Jujutsu
What type of jujutsu do you teach?
Our dojo teaches Shingo Ryu Bujutsu Kai jujutsu. This can be translated as the “school which seeks to unify the heart, mind, and body through martial arts training”.
Shingo Ryu Bujutsu Kai was created by Dr. Mike Sadler in 1995 after training in the traditional martial arts of Japan and Okinawa for over four decades. On August 15, 1995, Shingo Ryu was formally recognized and registered as a legitimate martial art style by the International Okinawan Martial Arts Union of Okinawa and Japan. The title of soke (founder) was awarded to Dr. Sadler at this time. In this endeavor, Dr. Sadler was sponsored by Master Suzuki (of the Dai-Nippon Seibukan of Japan) and Shian Toma (of the Seidokan Motobu-Ryu of Okinawa).
In 1999, Sadler Soke was granted the title of Hanshi by the Dai-Nippon Seibukan Kai. This was formally recognized as well by the Kokusai Dentokan Bugei Renmei in early 2000. About this same time, due to increased growth and interest, Sadler Soke decided to reorganize the several arts comprising Shingo Ryu into two distinct organizations. Shingo Ryu Bujutsu Kai would continue responsibility for his teachings of jujutsu, aikijujutsu, and iajutsu. The arts of karate, kobudo, and toide taught by Sadler Soke would come under the auspices of his newly created organization known as Shingo-ha Yoshukai.
These new organizations give these arts a permanent home and also honors an important part of Dr. Sadler's lineage. Both of these organizations work closely together and each enjoys the same affiliates and sponsors with the same rights and privileges.
How does Shingo Ryu jujutsu differ from other styles of martial arts?
The strongest difference between our art and other modern jujutsu systems is that we draw from not one but two major arts of “koryu” lineage to define who we are. The literal definition of “koryu” is “old” or “ancient stream.” Koryu is normally used to refer to a martial arts system that predates the Meiji Restoration Period of Japan which began in 1868. Our art encompasses the philosophies, concepts and techniques of what is referred to as go-ho (hard style) and ju-ho (soft style). This is embodied within the koryu arts of Kito Ryu and Yoshin Ryu. This blending of the hard and soft arts is what separates us from the other jujutsu styles of today. It gives our art a true flexibility of response and direction that can flow and change according to an attacker’s nature. These concepts permeate our techniques of footwork, body shifting, striking, blocking, joint locking, and throwing.
By the definitions of the old koryu systems, our art can be classified as jujutsu at the go-ho level and as aikijujutsu at the ju-ho level. Why this classification? The given definition of jujutsu is an art using a series of blocks, strikes, joint locks, chokes, or throwing techniques for self defense. These energies are usually considered go or hard, if only by comparison with the softer or ju arts. They require some degree of strength in order to accomplish the techniques, although the strength needed is applied using scientific principles to achieve the maximum effect with the least amount of energy.
Aikijujutsu, on the other hand, is an art that primarily utilizes joint locking techniques to generate pain induced motion and off-balancing or kuzushi in an opponent. This unbalanced energy is then redirected to its possible conclusions by the user. This harmonization of energy or aiki allows for a much lesser application of force than the go user and yet allows much of the same locking, choking, and throwing techniques than the former. Striking techniques, while not as powerful as those used in go, are used to stun, disable, and/or add to the unbalancing effect on the opponent and enhance the control mechanism through pain to the opponent. Blocking techniques are also designed to redirect and continue the energy of the attack rather than simply meet it and bring it to a halt as is common with go techniques.
Many other concepts and principles are taught along with physical skills, educational, and historical study. This spectrum ranges from proper breathing and the study of angles to the history of Japan, the various jujutsu ryu and the study of Zen.
Our dojo teaches Shingo Ryu Bujutsu Kai jujutsu. This can be translated as the “school which seeks to unify the heart, mind, and body through martial arts training”.
Shingo Ryu Bujutsu Kai was created by Dr. Mike Sadler in 1995 after training in the traditional martial arts of Japan and Okinawa for over four decades. On August 15, 1995, Shingo Ryu was formally recognized and registered as a legitimate martial art style by the International Okinawan Martial Arts Union of Okinawa and Japan. The title of soke (founder) was awarded to Dr. Sadler at this time. In this endeavor, Dr. Sadler was sponsored by Master Suzuki (of the Dai-Nippon Seibukan of Japan) and Shian Toma (of the Seidokan Motobu-Ryu of Okinawa).
In 1999, Sadler Soke was granted the title of Hanshi by the Dai-Nippon Seibukan Kai. This was formally recognized as well by the Kokusai Dentokan Bugei Renmei in early 2000. About this same time, due to increased growth and interest, Sadler Soke decided to reorganize the several arts comprising Shingo Ryu into two distinct organizations. Shingo Ryu Bujutsu Kai would continue responsibility for his teachings of jujutsu, aikijujutsu, and iajutsu. The arts of karate, kobudo, and toide taught by Sadler Soke would come under the auspices of his newly created organization known as Shingo-ha Yoshukai.
These new organizations give these arts a permanent home and also honors an important part of Dr. Sadler's lineage. Both of these organizations work closely together and each enjoys the same affiliates and sponsors with the same rights and privileges.
How does Shingo Ryu jujutsu differ from other styles of martial arts?
The strongest difference between our art and other modern jujutsu systems is that we draw from not one but two major arts of “koryu” lineage to define who we are. The literal definition of “koryu” is “old” or “ancient stream.” Koryu is normally used to refer to a martial arts system that predates the Meiji Restoration Period of Japan which began in 1868. Our art encompasses the philosophies, concepts and techniques of what is referred to as go-ho (hard style) and ju-ho (soft style). This is embodied within the koryu arts of Kito Ryu and Yoshin Ryu. This blending of the hard and soft arts is what separates us from the other jujutsu styles of today. It gives our art a true flexibility of response and direction that can flow and change according to an attacker’s nature. These concepts permeate our techniques of footwork, body shifting, striking, blocking, joint locking, and throwing.
By the definitions of the old koryu systems, our art can be classified as jujutsu at the go-ho level and as aikijujutsu at the ju-ho level. Why this classification? The given definition of jujutsu is an art using a series of blocks, strikes, joint locks, chokes, or throwing techniques for self defense. These energies are usually considered go or hard, if only by comparison with the softer or ju arts. They require some degree of strength in order to accomplish the techniques, although the strength needed is applied using scientific principles to achieve the maximum effect with the least amount of energy.
Aikijujutsu, on the other hand, is an art that primarily utilizes joint locking techniques to generate pain induced motion and off-balancing or kuzushi in an opponent. This unbalanced energy is then redirected to its possible conclusions by the user. This harmonization of energy or aiki allows for a much lesser application of force than the go user and yet allows much of the same locking, choking, and throwing techniques than the former. Striking techniques, while not as powerful as those used in go, are used to stun, disable, and/or add to the unbalancing effect on the opponent and enhance the control mechanism through pain to the opponent. Blocking techniques are also designed to redirect and continue the energy of the attack rather than simply meet it and bring it to a halt as is common with go techniques.
Many other concepts and principles are taught along with physical skills, educational, and historical study. This spectrum ranges from proper breathing and the study of angles to the history of Japan, the various jujutsu ryu and the study of Zen.
What is jujutsu?
The term jujutsu is the name given to the unarmed combat systems of the Japanese samurai of feudal-era Japan. The underlying principles and movements of jujutsu come from the techniques of the Japanese samurai sword arts.
The term “ju” refers to suppleness, flexibility, or gentleness. The term “jutsu” refers to an art or system, generally taken to mean a martial or military art. Essentially, jujutsu is an unarmed combat system utilizing a series of blocks, strikes, joint locks, chokes, or throwing techniques.
It is important to realize that the definition of “ju”, as the Japanese saw it, dealt with suppleness and flexibility, not of the physical body, but of thought and response in dealing with aggression. There was and is no pre-conceived doctrine in jujutsu. An attack is dealt with according to the power, intent, and method of the attacker. There is no reliance on strength and size alone. Jujutsu functions according to the basic scientific principles of physics, anatomy, physiology, and psychology.
The term jujutsu is the name given to the unarmed combat systems of the Japanese samurai of feudal-era Japan. The underlying principles and movements of jujutsu come from the techniques of the Japanese samurai sword arts.
The term “ju” refers to suppleness, flexibility, or gentleness. The term “jutsu” refers to an art or system, generally taken to mean a martial or military art. Essentially, jujutsu is an unarmed combat system utilizing a series of blocks, strikes, joint locks, chokes, or throwing techniques.
It is important to realize that the definition of “ju”, as the Japanese saw it, dealt with suppleness and flexibility, not of the physical body, but of thought and response in dealing with aggression. There was and is no pre-conceived doctrine in jujutsu. An attack is dealt with according to the power, intent, and method of the attacker. There is no reliance on strength and size alone. Jujutsu functions according to the basic scientific principles of physics, anatomy, physiology, and psychology.
How old is jujutsu?
Jujutsu flourished and grew during the Edo Period commonly measured by historians as being from 1603-1868 AD. The term “jujutsu” began to be used in Japan in the 1630s to describe many different unarmed styles of combat that shared the same principles of attack and defense.
The various unarmed combat arts of the samurai prior to this went by many names over the centuries. In these earlier centuries, these combat arts dealt primarily with battlefield combat involving warriors wearing armor. It was during the Edo period when jujutsu began to be refined into systems where lethality was not always an option and an opponent could be anywhere.
Empty-handed I entered the world
Barefoot I leave it.
My coming, my going --
Two simple happenings
That got entangled.
Kozan Ichikyo
died February 12, 1360, at 77
A few days before his death, Kozan, a Zen Buddhist monk, called his pupils together, ordered them to bury him without ceremony, and forbade them to hold services in his memory. He wrote this poem on the morning of his death, laid down his brush and died sitting upright.
