PDA

View Full Version : Serge Mol's Koryu Jujutsu book



mdheiler
24th August 2001, 19:51
I remember seeing a few posts on this a while back, but can't seem to locate them anymore. Anyway, my questions are: What do you think about the accuracy of the information in the book, and is it a worthwhile buy?

- Michael D. Heiler

24th August 2001, 23:37
Michael,

Although there are some flaws in the book, overall I think it is definitely worth buying. There simply is very little decent information on Nihon Jujutsu out there. The benefits of this work easily outweigh the flaws in my opinion.

These following problems I am aware of. There are apparantly some others but I am no authority on jujutsu history outside the ryu I belong to.

One of the problems I am aware of concerns the way Mr Mol separates the Yoshin ryu and the Yoshin koryu into two completely separate lineages. Whether this position is accurate or not is still greatly debated. There is significant circumstantial evidence to the contrary and in his defense Mr Mol does point some of this evidence out. I just believe it would have been more prudent to say that without more information both traditions most likely had the same origins. He chooses the opposite position on very questionable info in my opinion.

He also states that Shindo Yoshin ryu jujutsu is without a headmaster and in danger of dying out. This may be accurate concerning the mainline tradition presently under Dr Ryozo Fujiwara's control but the Ohtsuka ha (Menkyo Kaiden, Ohtsuka Hironori ) via Tatsusaburo Nakayama lives on as Wado ryu jujutsu kempo. And the Ohbata ha Shindo Yoshin ryu exists today as the Takamura ha Shindo Yoshin ryu via Takamura Yukiyoshi (Menkyo Kaiden) , grandson of Ohbata Shigeta (Menkyo Kaiden).

(I must point out that this SYR info would be very difficult to ascertain without some extremely deep digging by My Mol. Even the Wado ryu still erroniously claims that Ohtsuka Hironori was "the" headmaster of Shindo Yoshin ryu even though the actual headmaster and grandson of the founder (Matsuoka Tatsuo) outlived Ohtsuka by eight years. SYR's short history is quite complicated, including one instance of the same person using multiple pronunciations of the same kanji for his name. Another person used completely different spelling (kanji) for the same phonetic name during his lifetime. For omissions of info this obscure and mystifying I cannot take Mr Mols efforts to task.)


Toby Threadgill

johan smits
25th August 2001, 15:44
Hi Michael,

The book is a definite MUST for serious practitioners of whatever sort of jujutsu. You want to save your money for the book without mistakes/flaws? You're going to die a rich man! These books don't exist. Speaking as someone with a librarian's background and being a jujutsuteacher I would advice to buy the book.It is nothing but normal that in a work of this magnitude there are points left open to debate.


I have an extensive library of books on martial arts in general and jujutsu in particular, I have been collecting for over twenty years. This book? I would buy it at twice the price.

Best Regards,

Johan Smits

mdheiler
27th August 2001, 17:43
Thanks for the input.

Michael D. Heiler