Cobra Kai ?

This animal is a reminder of the power of the martial arts to change lives. One of the Cempaka Dojo members was in a "gang" in S-D, or elementary school, called the Cobras. Cempaka Dojo blog is still investigating rumored links to the Cobrai Kai dojo of Karate-Kid fame. We know for sure he's not with them now. Merdeka !

Daniel-San Say...

Ha ha ha, maybe, but the dirty old bastard never tweaked that I found his stash of Japanese school-girl porn, or why the centrefolds would suddenly get mysteriously stuck together...!

Mr. Miyagi Say...

...Sometimes I really have to bitch-slap that little schmuck Daniel-San.

Can Krav Maga Save Traditional Jujutsu ?

It's a good thing Jujutsu teaches absorbing, yielding and pliability. Along with many other traditional styles, Jujutsu's reputation has taken a battering in the last decade, probably starting with the advent of the UFC in 1993. The onslaught of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, and then a hybdrid of Muay Thai and shoot wrestling appeared to leave Jujutsu, Kung Fu, Ninjutsu and other traditional styles with their pants, or rather Gis down. No Mr. Miyagi, no crane kick.

Krav Maga and other styles of "reality"-based training, could help save these arts from a slow decline into obscurity. Nearly every Sensei or Sifu wants to spread their art: no one wants it to become a White Elephant or exotic collector's item for Japanophiles or an alternative to medieaval fantasy role-playing games.


KM's Debt to Jujutsu

Another name for Krav Maga might be "Scientific Jujutsu." Moni Aizik, co-founder and probably the most senior KM-ist was a Judoka and Jujutsuka before developing the art of KM in the 1970s.

[Above, Moni Aizik, an Israeli Judoka with his Sensei in Japan. Aizik was a co-founder and pioneer of Krav Maga, an art Ben Haryo Sensei described as "not a Budo by any stretch of the imagination". Also, Aizik demonstrates the Jujutsu roots of his style of KM].

Strip away the sexy, spi-fi packaging of his Combat Survival Vols 1-5 series and there are is alot of traditional Jujutsu. We see two-person kata drills, irimis (entry principle), sukui nage (scoop throw, ogoshi,(hip throw), and shime-waza (choke) and pressure points.

But more importantly, the basic strategy is pure Jujutsu. Time and time again, he demonstrates a strike (atemi), seizing and controlling (Chinna- not sure what the Japanese name is), and often a joint lock or throw, then escape. We also see principles of leverage, balance-disruption, and evasion.

We can see all of these elements in the most traditional, 1-10 kata of Wado Ryu, and even several of exactly the same technique. Like Wado and Karate, KM advocates staying on one's feet.


An interesting thing is that nearly all of the techniques begin with two-person drills, or kata.

They just don't stay at the kata level. What sets KM apart is the intense focus on adrenaline-training, and panic and reality drills to train someone for a realistic encounter. One drill is surprisingly like the multiple-attacker drill from Aikido.

By injecting science into an a venerable combat art, the Israelis have performed a valuable service for Jujutsu. The Israelis have studied reaction times, reflexes and human stress response all in a bid to find out what "works" and what doesn't.

In one lesson on gun disarms, for example, Aizik mentions to avoid looking into your opponents eyes because your eyes can dilate (even in an instant), before a gun disarm or attack giving the opponent a chance to respond. We learn that it often takes a person a couple of seconds, even soldiers, to pull a trigger, giving you a window of opportunity to disarm them.

Are Jujutsu students interested in self defense or self-improvement ?

The reality is probably both. If they just wanted spiritual self-improvement, they'd probably skip the martial arts and do Yoga, Tai Chi or even just go to the Mesjid, Church or wherever they go. On some level, most students of the martial arts are interested in learning how to defend themselves.

But they probably want more than just, "self defense in 10 easy lessons." We train for a variety of reasons and to face a variety of challenges throughout our lives, not just that 10-second encounter with a mugger in a dark parking lot.

KM offers a wealth of knowledge, techniques, and methods, to enliven traditional, venerable techniques. In any case, the traditional techniques are usually based on sound biomechanics, anatomy, physics and physiology. Somehow, somewhere, in the safety and comfort of the Dojo and the ranking system, reality was left behind.

It needn't be that way. Tradition and reality can and must exist side by side if Jujutsu is to become part of the martial arts' future as well as its past.

Rugby Imitates Judo or Judo Imitates Rugby ?

No question here: definitely not Budo. The US executes two varieties of Morote Gari against the UK in a World Cup Rugby match on (09/08). The Japanese used to disparagingly called Morote a "tackle," which it basically is. The slur didn't stop the Russians making "pick-ups," including Sukui Nage and Kata Guruma , their signature weapons in a 1960s bid to conquer competition Judo. If it works, Da, Comrade ! Call it vengeance for the Russian defeat in a war with Japan in 1904-05, or even just another round in the millenia-long Rugby match between Russia and its Eastern neighbors. (By the way, I'm going to have to stop italicizing foreign names).

Budo or Bodoh ? Why I don't talk about a Japanese philosophy I don't understand.

To be clear, I don't think Budo is Bodoh, or stupid in in Bahasa Indonesia , the national language of the country I live in. I'm just not sure what Budo , allegedly the philosophy of the Japanese martial arts means to everyone. I know what it means to me. But like Islam, Christianity, Buddhism, or just what a person thinks is right, I think it's best kept to myself and shown, if possible, through deed, not word.

[In the image above, an etching of when the Japanese emperor shifted from Kyoto to Tokyo as part of the Meiji restoration, a moment perhaps, when Bushido became Budo].

After all, Budo comes from two words, "Bu", meaning martial (or so I'm told), and "do," meaning way, coming from the Chinese character meaning "Tao". And to quote the Tao Te Ching the ancient Chinese text, "the Tao that can be told is not the eternal way." But let's get to the present and away from the past.

I practice, Judo, some Jujutsu, some Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, and a smattering of other arts, in what is a bundle of modern martial arts. Some traditionalists pour scourn on such training methods and philosophy, saying they are not "budo," or implying that they are designed only for fighting, or to "annihilate the enemy."

That's not how I see it. To me Budo is bowing as you step onto the mat or into the Dojo. It means coming to the Dojo in a clean, pressed gi. It means respecting and not injuring your training partners. Budo means trying your best, maintaining a commitment to constantly improve, share your knowledge and help others do likewise. It means pushing through your physical limits, mental limits, perhaps even touching the spiritual to do so. Budo means trying to keep your body at its best and resisting the dragging, draining strains of modern life.

It's not always clear where these lofty ideas come in when someone 20 kg heavier than you is trying to body slam you, or you're trapped in a triangle choke. But anyone who's trained, quit, trained, washed their gi, done the whole process over a thousand times and keeps coming back to the mat for some reason will know what I mean.

That's what Budo means to me.

You don't have to speak Japanese, know anything about Japanese history, or even Japan to practice Budo. Certaintly a bit of knowledge of the Japanese philosophies and great teachers, including Jigoro Kano, Gichin Funakoshi, even Miyamoto Mushasi might help. But just as Zen is as much about sweeping the yard and washing the dishes as it is about chanting, Budo to me can be found in the hard work on the mat, in overcoming our limitations, and taking those lessons to the rest of our lives.

It's about an attitude, over time. It's not about ranking, grades, seniority. It's about what you practice, not preach. And I know that I'll probably fail more times than I succeed, but with luck get up and try again. That, to me, is Budo.

That's not always what Budo means to everyone.

To the Japanese who invaded Indonesia and Southeast Asia, enslaved its women, and turned it into a mine and forced-labor farm, maybe Budo meant something else. Given the two-samurai swords in many of their photos and symbols of the rising sun, it would seem they practiced what they thought was "Budo," perhaps seeing themselves as warriors of civilization, defined as Japan and the Emperor.

I'm sure some of those Japanese and I have a few things in common in our interpretation. But we obviously have our differences.

For the feudal Japanese Samurai, Budo, or its incarnation at that time, Bushido, meant a whole range of things it wouldn't now. The Samurai, the guardians of Bushido, were known to behead commoners for not bowing to them, and regularly committed acts that would today be regarded as murder, it not sociopathic homicide.

Some people think Budo means dressing up in Hakama, maintaining strict Sensei-Sempai-Kohei relations, and rigid rules of Japanese etiquette. Sometimes, whatever the Sensei says is Budo can be Budo. Or so it would seem to me.

Here's what Wikipedia says about Bushido.


Budo seems to mean different things to different people, especially taken out of a Japanese context by people who don't speak Japanese or perhaps have never even been there.

That's why I don't talk alot about Budo.

There is a danger that Budo can be turned and twisted to mean all sorts of things. Just as uneducated Muslims or Christians or Buddhists can be duped by unethical religous teachers warping the meanings of the obscure and mysterious holy texts written in a foreign language, martial artists can be tricked by those who'd claim to speak for Budo.

I'm not qualified to say what is and what isn't a martial art. For me, training in Judo, Jujutsu, in Yoga, in the gym, even running in a forest is about doing my best, training the spirit and not just body overcoming personal limitations.

Perhaps that's Budo, perhaps Bodoh.