Tatsujin - the meaning of White Tiger

 Meijin means a master of the martial arts.

Tatsujin means a "completed human being".

It is very difficult to become a complete human being.

To live as a human being means you are not obsessed with who is weak or who is strong. An animal has to be strong to survive in nature. Humans can live regardless of their outward strength.

This is the most important realisation of the Human Fighting Arts.

To work to be a meijin is to miss the point.

In STMA, we are not trying to be masters of the individual fighting arts, we are working towards being tatsujin, complete human beings.

Be a White Tiger, not just a person "doing" White Tiger Martial Arts.

White Tiger in Chinese is Bai Hu

It can also be translated into Japanese as Bya Ko

The White Tiger is one of the Four Symbols of the Chinese Constellation (Si Xiang)
along with Azure Dragon, Vermillion Bird and Black Tortoise.

It represents the West,
the autumn season
and the element of Metal or Kin in Gogyo
Wind or Fu in the system Godai

During the Han Dynasty, people believed the tiger to be the king of all beasts. Legend had it that when a tiger reached 500 years old, its tail would turn white. In this way, the white tiger became a mythological creature. It was said that the white tiger would only appear when the emperor ruled with absolute virtue, or if there was peace throughout the world.

Because the color white of the Chinese five elements also represents the west, the white tiger thus became a mythological guardian of the west.

In bringing the Oriental disciplines of our Ryuha to the West, flying in on the wind (airplane) we are the White Tiger, Bai Hu Bya Ko, Shiro Tora

Our Jujutsu evolution - Jap, Gracie, Brazil, Judo

 The Jujutsu we practice at STMA is Shiro Tora Jujutsu, it is a modern refinement of traditional Japanese Jujutsu, the unarmed combat of the Samurai.

In it's modern refinement it is known as Kempo Jujutsu or Kempo Goshin Jujutsu

It involves the standing strikes, blocks and kicks of kempo
locks and projections
throws and takedowns
groundfighting

it involves defence against weapons when unarmed


Japan

There are many Japanese Jujutsu schools

Jigoro Kano refined Jujutsu at the start of the 20th Century into a modern form of Jujutsu

This became Kodokan Judo
In Judo we seperate the standing throwing art tachi waza
from the ground grappling art newaza

Ueshiba refined the aiki blending principles of Jujutsu with the principles of kenjutsu to further develop a new form of Jujutsu which became Aikido

Tomiki then took aikido and married it up with Judo again to create a new art Tomiki Aikido

That is pretty much as far as Jujutsu has evolved in Japan and this was achieved by the mid 20th century


Brazil

In the early 20th century one of Kano's senior shihan Maeda left Japan and ended up in Brazil, staying with the Gracie family. At this time the Jujutsu he had studied and mastered was not yet called Judo.

Kano renamed his art Judo after Maeda had left Japan.

Kano trained the Gracie brothers in Judo's original form - this became the art that would be Gracie Jujutsu. Had things been a bit different it would have been called Gracie Judo, which in some ways more accurate.

What makes the art Gracie JJ and not Maeda JJ is the further developments done by the Gracie brothers, and most of the credit for this is with Helio.

Japanese have long torsos and short legs.
A lot of newaza, such as guard moves, although in JJ, are often taught as theoretical as they can't be performed by a lot of Japanese. Guard moves get even harder to do if your thighs get thicker, which tends to happen with any grappler, Judo or wrestler, due to the muscles developing in countless throws.

The Gracies are all tall and thin so they made their long legs work for them.

Second - in Japan everyone is the same height and build and if you are 5'6 and 10 stone you are a "big" guy!

JJ was never developed against opponents who were 6'4, 250 lbs, 22 musclar inch biceps - the Japanese masters didn't know such men existed, had never encountered them, and certainly never developed techniques against them.

However - the leverage based techniques of JJ, which are further refined in Judo and Aikido, will work against anyone. The principles are there, they just need to be funcionalised.

Now in Brazil, street fighting meant going against any kind of opponent, including men bigger and stronger and heavier than you - which is how the Gracies developed their art - take on ANY an ALL opponents, get the to the ground and finish them there.

Helio was small and frail and had to further adapt the techniques his more athletic brothers used against his opponents. So he truly refined the Kano-Maeda JJ into the new Gracie JJ.

Helio's sons were all champions and master fighters in their own right, Rickson in particular, Rorion, and of course Royce who won the early UFCs.

Gracie Jujutsu

The point of the UFC was to showcase Gracie JJ to the world as a street fighting self defence system that works against ANY attacker from ANY background even if bigger, stronger and heavier.

The problem then was that anyone in Brazil who had some grappling, be it some JJ, Judo, or wrestling, tried cashing in on teaching grappling - people wanted to learn grappling from Brazilian experts.

Rorion was quick to point out that Gracie JJ was a trademark name and only if certified by the family as an instructor could somebody teach it.

Brazilian Jujutsu

This gave rise to everyone else teaching grappling systems from Brazil which became known as BJJ

To be fair most of these have some Gracie training, lineage, and use, or try to use the techniques and concepts

However, if they didn't qualify to teach it, they aren't teaching it

What is more, due to the rise of what is now called MMA, what is being taught as BJJ has been adapted to be the newaza, the ground phase, of the new MMA sport

Or Sport JJ

It is NOT a self defence art, it will NOT work on the streets, only on mats, and only under MMA rules.


Back to Judo

Now the new art of Gracie JJ is a great refinement of Judo newaza - however it's important to remember where it came from

The Gracie's teacher was Maeda, a Judo master (though he didn't yet call it Judo)

When Helio suffered his only real public defeat it was at the hands of Kimura, a Japanese Judo master, who put him in the ground version of ude garame, which is why that lock now bears his name

When Royce suffered his only real public defeat (we don't count the Mat Hughes match) he was rear mounted and choked out by a Japanese Judo master.

So while BJJ is just a watered down sport, we still recognise GJJ as a self defence street fighting system, which specialises in newaza

However there is nothing in GJJ not in Judo and in the original Japanese JJ, for those who take the time to study it properly

Newton's 3 Laws of Motion

 1. A body at rest or motion will remain in that state unless acted upon by and external force

2. Force equals mass times acceleration

3. Every action has an equal and opposite reaction

1. a
Imagine a car that needs a push to get it started.
Stand in front stance and push.
Use your force to overcome the inertia.
Change it's state from at rest to in motion.

1. b
Imagine a car rolling towards you.
Stand in front stance and push.
Use your force to overcome the momentum.
Change it's state from in motion to at rest.

2.
Imagine a bullet.
If I throw it at you it may sting a bit.
If I use a catapult to fire it at you it will probably bruise you.
If I load it in a gun and fire it then it will go right through you

3.
This one is always misunderstood and misquoted.
When you hit something, however much force you land, the same gets sent the other way. Like the recoil on a gun.

1. a. punch an opponent in attack
SDA

1.b.punch an attacking opponent
Stophit - interception - jeet kune do

2.
step
bend the knee
hip
shoulder
THEN throw the punch

3. block the punch break the forearm
block the kick break the shin
eblow block crush the fist
ken kudaki - strike destroyer

Language

 Think of STMA, your Martial Art, your combat system, as a new language - a physical language.

How did you learn English?
By listening then repeating.
How did you learn to speak, then to write?
One letter at a time, then words, then sentences.

Do you speak any other languages?
If so how did you learn that new language?

On the way to green belt level you are learning words, single words, the shape of the letters, how to spell them correctly.

This applies to all 4 pillars of STMA:
Kali
Kickboxing
Kempo - CRA
Grappling

After a while you have gained enough words to begin talking with people.
Then you can debate with them.
Then you can win arguments.

Having a large vocabulary is not enough.
If you get stuck in an argument, shouting out single words, especially if they are unrelated, will be useless.

You need to take the words you learn and string them into sentences.

After a while you will notice that you tend to use a few sentences over and over again in your conversations.
They flow together well and it seems natural.

These sentences, which have chosen you as much, if not more, than you have chosen them, will form the basis of your game.

This is your personal selection of techniques.

Everybody's game will be different.
(compare Tyson to Ali to RJJ in boxing)

Your personality will come out through your game;
whether that be boxing, kb, kali, hubud CRA, chi sao, randori, grappling, VT;
whether it be on the mat, in the ring, in the cage, or on the street.

It's just another language.

No single word is powerful enough to win an argument by itself.
You need the right combination of words to form the sentences you need to express your point.

These sentences give you the power to attack and counter your opponent in the debate.

Being able to make a strong point, then a few more points, with a simple words is far more important than using impressive words from the dictionary and being unfocussed.

vociferous
parsimonious
irascible
surreptitious

they all sound very impressive, but they are meaningless, pointless and useless if used on their own.

Even the shortest passage in the whole Bible was 2 words.

Stay on task and refine your skills.
Over time you will hear those same arguments again and again.

After a while nothing will phase you any more.
Your responses to those arguments will become instinctive, unconscious, you will have heard them so many times.

You will flow naturally, because you have taken thought out of the process.

If you only have one of 2 reliable attacks that will be enough.
(Tyson's uppercut, Rickson's choke)

You need to develop a complete game - smooth movements and technique combinations.

You know the map, and you know how to navigate the terrain efficiently.

You create your own game.
Fill in the holes, communicate more effectively.

A list of techniques will never have the power to ensure a physical skill level.

You want 5 techniques that work for you,
not 20 techniques that work against you.

It is not about the techniques themselves it is about how you combine the techniques and flow from one to the next.

ABCs on pads that come out in sparring.
Lock flow from hubud.
Rolling from guard to take a leg, to pass his guard, to take the mount, to take the back.

STMA has no new techniques or drills - they are classical moves from traditional martial arts:
kali, boxing, muay thai, savate, jujutsu, karate, wing chun

We have options in each phase, range and position
Words we use in conversation.

The words one person uses may not work for you, so you need to find your own techniques to use from each phase, your own combinations, your own flow.

Climbing the ranks of the coloured belts is about bridging the gap between words and sentences.

Then you reach the advanced game of debate and argument.

Meet the Forkers

 In Chess the Fork is an offensive move that attacks 2 pieces simultaneously.

In the example here the white pawn is attacking both the black knight and bishop at the same time. If the knight moves away he will take the bishop and vice versa.

In kickboxing we use the fork with the savate fouette.

On a regular SDA you would enter, chamber and then attack the head or attack the leg.
On a fork PIA you chamber to the mid level, the median.
If the opponent guards the head, attack the leg.
If he guards the leg, attack the head.

Now try combining forks into ABCs of 2, 3 or even 4.

Speed no longer becomes a factor - you can spar at 50% or even 25% speed and still land those kicks - if you use PIA forks.

The same goes for grappling newaza.

Don't just SDA armbars, leglocks and chokes, PIA them, fork them.
Again, you can move as slow as £25 on the ground and still get the tap - if you use PIA forks.

Now try it in the other phases of sparring:
boxing
chi sao
Judo
stickfighting

it won't be long before everyone you spar says
"I just can't catch that forker!"

This blog post has an illustration of the chess move:
whitetigermartialarts.blogspot.com/2011/02/fork.html

The BEST defence against a bite

 One simple rule:

He can't bite and scream at the same time.

The most direct way to do this is as his teeth are clamping round your flesh stick your thumb hard into his eye.

Simple and effective.
Brutal and 100% efficient.

The BEST defence against a choke

 Bite.

(Remember - Dogs don't know kung fu)

Don't open your mouth wide or try to take a big bite at once.

Nibble. Like eating sweetcorn. Take out tiny chunks in quick succession.
He will pull away.
If he is in distance, bite his neck, ear, nose.

If a man has closed to grappling range and got you in a choke he is a dangerous opponent. He has got passed your punches, kicks, traps, locks, HKE, chokes, and got you in a clinch and out manouevered you.

You MUST use 100% response and your most deadly response.

Bite.

You have been practicing this move 100 times a day for at least 3 sessions a day your whole life. It is your most practiced move. Pull it out when you need it - it won't let you down.

The BEST defence against a weapon

 Defang.

Take the fang.

Attack the hand holding the weapon.

Use angle #2.
Aim for the back of his hand.

If you have a blade cut his hand, cut the tendons on the back of his hand.
If you have a stick, smash the small bones in his hand.

As soon as the hand holding the weapon comes into range, attack it with #2.

The Second Rule of Self Defence

 The Second Rule of Self Defence

Learn to hit Fucking hard.

The First Rule of Self Defence

 Learn to hit fucking hard.

End the fight at the verbal stage by knocking him out first.

While he's thinking about hitting you, hit him.

Pre Emptive Strike.

The rest is backup.

Follow the leader..?

 Consider the familiar scene of a pack of dogs chasing a fox.

At the front of the pack is the Top Dog.
He can smell the fox, he can see the fox, he is the one who will catch the fox.

Behind him are the pack.
They are also on the scent of the fox, but basically they are following the leader.

And right at the back is the runt.
He can't see the fox, he can't smell the fox, he doesn't even know there is a fox.
He's just following the arseholes.

STMA Class discipline - 10 Rules

 At STMA we train in a relaxed informal manner. It is a more enjoyable environment and more conducive to learning the the rigid "martial" style of traditional karate classes.

Students do not bow to me or call me "Sensei".
Some call me "Guv". This is encouraged, though not expected, though many Seniors will only call me Guv during class and will encourage juniors to do the same.

However, there are certain rules that must be adhered to.
Members are expected to learn and adhere to them to make the class work and Seniors are expected to help juniors learn them.

Gentle reminders are best, but I will push the rules vociferously if needs be or a greater level of control and discipline is needed at a certain time.

1. This IS a martial arts class and I AM the Sensei. You are the students.

2. I am the ONLY person who is there to teach. The rest of you are there to learn.

3. By all means, ask me questions, but don't try to tell me things. You are not there to tell me things you are there so I can tell you things.

4. This one is quite harsh so I only pull it out when I have to:
If I want your opinion - I'll give it to you!

5. This is a class not a discussion group. See Rule 4.

6. Forget what you think you know. Leave it at the door. Empty your cup.

7. I don't care what you've done at other classes. Leave it at the door. I don't care what you've been told at some other class or by some other teacher, here all that matters is what you are told by me.

8. Nobody came here to listen to you they all came to listen to me. They all paid money to listen to me. If you are speaking up in class you are wasting other people's time and money, which is rude to them. See Rule 5.

9. Don't talk over me and don't EVER talk back to me. If I give you a command in class the only response I want to hear is "Yes, Guv".

10. Don't try showing things to your fellow members. I am the only person who is there to teach. See Rule 2. When you are partnered with someone he will practice his techniques on you and let you practice your moves on him. You are not there to tell him how to do his moves. Recieve the move with good grace and keep your mouth shut while you do it. If you feel the urge to start "instructing" consider this - are you really trying to help your partner improve or are you trying to feed your own ego and look like some kind of expert? See Rule 8. Also consider this - as well as being rude to your fellow member you are being rude to me - who the hell are you to come into MY class and try to teach MY students? See Rule 6.

The only exception to these rules is if I ask a senior to guide a junior in a particular move or drill on a particular occassion. The Senior will still not be instructing, just guiding. The instruction will have already come from the instructor. Only the instructor can TEACH and move or drill to ANY student.