Sport Jujutsu

[kbarrett]

Need some help, what is sport jujutsu, what qualifications dose one need to actually teach sport jujutsu, is it something that you would teach to kids 6-12yrs. I've seen video's on youttube of sport jujutsu and it seemed like the punchs and kicks weren't very effective or weren't even being scored, and last is sport jujutsu trying to copy UFC. The reason I'm asking is there somebody who plans on teach sport jujuts but I'm not sure he qualifed, this person dose hold a
6th dan in judo and a 6th dan in jujutsu, but is that enough.

Thanks
Ken

[Webmaster]

Kenneth,

When you speak of sport Jujutsu, you need to be a little more precise as to what you are referring to. If you are referring to the Jujutsu competition as done by the Ju-Jitsu International Federation and it's US affiliate, the US Ju-Jitsu Federation, then I can speak on that matter. The competitive Jujitsu that the USJJF does has been around since the early 1970's (the US Ju-Jitsu Federation was founded in 1971) which precedes the UFC by a long time. The competition that the USJJF/JJIF does has a fighting type competition which is basically WUKO style Karate plus Judo. There is also a prearranged paired competition which is basically a self-defense demo called Duo Competition, and lately they have introduced their own grappling competition as well. Please note that the competition by the JJIF is GIGANTIC in Europe with thousands of competitors around the Continent, while here in the US, is has not taken off in the same way.

There is another sport Jujitsu organization which is called the US Sport Jujitsu Federation which uses a different form of fighting competition, but I am not particularly familiar with it except that it is very small organization. The AAU also is doing their own Jujitsu competition as is the AJJF (American Judo and Jujitsu Federation). I am not aware of any of these organizations copying the UFC as each existed long before the UFC was around.

So as you can see, until you are a little more precise as to what you are asking about, I cannot give you more accurate information.

[kbarrett]

Hi Robert,

Wow, I didn't even know there was a sport side to jujutsu until now, and I didn't realize just big it was in some area's until, dose USJA or IJF have a sport side, I also noticed that most of the competitors on youtube where black belt in grade, I've only been exposed to the more traditional jujutsu. Are only for jujutsu students allowed to compete or can anybody compete, I teach in Tang Soo Do and Jujutsu, would these arts qualifed as far as competing is concerned and would we have to jion and association of some kind, (just to note I'm not really that interested in the sport side of the martial arts but when I here about these thing I get interested my main and only concern is the combative/self-defesne side of martial arts always has been), but as I said somebody that I know plans to do this and I just wonder if this person qualifications are enough to teach this kind of thing as I say this person hold both a 6th Dan in Judo & Jujutsu. How come the Sport side of Jujutsu has really developed along the same lines as the UFC or Americna Kickboxing, from what I've seen on youtube, it's look exciting, now do the score the punchs and kicks in the same line asm the most srtiking arts or is it more along the line of the ground fighting that they want to see. once agian thank for your help it understanding what sport Jujutsu really is.

Ken

[Webmaster]

Hi Robert,

Wow, I didn't even know there was a sport side to jujutsu until now, and I didn't realize just big it was in some area's until, dose USJA or IJF have a sport side, I also noticed that most of the competitors on youtube where black belt in grade, I've only been exposed to the more traditional jujutsu. Are only for jujutsu students allowed to compete or can anybody compete, I teach in Tang Soo Do and Jujutsu, would these arts qualifed as far as competing is concerned and would we have to jion and association of some kind, (just to note I'm not really that interested in the sport side of the martial arts but when I here about these thing I get interested my main and only concern is the combative/self-defesne side of martial arts always has been), but as I said somebody that I know plans to do this and I just wonder if this person qualifications are enough to teach this kind of thing as I say this person hold both a 6th Dan in Judo & Jujutsu. How come the Sport side of Jujutsu has really developed along the same lines as the UFC or Americna Kickboxing, from what I've seen on youtube, it's look exciting, now do the score the punchs and kicks in the same line asm the most srtiking arts or is it more along the line of the ground fighting that they want to see. once agian thank for your help it understanding what sport Jujutsu really is.

Ken

I think that the USJA and USA Judo does have a jujutsu sporting component these days, but I am not familiar with it. The IJF does not.

The arts you teach would be compatible with the competition as far as what the USJJF does, as it is basically a mix of WUKO style karate kumite and Judo shiai. So punches and kicks are scored in the manner as WUKO and once you are at grabbing range, it's basically Judo from there. Competitors can be of any rank, but you are right that many tend to be of black belt rank. Normally no matter what organization you compete under, you would be required to join that organization for liability purposes. Whether you choose to register your rank though is up to you and the organizations requirements.

As I mentioned before, sport or competitive Jujutsu did not evolve along the same lines as the UFC. It existed long before the UFC was even a notion in Dana Whites eye. As far as qualification to teach the sporting side of Jujutsu, I would say that 6th Dan is more than sufficient. Most instructors are probably in the 3rd Dan range. While knowledge of Judo and Jujutsu are certainly a good thing and needed for the sport stuff, a strong knowledge of traditional karate or even Tang Soo Do would be important in order to compete well in the striking phase of the match.

If you are curious about the USJJF/JJIF style of competition, here is a link to the rules in brief:

http://www.usjjf.org/competition/fighting.htm

As far as Jujutsu competition, even though my organization has that component, it is not something that floats my boat. Jujutsu to me is a self-defense art and is not compatible with competition, but different strokes for different folks. For me and my students, when they want to compete, then we have Judo for that. After all, Judo was intended to be the "sport expression" of Jujutsu to begin with, and I don't see a reason to mess with what works.

[wab25]

Robert,

Do you have any info on the AJJF jujitsu competition that you mentioned? I am unaware of any "sport jujitsu" type of competition that the AJJF has. The AJJF has kata contests, and freestyle contests (where the competitor is fed attacks and judged on how he deals with them). The AJJF is or has joined up with one of the big Judo organizations so that they can compete in Judo more easily... but I am very interested how that integration will happen. I hope it doesn't go south, reflecting poorly on either side of that relationship. But, I know of no "sport jujitsu" contests that the AJJF is involved with. I believe the AJI (a sister Danzan Ryu group) does have such competition though.

[Webmaster]

Robert,

Do you have any info on the AJJF jujitsu competition that you mentioned? I am unaware of any "sport jujitsu" type of competition that the AJJF has. The AJJF has kata contests, and freestyle contests (where the competitor is fed attacks and judged on how he deals with them). The AJJF is or has joined up with one of the big Judo organizations so that they can compete in Judo more easily... but I am very interested how that integration will happen. I hope it doesn't go south, reflecting poorly on either side of that relationship. But, I know of no "sport jujitsu" contests that the AJJF is involved with. I believe the AJI (a sister Danzan Ryu group) does have such competition though.

I stand corrected William. It was actually Jujitsu America (Willie Cahill's org) that is doing the sport jujitsu thing.

[wab25]

Looks like I stand corrected as well. The AJI competitions are grappling only... no strikes.

[kbarrett]

Robert,

Once again I want to say thank you for your insite about sport jujutsu, I have checked out the website you sent me, like yourself, the sport side of martial arts is not my main focus, I feel and have always felt that martial arts are for self-defense. I wil say this it's nice to have a place you can go do when you need information about something and you can ask people who will give you the right answers. Thank you to Budoseek.

Sincerely
Ken

[Mekugi]

I stand corrected William. It was actually Jujitsu America (Willie Cahill's org) that is doing the sport jujitsu thing.

I remember this! It was the intention to make it an Olympic event. I remember when JA started to push "sport Jujutsu" and Ernie Boggs, the then world champion, would come out to promote it. If I remember correctly from the exhibitions they gave, there were kicks and punches involved.

[Webmaster]

What you are thinking of is the United States Sport Jujitsu Association which is Ernie Boggs organization. They have kicks and punches like the US Jujitsu Federation/Jujitsu International Federation (USJJF/JJIF) type of competition, but they allow a much heavier level of contact. USJJF/JJIF is more like WUKO style karate type kumite with IJF Judo mixed together. Jujitsu America's jujitsu competition is a modified version of what the USJJF/JJIF rules and was started after talks to form an alliance between the two organizations (USJJF and Jujitsu America) broke down.

[Mekugi]

I see. This was back in the 1991, right? Found a link, this was in Scott's Valley, a small city near Santa Cruz...http://www.sportjujitsu.org/SPORT-JUJITSU.html

[Webmaster]

I see. This was back in the 1991, right? Found a link, this was in Scott's Valley, a small city near Santa Cruz...http://www.sportjujitsu.org/SPORT-JUJITSU.html

Not sure about the dates, but the link you provide has some reference to the late 80's as well.

[Mekugi]

Very interesting. I just heard about it around that time and assumed it was the startup. It's gotten so much more complicated that it's tough to follow who did/does what! I can see the what the OP's talking about now...

[Abbax8]

In the early 90's I attended summer camps run by USJA. They offerred teaching and rank promotions in USJA jujitsu. I still have the manual. I always considered it the Self Defense applications of Judo.

Dennis

[Mekugi]

Awesome Dennis...why self defense? Because it was more "live"?

[Abbax8]

Well, judo is always alive but we were combining strikes with throws and locks and defending against strikes as well as weapons. We also had to demonstrate arresting techniques as in control and movement of the attacker. This is a bit more ramped up from normal randori (although not always )

Dennis

[Mekugi]

So striking makes it different from judo shiai?

[Webmaster]

In the case of the JJIF style fighting, that would be the case. Here's a search from YouTube, take your pick.

http://www.youtube.com/results?searc...l611l2-1.1l2l0

[Abbax8]

So striking makes it different from judo shiai?

Yes. Strikes are illegal in judo. But .... I , and many other judoka, can tell you of being foot swept with a kick, or having a leg sweep come in high or having a Koshi-Guruma ring your bell or there's the Tenri wrist.

Dennis