Two Of Five

Today was an interesting martial arts day around here. There was a special event hosted at our Jiu-Jitsu school.

Five local instructors each taught a one hour class featuring each of their five different arts. It started with my instructor, then went on to a Shitu-Ryu Karate sessions, then to Aikido, a Russian thing called Systema, and to a Japanese form of Jujutsu. There was a nominal attendance fee which all gets donated to the local food bank.

Interestingly, the only people that attended were members of the five clubs, along with some members of a non-represented Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu group. All were middle level to advanced practitioners.

I only stayed for our school's presentation, and for the Karate session that followed immediately after. Both were very good classes, aimed to illustrate principles rather than to teach specific techniques. This is a good approach for such a diverse group.

Why didn't I stay longer? Honestly, I have no interest in learning Aikido, Systema, or Japanese Jujutsu.

Let me illustrate with Japanese Jujustu. It is an art with throws, small-joint manipulation, and with striking. I've spent 30 years in Karate, which is striking personified. It has an incredibly sophisticated and evolved repertoire of hitting of every type. I think I've got that part covered. As to throwing and small-joint locking, my Gracie Jiu-Jitsu instructor teaches an art based on those aspects of combat called Hapkido. If I wanted to work on those things, I could attend Hapkido classes on my home mat.

A person only has so much effort that they can realistically devote to martial arts, unless they're a nut case I already attend 8 Gracie Jiu-Jitsu classes a week. I've actually quit Karate training so that I could devote that time and effort to Jiu-Jitsu. Let's say I wanted to attend a couple of Aikido classes a week. Where would the time come from? It would come from my Jiu-Jitsu efforts.

I am focusing my effort into an art that is both the most beneficial for me, and is the most fun.

In fact, the only martial art other than Jiu-Jitsu or Karate that I would even consider studying would be Judo. Gracie Jiu-Jitsu has throws, as does Hapkido, Aikido, and Japanese Jujutsu, but Judo leaves them all in the dust in that single aspect.

In Karate, I have a very fine stand-up striking art. With Jiu-Jitsu I am studying the king of ground grappling systems. Karate has a few minor take downs, and Gracie Jiu-Jitsu a fair number more. Judo would effectively strengthen this weakest aspect of my game, not that I'm actively pursuing instruction in Judo. To study Judo would require both effort and time, part of which would come out of Jiu-Jitsu.

Do I sound like an elitist snob? I don't think I am. Besides Karate and Jiu-Jitsu, I've dabbled in Japanese swordsmanship for a summer, practised western fencing for about a year, done 3 or 4 months learning Tai Chi, attended a handful of Judo classes, and been involved for several years in coaching high school wrestling. Plunk that on top of 3 years of Jiu-Jitsu and 30 years of Karate, and I think I can say I'm qualified to decide what kind of arts I should be interested in.

I'm a knowledgeable elitist snob.