| Getting a good Jujitsu Foundation | | | | I've learned from other styles, and focus on the |
| Judo was the first martial art I ever learned. I | | | | basics. Jujitsu grew out of Japan, as opposed to |
| was a scrawny kid, with braces. Not quite a book | | | | the Chinese Kung Fu styles I learned later, and |
| worm, but rapidly on my way to being a | | | | focuses on a stable stance, grapples, and throws. |
| teenaged couch potato. My Dad would tell me to | | | | It doesn't focus so much on punches, because it |
| run out and play, and I'd stay inside playing on my | | | | was meant to be practiced by a man wearing |
| video game console. | | | | armor, and punches against another person |
| One day I came home from school, and found | | | | wearing armor are pretty futile, while putting him |
| that my Dad had replaced the video game | | | | on his back makes him considerably more |
| console with a box, saying "Take a shower, and | | | | vulnerable. |
| meet me in the garage at 4." The box had a | | | | It should be noted that I teach jujitsu, rather than |
| martial arts suit (I later learned it was called a "gi") | | | | its sporting form, 'judo', because I want to teach |
| and my Dad took me to a martial arts class that | | | | the full on martial art, and give someone a basis |
| afternoon, where we both went through the | | | | for learning more martial arts in the future, rather |
| basics of learning judo. It was amazingly cool to | | | | than a "recipe book" of throws, grapples, and |
| do something like that with my Dad. I can still | | | | such designed to win points in a tournament. I |
| remember the first time I threw him on the mat | | | | think jujitsu has a lot of practical use as a self |
| - he still outweighed me by a good 40 pounds | | | | defense martial art, mostly because it focuses on |
| then! He looked so surprised to be laying on his | | | | joint locks rather than throws. A joint lock is a |
| back, then just grinned at me. | | | | very practical method of disarming someone; in |
| Fast forward more years than I like to admit, and | | | | its most basic sense, it's a means of applying |
| I'm thankful that my Dad dragged my sorry butt | | | | force to a joint in the way that, mechanically, it's |
| off the couch. I went from judo to jujitsu, to a | | | | not meant to know. Anyone who's had their |
| bunch of kung fu styles, and now work as a | | | | thumb turned 'round in a Hawaiian handcuff has |
| freelance journalist covering martial arts, as well | | | | had a joint lock done on them. The nice thing |
| as teaching those classes at the local dojo. Dad | | | | about joint locks is that they even out strength |
| still does martial arts, but has moved on to softer | | | | differentials quite well - originally, they were used |
| styles like Wing Chun, because his joints aren't as | | | | to make an armed and armored foe drop a |
| limber as they used to be, and he doesn't think | | | | weapon, making him more vulnerable on a battle |
| it's as fun to be thrown on the mat now that I | | | | field, but they're quite useful for dealing with |
| outweigh him by 40 pounds! | | | | muggers, or bullies in a school yard. |
| And, well, as all the philosophy stuff says, things | | | | Anyway, it's kind of neat, going back to my |
| come full circle. I'm now teaching the introductory | | | | foundations, my first "real" martial art. I'm |
| jujitsu classes at the school. In some ways, it's | | | | wondering if I'll see any father/son pairings at the |
| kind of challenging, I have to filter out the things | | | | school I teach at. |