book, which despite modern communication technology remains a primary vehicle for the transmission of knowledge and a constant source of pleasure and interest. As an object of collection, ex-libris are a wonderful way of acquiring, with time and patience and without being a millionaire, a small-format art museum which reflect the artist's skills and the collector's taste.

The theme or image of De Jong's ex libris speaks volumes. It is a graphic representation of his original jujutsu instructors, and reflects his love of, and identification with, the art of jujutsu. The image is based on a photo taken of his original instructors, the Saito brothers.

Zwiers was born in 1922, and would have been in his late teens when De Jong commissioned his ex libris. He went on to become a teacher of fine arts after WWII and is a respected artist utilising many mediums. There are so many stories like this associated with De Jong. Zwiers reconnected with De Jong through an amazing coincidence. They had not had any contact with each other since WWII, but, for whatever reason, in the mid 1990s, Zwiers was visiting Perth, 'the most isolated capital in the world'. He was on a train and saw a van through the window. The van had the ex libris image he'd designed 50 years ago on it, along with a phone number. He phoned the number, and, he and De Jong were reconnected nearly 50 years after their initial meeting, and half a world apart. De Jong would always try and visit Zwiers each year he visited Europe to conduct his seminars. I had the absolute pleasure of meeting Zwiers. He showed me how he created his copper engraved ex libris. He engraves them into a copper plate, backwards, and uses a hand cranked press to print off a limited edition.

The image above of De Jong's ex libris was taken from the ex libris Harry Hartman generously sent me. The fact that the ex libris are printed in a limited edition, by necessity, tells me the esteem with which De Jong held Hartman.

Zwiers is an amazing character. He looks like your traditional grandfather, albeit your traditional Dutch grandfather. But five minutes with him will tell you he is different. He is a true artist in that he has a different view of the world, but, he doesn't have to dress or act different to advertise his different perspective. He lives in this great old house, with a basement that is built into a dyke. The art on the wall of his main living room, a two story affair without the second story, was split 50:50 between his art and those that had been gifted to him by fellow artists when his wife passed away. Those artists had drawn, painted, etc their expressions of grief for a fellow artist. Amazing! And his art ... he told me the story behind many of the pieces he'd chosen to hang on his wall, the art was incredible, but the stories even more so. Obviously, I am a fan ... and I'm proud to say that I have a piece of his work taking pride of place in my home.

De Jong used his ex libris-based logo for his school from when he first started teaching in the early 1940s until 2002. He used it on his badges, as the badge that Hartman sent me shows.








He used it on the membership cards as Hartman's membership card shows from the 1950s when De Jong first started teaching in Australia.









He used it on his badges which signified his gradings rather than belts (see previous blog).










Hartmen sent me a photo where I think that De Jong is attempting to replicate the original Saito photograph.






Given I'm a business/strategy professional, I find it interesting that the new management of the Jan de Jong Self Defence School rebranded the school with a new name and identifying logo. It is now called Jan de Jong Martial Arts Fitness and thier website explains that this change was introduced in 2002 to reflect a new direction. The new direction is not expanded upon. Possibly, the new direction is reflected in the new name, Martial Arts Fitness. De Jong was only ever interested in the practicality of what he taught; fitness only facilitated the practical. I recall De Jong questioning the idea of going to the gym to become better at what you were doing. His opinion was, do what you do, and you'll become fit doing what you do by doing what you do.

It is most definitely a coincidence that the new logo is very similar to the woolblend logo; which symbolises a blend between 50% wool and synthetics. Having said that, is this an unintentional symbol of the new direction that the new management of De Jong school has taken? A blend between self defence and fitness.

Why would you change your logo when your logo has equity? Would you consider changing the Coca Cola logo? You would, if you were persuing a new direction. Putting some distance between yourself and your origins. While De Jong was present at the 2002 meeting, I would suggest that he supported rather than initiated the new direction and the symbols thereof. I recall the many discussions I had with him concerning succession planing. I'm a business/strategy professional, so of course I talked to him about succession planning. He wasn't interested. The way he saw it, what happened after he passed, happened. He lived for the moment. As I've discussed with Hartman, that's not a perspective that is uncommon for those who have experienced war.

'Don't walk behind me, I may not lead. Don't walk in front of me, I may not follow. Just walk beside me and be my friend.' That to me was De Jong, and it reflects his perspective on succession planning. He wasn't in the game to be followed; to inflate his ego. If you ever had the privilege of talking to De Jong or his former students/instructors, you'll find friendship is the concept that most often comes up. All of the old guys I've had the privilege of speaking to, focus on the relationships, the experiences, and not the quality of the instruction. This reinforces my argument that culture is the key to a successful martial arts school.

It seems appropriate that when De Jong died, the 996 Hay Street dojo was demolished. The name of his school, and his logo/symbol, his ex libris Saito brothers logo/symbol, was replaced. He wanted those who came after him, did so uniquely. He was not in the business of creating clones or librarians; he was in the business of creating teachers of a unique school of thought. But it also seems appropriate that his son, Hans de Jong, went on to use a very similar name and the symbol/logo of his father's school. After all, Hans is probably the longest serving student of his father having commenced training with him in 1955.

Jan de Jong Pt 15 - Grades - Attracting or Weeding Out Students

I received the following comment on my blog concerning the Jan de Jong jutsu dan grades:

Interesting, and extensive. I'm most interested in the fact that you needed to develop a deeper understanding, essentially 'on your own'. This truly separates those who just go through the motions and who practice by rote. From your experiences, do you think the extensive grading systems and curriculum attracted students to study long term or did it weed out many, like you said, "by attrition". How many long term students would normally be found training? Interesting stuff.

Firstly, thank you for reading my blogs 'Journeyman'. Secondly, this comment really got me thinking.

The previous blogs demonstrate that the Jan de Jong jujutsu grading system is indeed, extensive. Black and white belt/first kyu is base camp at Everest that is the dan grades. Did the extensiveness of the grading system attract or dissuade students from studying long term? After much thought, I honestly cannot answer that question. Maybe there were those who were put off by the length of the grading system. If there were, I didn't know them. I can only share my experience with you.

I was accused of chasing gradings and chasing belts in my first few years with the Jan de Jong Self Defence School. Why not? From the time I enrolled at the Jan de school, I graded every time gradings were held; that is, every three months. As soon as I'd successfully completed one grading, I'd go to the counter, buy my new belt, and ask for the next grading sheet. As others were leaving the school that day, I'd be sitting on a bench reading my next grading.

But my focus was never on getting a particular grade or belt. My focus was on the grading I was doing. I saw the gradings as a directed form of learning. For whatever reason, when I first enrolled at the Jan de Jong Self Defence School, I attended two lessons a day, six days a week, and then did more training outside the classes. I wanted to learn and I wanted to improve. I was a real Pavlov dog in that I could see myself improving every time I stepped onto the mats, and that was like crack cocaine to me. I vividly recall the time I suddenly realised I was going to get a black belt. It never occurred to me that I would, and it definitely was not my goal. My instructors had black belts, not me.

I have a confession to make. The only reason I completed second and third dan was because Greg Palmer (pictured above), one of my instructors who was also a mentor and eventually a good friend, had a long held dream to complete the grading system. The other instructors progressing through the second and third dan grades did not include him in their journey, so, in what I still consider to be one of the best achievements in my life, I trained with him so he could realise that dream. In the process, I became only the fifth person to complete Jan de Jong's jujutsu grading system.

Numbers can be misleading. Why were there only 21 people graded shodan by De Jong? Was this a deliberate weeding out process? I'd suggest not. Part of the answer lies with the extensiveness of the system. Life and other activities compete for the years that are required to obtain a black belt from De Jong. But another factor may have been, as I have been arguing, that he had to develop his dan grades, and given his relative isolation he didn't have too much to reference to assist him.

Numbers can be misleading. It became a bit of folklore that it takes a minimum of 10 years to get a black belt in De Jong's jujutsu. Rob Hymus did it in seven. But then he was working as an instructor at the school full-time, and, this was when the shodan gradings were first introduced. I was on track to match Hymus' achievement, even though I had to grade three more grades (mon grades) than he did. I wasn't working at the school full-time but my training schedule bordered on the fanatical. Then the Australian right of passage that is backpacking through Europe and my professional career intervened. I graded shodan in just under 10 years. But the length of time others took to achieve their black belt is distorted by the fact there were no black belt gradings at that time. Others simply trained for decades without bothering to do gradings as the training at the school was never focused solely on gradings.

'Weeding out'. It has been suggested, half-joking half-not, that De Jong scheduled the jujutsu instructors class on Friday nights to test the commitment of his instructors. Friday night is socialising/drinks night in Australian working society. Other than that, there was no attempt to weed anyone out. De Jong, I would suggest, did not include gradings to deliberately lengthen the grading process. He did not have some artificially high standard to be attained in order to weed anyone out (even though some of the senior instructors did try and impose them at times; a story for another time). It is my opinion that De Jong developed a grading system that he thought provided his students with knowledge, particularly at the mon and dan levels. The challenge for the instructors now teaching is, I'd suggest, can we modify the grading system so the same knowledge and the same standard is achieved but in less time.

Returning to the original question, I don't know what influence the extensiveness of the grading system had on the long term study by students. I suspect for those who did study long term, it had no influence one way or another. The others, if there were others, I never knew them. What I do know however, is, if you study the gradings rather than merely complete them, there is a great deal of knowledge to be gained.

Respect

I came across the 1960s classic To Sir, With Love today on television and it reminded me of an article I'd read concerning respect and violence.

The article is titled Shame, Guilt, and Violence, by James Gilligan published in Social Research 70:4 2003. Gilligan is a mental health professional that has worked within the prison and prison mental hospital system for 35 years at the time of writing the article. He introduces his article by sharing his experience concerning the responses he often received when he asked prisoners or mental patients why they assaulted or even killed someone. 'Time after time, they would reply, "because he disrespected me" or "he disrespected my visitor [or wife, mother, sister, girl-friend, daughter, etc]. In fact, they used that phrase so often that they abbreviated it into the slang phrase, "He dis'ed me."' (1149). Heard that phrase before?

Gilligan writes about a running battle between prison officers and a prisoner who would assault them and they would punish him. The more they punished him the more violent he became, and the more violent he became the more they punished him. They placed him in solitary confinement, deprived him of even the last few privileges and possessions a prison inmate has until there was no further punishment to which they could subject him without becoming subject to punishment themselves, and yet he continued to assault them whenever they opened his door. At that point the officers gave up and turned to Gilligan to assist them in understanding the situation that was only harming both parties to the conflict. Gilligan points out the same mutually self-defeating vicious cycle can be observed on a national and international scale and throughout history.

When Gilligan asked the prisoner 'What do you want so badly that you are willing to give up everything else in order to get it?', he astonished him by replying with perfect clarity and a kind of simple eloquence: 'Pride. Dignity. Self-esteem.' He added, 'And I'll kill every motherfucker in that cell block if I have to in order to get it.' He went on to describe how he felt the officers were attempting to strip away his last shred of dignity and self-esteem by 'disrespecting him', and said, 'I still have my pride and I won't let them take that away from me. If you ain't got pride, you got nothin.'.

Respect is a word that is often used today, and in the past. It has taken on a particular significance in the 'gangsta' sub-culture and other similar sub-cultures in our society. These 'gangsta's' appear to hold respect in high regard, however, I'd argue that their regard is in respect (pun acknowledged) of receiving respect and not giving it.

Do you know what respect means? The Oxford Dictionary offers a number of definitions. The first - feeling of deep admiration for someone or something elicited by their abilities, qualities, or achievements - tends to reflect the idea that respect has to be earned. What happens if someone's abilities, qualities, or achievements are not all that admirable? What happens if you don't even know of the person's abilities, qualities, or achievements? What about the case where a person's abilities, qualities, or achievements are the very antithesis of admirable? Are these people undeserving of your respect?

The second meaning of respect by the dictionary is: due regard for the feelings, wishes, or rights of others. This is the respect that Sidney Poitier's character showed to his students. This is the respect that Jan de Jong and Greg Palmer showed me. This is the respect that De Jong and Palmer showed everyone they encountered. Even when the person acted in a 'disrespectful' manner or in a manner that popular convention would suggest unworthy of respect.

Respect should not be, but is often considered to be, reciprocal. In a Common Sense Guide: Working With Teens, the author refers to an answer to a question why teens show respect for some and not others as being, 'because they showed me respect'. The author then asks why should a teen have to earn respect? Why should anyone have to earn respect? The author suggests that respecting them at all times, even when disciplining them, will teach them respect. Not just the meaning of the word, but the true meaning of respect.

Logically, what a 'dumb-arse idea'. If I won't show you respect until you show me respect, and you won't show me respect until I show you respect, ...

De Jong explained that respect was not enforced by his instructors, the Saito brother. Respect was part and parcel of the culture at that time in that culture. Throughout his teaching career, aka his life, he never enforced respect in his classes. In fact, he would decry the fact that some schools/teachers would rigidly enforce 'respect' through their teaching methods. That is not true respect. De Jong showed respect for one and all, and thereby taught respect, whether he intended to or not. I saw Palmer 'disrespected' by some others within the Jan de Jong Self Defence School, and I had the instinctual urge to respond; but his self-esteem and his respect of others was not tied up with their respect of him. I recall a quote from Eleanor Roosevelt that goes: 'No one can make you feel inferior without your consent'. A wiser woman and who could be considered more deserving of your respect than her philandering presidential husband, Theodore. Palmer was a fair approximation for Poitier's character in To Sir, With Love within the Jan de Jong Self Defence School. He tried to teach me, and it would appear that he succeeded to some degree, something about the true nature of respect.

So, there is a lot to learn about respect and its effects on our behaviour. However, when applied to a potentially violent situation we should appreciate the influence of the perception of respect. We are not all as enlightened as us with respect to respect after this blog. By appearing to disrespect an individual we could be fueling a violent act. It may be irrational, we may not understand it, but nonetheless, we have to deal with a person's perceptions and the influence that their instinctive desire for 'respect' can have on their behaviour.

Respect.