As Maria says in The Sound of Music, let's start at the very beginning, a very good place to start. The beginning, now, in Jan de Jong's (JDJ) jujutsu grading system is 1st mon.
The first grading in the mon system is a good place to start because it reveals/raises some of the issues associated with the mon grades.
You will recall from the previous chapter that the age requirement for 1st mon is under 12 years. It is the first grading for new students aged five and six years old.
The following is the grading reproduced in Jan de Jong: The Man, His School and His Ju Jitsu System (Jan de Jong Self Defence School, 1995):
1ST MON: YELLOW AND WHITE BELT
Breakfalls (Ukemi)
Forwards roll
Backwards roll
Body Movements (Taisabaki)
Flowing
Entering
Basic Blocks and Attacks (Uke and Atemi)
Punch - with kick
Front snap kick
Unbalancing (Kuzushi)
Normal single wrist grip - Normal unbalancing
Locking Techniques (Kansetsu Waza)
Two attackers
Top strike - Wrist twist
Low punch - Wrist twist
The use of Japanese terminology can be seen coming into play in the very first grading, which is part of the reason why there is a terminology grading in ikkyu and shodan. JDJ introduced the use of Japanese terminology, as he explained, so that his students could understand the use of it in texts about Japanese martial arts that use Japanese terminology. JDJ being an avid collector and reader of martial arts texts, and which were a great source of his continuous professional development as previously explained.
You will recall from the previous post, the advice in Gary Carr's Sports Mechanics for Coaches to divide the skill into phases and the reasons why to do so. This grading, and the following mon grades, reflect that advice.
Yoseikan Budo (YB) divides their defences into the following phases: taisabaki, kuzushi, waza (body-movement, unbalancing, technique). You can see that this grading, and all of the mon grades, is based on the YB defence phase division. The specific elements in those sections are also taken from YB (see below).
The idea of the division of skills into phases by Minoru Mochizuki, founder of YB, was probably taken from Jigoro Kano, founder of Kodokan Judo (KJ), Mochizuki being an acolyte of Kano's.
When including the comments of various judo masters in Judo Formal Techniques: A Complete Guide to Kodokan Randori no Kata, T. Otaki and D.F. Draeger (1983), some recognise taisabaki but are not sure where to put it into Kano's division of phases in throwing techniques.
Otaki and Draeger also suggest that grappling include a comparable set of components. Grappling meaning those techniques that end with joint-locking techniques (kansetsu waza).
One of the things that sets KJ apart is Kano's teachings, which involves the division of judo skills into phases. This conceptualisation of techniques and the teaching thereof is relatively unique in the martial arts. This unique conceptualisation and teaching of martial arts techniques was probably due to Kano being a professional teacher. Mochizuki, being an acolyte of Kano's, adopted the same approach when developing his YB.
An issue that arises within the mon grades is that this systems approach, this division of a defence/technique into phases, does not appear to have been fully understood by JDJ and the senior instructors at the Jan de Jong Self Defence School (JDJSDS).
With the senior instructors, a part of the problem might have been that they did not go through the mon system. They are products of the original kyu system, which is a totally different system, in that the mon system is based on systems thinking and the kyu system is based on 'tricks.'
Taisabaki (Body-Movements)
Flowing (nagashi): the following image of nagashi is taken from Mochizuki's book, (Giho Nihonden Jujutsu (Traditional Japanese Jujutsu)).
I was going to make a point about how JDJ had the right idea drawn from YB but his execution was flawed, and then I went and got the above image from Mochizuki's book to include in this post. As it turns out, the demonstration of nagashi in this grading is similar to the YB demonstration and so my point was not made.
I thought I had mentioned it in another (previous) post, but I cannot find any such mention. Some/many of the issues associated with the mon grades come to light when attempting to write a book based on or about JDJ's grading system, or producing videos of the requirements of the grading system to aid those engaged in the grading system. I have been involved in both processes.
You will recall the Tsutsumi and Higashi book discussed in a previous post. All of the defences/techniques in that book are referred to as 'tricks.' They are described/explained in full, wholly independent of all other defences/techniques. They are described/explained in terms that do not refer to any similarities or differences (the core of all learning) with other defences/techniques. But what happens when there are commonalities in defences/techniques? At the very least, it is inefficient to have to describe/explain the same thing over and over again.
When adopting a systems approach, such as that adopted by YB, it is more efficient to describe/explain the common elements once and then refer to that description/explanation. A glossary, if you will. Whenever nagashi is used in a defence/technique, it would be more efficient to refer to the one defining example of nagashi, a 'protypical' example of nagashi in this case. Even when the nagashi is different in another defence/technique, it is still more efficient to refer to the one prototyical example and then refer to the differences, e.g., it is the same except that ...
The problem here is that the nagashi is demonstrated as a defence in-and-of itself (see image above). It is not a demonstration of the prototypical nagashi that forms part of many other defences/techniques in the YB system. This is an example of teaching 'tricks' rather than teaching a 'system' of defences/techniques. This is an example of not understanding that demonstrating taisabaki (and kuzushi) is not demonstrating a defence.
The same is true of entering (irimi) in this grading.
The second phase in the YB division of techniques after taisabaki is kuzushi (unbalancing).
The demonstration of unbalancing in the mon grades is done from hand grips. There are four basic unbalancings from four basic handgrips, however, there is an element of confusion as they are referred to by the same name.
Jun katate dori (normal single handgrip), dosoku katate dori (same side single handgrip), gyaku katate dori (reverse single handgrip), and ushiro ryote dori (rear both hands handgrip). The prototypical unbalancings are jun kuzushi (normal unbalancing) from jun katate dori, dosoku kuzushi (same side unbalancing) from dosoku katate dori, gyaku kuzushi (reverse unbalancing) from gyaku katate dori, and ushiro kuzushi (rear unbalancing) from ushiro ryote dori.
There are variations of these basic unbalancings as examined in the kime no kata grading in the nikyu grading.
In his later years, JDJ taught these forms of unbalancing using a kuzushi-hazushi dichotomy. The basic idea was the kuzushi type was where uke held on whereas the hazushi (disengagement, release) was where the hold was disengaged.
This kuzushi-hazushi dichotomy was used in relation to the nine basic kansetsu waza (joint-locking techniques). Kuzushi involved the elbow being turned upwards during the unbalancing which facilitated ude kujuki (arm breaking), tekubi hishigi (wrist crush), and yoko tekubi hishigi (side wrist lock). The hazushi variant involved the elbow being turned during the unbalancing facilitating the other six basic kansetsu waza to be executed. The kuzushi and hazushi variations could be used with any of the abovementioned basic handgrips and was demonstrated and taught as such.
But here again, this element in this grading is taught and demonstrated as a defence in-and-of itself. Taught and demonstrated as a 'trick' and not as a prototypical example of a technique used in multiple defences/techniques.
Kansetsu Waza (Locking Techniques)
Given that it's just after Xmas, I'll refer to Love Actually and Rufus (Rowan Atkincson) when wrapping the present for the cheating Harry (Alan Rickman): 'Oh, this isn't a bag sir. This is so much more than a bag.'
The final element in the YB phase division of defences is waza (taisbaki, kuzushi, waza). This section of the grading ostensibly examines a particular type of waza, kansetsu waza (joint-locking techniques), but it examines so much more than the kansetsu waza.
The following is from an interview with Hans de Jong (HDJ) published in the Blitz magazine:
While people tend to focus on techniques, tactics are also an important part of jujutsu training. Without employing the correct tactics, there's often no opportunity to use the techniques successfully, at least. Our very first grading involves dealing with two attackers, who attack one by one in quick succession, or simultaneously. The student is not only examined on technique, but how they are able to avoid the second attacker while dealing with the first. So how the body movement is used and how the attacker is placed in front of the other is looked at during the grading ...
HDJ's explanation of this format in the mon grades is an accurate explanation of its use in the JDJSDS. This is how the instructors described this section in the mon grades. But really????
This is JDJ's attempt at introducing randori into his grading system.
Randori is a term used in various martial arts, particularly in disciplines like Judo and Aikido. It refers to a training exercise where a person or a group of people face multiple opponents in a relatively free-form manner. The word 'randori' is of Japanese origin, where 'ran' means chaos or disorder, and 'dori' means taking or grasping.
What do you think is more stressful, more reminiscent of 'real' fighting: two attackers in a free-form manner or shinken shobu no kata? If the former, why include the more 'stressful' form of training for beginners then ease off for the adult kyu and dan grades?
In terms of progression, where is the one attacker free-form training before jumping to two attackers?
How would you go about developing this grading (and the other mon grades) based on this analysis and the fact that it is based on the taisabaki, kuzushi, waza phase division approach? You would include a demonstration of the taisabaki, and then the kuzushi, and then the waza, separately. You would then include a demonstration of the three phases put together, and then, and only then, you might include a stress element.
Not only is this section flawed because of the absurdity of the two attackers and its purpose, the defence involving the wrist twist from a top strike and a low punch involve irimi senkai (entering rotation) taisabaki and a 'grabbing block' (see future post on blocks) as a form of unbalancing used in conjunction with the body-movement, both of which are not demonstrated in the taisabaki and kuzushi sections.
When I asked what was supposed to be taught and examined in this section of the grading, the answer by the senior instructors was the same as HDJ's explanation above. I ignored that instruction. Even way back when, I recognised it was a nonsense. All I wanted to see from the five- and six-year-old grading candidates was that they could perform the kansetsu waza, wrist twist. The same was true of the taisabaki and kuzushi techniques. All I wanted to see is if they could perform those techniques and not if they could perform a defence involving some variant of those techniques.
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