KAJUKENBO VS. STRAIGHT PUNCH/ROUNDHOUSE PUNCH COMBINATION

Our drills are based on the premise that nobody just throws one punch at you. They throw multiple punches or they grab with one hand and try to punch you repeatedly with the other. My old instructor had a saying if you can defend against “punches in bunches”, then a single punch shouldn’t be a problem.  This but one of our drills there are many variations of the following drill they range from simple to complex. 

1.) From a fighting position your opponent throws a round house punch. 2.) Step forward with the right foot and strike his punching arm with a left outward thrusting block and an inward thrusting block. 3.) The opponent follows up with a left round house type punch, shuffle in with the right foot forward and strike the opponents incoming arm with the boney area of the outside of your right forearm. Your left hand rechambers and comes up along the right side of your face. 

4.) Push of the left foot and step forward with the right shuffling toward twelve o’clock and strike the left side of your opponent’s neck with a left outward sword hand.  5.) Immediately execute a right punch as your feet shift position. Your right foot shuffles back and pivots counter-clockwise as the left foot moves forward toward the direction of the ten o’clock position.  Follow through with the punch by turning your hand over.  6.) Push off the left foot and step forward with the right foot (toes should be pointing toward the twelve o’clock position). Strike your opponent’s right shoulder with a left heel of palm strike and grab his clothing at the area struck. This strike should be hard enough to disrupt his posture and rock him back on his heels.

(Note: The heel of palm strike targeting the pocket of the shoulder disrupts the opponent’s posture and rocks him back onto his heels. Notice the opponent is rocked back on the heel of his left foot and his lead foot is off the ground.)

7.) With a short quick jerk with the left hand, pull the opponent into you. This should rock him to his front and off of his heels. Simultaneously step your right foot straight to the inside of his right foot.  8.) Pivot on your right foot counter – clockwise and bring your left foot back between your opponent’s feet. Simultaneously pull the opponent forward and bring your right arm up under his right arm. Pinch his right bicep between your right bicep and forearm.

(Note: The toes of both of your feet should be in line with the toes of his right foot. Your knees should be bent and your axis forward. Your belt line should be a few inches lower than your opponent’s beltline. Your opponent should be up on his toes, his balance broken forward.) 

9.) Straighten your legs and bend at the waist popping your hips up and lifting him into the air (this is an explosive movement). Keeping your grip on the opponent, bring your left elbow downward, twisting your upper body toward your left hip to finish the throw.                                                      

HAL SHARPE: Judo's Library of Congress

 I have a sizable library of books on judo, especially the classics. I think it is necessary to own some of the 'Classic' books, such as 'The Techniques of Judo' by Takagaki and Hal Sharp. I actually have a few of Hal books and they are all three my favorites in my entire library. Hal Sharpe was first introduced to Judo in Japan from 1945 during the occupation. He went back to Japan in 1951 to 1956.  He trained 5 to 6 days a week at the Kodokan. During his times in Japan he learned from the great judoka of their day. 

1st picture: In 1954, Hal Sharpe (circled) won the title as “Japan Foreigner Judo Champion”. The tournament was conducted by Kyuzo Mifune (3rd from left), 10th Dan.  Center picture: Chu Kawakami, 9th Dan, and his son Rei Kawakami, 4th Dan, and Hal Sharp (circled), 3rd Dan and Captain of Kawakami’s dojo team. 3rd picture: Shinzo Takagaki and Hal Sharpe (circled).

The Techniques of Judo' by Shinzo Tagakaki and Hal Sharpe originally published in 1957 contains the full Gokyo (Kodokan syllabus of techniques), very clearly laid out. It is a fully illustrated and authoritative manual. Its authors provide step-by-step explanations, practical pointers, and thorough analyses of all the most commonly used judo techniques. 

Illustrated with over 550 black and white photographs, The techniques of Judo is an invaluable introduction to judo for beginners as well as a complete repertoire for the advanced judoka. There are intricately detailed descriptions of judo techniques including counters, it is one of the best books I have in my personal library. 

The Techniques of Judo is a must have for any serious judoka. As a matter of fact all of Hal Sharpes books, are must haves for any serious judoka. The footage and pictures found in his Classic Judo film series are pure Judo gold.

Hal Sharpe unfortunately passed away March of 2021 at the age of 93. It is said when someone passes we lose a living library of information. When Hal Sharpe passed we lost the proverbial library of congress of judo information, knowledge and history. 

PUBLIC STATEMENT

One handed hand on belt seoi throwing drill

My name is Barron Shepherd (recent picture above), I have a 35 plus year career in judo and have trained in the martial arts for 45 years. I have written three books in the past two years to date, two on the subject of combat judo, both published, the third will be published next year in 2023. My books have sold out and have been lauded and endorsed by former Olympic Judo coaches as well as retired US military officers and experts in their fields, such as Dr. Mike Simpson, US Army Special Forces Maj. ret. and author of the book, "Honed" and Col. George Bristol USMC retired, developer of the US Marine Corp Martial arts Program (MCMAP) as well as other notable experts in the fields of judo and combatives. I attest that the following is true. 

In 2020 Brett Gordon wrote a defamatory article about my martial art background. Gordon ignored all then current credentials then purposely and maliciously attempted to paint me as a fraud. The following are true statements made by me to be presented as a public record of the extent to which Mr. Gordon purposely and willfully fabricated his entire article regarding my background, my instructors and myself personally in an attempt to damage not only my reputation but my instructors' as well. 

Judo 

Bret Gordon skirted pertinent information of my background and intentionally presented false information in his 2020 article entitled Pot meet Kettle. He stated that an expired USJA coaching credential earned in 1998 was fake. Gordon used this then expired credential to build his bed of false information concerning my back ground. The dated USJA coaching credential from 1998 was not listed as current and was among credentials that were listed online and dated in chronological order of when they were earned. 

Split entry Ippon seoi nage off armpit grip 

Bret Gordon ignored all of my then current coaching credentials and rank certificates from USA Judo (formerly USJI), one of the National Governing Bodies (organizations) for judo in the US. These credentials included coaching credentials and ranks earned, verified and recognized by USA Judo. These credentials showed a recorded and verified history of years of study in judo attaining ranks of shodan, nidan and sandan over many years. The sandan of which had been earned in 2018. To this day my judo ranks and judo affiliations are visible on my sites and blogs. 

Bret Gordon then went on to write that my original judo instructor, Terry Tucker, was a fictitious non existent person and that I owned the Winter Haven Judo club and simply promoted myself using forged signatures of  the person(s) who Gordon stated were fictitious.  The following information is found easily online by simply searching Winter Haven Judo club. http://winterhavenjudoclub.blogspot.com/2008/01/newspaper-article-on-judo-club.html 

Bret Gordon ignored the Winter Haven judo club's blog where there were pictures of myself and Mr. Tucker online in a 2008 blog post. Terry Tucker was clearly identified in the 1997 news article, that was in the post and shown to be my instructor and myself as his assistant instructor (below).  Additionally, in 2020 Mr. Tucker was contacted by others and his back ground verified.   

1997 Winter Haven News Chief article

Also the Judo program was not "owned by me" as Gordon stated in his article. It was a city recreational program that was started in the early seventies by Sensei Ro who Gordon stated was also a fabricated person. It was clearly stated in the news paper clipping (above) directly under the pictures in the article that the program was offered thru the city of Winter Haven. No one at the city was contacted by Gordon and if they were Bret Gordon did not acknowledge it. Instead he chose to make up the story that I owned the judo school and promoted myself. 

Coaching and member Credentials USA Judo and USA Boxing 

Bret Gordon purposely made zero mention of  the then current USA judo coaching and rank credentials, USA Boxing coaching credentials, NASM credentials or others. Not a single place in his article did Bret Gordon acknowledge or mention any current verified credentials that I had earned in other self defense and combatives programs. Instead he chose to make it appear in his article that I had no legitimate back ground or rank in anything. 

At the time Bret Gordon wrote the defamatory and slanderous article about me he was claiming to be a 5th degree black belt in judo. A rank that seems to had magically appeared out of thin air. A rank in judo that is too high for someone as young as Bret to have attained. Oddly, since this time, his claim of what rank he is in judo has changed multiple times from 5th down to 4th and ultimately down to a 2nd degree black belt rank in judo. 

Even when corrected and presented with facts from various sources, Bret Gordon did not make proper corrections to his "hit piece". Each correction that he himself made he stopped short of admitting to being wrong or acknowledging that he was wrong regarding his article about my back ground. Example: In one of his corrections he admitted to Terry Tucker being an actual person but stopped short of admitting that Mr. Tucker was indeed my judo instructor.

USA JUDO - SANDAN - AUG. 27 2018

In another correction he tries to imply that I "obtained the rank that I previously claimed to have" implying that I just had gotten or bought my sandan rank from the USJA in 2020, one of the national governing bodies of judo in the US.....This was not the case...... the rank was not gotten or bought. My sandan rank was already validated, verified and recognized thru USA Judo in 2018, two years prior to Bret Gordon's article (circled in red above). USA Judo like the USJA is one of the three national governing bodies for judo in the United States recognized by the International Judo federation and The Kodokan, the headquarters and birthplace of Judo in Japan. No other organizations in the US except for the three National Governing bodies (USA Judo, USA and USJF) are recognized by the Kodokan or IJF. As mentioned before Bret Gordon purposely ignored nor acknowledged any of the then current USA Judo credentials.  

USJA and USJF

Within the three NGBs there is a rank verification process. The USJA along with the USJF both verified my sandan rank thru the preceeding National Governing Body, USA Judo. Upon verification both the USJA and USJF recognized my sandan rank and the USA Judo award date of Aug 2018 (cirlced in red above) when I rejoined the USJA later that year in 2020. 

Kenpo 

Gordon also stated in his article that another one of my instructors, Sam Lonewolf, claimed several tenth degree black belt ranks. Sam Lonewolf made no such claims to several tenth degree black belts. Nowhere is this statement found online...except in Brett Gordon's article. Bret Gordon himself in his article admitted that he could not find much online about Sam Lonewolf. I believe this is why Bret then decided to make up a story and state that Sam had multiple tenth degree black belts. In fact, Sam Lonewolf was only an 8th degree black belt and publicly only claimed as such, even in his own "First Nations" system, he did not claim to be a grand master or claim to have multiple tenth degree black belts as Gordon falsely claimed. 

Bret Gordon also stated that Sam Lonewolf was never a black belt under the Tracey Kenpo system. Shortly after Bret Gordon's article, links to sites proving Sam was indeed a senior black belt in the Tracy system were provided. One link showed a date of promotion along with the certificate number of Lonewolf's promotion certificate indicating he was promoted by Mr. Tracey himself. Lonewolf's name later disappears from the family Tracy tree around 2012 or 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20040620102236/http://www.tracyskarate.com/Tracytree/Rokudan.htm 

3rd from bottom - Sam Lonewolf 

Gordon, who states that he is a "good  and respectable journalist", has been presented with all such information proving martial art legitimacy but has made no appropriate corrections to his article. 

As recently as a couple of months ago Bret Gordon was contacted by the Lonewolf family themselves regarding the falsehoods in his article. Gordon has made no actual corrections, not one regarding the article. Gordon refuses to post anything that proves my back ground and seems content to leave his lies up for his readers to see.  

To further prove Bret Gordon's only purpose for this article was to defame me and my instructors, he stated in his article that someone by the name of Gary Lee was contacted.  Bret Gordon wrote in the 2020 article that Gary Lee, had "inherited Sam Lonewolf's system and stated that there was no record of me ever training with Sam Lonewolf". He apparently did not actually verify this information. Gary Lee however sometime this year contacted Bret via email and let Bret know that he, Gary Lee did not actually inherit Sam Lonewolf's system. 

It was discovered, through the Lonewolf family, that Gary Lee in fact was not knowledgeable of Sam Lonewolf's system and had never actually trained with Lonewolf. Bret Gordon was made aware of this as well. In addition to this, Gary Lee also sent a statement via email to the Lonewolf family apologizing for his false claims. He also apologized mentioning me by name specifically for his statement that "there was no record of me training with Sam Lonewolf". https://lonewolfs7th.blogspot.com/2022/08/sam-lonewolf-setting-record-straight.html  

Forwarded email of apology from Gary Lee 

Bret seems to have made a current correction pertaining to being lied to by Gary Lee but again stopped short of recognizing it as proof of my actual training under Sam Lonewolf, nor did he remove any original statements in the article. 

Bret Gordon stated in his article that I made up First Nations Kenpo. The Lonewolf family has also stated that First Nations was what Sam Lonewolf called his system and that I had  Sam's permission to use First Nations. The Lonewolf family has also vouched for me and my long standing with Sam Lonewolf starting in the mid 90's earning my shodan from him in 1998. The Lonewolf family has made all this information available publicly online for months. https://lonewolfs7th.blogspot.com/2022/09/setting-record-straight-mr-bret-gordon.html 

In addition, I have multiple statements from not only the Lonewolf family but Sam Lonewolf's longtime friends, colleagues and those who trained with Sam, as well as Sam himself that verify my background and training history with him. Bret Gordon was not interested in clarifying anything that remotely pointed toward my legitimacy or expertise. 

Bret Gordon then attacked another aspect of my Kenpo training claiming it was non existent. I had been training for sometime under Rick Brumby, of Premier Kenpo in St. Cloud Florida. At the time Mr. Brumby operated under Paul Mills' American Kenpo Karate International (AKKI), The AKKI was/is the best Kenpo organization in the country by far. I took instruction from Mr. Brumby personally, Mr. Brumby was the best of Paul Mills' instructors at the time, this is why I sought him out to elevate my skill in kenpo. This statement was also made available and validated publicly by other parties, however Gordon made no attempt to make any correction. https://greysmithinvestigations.blogspot.com/2020/07/the-log-in-your-eye-by-gerald-greysmith.html

Gordon even attacked a personal relationship that I had with Sensei Ronald Duncan and his son Sensei Gregory Duncan. He attempted to imply that I had no dealing with the Duncan family. I believe he knew this was legitimate as well as I had written a lengthy memorial about Sensei Duncan for the family shortly after he passed away. This memorial and detailed biography is online on Gregory Duncan's website Duncan Martial arts and can easily be found in a web search. Bret Gordon had no intention of mentioning anything in his articles that would remotely point at anything that was actually truthful about my background. https://duncanmartialarts.com/2013/12/26/koga-magazine-publication-biographic-tribute-to-osensei-ronald-duncan/      

Legally I could have Bret Gordon's blog taken down for violating the DMCA, the Digital Millenium Copyright act as ALL my materials, pictures, words, text etc on my blogs and websites are copyrighted and cannot be used without my express permission. This notice is visibly posted on my sites and blogs. I chose not to take this route and gave Bret Gordon every opportunity to remove his false misleading article and apologize. Despite everything presented however to this day he hasn't. 

Bret Gordon also in his article stated that he did not know me or know who I was. Gordon did indeed know who I was and what I was teaching. Three years prior to writing his article, Gordon sent a private message to me on Facebook in 2017. 

2017 FaceBook message from Bret Gordon

He asked me if I could write articles specifically for his blog to share my knowledge and expertise. I believe this further shows and validates that he was well aware of my credentials and intentionally skirted them in his 2020 article. 

Even when it came to making his so called later corrections at the bottom of his article, http://www.join-usama.com/blog/pot-meet-kettle, Bret Gordon purposely ignored multiple credentials from legitimate and prestigious organizations and national governing bodies. The sole purpose of his article was to paint me as a fraud and or put my reputation under scrutiny regardless of my legitimate licensed credentials, the depth of my knowledge and expertise. He seems to insist that his totally fabricated and very inaccurate article is representative of the truth and not that of hate, disdain and pure unadulterated jealousy of those who have trained hard for many years and made accomplishments in our fields, something that he is unable to do or attain. 

At any point, at any point in the past two years, Bret Gordon could have simply stated that he received the wrong information and made the proper corrections, or could have simply and quietly removed the article. However, he hasn't taken any real corrective measures to this day. Bret Gordon's entire article was debunked almost immediately after he wrote it in 2020 and even more so now in recent months by others including, as mentioned before, one of his own sources, Gary Lee. 

Gordon has repeatedly implied that he has an affiliation to Kodokan. He was claiming to be a 5th degree black belt in judo about three years ago, teaching judo as Kano intended. Today however he claims to be a 2^nd degree black belt connected to the Kodokan through some organization called the USA TKJ. Regardless of his claims Gordon has no affiliation at all with the Kodokan, the All Japan Judo federation or any of the Kodokan recognized NGBs or through his instructor. He has no verifiable training or a "lineage" to Mifune or the Kodokan through, Jack Stern, a person whose judo training is also unverifiable. Bret Gordon is unable to verify ANY of his own martial arts claims and ranks in them AT ALL. 

Bret Gordon certainly has not verified them to the extent that I have verified EVERY one of mine (not even to the extent that I have verified mine in this statement). He cannot even produce a single picture of any early judo training. Despite Bret Gordon's attempted character assassination, I am a sought after instructor and I am regarded as an expert in my fields.

JUDO IS NOT THE GENTLE WAY

Judo is an intricate and complex martial art. It takes significant study. You aren't going to pick up a trick here and there by attending a few classes. A "trick" will not advance one in skill level or competition. If you train judo committ to the level of study that it requires. Throwing someone who doesn't want to be thrown isn't a simple thing that one just "picks up". A throw isn't just a throw there are many technical intricacies, nuances to learn and develop to have good judo.

In actuality judo is the most efficient use of a person's mind and body. Judo is based on practical considerations and not theoretical.  Judo uses strength to its most efficient means, yielding when necessary and then applying force tactically.  The most efficient use of power is a necessary component in the application of  judo. Power however, should not be confused to mean brute strength. Power is force multiplied by the distance that you are able to move your opponent when you are moving him to set up your throw or when you are executing your throw. 

Judo is often termed or defined as the gentle way however this is not an accurate description of judo. Simply describing judo to mean "gentle" or "soft" does not accurately describe the concept behind judo. Ju is flexibility, it is also the efficient use of power and lastly Ju relies on a well conditioned body. 

Central to the principle of ju is the application of kuzushi. Kuzushi is the most efficient and most effective use of a person's body movement. When applying kuzushi, you break your opponent's balance and posture by controlling his movement. How well a judoka can control the movement of his own body and the movement of his opponent's body determines if his throw will be  successful.  A important factor in controlling your opponent’s movement is how well you can maximize your power and are able to transfer it efficiently to your technical skills. Ju is the most efficient use of physical and mental energy. It is adaptable, flexible and practical. Judo is athletic, explosive and dynamic in action. For the principles of ju and kuzushi to be effective, you have to be physically fit enough to efficiently apply them.

This applies to all judoka from the elite judo athletes to the noncompetitive recreational judoka. It goes without saying that judo specific training and conditioning is essential. Judo is a rigorous and demanding physical activity and it’s demands are unique and rather complex.  A Judo fight is too long to be pure anaerobic effort, and too intense just to be purely aerobic.

I tend to get right into static and dynamic uchikomi (speed drills and power drills) as my warm up process instead of a stretching routine. I find that the uchikomi drills tend to get me loose as much as the stretching does.

 A judoka must be powerful and ALSO have great endurance, be fast and very strong in ALL planes of motion. The battle ropes have very quickly become one of my all time favorite training and conditioning methods. It is a very versatile and eclectic piece of equipment and the varying degrees of workouts make the battle ropes extremely fun and enjoyable...not to mention extremely effective for judo. The versatiliy of the tempo and the intenisty of Battle rope training makes it possible to go back forth either gradually, suddenly and explosively from a pure muscle strengthening exercise into a collection of more mixed exercises going back forth ranging from pure strength to cardio to strength endurance, aerobic to anaerobic.

The battle rope is really an essential tool that is ultra-specific to the judoka. It simultaneously develops grip strength, wrist strength, the muscles of the back, the rotator cuff, scapula stabilizers, abdominals, biceps, triceps and the forearms. A major cardiovascular and injury preventative dimension is added with the intense muscle engagement.

 As mentioned before one has to use strength in situations strategically and tactically. We may find ourselves in a position where our base isnt stable and often we are even on one leg during throws. One of the neglected aspects in training is co-ordination of  both hands and feet. Battle ropes offer a great method of training because you can make both huge improvements in strength and stamina yet also incorporate the feet.

Benefits of battle rope training:

You can maintain a high intensity over an extended period of time.

You can use it to get in a full-body workout.

It increases lactic acid threshold in the upper body which is super unique because most of the time work like this is done with the lower body. 

You can alternate between low and high impact by the way you move the rope.

Great for developing grip strength.

You’re able to work the upper body independently.

You can engage the wrists to develop wrist strength.

Helps improve balance and coordination.

Circuit battle-rope exercises to boost arm and shoulder strength.

Effective exercise for grip-fight in Judo.

A battle rope is one of the few pieces of equipment that targets almost every major muscle group in the body. You can use these ropes for individual exercises, as a finisher, or as an entire training routine.

As a judoka, in practice one gives 100 percent and engages with the opponent constantly using everything you have physically in randori/free practice. The battle ropes can be used hundreds of different ways to “mimic” the exertion that a judoka has to put forth in randori/competitiion.

My own personal training and conditioning program is very Judo specific. An average day consists of three different workouts; a bodyweight/calisthenics and core workout in the morning, a conditioning workout at mid day and a strength workout mid after noon followed by judo in the evening. This generally is about 5 to 6 hours a day.

The following is one of the conditioning routines:

JUDO MID DAY WORKOUT

Judo specific training/conditioning.         

Battle rope workout with Seoi nage drills using bicycle inner tubes for resistance at the end as finisher. For this particular workout I will finish it off with specific throw uchikomi using bicycle inner tubes for resistance. 

BATTLE ROPE

4 sets of 40 reps of each exercise. 30 seconds to 1 minute rest between sets. 1 superset of all 4 exercises 30 to 40 reps each no rest period between exercises.

1. Alternating waves

2. Rope Slams

3. Hip toss

4. Snakes on the ground

One handed Ippon seoi nage drill - 20 reps to pick up only - Finish throw on last rep

SEOI NAGE DRILLS w/inner tubes

I will pick a few different throws and  do five sets of 20 to 30 reps of each techniques with 30 seconds of rest between each set for more of a power uchikomi drill and then I will do 3 sets of each technique for speed. 

Take both ends of inner tube in one hand and perform ippon seoi nage

1. Right side Seoi Nage

2. Left side seoi nage

3. Right side Ippon seoi nage

4. Left side Ippon Seoi nage

4 sets to failure 30 seconds rest between sets.

Alternating left side right to side seoi nage

 Armpit grip Ippon Seoi Nage with split step entry - 20 reps to pick up only - Finish throw on last rep

1200 REP BODY WEIGHT WORKOUT

For this workout do as many reps as you can per set of each exercise until you hit the 200 reps. Then move to the next exercise.  

200 x Mountain Climbers

200 x Bulgarian Split Squats (200 reps each Leg)

200 x Pushups

200 x Flutter Kicks

200 x Sit Throughs

THOSE WHO EARN RANK AND THOSE WHO JUST DONT MATTER

I recently received an email from one of my instructor’s daughters. My instructor passed away several years ago and since his passing some have popped up claiming to have trained under him, claiming to be black belts under him. To make a long story short they did not. There were some under handed things pulled by these people using her father’s name in various deceitful ways and his daughter of course is very understandably upset about this. I wont get into everything they have supposedly done other than to say that they managed to set the bar for a new level of low. 

Martial arts are supposed to be about honor. This isn’t honorable at all. But She isn’t dealing with those who have honor or even respect.

Some of these people claim to be tenth dans under my old instructor. I know these people and they have made a lot of bullshit claims in the past. My old instructor’s highest rank was only an 8^th dan. He did come up with his own system but he only considered himself an 8^th dan in it. He didn’t give himself a grand master title or a tenth dan like some of these wannabes did......so where did ya 10th dans come from fellas? Ya made them up...just like ya made up everything else.  

I do want to point out.....my old Sensei would point this out as well.....if you never actually trained with someone you can’t be a black belt or even a student of theirs of any rank, not even a kyu rank. As an instructor myself, if a student only sticks around for six months I don’t consider him/her a student. Teaching someone a few techniques doesn’t qualify them to be training under me or part of my school/style. It certainly doesn’t mean that they were “trained by me”. A few seminars doesn't grant someone some sort of inheritance or a partnership of someone's system. This is crap or lines that frauds use to feed and fool the ignorant. To be considered an actual student of an instructor takes years of training and constant consistent practice under that instructor’s direct tutelage and supervision. 

Anyone who actually knew my old instructor knew that there wasn’t a person who walked the face of the planet that he was prouder of than his daughter. She served her country made a career of it and was every bit as tough as nails as her father. These people have treated my old instructor’s family with a lot of disrespect. They took advantage of his widow. They ignore the family’s wishes and requests. They have been rude to his daughter in their emails. 

My response to my instructor’s daughter was that anyone going against the family’s wishes was obviously never a friend of her father's in the first place....so don't waste anymore time with them and move forward.... as her father would want her to do. If my old instructor were alive and knew how they were treating his daughter….he would track them down and cut their head and nuts off…..nuts first of course. 

 When my old instructor was alive these pretenders held him in disdain, tried to undermine him. They did this all because my instructor would not budge from the truth, he wanted nothing to do with them or how they did things. Now that he has passed away they leach off him, use his name, claim some kind of inheritance of his system. 

My advice to my instructor's daughter was to no longer waste her breath on these people. They just aren't worth it. She already has plenty out there to prove her side of things. I also pointed that there are those who earn their ranks and those who don't, those who don't....don't matter. Personally, I quit writing about the pretenders. I refuse to soil my blog with their names. They are desperate to be recognized for something they didn’t do. Take credit for something they were never a part of. Those of this ilk are quite frankly beneath me and like I communicated to her, just don’t matter. 

I am interested in the well being of my instructor's family. His wife, his daughter, they all went through enough in dealing with their loved one's illness and his ultimate passing. I expect trying to talk her into no longer dealing with these people will generate nothing but hate from them even though I didn't mention their names.....again not going to soil my blog. 

The Judo Mcdojo

One handed Ippon Seoi Nage drill

I am going to attempt to explain this as simply as I can; I am all about teaching, learning and promoting only good judo. Doing Judo to the best of my ability. I am writing this article so that anyone who is potentially looking to get involved with judo doesn't get the wool pulled over their eyes and fooled.

 Judo is pretty well regulated It is regulated to keep and hold the standard high. Judo is one of the few styles that don't have too many mcdojos. Thank God! However, there are some judo mcdojos out there. There are so few Judo mcdojos that the good news is that they are pretty easy to identify. 

First and Foremost

If your instructor or his dojo isn’t recognized by one of the official Judo organizations, USA Judo, United States Judo Association, or the United States Judo Federation you might want to take a harder look and question some things.

The recognized Organizations - There are only three! 

USA Judo, the USJA and the USJF are the only National Governing Organizations that are recognized as such by the Kodokan, the Birthplace and headquarters for Judo in Japan. 

Other things to look out for   

If the same instructor is teaching or claiming to teach several martial arts; judo, karate, jiujitsu, and aikido, etc. then I would suggest that you start trying to learn more about their actual judo accreditation and history make sure it comes from one of the NGBs.

Be careful of phrases like, “we don’t do sport judo” or “we only do self-defense” or "the NGBs (USA Judo, USJA and USJF) are all about sport" These phrases should automatically get your “spidey” hairs up. 

Questions you should ask;

1.) What governing body is the club associated with? USJA, USJF, USA Judo are the only recognized NGBs in the US. AAU is for freestyle judo which is also good though not as widespread. So be leary of any judo organization not mentioned in this article. If they don't have any association with any of these, you should look elsewhere or leave if you are already a member. 

There are grass root dojos and programs out there however they should be affiliated with an NGB. 

A legit judo instructor has no problems with being a member of any of the NGBs if they do you should consider this a red flag. (National Governing Bodies). 

2.) What rank is the head instructor, where/who did he/she train and how many years of experience? If they don't give you any information on clubs and names that you can confirm on the internet, that could be a little concerning, but not necessarily a red flag so long as they are accredited with one of the above organizations.

3.    3.) Do their students compete in tournaments affiliated with USJA, USJF, USA Judo, etc? Some schools teach judo mainly as a hobby which is fine, however Not being affiliated with one of the National Governing bodies, and not being involved in competition even at a recreational level should be a big red flag.    

Attaining rank In judo

Judo rank isn’t easy to come by and this is simply because it is one of the hardest martial art styles to learn. Judo takes years and it should. If the instructor is testing students every few months this should be a red flag. If you have gone from white belt to green belt in less than a year chances are your judo is total bullshito.

Advancing in black belt rank is even more difficult and often takes years in grade between each rank. If your instructor is advancing in his black belt rank every year or two chances are you are not dealing with a legitimate black belt judoka.

The NGBs are there for a reason - to regulate and uphold the standards put forth by the Kodokan. Is it easy to get rank in judo? Absolutely not, it isn’t supposed to be.

Randori and willingness to Randori

There can be no judo without randori. To randori is to do judo.  According to the founder of Judo there are two methods of practice, Kata and randori. Of the two, Jigoro Kano stated that Randori is the most effective means of judo training.  Practicing throws on a compliant and non-resistant partner is not judo. Not even close. Throwing someone who doesn’t want to be thrown in randori/free sparring is judo. Judo is the act of applying judo principles on a partner who is 100 percent resistant and trying to throw you..... you are not actually doing judo until you are doing that.  

The same thing applies when practicing judo for self defense randori is a must. Learning to execute throws on a person who is fighting back and moving is a skill set in and of itself. A good judo instructor can perform his techniques with and without a gi. 

Ippon Seoi nage from armpit grip

It is very rare to find a good Judo instructor who is unwilling to randori or spar with white belts or any of their students or anyone else for that matter. If there is an absence of randori and only just kata style training this is a red flag as well. 

I have given a simple rundown of what you might encounter when dealing with Judo Mcdojos and Judo Bullshito instructors. All Judo is not equal, by any means! There are bad legitimate judo instructors just like there are good teachers and bad teachers. Fraudulent instructors however, don't even come close to performing good judo. Most legitimate yellow belts are technically better than the Judo fraud. Most of these bullshito judoka move like a pregnant giraffe that's trying to traverse a frozen pond. 

Bottom line is if they are shunning the NGBs or bad mouthing them, and staying away from practices explained in this article they are covering something up so get as far away from them as you can. Nuff said!

COMBAT JUDO VS MULTIPLE PUNCHES

Combat Judo is just that….combat. It is geared to deal with realistic attacks. It is as pragmatic as judo is dynamic. Combat judo deals with situations sensibly and realistically in a way that is based on practical rather…

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