Wrist Locks-An Overview

A common question I  get is to explain the difference between Brazilian Jiu-jitsu and other systems or styles of Jiu-jitsu and why these other Jiu-jitsu styles often have so many wrist locks.  As far as major differences go, most people want to point out that Brazilian Jiu-jitsu places a heavy emphasis on ground grappling and… Continue reading Wrist Locks-An Overview

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Part 2: Jigaro Kano-In His Own Words

Below is the second part of the February, 1913, English language interview given by Jigoro Kano to the New York based periodical “The Oriental Review”. This second part is the actual interview and we can literally read Jigaro kano, “in his own words” because of his fluency in English. His responses are obviously geared to… Continue reading Part 2: Jigaro Kano-In His Own Words

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Book Review For: “Choque-The Untold Story of Jiu-jitsu in Brazil”. Part 1, Disclaimer

In this series of posts I want to both review and hopefully stimulate some discussion about the ground breaking Brazilian Jiu-jitsu history book: “Choque: The untold Story of Jiu-jitsu in Brazil”, by an author calling himself, Roberto Pedreira. This work is actually three books or volumes covering a time span from 1856 until the present,… Continue reading Book Review For: “Choque-The Untold Story of Jiu-jitsu in Brazil”. Part 1, Disclaimer

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Part 1: Jigaro Kano- In His Own Words

As I have written quite extensively about, Jigaro Kano is probably the very most influential martial artist of modern times. It was his vision to preserve and synthesize the ancient feudal Jiu-jitsu schools into one ultimate modern system of unarmed combat and physical education. He called this new Jiu-jitsu, “Judo” to distinguish his modern scientific… Continue reading Part 1: Jigaro Kano- In His Own Words

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“Speed” Self-Defense

One of the questions I often get is about the value of short term “quickie” self defense courses and how valuable they are. I have done a lot of research and development in this area. Several years ago I took a serious look at the content of short-term self-defense courses and also at the idea… Continue reading “Speed” Self-Defense

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Stability vs. Twinkies, which is better?

In the last few posts we have been discussing the supreme importance of “balance” and “stability” as it relates to self defense. Balance is so critical to all human athletic performance that it is often and paradoxically glossed over or taken for granted. In other words, many “pseudo-experts” and well-meaning instructors alike cannot see the… Continue reading Stability vs. Twinkies, which is better?

Part 4: Krav Maga vs. Brazilian Jiu-jitsu, Testing the Differences

In the previous segments of this series of posts, on the differences between Krav Maga and Brazilian Jiu-jitsu, I argued that it was actually the underlying principles that were the biggest differences between these two self-defense systems. Furthermore, I demonstrated that true combat principles are not just a matter of arbitrary choice but should be… Continue reading Part 4: Krav Maga vs. Brazilian Jiu-jitsu, Testing the Differences

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Part 3: Krav Maga vs. Brazilian Jiu-jitsu, Why Most Stand-Up Fights Look the Way They Do

In my post about balance and first principles (“Part 2:Krav Maga vs. Brazilian Jiu-jitsu” ), I mentioned that by understanding the importance of balance and more importantly “stability”, on real fighting, you would know more about real fighting than the vast majority of the “pseudo-experts”. I wanted to clarify here some of the things I… Continue reading Part 3: Krav Maga vs. Brazilian Jiu-jitsu, Why Most Stand-Up Fights Look the Way They Do

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