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Does Traditional Jujitsu Have A Place
In Today's NHB Tournaments?

By Ben Haryo Himawanto <johnbenn@hotmail.com>
2nd degree black belt, Traditional Jujitsu
Edited and Translated by Dharma <dasar@dnet.net.id>

Jujitsu as a martial art has a long history, tracing an illustrious path from the birth of Buddhism in India to the NHB stars of today. It is worth mentioning that Brazilian Jujitsu stylists could take all the credit for reintroducing the art to the world today. I have personally thanked the BJJ lutadors Rickson, Royce, Renzo, Ralph and Royler from the Gracie Family, Mario Sperry and Murilo Bustamante, and Victor Belfort and Wallid Ismael. Without their strong-willed efforts, Jujitsu would still be considered an “antiquated” art which has been defeated by Judo a hundred years ago.

Nowadays we have two distinct types of Jujitsu. Brazilian Jujitsu, pioneered by the Gracies, could be considered as “modern” (post 1900) Jujitsu, while the original Japanese Jujitsu such as the Daito Ryu Aikijujitsu could be considered as “traditional” (pre 1900).

With all the success the modernists have enjoyed in today's NHB tournaments, there is no doubt that modern Brazilian Jujitsu is an extremely effective style. Their unique ground fighting techniques enabled them to control and conquer even larger opponents. But the traditional stylists have yet to gain similar position.

Rickson Gracie once stated that traditional Jujitsu is superfluous and ineffective. In many respects, his critique is correct. But Rickson also stated that traditional and Gracie Jujitsu both use nearly similar techniques and follow nearly similar principles. So where's the problem? Why can't traditionalists be as effective as their modernist brothers?

The answer lies in the training method. Traditional Jujitsu teachers, such as those in my country, prefer to teach the Jujitsu system “as is” with very little modification. As a result, the art ceased to evolve, and its effectiveness has been greatly reduced. There are still Jujitsu teachers who abhorr free sparring, stating that Jujitsu is too deadly to be safely contested. This way, students are denied the chance to practice their techniques in semi-combat situation, and thus they reduced their own effectiveness. In many ways, sparring with protective gear such as gloves and helmets will enhance a student's fighting ability, as well as his sense of confidence. Some teachers have devised a set of rules that enabled students to spar safely, and yet still be able to use strikes, kicks, takedowns, joint locks and chokes. I think this is a positive direction for traditional stylists in the future.
The other problem lies on the curriculum. There are still traditional teachers who insist that students must master ancient weapons, such as the tonfa, the nunchaku, the bo, the jo, the bokken, sai, nunti, etc., which have no relevance in today's environments. The time spent on learning weapons could be better allocated for more useful task, such as teaching the students escapes and reversals, as well as variations of techniques. Perfecting a proven, effective technique should be more important than teaching dozens of useless ones. Up until the rank of Shodan, students must be taught street-effective strikes, takedowns, weapon defenses and ground fighting. Conditioning exercises are also very important. The weapons, aesthetic throws and katas should be taught later, perhaps in the Nidan or Sandan stage. And don't forget to spend some time for light-contact sparring. This way, the students will be able to defend themselves adequately.

Does Traditional Jujitsu have a place in today's NHB world? If it still keeps its traditional curriculum, with all of its aesthetical mumbo-jumbo, the answer is NO. But if the traditionalist would modify their curriculum to make it street-effective, then the answer is YES. We all know that traditional Jujitsu places equal emphasis on fighting, either standing or on the ground. A traditionalist with lots of sparring experience, both standing or on the ground, are likely be able to defend himself well in street situations. In an NHB fight, a fighter who could grapple AND strike effectively will be highly dangerous. A traditionalist has the potential to become a dangerous fighter, since traditional Jujitsu has an infinite arsenal of Atemi (strikes), Kyusho Jitsu (pressure points), Nagewaza (throws & takedowns) Katamewaza (grappling) and Kansetsuwaza (submission holds). Jujitsu is a complete martial art from which other arts evolve. We have them all.

It is up to the traditionalist teachers to decide: Will they preserve Jujitsu as an art form, as an ancient relic from the past, or will they revive Jujitsu and make it an effective, dynamic and flexible martial arts for today's NHB world? I may be a traditionalist, but since 1990 I have put extra effort on grappling, easy takedowns and street-effective strikes. The results are worth it. Now my students could walk in the streets without fear, knowing that the art of Jujitsu enabled them to fight in any way they like, standing or on the ground. This is not self promotion, since ALL jujitsu styles has nearly similar techniques, and therefore ALL jujitsu styles could be made more effective with an improved curriculum. Hey, you, all traditional Jujitsu stylists out there, don't hate the Gracies! Look inside your own curriculum and refine your arts. I'm sure you'll improve. Who knows, maybe one day a traditionalist could win the UFC!


Þessi grein fékk mig til að hugsa, og ég vil endilega fá comment á þetta frá þeim sem eru að kenna/læra við Sjálfsvarnarskólann í Reykjavík(I´m talking to YOU Bjarni! ;-). Er SR “traditional” skóli eins og verið er að tala um þarna? Sparrið þið eitthvað að ráði? Hvað með kommentinn um gömul vopn? Á Traditional Jiu-Jitsu eitthvað erindi inn í þennan MMA/NHB heim? Sumir segja að “full-contact” viðureignir séu hverjum bardagalistar-stíl til sóma og nauðsynlegar til að halda lífi í listinni, aðrir vilja meina að bardagalistarmenn eigi aldrei að beita list sinni, ekki einu sinni í hringnum eða í full-contact sparring, því að þeir séu friðarsinnar.

Takið eftir að ég er ekki að reyna að sparka upp einhverju moldviðri hérna og frábið mér að menn fari eittvað að flame-a/dissa hvern annan, ég persónulega ber mikla virðingu fyrir Traditional Jiu-Jitsu(aðallega af því að ég er svo mikill wimp að ég þori ekki að dissa neina bardagalist nema kannski SAFTA ;-)en held að það sé margt til í því sem að Himawanto er að segja.