June, 2022 - James Martial Arts Academy El Cajon & La Mesa

IntroductionnIn 1993 I read the article below by Professor John Bishop in Black Belt Magazine which changed my martial arts life and led me to train in the arts of Kajukenbo and Kosho-Ryu with Sr Grand Master Tony Bowles and Grand Master Tim Bowles in their adult programn nWhen looking for a martial arts classes in San Diego for personal development there are several factors to consider before making a decision Although MMA and BJJ are popular today they may not be the best option in every situation if there is the potential of multiple attackers – you don’t want to find yourself on the ground while one attacker is subdued only to have their friends coming at you with punches or kicksnThat’s why Kajukenbo and Kosho-Ryu martial arts classes are such an attractive option They teach self defense against all types of weapons from guns and clubs to even knives They also focus more on precision strikes and devastasting takedowns than Gracie Jiu-Jitsu does Additionally Kajukenbo and Kosho-Ryu offer more specialized forms of attack that do not rely solely on ground fighting techniques like Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu does – techniques that could be helpful against multiple attackers which can come at you from all anglesnBackground of the two artsnKajukenbo and Gracie Jiu-Jitsu are both popular martial arts schools program today with many people drawn to them for their different approaches to self-defense While Gracie Jiu-Jitsu is a ground fighting system that focuses on submissions and Brazilian Jui-Jitsu techniques Kajukenbo school seeks to prepare its practitioners for multiple potential attackers by teaching them a comprehensive range of techniques involving striking joint manipulation throws and grapples defense skillsnIn addition while Gracie Jiu-Jitsu teaches you how to defend yourself effectively against an unarmed attacker Kajukenbo teaches how to protect yourself with weapons such as guns clubs or knives Therefore if you are looking for an effective way to defend yourself in a potentially dangerous situation then Kajukenbo may be the right choice for younThat’s why Kajukenbo and Kosho-Ryu are such an attractive option They teach self defense against all types of weapons from guns and clubs to even knives They also focus more on precision strikes and devastasting takedowns than Gracie Jiu-Jitsu does Additionally Kajukenbo and Kosho-Ryu offer more specialized forms of attack that do not rely solely on ground fighting techniques like Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu does – techniques that could be helpful against multiple attackers which can come at you from all anglesnBattle of the Artsnby John Bishop (Black Belt May 94)nBrutal deadly overkill street effective Both these and many other terms have been used to describe Kajukenbo training and Gracie jiu-jitsu Kajukenbo gained its reputation for being brutally effective decades ago in the US Territory of Hawaii Since then its mixed-use of five martial arts and its no-nonsense approach to self-defense has contributed to its strong reputation as a highly effective self-defense systemnIn recent years a South American martial art known as Gracie jiu-jitsu has taken North America’s martial arts community by storm Many martial artists have embraced this highly effective Brazilian system and have realized the ground-fighting limitations of their stylesnIn this article Black Belt discusses these systems with two of the world’s premier instructors of these artsn nChief instructor Gary Forbach teaches Kajukenbo techniques in San Clemente Ca He is a former two-time national champion and has a 7th-degree black belt His training of adults and kids in Kajukenbo has spanned close to 30 yearsnFor the last 15 years he has trained directly under the founder of Kajukenbo Adriano D Emperado He has produced over 30 training videos on Kajukenbo and has conducted Kajukenbo seminars worldwidenAllyson Gracie teaches Gracie jiu-jitsu in Corona Del Mar Ca At the age of 4 he started his training under his father Carlos Gracie the founder of Gracie Jiu-Jitsu By age 14 he was teaching for his father in the original Gracie Jiu-Jitsu Academy By age 18 he was a black belt & UFC with his students At age 50 he is the highest-ranking practitioner (8th degree Grand Master) of Gracie Jiu-Jitsu in the United StatesnKajukenbonKajukenbo is a prime example of American ingenuity It is also America’s first martial art system founded in 1949 in the US Territory of Hawaii According to Forbach Kajukenbo’s inception came about in 1947 when five Hawaiian martial arts masters calling themselves the Black Belt Society started a project to develop a comprehensive self-defense systemnThese five men of vision were Peter Choo the Hawaii welterweight boxing champion and a Tang Soo Do black belt Frank Ordonez a Sekeino Jujitsu black belt Joe Holck a Kodokan Judo black belt ranking Clarence Chang a master of Sil-lum Pai kung fu And Adriano D Emperado a Chinese Kenpo black belt and Escrima masternTogether these men trained for several hours each day taking advantage of each other’s strengths and weaknesses to develop their new art When Joe Holck and Peter Choo would spar Holck could see his weaknesses in striking techniques and Choo would realize his vulnerability once he was on the ground Choo was able to show Choo how a Kenpo man could work inside a kicker with rapid-fire hand techniquesnChang in turn showed the others how the circular flowing techniques of Sil-lum Pai were used to evade and strike And Frank Ordonez showed everyone how to go with an attacker’s force and then re-direct it against him with painful locks and throwsnAfter it was decided that Kenpo would be the basis to build on it was a long three-year process incorporating the tang soo do kicks jujitsu joint locks judo throws and sil-lum pai circular techniques into a complete system Now all the system needed was a name Joe Holck suggested that the name be Kajukenbo ka for karate Ju for judo and jujitsu ken for Kenpo and bo for Chinese boxing (kung fu)nToday Kajukenbo is practiced all over the world The chief organization for Kajukenbo is the International Kajukenbo Association based in Oakland CalifornianWhen Kajukenbo was founded people no longer needed battlefield training Warriors on horseback armed with swords and spears had been replaced by street thugs armed with knives and clubs Kajukenbo was specifically developed with this in mind Like most karate systems Kajukenbo has katas or formsnThese 14 katas are known as Palama Sets 1 through 14 (These katas were formerly known as Pinans Forbach explains that in February of 1993 Professor Adriano D Emperado renamed the katas to show their origin the Palama Settlement of Honolulu Hawaii) Although the Palama sets provide the Kajukenbo stylist with many street-effective techniques Kajukenbo‘s strength lies in its self-defense techniques Like traditional systems Kajukenbo takes many self-defense techniques from its katasnThese self-defense techniques are arranged and categorized into 15 grab arts 21 punch counters 15 knife counters 15 club counters nine two-person attack counters and 26 advanced alphabet techniquesnBy combining Tang Soo Do Judo Jujitsu Kenpo and Kung Fu techniques the Kajukenbo stylist can defend himself in many ways He can use soft circular kung fu techniques to evade and strike Or he can use judo or jujitsu to throw an attacker to the ground Forbach feels that the strength of Kajukenbo is in how these techniques are combinednUnlike some traditional systems Kajukenbo relies heavily on combination techniques For example if the attacker punches the Kajukenbo stylist may step into the attack at a 45-degree angle while blocking with a soft palm block He would then counterattack with several rapid-fire Kenpo hand strikes followed by a judo foot sweep Once on the ground the attacker could be struck again or controlled with a jujitsu locknThese combination techniques are arranged so that each technique will set up the next by following the reaction of the attacker’s body Although some martial artists may describe this as overkill Forbach feels that an attacker may not be stopped by one strongly focused blow Therefore the theory behind Kajukenbo is that it is better to counter with a multitude of techniques that can be ended when the threat no longer exists than to rely on one technique and find that it is not enoughnGracie Jiu-JitsunThe development of Gracie J-nmartial arts classesnJiu jitsu started more than 65 years ago Brazil in the early 1900s was an immigrant country Like George Gracie who had immigrated from Scotland many Japanese people immigrated to Brazil Brazil is said to have the largest Japanese population outside of JapannAccording to Reylson Gracie’s grandfather Gastao Gracie played a significant role in assisting Japanese immigrants in establishing a community in Brazil At that time Gastao met a man named Mitsuo Maeda Koma At the time Koma was recognized as the world champion of jiu-jitsunBecause of Koma’s jiu-jitsu exploits he was awarded a government position by then Crown Prince Hirohito This position put Koma in charge of overseeing Japanese immigration into BrazilnBefore long Gastao and Maeda formed a strong friendship As a favor Maeda started to teach jiu-jitsu to his friend’s son Carlos This was in about 1918 When teaching Carlos jiu-jitsu Maeda always impressed upon him the importance of keeping his knowledge secret because non-Japanese were never taught jiu-jitsu Carlos was given the provision that he was only to teach it to family members and not the public Carlos kept this agreement until Maeda’s death released him from itnBefore he started to teach the public Carlos taught jiu-jitsu to his brothers When asked about the statements made in print that Helio Gracie was the founder of Gracie Jiu-jitsu Reylson had a simple answer Helio was the youngest of my father’s four brothers My father started training in jiu-jitsu when Helio was only six years old Some of the Gracies have indeed added some of their innovations to their teachings but my father was the one who founded Gracie jiu-jitsunCarlos Gracie had four brothers who were black belt ranking under him and ten sons who he trained to black belt & UFC level Besides his brothers and sons there are grandsons nephews and grand nephews who carry on the Gracie traditionnHe was also the first man to teach jiu-jitsu in Brazil The central organization for Gracie jiu-jitsu is the Federation of Jiu-Jitsu de Rio headquartered in Rio de Janeiro BrazilnThe Techniques of Gracie Jiu-JitsunAlthough jiu-jitsu generally employs striking kicking throwing and ground fighting the strong point of most jiu-jitsu systems is their joint locking techniques Gracie jiu-jitsu uses all the techniques mentioned above plus techniques borrowed from boxing karate and many other fighting systemsnAccording to Nelson the Gracies have always looked at different fighting systems to see what they have If they see something that they like they use itnTraditionally Gracie jiu-jitsu is taught only in private groups of three students The number three is used so that the students can train with a partner as the instructor works with each student Beginning students go through a course of thirty-six one-hour private lessons In those thirty-six hours the student learns about three hundred techniquesnWhen asked if three hundred techniques were too much to cover in just thirty-six hours Reylson explained it this way Three hundred techniques is not too much to learn in thirty-six hours of private instruction Since many people will not devote a long period to martial arts training what I want to accomplish in these first thirty-six hours is to give them an excellent self-defense coursenI want them to be able to defend themselves in most situations At first we don’t spend a lot of time on the fine points of jiu-jitsu We get down to pure self-defense All I need to do is to teach students how to react intuitively You don’t have to be perfect to escape danger You only need to have the right ideanWhen it only takes you three seconds to make the right move in a fight thirty-six hours with me is more than enough time to learn practical self-defense Nelson firmly believes that the study of Gracie jiu-jitsu is a lifelong journey like other martial arts After a student completes his first thirty-six-hour course he can discontinue his training or continue with his private instruction There are over one thousand techniques in the Gracie systemnIn Conclusionnif you’re looking for a comprehensive martial arts system that will teach you how to defend yourself against multiple attackers in a wide range of scenarios and keeps self-defense in mind then Kajukenbo and Kosho-Ryu are perfect optionsnThey cover all aspects of self-defense from ground fighting to combat with guns clubs or knives Not only that they also stress the importance of situational awareness and the ‘plus one factor’ so you know how to stay safe and act decisively when things get heatednAll in all Kajukenbo and Kosho-Ryu offer an effective system of self-defense that has been proven over time – it allows you to protect yourself no matter what

James Martial Arts Academy El Cajon & La Mesa

Kajukenbo vs Gracie Jiu-Jitsu

TEST COPY

Get Your Spot Now!

HOME

ABOUT US

PROGRAMS