Frequently Asked Questions
Questions, questions, questions.
So many questions!
The school I first attended was taught by Japanese instructors and in the way of the Oriental schools, questions were strongly discouraged. You simply watched (or experienced) the move and did your best to replicate it. If you failed, the instructor would roughly call for you to try again. Put your hand in the wrong place and he would slap it away. Hesitate to follow through and he would shove you. It was difficult for many of my fellow western students to take. Not being really native to North America, I found the method perfectly understandable.
It's not likely that you were raised in a semi-nomadic warrior African tribe however. It's not likely that you have a Japanese father who has trained you in the martial arts since you were born. A lot of the stuff you'll find on these pages will seem strange and you will read words that may even be difficult to pronounce!
It's perfectly natural to be curious and to want to better understand. For questions of etymology, refer to the glossary. For questions on specific techniques, refer to the Waza section. For all other questions relating to jujutsu or the answer to life, the universe and everything. Check out the answers to the questions in this FAQ.
So many questions!
The school I first attended was taught by Japanese instructors and in the way of the Oriental schools, questions were strongly discouraged. You simply watched (or experienced) the move and did your best to replicate it. If you failed, the instructor would roughly call for you to try again. Put your hand in the wrong place and he would slap it away. Hesitate to follow through and he would shove you. It was difficult for many of my fellow western students to take. Not being really native to North America, I found the method perfectly understandable.
It's not likely that you were raised in a semi-nomadic warrior African tribe however. It's not likely that you have a Japanese father who has trained you in the martial arts since you were born. A lot of the stuff you'll find on these pages will seem strange and you will read words that may even be difficult to pronounce!
It's perfectly natural to be curious and to want to better understand. For questions of etymology, refer to the glossary. For questions on specific techniques, refer to the Waza section. For all other questions relating to jujutsu or the answer to life, the universe and everything. Check out the answers to the questions in this FAQ.
Who are you to teach jiu-jitsu?
Nobody really. I don't claim to be a grandmaster, grand vizier or big cheese of anything. I'm a fellow student whose willing to share what I've learned so far.
I hold a fifth degree black belt in jiu-jitsu. I spent a sizable amount of my childhood living in central Africa where my earliest memories are of drawing circles in the dirt and taking on any kid willing to step in with me. The rules were that you could either force the kid to tap, knock him out, or throw him out of the circle. The reward for winning? You got to stay in the circle and take on the next kid, and the next, and the next until you lost or were so exhausted that you forfeited.
I moved to Montreal Canada and began practicing jiu-jitsu at the ripe old age of twelve. I was a little rough around the edges at the time and had some pretty dark motivations that led me to practice for hours a day, six days a week for six years. This allowed me to earn my black belt but also developed in me a sick and twisted taste for pain (whether inflicted or received).
I continued practicing, participating in more tournaments than were probably healthy for my body. I spent a year working as a bouncer on a particularly rough street in Montreal. This feat borders on the miraculous if you consider that I’m only 5’7” and about 175 pounds.
However, I was not really getting my fill of pain so I joined the United States Marine Corps. While stationed at a multi-branch base in California, I taught hand-to-hand combat on a volunteer basis along with five other guys to a bunch of kids who all were training as hard as they could to be in their branch’s version of the special forces. I got to dance with Recon, Airborne, Seals and Forward Air Traffic Control. I even got a chance to play with a couple guys from Mossad! Fun in the sun!
I was on what the Marines referred to as a fast-reac team meaning we were the ones who got to kick butts and take names if the going got hairy on the base. As a member of that team, I got to participate in a short but interesting course in stick fighting and riot control taught by the California Highway Patrol.
I got out and fought professionally in full contact mixed martial arts. I opened a dojo in a rough neighborhood and got to teach a bunch of young men and women the blessed art of jiu-jitsu. I taught hand-to-hand to members of the Militia and the RCMP.
Along the way, I learned to jump out of airplanes; to survive in harsh environments with few or no tools; rappel down mountainsides and off of helicopters; to shoot a man consistently from 300 yards away with iron sites; to create innovative booby traps, detonators and timing devices; to control prisoners and extract information from them; and to adapt to and overcome circumstances that would kill the average untrained civilian.
All in all, I had a lot of fun but now I’m old and beat up and it’s time some of you take over for the old war horse. I’m in a different phase of my life now. I have always considered myself to be a warrior/priest/healer. My active phase as a warrior is now over and I’m focusing on my priest/healer phase.
That doesn’t mean that I want to forget the style that has brought me so much satisfaction and so many victories. So now I’m focusing on trying to consolidate twenty-five years of active experience in practical, hands-on jiu-jitsu in a single place in the hopes that the next generation will carry it on into the future.
It’s your turn. Go grab life in a rear naked choke and make it tap.
I hold a fifth degree black belt in jiu-jitsu. I spent a sizable amount of my childhood living in central Africa where my earliest memories are of drawing circles in the dirt and taking on any kid willing to step in with me. The rules were that you could either force the kid to tap, knock him out, or throw him out of the circle. The reward for winning? You got to stay in the circle and take on the next kid, and the next, and the next until you lost or were so exhausted that you forfeited.
I moved to Montreal Canada and began practicing jiu-jitsu at the ripe old age of twelve. I was a little rough around the edges at the time and had some pretty dark motivations that led me to practice for hours a day, six days a week for six years. This allowed me to earn my black belt but also developed in me a sick and twisted taste for pain (whether inflicted or received).
I continued practicing, participating in more tournaments than were probably healthy for my body. I spent a year working as a bouncer on a particularly rough street in Montreal. This feat borders on the miraculous if you consider that I’m only 5’7” and about 175 pounds.
However, I was not really getting my fill of pain so I joined the United States Marine Corps. While stationed at a multi-branch base in California, I taught hand-to-hand combat on a volunteer basis along with five other guys to a bunch of kids who all were training as hard as they could to be in their branch’s version of the special forces. I got to dance with Recon, Airborne, Seals and Forward Air Traffic Control. I even got a chance to play with a couple guys from Mossad! Fun in the sun!
I was on what the Marines referred to as a fast-reac team meaning we were the ones who got to kick butts and take names if the going got hairy on the base. As a member of that team, I got to participate in a short but interesting course in stick fighting and riot control taught by the California Highway Patrol.
I got out and fought professionally in full contact mixed martial arts. I opened a dojo in a rough neighborhood and got to teach a bunch of young men and women the blessed art of jiu-jitsu. I taught hand-to-hand to members of the Militia and the RCMP.
Along the way, I learned to jump out of airplanes; to survive in harsh environments with few or no tools; rappel down mountainsides and off of helicopters; to shoot a man consistently from 300 yards away with iron sites; to create innovative booby traps, detonators and timing devices; to control prisoners and extract information from them; and to adapt to and overcome circumstances that would kill the average untrained civilian.
All in all, I had a lot of fun but now I’m old and beat up and it’s time some of you take over for the old war horse. I’m in a different phase of my life now. I have always considered myself to be a warrior/priest/healer. My active phase as a warrior is now over and I’m focusing on my priest/healer phase.
That doesn’t mean that I want to forget the style that has brought me so much satisfaction and so many victories. So now I’m focusing on trying to consolidate twenty-five years of active experience in practical, hands-on jiu-jitsu in a single place in the hopes that the next generation will carry it on into the future.
It’s your turn. Go grab life in a rear naked choke and make it tap.
How does one spell jiu-jitsu?
I grew up in Europe, Central Africa and French Canada. I have learned several languages in the course of my life. I was raised spelling my art jiu-jitsu. Very few westerners are of one mind on how to phonetically pronounce, much less spell those two elusive Japanese kanji characters.
You will find many different variations including Jiu-Jitsu, JuJitsu, Ju-Jitsu. Ju-Jitsu is still the standard spelling in France, Canada and the United States but is referred to as Jiu-Jitsu in Germany and Brazil.
I generally spell it jiu-jitsu, the way I learned, but I have been known to slip and spell it ju-jutsu. So sue me.
You will find many different variations including Jiu-Jitsu, JuJitsu, Ju-Jitsu. Ju-Jitsu is still the standard spelling in France, Canada and the United States but is referred to as Jiu-Jitsu in Germany and Brazil.
I generally spell it jiu-jitsu, the way I learned, but I have been known to slip and spell it ju-jutsu. So sue me.
What color uniforms do you wear?
Historically, my teachers would use the black gis when teaching (to indicate their role and their mastery of the style to new students) but would still use white gis in the ring. Why? Part of it had to do with superstition I believe. All my instructors were Japanese (you’ve never heard French truly butchered till you’ve heard it molested by a Japanese). The Japanese in our dojo seemed to have an aversion to even stepping into a ring with someone wearing any color but white. Outside of the ring was a different matter. Students below the black belt always wore white. However, a high kyu student about to take his black could, with permission, wear a black gi since part of his qualification to earn the belt included teaching a class for at least a year.
However, Hagakure is (if anything) a pragmatic style. “If it works do it – if it doesn’t chunk it” is pretty much our motto. White gis are great because you can always bleach out the blood. Black gis are great because they don’t show the blood and dirt so much, and no matter how much you sweat (SANDY) it won’t get transparent. So don’t think it’s a big “we’ll break the tradition” thing. If it’s healthy and useful – do it.
However, Hagakure is (if anything) a pragmatic style. “If it works do it – if it doesn’t chunk it” is pretty much our motto. White gis are great because you can always bleach out the blood. Black gis are great because they don’t show the blood and dirt so much, and no matter how much you sweat (SANDY) it won’t get transparent. So don’t think it’s a big “we’ll break the tradition” thing. If it’s healthy and useful – do it.
By the way,
I personally wear a blue gi when I teach. However, on those rare occasions when I spar or visit another school, I wear not only a white gi but a white belt. Why? First I want to be humble and acknowledge that I know nothing of their system and am an empty vessel waiting to be filled with knowledge, understanding and wisdom. Second, a probably more important to me, why let them know I know anything?
