COMBAT JUDO: NOT FOR COUCH POTATOES OR CANDY ASSES

One of the questions I get asked consistently is…..What is Combat Judo? 

COMBAT JUDO was originally developed to address the needs of military personnel, facing new hand-to-hand combat challenges, as a way to ensure a streamlined, tested, and effective method of self-defense. 

Some very often misinterpret the word "streamlined" used in the description of Carlin’s Combat Judo to mean "simple" or "easy", something that one can be proficient in with little to no training. One description of combat judo that gets bantered around the internet a lot  is that it is"a easily learned dirty trick fighting method". This really couldn't be any further from the truth…….

Combat judo’s roots stem from WWI. It is a combination of judo and boxing. This method was basically recast years later as “Combat Judo”. This renaming so to speak was done to distinguish it from any of the classical/traditional martial art systems. 

CAPTAIN ALLEN CORSTORPHIN SMITH

What would later be referred to as Combat Judo began in WWI with CPT. Allen Corstorphin Smith of the United States Army. Smith had trained in judo at the Kodokan in Japan and earned his black belt from the Kodokan. He was the hand to hand combat instructor at the Infantry school in Ft. Benning, Georgia. Smith’s combatives program was a combination of boxing and judo. His methods are online on youtube, for all to see, in an old silent training film.  Though this system of fighting was brought out late into WWI Smith’s combatives method proved to be extremely effective in trench warfare. (See video of Cpt. Smith below)

By the start of WWII this fighting method had become wide spread through the different branches of the US military. During WWII it was taught to specialized units like the US Army Alamo scouts and other units for use in hand to hand combat situations in their operating areas during the war. “Combat Judo” became the name of this system utilized by the U. S. military primarily during this time.

SSG ROBERT CARLIN

SSG. Robert Carlin had been a amateur boxer who had boxed in the Golden Gloves, a wrestler and a Judoka. Carlin was honorably discharged from the United States Army when he enlisted in the United States Marine Corps. It was there that he received his hand to hand combat training under Colonel Anthony Drexel Biddle. It is said that Carlin also excelled at Hand to Hand combat in Ranger training (Army) and commando training (British). 

Carlin would go on and teach Judo in the marines. Later he was the instructor of judo instructors for Captain Leland Hanley, officer in charge at Cherry Point, N.C.  of Combat Conditioning. Carlin instructed the bayonet and instructors for Captain Armitage at Guadalcanal and taught H2H to the 29th Marines under Colonel Victor F. Bleasdale. In his career as an instructor Carlin trained thousands of Marines. 

During this time Carlin started writing and completed his book Combat Judo. Carlin took two years to complete his book that was written for both military and civilian defense. Carlin self-published Combat Judo in 1945.

In Carlin’s writings he states that combat Judo is a more advanced method of fighting. He even goes further into the details of its training by likening it to the training in boxing. As an example, even novice boxers put in hours and hours and round after round in training just the fundamentals alone. 

Looking at the fact that Carlin had been a golden gloves boxer and a judoka and the fact that Combat Judo was rooted in both boxing and judo his comparing it to boxing training makes perfect sense. In this light Carlin’s comparison speaks volumes of the importance he emphasizes in his book on how Combat Judo is to be trained. Simply learning “tricks” as Carlin puts it is not enough, one needs to learn the fundamentals. Carlin goes so far as saying people who only learn “tricks” often find themselves in situations they cant “solve” or deal with in fighting. Carlin points out that the reason they fail is they didn’t take time to train in the fundamentals of a system to the advanced. 

Not a single Combatives luminary, from Fairbairn to O’Neill to Biddle to Applegate, etc. ever contradicted the statement; “The more you sweat in training the less you bleed in a fight.” Every one of them advocated daily regular training.  

Carlin very glaringly makes the point in his book that minimal training WILL NOT and DOES NOT work! He drives home, like a proverbial nail in the coffin, the fact that there is no skimping on training, otherwise he wouldn’t have compared training in combat judo to boxing and wrestling. 

Barron Shepherd is a 3rd degree black belt judo instructor and coach, a certified boxing coach and certified NASM Sports Performance Enhancement Specialist.

COMBAT JUDO: ENTRY, DISRUPTION AND EXECUTION

The purpose of the throw or takedown in combat judo is to take the aggressor/opponent off his feet quickly and bring him to the deck to gain the tactical advantage, to finish the fight. An overall excellent strategic and tactical guideline in Combat Judo is using a strike to off balance and or stun the opponent and immediately throw him to the ground.  Getting your opponent off his feet as quickly as possible nullifies and squashes the attack.

The throws in Combat Judo apply the principles of: 1.) SPEED 2.) SURPRISE 
3.) BALANCE          
4.) LEVERAGE  5.) TIMING and 6.) BODY POSITIONING to take over/occupy/destroy the opponent’s center line, disrupting his balance......CLICK HERE TO CONTINUE READING

COMBAT JUDO: JUDO, BOXING, CAPTAIN AMERICA AND REB BROWN

It isn’t often that I get to write a more light hearted and entertaining article. Most of my articles are, of course, on techniques and the does and don'ts of  something but this article was such a fond undertaking. Taking me back to some of my favorite memories  as a kid and teenager. I am a boxing and a judo coach and as a kid my inspiration came from super heroes. In particularly Captain America and the actor that played him when I was 14. 

I still have the very first book I bought as a kid on the martial arts. I purchased it for a couple dollars at a book fair in elementary school. The book was called Junior Judo. I was also a big fan of the comic books back then. One of my favorite comic book characters was Captain America as a kid he just embodied everything a hero should be. Even today as a grown up man in his 50’s cap is still one of my favorites. Recently in my Combat Judo facebook group one of the members posted cap doing judo on the Hulk which I thought was super cool and it so brought back memories. 

Judo was very popular back in the 50’s and 60’s so much so it made it way into pop culture via the comics. According to The Marvel Directory Captain America is listed as having mastered boxing and judo, and has combined these disciplines for his own unique hand-to-hand style of combat.  

When I saw this, I couldn’t help but think that they were describing what was known as Combat Judo, the very thing my Combat Judo group is about trying to preserve. It kind of slowly dawned on me that Captain America is a part of Combat Judo’s unique history and legacy. 

Combat judo was a military combatives system whose roots stem from WWI. It is a combination of judo and boxing. This method was basically recast as “combat judo” to distinguish it from any of the classical/traditional martial art.  Whether knowingly or unknowing this combination of fighting styles make up Captain America’s fighting style. Being a hero whose origins stem from WWII this would make perfect sense.....Combat Judo was basically the apex of hand to hand combat fighting at the time.

To much of a surprise to many Captain America fans, in 1979, Captain America would get a made-for-television superhero movie starring Reb Brown.  Reb Brown’s Cap was a contemporary version of the character whose father had served in WWII as a government agent. Like Cap though, Reb Brown himself did know boxing, according to online biographies was an amateur boxer. As a teenager in the seventies Reb sure fit the bill for Cap and it was so in character to find out Reb could actually box.....Our super heroes never fail us and always, always seem to inspire.

Captain America’s fighting style would go on and be felt in the comics for years. His old school fighting style indicative of the times and even alluded to in the modern movie version of cap in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Watching the scene with Cap pounding away on the punching bag I remembered that Reb Brown was an amateur boxer.  

In the comics Captain America was often seen fighting using old combatives techniques and there are more than a few references of cap teaching combat judo. If one googles “Captain America and Judo” you see all kinds of stuff pop up even throwing Nick Fury. You will find comic book panel after panel of Cap doing judo or others crediting him for teaching judo/boxing to them.

For many of us who watched Reb Brown as Cap he still is and always will be Captain America. One has to remember there was no CGI back then Tv shows and movies were on a budget an they really had to find someone who looked the part. Reb embodied Captain America. They found the right guy.  I certainly can’t forget when Cap blasted out of the back of his fan on his motor cycle you just knew it was about to get real.  Reb seems to never cease to inspire this 55 year old kid, he is in his 70s and looks like he could still play Cap. Captain America is indeed part of the unique legacy and history of Combat judo and Reb Brown for a lot of us 50 somethings will also be the real Captain America.

COMBAT JUDO BY ROBERT CARLIN

Review by Barron Shepherd

SSG Robert Carlin was prominent teacher of “combat judo”, in 1945 he self-published and authored an authentic and reliable book on the subject of Combat Judo. A sensible and knowledgeable instructor, Carlin served in the United States Marine Corp as a “combat judo” instructor. COMBAT JUDO was developed by Staff Sergeant Robert Carlin in 1943 to address the needs of military personnel facing new hand-to-hand combat challenges as a way to ensure a streamlined, tested, and uncomplicated method of self-defense.

Robert Carlin’s Combat Judo is an excellent manual on the Combat Judo taught to many a Marine during WWII, a near impossible-to-find classic. A preprinted edition of Combat Judo and Kindle can be purchased HERE. 

Combat Judo is a unique and one of a kind book and to this day there just isn’t another book quite like it. A short, concise course on hand to hand combat that if worked on seriously will give you a very good fighting chance in today’s world. If one thinks of the book as a WWII era version of John Wick you pretty much get the gist of the direction book. 

With detailed technique descriptions and over 100 photographs Carlin explains basic principles required for success in close quarter combat before getting into any physical techniques. Basic skills emphasizing low, powerful kicks to the knee, edge of hand blows, finger jabs, heel-of-the-hand blows, and elbow and knee strikes are, properly, pushed as being the ones to rely upon in combat. The defenses illustrated and described in the book are sound, though some may take exception with his advocacy of the “drop kick”. However, taking into consideration a judo technique called Kani Basami and its application, the drop kick isn’t much more of a stretch and probably simpler to do. 

What Carlin teaches in the book is overwhelmingly excellent, viable and authentic.  SSG Carlin demonstrates a couple of good attack combinations. He covers some knifework and combat handgun skill. Chapter Six on use of the knife alone is something else Carlin goes into great detail on when, where and how to cut and stab with the knife, you just don't see this, even in modern books.

Combat Judo is a small book compared to other combatives books by far but no other book packs the punch this one does….not even close. There is a lot one can gleam from Carlin’s self-published Combat Judo. It serves as a precursor to and even in some cases surpasses modern tactical self-defense techniques taught today. When published, Carlins was considered the "Most practical book on hand-to-hand combat yet published". 

I have no complaints about the newly reprinted paperback version. It is done very nicely but most importantly it is an excellent source of first-class instruction.

AMAZON LINK TO COMBAT JUDO: 

https://www.amazon.com/Combat-Judo-Robert-Carlin/dp/1093389761/ref=sxts_sxwds-bia-wc-p13n1_0?cv_ct_cx=combat+judo&dchild=1&keywords=combat+judo&pd_rd_i=1093389761&pd_rd_r=c325d567-ea30-4144-bbb6-542026b4086a&pd_rd_w=IWSnA&pd_rd_wg=Bp0Or&pf_rd_p=d027eaac-7531-45fe-a61e-20ae30db06de&pf_rd_r=23RFYW5CMNWVJCD37PDP&psc=1&qid=1590079187&sr=1-1-70f7c15d-07d8-466a-b325-4be35d7258cc

WHAT IS COMBAT JUDO?

ALAMO SCOUTS TRAINING IN JUDO DURING WWII

Article by Barron Shepherd

History brings perspective to how and why things are done, because of its combat proven effectiveness, Judo became the basis for most of the hand-to-hand combat skills taught to soldiers in basic training throughout all branches of the U.S. military.  When it comes to what Combat Judo is one need not look further than the hand to hand combat manuals of the United States Military. Since WWI this style of Judo has reigned supreme. My own personal collection of Military combatives Manuals stems back to the 1940’s and Combat Judo techniques are prevalent throughout these manuals even in the current ones.  Since WWI, COMBAT JUDO (though not called combat judo at the time) was developed to address the needs of US military personnel facing new hand-to-hand combat challenges as a way to ensure a streamlined, tested, and uncomplicated method of self-defense.

Combat Judo is the name utilized by the military primarily during WWII. What was referred to as Combat Judo began in WWI with CPT. Allen Corstorphin Smith of the United States Army. Smith trained at the Kodokan in Japan and earned a judo black belt from the Kodokan. Cpt. Smith was the hand to hand combat instructor at the Infantry school at ft, Benning Georgia. Though it was brought out late into WWI the Judo techniques taught in basic training at Ft. Benning proved to be extremely effective in trench warfare and had become wide spread through the branches of the US military by the start of WWII.

There are some fake instructors online who have dubbed their system of self-defense as “combat judo”. These charlatans, claiming to be “subject matter experts”, even glum onto the reputations of the various WWII military units who were known to have trained in combat judo. These unscrupulous internet vultures attempt to pass these systems off as “top secret, lethal fighting techniques” but this is a complete and utter fabrication used to cover up the fact that what they doing is not remotely authentic. Their use of the term combat judo is very loose and what they try to pass off as combat judo is hogwash to say the least. 

In reality combat judo is/was based upon a solid background in more formalized systems, a combination of judo, boxing and the use of weapons such as the knife and stick/baton. This method was basically recast as “combat judo” to distinguish it from any of the classical/traditional martial art approaches to self-defense. 

Judo from its very beginning has been a self-defense and combat discipline.  Judo served well as an official system of Japanese Imperial armed forces and Japanese police. The original Judo from Jigoro Kano was and still is a full featured combat discipline which formed the basis for many Military and Police tactics around the world. The throws are especially effective because your fist will never hit as hard as the concrete that you can forcefully propel your opponent’s body or head into. If he's still conscious from that, judo is a sport but is much more "combatives" oriented... Break an arm, choke him till he stops wiggling. 

To put it in the simplest of terms Combat Judo, unlike the sport, is Judo at it’s most brutal, it is solely about defending yourself, taking your enemy out of commission as quickly as possible.

THE KODOKAN MEMBERSHIP CARD IS IT PROOF OF RANK?

I have had a few occasions where someone presented their Kodokan membership card as proof of their rank or even some sort of licensed credential. This is not true in any way shape or form. One should consider this card as nothing more than a gym membership like a YMCA card.

Today they are just not hard to get at all. Pretty much anyone who visits the Kodokan can purchase a Kodokan membership card it is only 55 dollars/8,000 yen. It is nothing more than a gym card like a YMCA card. It is NOT a club charter, organization charter or “license” or an endorsement of ANY kind.

The Kodokan membership card may have a rank on it that is usually earned through the Kodokan. If there is no rank it generally means the card was just merely purchased. The Kodokan membership cards are available to anyone who visits the Kodokan whether you are there to train or simply visiting on a tour. You can even purchase one by phone or email all you have to do is contact the Kodokan and inquire.  The cards can be purchased online and there is even a vending machine at the Kodokan one can get one from.

Is the card even proof of active membership with the Kodokan? Personally, an active membership implies that one trains at the Kodokan on some sort of regular basis be it every day, weekly, monthly, or even yearly.

Lastly, the Kodokan issues two different types of rank certificates…….. NOT CARDS. These certificates are awarded thru Japan's National Governing Body, not the Kodokan itself. The only way to check to see if someone is actually an instructor that is ranked by the Kodokan is through either of the three National governing bodies (here in the US) or contact the Kodokan in Japan.

COMBAT JUDO: O-GOSHI, A MAJOR COMBAT THROW

USMC OFFICER STUDENT TRAINING MANUAL circa 1950

There are 4 major or primary throws in Combat Judo that are found in various military Hand to hand combat field training manuals......Click Here to continue reading