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Needlehead
16th July 2004, 16:29
I practiced a martial art in Ireland that according to its organisation was called Bujutsu (I know that Bujtsu measn martial art). The organisation in question is called

The Anglo-Japanese Bujutsu Association.


I was wondering if anyone could shed some light on this particular style or is it a mish mash style. It contained judo, jujustu and Karate techniques.

Chuck.Gordon
17th July 2004, 20:47
Ask your teahcers about their lineages, ranks (from which organizations etc), who their teachers were ...

There's a lot of questionable budo out there, and there are some very good folks teaching out of garages and back lots.

If they get mad at you for asking, or equivocate, it is a BAD sign ...

Let me know what you fnd out.

Chuck

MarkF
18th July 2004, 12:53
It contained judo, jujustu and Karate techniques.


Do you have any other information? A web site? A lot of these very generalized MA are pretty much as described in your post. If it is claiming to be Japanese, it should have a connection in Japan. If it doesn't, it isn't.


Mark

Needlehead
27th July 2004, 14:06
I asked my Sensei a few years ago if he could shed light on the style, its origins etc and was met with "you ask too many questions". The 'Master' called Sempai Kavanagh would only answer questions on technique and it was considered bad form to ask any questions about his training, who he trained with and any other information along those lines.

I saw a certificate numerous years ago stating he was a 5th dan (in what i dont know), but was intrested in finding out some information. I left the organisation 5 years ago, and to my knowlege there are no dojo's in Ireland any more. Since I left I have been curious about the style, but have been unable to get any information.

The style itself was a mixture of Karate, Jujutsu and Judo. The training also contained weapons (when i asked which ones I was told all Japanese weapons, yet they dont train Yari, Nagata, Shuriken, Tonfa and a load more. The weapons i did see were sai, nunchaku, bo and Katana [at dan grade]). The unusual thing I found with it was there were only 5 kyu grades then the dan grades.

MarkF
27th July 2004, 15:43
The unusual thing I found with it was there were only 5 kyu grades then the dan grades.


This is probably the one good thing about it. Some dojo have up to twenty kyu grades these days, and in-between dan grades, et.

But you probably have described exactly what it is. Learn a little judo, get an x-belt in karate, watch video of sword and karate weapons, and there you go. He may have earned a legitimate 5-dan, but once you begin the lies, or avoid telling the truth, the problems only compound.

"You ask too many questions" is so very common in mixed styles that it probably answers most questions about him. There is no problem with that (mixing styles is a common thing today and generally it is referred as Mixed Martial Arts or MMA), but sometimes I wonder why the instructors just don't say "Look, I took some judo and karate, mixed in some weapons and I feel it is a more practical art than any of the others alone. I have x-dan grade in judo, an ikkyu in x-karate along with weapons. I have x-many years in MA. My teachers were..." Then, it is over. After that, if a person still has more questions (from whom did you get your dan grade[s]?) That, at least, would be honest and it isn't necessarily bad, either. He may not have thought of this, but judo, or more correctly, Kodokan Judo, has only one home or honbu (Institute of Judo), and if he just came up with a judo dojo where he trained, there is his connection to Japan. The Kodokan is the closest thing to a true soke/iemoto family existing today, as the saying goes "If it is judo, it is Kodokan. If it is Kodokan, it is judo." No one would dare callit "soke" but other than koryu, it is the easiet way, and the most direct way to connect with the East.

As to getting more information, continue posting here and other message boards. You could try in "Baffling Budo" here, as many more post in that sub-forum of E-budo. Someone just may try to track it down. Try the local Judo federation/association, ask at local karate clubs (the jujutsu is probably judo, in reality. Many are), and try to find a competition oriented jujutsu organization. If he doesn't have judo experience, then it would almost certainly be some kind of modern jujutsu style. But try the judo organization first. If you don't know or can't find the contact, check out the http://www.ijf.org for the national body for Judo in Ireland, then ask them for the city representative[s], then the dojo.

Something will come up. If you know anything personally about him, that may hold some clues. And the style, too.


Mark

Needlehead
28th July 2004, 09:39
thanks very much. The reason behind wanting the information is more to do with my own curiousity. I wanted to do martial arts as a kid but wasnt allowed by my parents (who were the ones who would have to pay for it), so I started learning as much as I could about different styles, their history, their techniques etc.

It never mattered to me if the style was a mixed martial art or a true martial art, it was always a case of truth. To me martial arts is a brotherhood were, like on this forum, information is there to be shared and exchanged. Anyone who knows anything about martial arts knows that we can all learn from each other, as there is no one answer to any question.

My problem always lay in the fact that no one outside the organisation knew anything about he style, and no one in the organisation was willing to share much information. Catch 22 as they say.

Anyway, once again thank you for the information on the judo and hopefully this will not be the last on this topic (hopefully I can learn something to enlighten us all)