Middle Earth Ranger Forum

OK, I hope this is the right section for this to be posted in, I know Jiu Jitsu is an Eastern martial :/
Anyway, I've just taken up Jiu Jitsu as another sport now, and am really enjoying it. I'm far from being any good yet, but it's just so fun! There wasn't a huge amount of choice, but I chose Jiu Jitsu over Karate, Judo, Taekwondo and kick-boxing. I though it was probably the one that was best for a Ranger (I hope I made the right choice ). I didnt really want to do Karate, as I thought that locks, throws, grapples... would be more useful to a warrior than striking right??
Anyway I don't know anything about martial arts, so if any of you guys could share, that would be great! Oh and I'm also being taught by an African Champion!!

Kudos on your descision Dirhael!

I studied it for many years and used it as my martial base for many other studies.

Jui Jutsu in my mind is not a sport but an art, a complete system of study. The sport form of Judo is some of the grappling and holds and sweeps but is in no way the complete study. My son went to the Empire state games as a compeditor in Judo and studied for a while.

I think that the "Gentle Art" as it is called is a fantastic base for a Ranger and can incorporate the type of Bu do that is also so very rangeresque. Even though it is an asian art the weapon sets can easily be transfered to European weaponry.

I was fortunate enough to have been able to study with a gentleman who's wife was also an expert in the Japanese Yumi Bow so we were "cross trained" so to speak. I have adopted that as my "Dwarven" archery style as the Yumi is short on the bottom, below the hand grip, and long on the top (this would be the perfect bow for a dwarf who's short-legged stature would not allow the standard long bow but great upper body strength would allow a great draw wieght...kinda like me a few feet smaller!)

Good luck with your study, after you feel a sense of mastery in your chosen art, be sure to check out the Scandinavian martial art called "Stav" it uses many of the same concepts but utilizes the weapons and philosophy of the Norse!

As a fellow student of this wonderful form although I dont train as regularly as I used to, I can tell it is a solid foundation for ringen in the German longsword tradition and the body mechanics you learn will be indispensable in sword arts. I would caution you however not to rule out percussion/striking arts in your martial training but by all means get a good foundation in *one* form before pursuing others.

Ju-jutsu evolved from armoured men fighting armoured men,hence there is less emphasis on percussion however just as longsword duels were some times fought unarmoured using slightly different techniques from armoured fighting so it is that in empty hand fighting strikes and low kicks do have there proper place against unarmoured opponents as sometimes grappling is the last thing you want to do.

But most of all enjoy the journey and maintain a moral/ethical center.
Best wishes in your studies!
~RD

Keep in mind that "Jiu-Jiutsu" is how Brazilian practitioners spell their art (as opposed to traditional Japanese jujutsu). The tend to be more mat (tatamiwaza) and tournament focused.
I've spent some time in a Danzan Ryu dojo. It's really good stuff.

My studies included Shotokan Karate-Do, Tae Kwon Do, Iai-Do and Kenjitsu. It really differs from person to person. Like a sword what works for one isn't for the other. Most arts will teach basics of footwork and that can be universal but after that if your feeling comfortable then great, if you think it's not quite suited to you then look elsewhere. Rangers don't have one style, we're not infantry. We use what works, Strider doesn't fight the same way Faramir does. But both know basics and built their skills from their chosen arts from there. If it keep you alive then more power weather it's an eastern or western art.

Hai, I did most of those, and a few others as well.
What impresses me about grappling arts is how nearly universal they are.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Folk_wrestling

What impresses me about grappling arts is how nearly universal they are.

Once I saw some HEMA guys doing longsword drills that looked for all the world like the kenjustsu excercises I'd seen done years before.
All taken from medieval manuscripts.

I suppose it makes sense - the human body only moves in so many ways, so how could different cultures not converge on more or less the same ways of breaking it?

Elleth wrote:

What impresses me about grappling arts is how nearly universal they are.

Once I saw some HEMA guys doing longsword drills that looked for all the world like the kenjustsu excercises I'd seen done years before.
All taken from medieval manuscripts.

I suppose it makes sense - the human body only moves in so many ways, so how could different cultures not converge on more or less the same ways of breaking it?

I was thinking the same thing- given enought time, any civilization that analyzes the problem will come up with pretty much the same solutions on how to use the human body for hand-to-hand combat.

When I was a teen-ager, all those many years ago...... I took Goju Shorin which was a combination of two Okinawan styles of Karate. It was taught by a woman who had trophies taller than herself, but she taught how to survive a street fight. I have not been able to find anyone teaching karate that way since. Very disappointing. I really wish I could find a Brazilian Jiu-jiutsu school close enough for me to go on a regular basis. I've never been much of a grappler, so I could use some good training.

Any jujutsu is good, I don't believe it needs to be Brazilian.

I taught traditional Karate for 20 years and have been a karateka for 32 years...
It is not the style.... as much as it is the student, that determines proficiency .
The human body only moves a certain way, so all martial arts are very similar.

Each. also has it's inherent strengths and weakness's. Grappling arts are a fantastic form of unarmed combat, the weakness there is... it is not very effective against multiple opponents.
Karate's weakness is... that it is often unnecessarily complex and, in combat, the simplest things are hard to perform, because of the high stress level of the situation.

Don't worry about style....find an art that is fun, one that you are passionate about and one with a good instructor. That way you will stick to training and continue growing in skill.

Sometimes it is not the destination, but the journey.

Good Luck,
RHG

Also, there are western styles of grappling, such as folk wrestling Although, please, please don't start a glima debate or discussion, most texts from HEMA have sections for unarmed combat, pankration, and scientific wrestling or catch wrestling are also popular. You usually can find a judo professor easier than a BJJ.
Also, try:
Journal of Western Martial Art

Beornmann wrote:Also, there are western styles of grappling, such as folk wrestling Although, please, please don't start a glima debate or discussion, most texts from HEMA have sections for unarmed combat, pankration, and scientific wrestling or catch wrestling are also popular. You usually can find a judo professor easier than a BJJ.
Also, try:
Journal of Western Martial Art

Indeed, it's nearly a universal art. I remember learning Fiore dei Liberi's grappling techniques from about 1400. Our instructor was a former aikido instructor. At each of Fiore's methods, the instructor would stop and relate which aikido or jujutsu technique was nearly identical to Fiore's.