Thursday, 25 April 2024

JDJ Registries: Yudansha, Ikkyu holders, and Instructors

A comment from Anonymous was published on the previous blog post: 'Is there a registry of senior grades awarded by JDJ? There are people around claiming they were awarded 4th dans by him (https://amahof.asn.au/members/2022-inductees/tom-bellamy-2022/).'

That got me thinking.

I have a registry of jujutsu dan grades awarded by Jan de Jong (JDJ) that was prepared by Greg Palmer. I would like to develop a registry of jujutsu ikkyu grades and JDJ jujutsu instructors, two separate registries.


The ikkyu grade registry would include those who were awarded ikkyu by JDJ but did not go on to grade shodan. The instructor registry would be those that instructed for JDJ as instructors and not assistant instructors. I will eventually publish all three registries. I'll start.

Before I start, I have come to realise that I have been remiss in my, what I now realise is an incomplete understanding of the 'JDJ tradition.' I have been focused on the JDJ jujutsu tradition, however, there is also the JDJ aikido tradition and the JDJ pencak silat tradition. They are also relevant and significant, and just as innovative, and just as controversial, as his jujutsu tradition. 

Even though I was graded shodan in aikido by JDJ and assisted him in redeveloping his aikido grading system, and I graded highly in his pencak silat and was included in his pencak silat instructor's class after introducing JDJ to a new 'type' of pencak silat that he then went on to teach and include in his grading system, it is jujutsu where I was most highly graded and experienced. If anyone wants to start off a JDJ aikido or pencak silat tradition series, I'll be more than happy to post it on this blog. In the meantime, JDJ's jujutsu tradition: 

JDJ Ikkyu Holders:

Margaret de Jong

Vass D'Esterre

Robert Kirby

Peter Canavan

Rodney Miller

Dennis Dunn

Warwick 'Zak' Jaggard

John Poulton

David Palmer

David Green

Michael Boland

Heidi Romundt

Steve Moller

David Green

Gerald Woods

Adrienne Barlow

Alan Robson

Ross Allanson


JDJ Jujutsu Instructors

Peter Clarke

Robert Hymas

Paul Connolly

Greg Palmer

Ian Lloyd

Robert Kirby

Hans de Jong

Debbie Clarke

John Copley

John Coles

Peter Templeman

Maggie de Jong

Vass D'Esterre

Warwick 'Zak' Jaggard

Heidi Romundt

Darryl Cook

David Green

Joe Fantasia

Manfred (?)

Tony Chiffings

Rodney Miller


Please, dear readers, contribute to these lists if you can. 

Btw, this gathering of names is an attempt at preserving and strengthening the JDJ culture which will enhance the prospects of that culture and the current JDJ ryuha surviving. This idea of 'JDJ culture' will be the subject of a future blog post.





5 comments:

  1. I don't think a single Aikidoka has been awarded Shodan. Only Jujutsu instructors have been awarded an Aikido Shodan without ever attending Aikido classes.

    1st Kyu (Brown belt)
    Aikidoka students:
    Garth Melvold
    Ross Lander
    Maggie de Jong
    Steve Wright
    Francis Nguyen

    Jujutsu students (still never attended aikido classes):
    Maggie de Jong
    Jamie Francis (maybe?)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I believe you are right. I'd be surprised if Maggie de Jong graded any aikido gradings. Paul Connolly taught aikido classes without ever attending aikido classes. Peter Clarke and I were awarded shodan after assisting JDJ in developing his new version of the aikido grading system up to and including shodan (does that count as attending aikido classes?). JDJ would appear to have awarded Paul Connolly and Robert Hymas third dan in aikido even though JDJ was only ever graded shodan and Hymas never attended nor taught aikido classes at the JDJSDS. Peter Clarke was similarly awarded third dan, and it was days before JDJ's passing for all three, but to his credit has never acknowledged that qualification.

      In recent times I was asked to develop an aikido grading system based on JDJ's aikido grading system given that I was involved in developing 2.0 of that system. When considering it, I came to consider it to be his jujutsu system 'lite.' It was simply taking the Yoseikan out of JDJ's jujutsu grading system.

      Delete
    2. When your style is called Jan de Jong Aikido, I think you can safely award a 3rd dan. Now since the mid 80's, no Jujutsu students ever attended Aikido classes beyond guest appearances, nor were they ever seen to grade in Aikido and yet these are the only Aikido Shodans issued by JdJ (or any lineage) in the 50 years since the arrival of Unno. Not saying they couldn't do the technical part, but would they be doing Aikido or Jujutsu?

      Delete
    3. Anonymous, you are a prolific commentor. :) ... In response to this Anonymous comment, you raise some interesting points that I will address in a future blog post. Those points go beyond the limited realm of JDJ and his tradition.

      Delete
    4. And if there was in fact ever a Nidan and Sandan requirement for Aikido. I suspect they do not exist.

      Delete