The origins of British Jujitsu

**eugenemcfadden** · 06-10-2010, 05:31

Hi,
My name is Eugene McFadden and I am a senior student under Mark Thomas sensei at Fudoshin jujitsu. We are a small club of adults that broke away from Kevin Pell Hanshi's Ishin Ryu Jujitsu and we are currently working to adapt and change our syllabus to overcome some short comings. Part of this process has been my taking an interest in the evolution of jujitsu in Britain. Pell Hanshi was never particularly forthcoming in the precise details of his own experience, which has lead me to do some digging.

Having read and researched I can see that a Ishin Ryu is a break away of the WJJF, which seems to have been a creation of James Blundell, Richard Morris and Robert Clark. Pell Hanshi studied under them at the WJJF although the precise history is a little vague. I understand that there was some fraud that occurred which led to the WJJF breaking up, am I correct in this?

I also understand that what we take to be jujitsu is, in fact, a form of altered Judo that has been mixed with some other forms of wrestling, making it a gendai martial art as opposed to a traditional koryu. So what we do is not in fact jujitsu at all, which is a shame as I took it up because I was under the impression that it as a traditional Japanese art; not that this matters so much now.

Anyway...

I'm currently trawling the internet and bookshops looking for information on the development of jujitsu in Britain. I've put together a fairly robust time line (save for a few gaps) and have written an article on my blog.

Is there anyone who can supply any more information or any experiences they have had? Any information is good information.

Thanks,

Eugene McFadden

**Tripitaka of AA** · 06-10-2010, 07:08

Hi Eugene.

Although there are many members here who also use E-Budo, there seem to be less from Britain. You may get some fresh additions to help you in your research, but perhaps less than the E-Budo thread was able to generate. In any case, welcome to Budoseek, I hope you can find plenty of interest here. Are you still in Okinawa?

As Eugene is a new member, he cannot post the link to the blog. But here it is;
Origins of British Jujitsu

**eugenemcfadden** · 06-10-2010, 10:13

Hey Tripitaka of AA,

Yeah, I figured that I might not get as much from here but I've posted this on a fair few forums and have tracked down some interesting stories on the break away groups and how they fared and changed, it's funny who knows what and what forum they visit. I've got a sort of British Jujitsu family tree thing growing and it's... complex.

Thanks for posting my blog link, I've still got a few posts to go before I can do that :P

Yeah, I'm still in Okinawa, have taken a grading in Karate, done some Okinawan sumo competitions, studied kobudo, made my own tanren and generally wandered around learning. Martial arts sure are different here to how they are in the UK.

What did you think of the article, by the way?

Eugene McFadden

**Tripitaka of AA** · 06-10-2010, 11:58

A tanren? Like this? looks like fun.

The article worked out well. I learned stuff from it that I didn't know before and it pulled together the diverse strands that make up the threads that made up the tapestry of different coloured fabric that is contemporary "British Jujitsu". I thought it was a great read.

I have some reservations, but they are not to detract from my overall good impression. It is more to do with the difficulties inherent in producing the article. As you mention at the beginning;

This is a very tricky subject clouded by ego, lies, half truths, political motives and generally the fact that not enough people wrote things down, which is very unhelpful for a historian, but there you go, some people have no thought for posterity.

Tracing the history of British Jujitsu brought you to some names that are prominent because of their achievements. Sometimes their lasting influence has been from the organisations that they founded, or developed. Some of them were clearly very good at promoting - the art, the organisation, themselves(!) - and the positives from that cannot be denied. Others, probably many others, put in the hours of training, over months and years, to develop themselves and their clubs to be great examples of all that is good about Budo... yet will go unrecorded in the history books. This isn't just true of British Jujitsu, of course, it happens all over and in many other fields. The problems that your article highlighted, are when the good "communicators" are found to be slightly less than they appeared when it comes to the content. Internet forums are full of modern day "pretenders", that get called out and hopefully prevented from taking too many people for a ride they'd sooner forget. In the days before such widespread access to information (internet is our friend), people with charisma and enterprise could get a lot further without anyone really checking their qualifications.

I myself have a tiny history in martial arts. I learned for a few years and only tried one art. I hang around internet forums because I maintain an interest.. but I cannot compare my puny efforts with all the people who have sweated and bruised themselves in pursuit of their ideals. I can't feel comfortable criticising people who have done so much to further their particular branch of the martial arts, knowing how little I have done myself. I hate a cheat or a liar, but even the shammest of shams has usually done some good for some people. I think many of the people who feel let down by previous teachers, will readily admit that they still owe a great deal to them for the inspiration and encouragement that they received.

**eugenemcfadden** · 06-10-2010, 19:21

Yup, that's the tanren. Only Mine's a bit bigger and the handle is rough as hell, there's a picture on my blog somewhere. I read about it being the secret training device of Daito Ryu on e-budo so I thought, "I can make that" so I did. Weighs about 10 kilos. Thanks for that link, I'll try those exercises too (I got my exercises from youtube and added "swinging it around like a broadsword").

Thanks for the compliment, but your criticism is totally true: the big loud guys got all the credit and the small guys just got on and trained. Have you heard of the concept of a garage master? It's a Marc Macyoung idea. Basically, you have people who are loud and run big money making clubs and have colourful gis and set in stone syllabi... and you have these quite guys who train with a bunch of friends in their garages with no ego involved. And because there's no ego involved they experiment and train hard and find what works. And they're the guys you never want to piss off; they're also the guys you want to be training with. But no one knows they exist because they don't make any noise about it.

Sigh, if I had my time over at uni, I'd do a thesis on the history of the martial arts in Britain and bring some proper academic weight to bear on the subject.

Humm, maybe when I get back to the UK I'll take a trip down to the Budokwai and look through their self edited archive...

Eugene McFadden

**Mekugi** · 06-11-2010, 04:20

Hey Eugene,

Do you know about the early WJJF connection to Hontai Yoshin Ryu, Taido and Koichi Inoue?

**eugenemcfadden** · 06-11-2010, 09:55

Mekugi,
I am aware of it but am not sure of the full details, I know it ended badly when Robert Clarke aledgedly forged the signiture of the head of Hontai Yoshin Ryu on some dan grades. Although this was during the whole Sarchowski juko kai affair or something.

Oh, and Clark claimed to have trained with Hontai Yoshin ryu for years in Japan.

But my knowledge of the actual details are vague, if you could fill me in I would be very grateful.

Thanks,

Eugene McFadden

(who is back drunk from a bar and shouldn't have logged on and has forgotten how to spell)

**Mekugi** · 06-11-2010, 10:37

Originally Posted by eugenemcfadden

Mekugi,
I am aware of it but am not sure of the full details, I know it ended badly when Robert Clarke aledgedly forged the signiture of the head of Hontai Yoshin Ryu on some dan grades. Although this was during the whole Sarchowski juko kai affair or something.

Oh, and Clark claimed to have trained with Hontai Yoshin ryu for years in Japan.

But my knowledge of the actual details are vague, if you could fill me in I would be very grateful.

Thanks,

Eugene McFadden

(who is back drunk from a bar and shouldn't have logged on and has forgotten how to spell)

I'm no expert on the spin of those stories, but that would be the place to start digging outside the Budokuwai. His martial art, Taido, as well- which is more than likely the bulk of his teachings at the time.