The other day I was watching the NCAA wrestling championships and I started noticing more similarities to judo than differences. They also reminded me of some things I heard from Sensei and Shinan Carl Cestari. Basically, there is nothing really new in hand-to-hand combat or martial arts. With all the fads in Martial Arts over the years, from Kung Fu to Ninjas to Mixed Martial Arts, the reality remains that there are only so many ways to punch, kick, stomp, smash, punch, throw, or choke the body. human. . BREAKING NEWS: It’s all been done before and not just in Japan or China. For example, the west has a long history of martial arts, including bare-knuckle boxing, wrestling, and various other forms of hand-to-hand combat. Martial arts is not necessarily synonymous with Asia. You don’t have to look any further than the people who train in Zen Shin. Sensei was a state wrestling champion, Sensei Roger Jones was a competitive wrestler at the collegiate level, and Jim Kleinfelder has a boxing background (he notes how hard he punches for edge-of-hand punches and chin jabs). The list includes Sal Guardascione and Matt Smith, whose judo training helps him tremendously, as he currently competes as a wrestler in high school. The more you train, the more you start to see that what works is simple and direct and you notice it in areas outside of Judo and Jujitsu.

For example, spend some time watching wrestling and you can’t help but notice judo techniques. You will see that techniques such as the two-legged takedown is called Morote-Gari in judo, the fireman’s carry or Kata-Guruma, the inside leg trip or Ouchi-Gari, various hip throws, etc. The list goes on and on. There are many ways to take a man down and put him on his back. Does it really matter what you call it?

Furthermore, there are no secret techniques protected by a history or cultural tradition. Can you imagine for a second, a boxing coach telling one of his students: “I’m going to teach you a secret punch that very few people know that will make you world champion.” Or do you really think that Dan Gable became the most successful wrestler in the world because he knew techniques that others didn’t? (By the way, if you don’t know who Dan Gable is, then your task is to find out as soon as possible.) really important. Listen, the point is not to get lost in the origin, system or culture of the techniques he is training. These things have their place but don’t make too much of it. The main ingredient underneath all of these things is revealed to the people who put in the time, sweat, blood, and tears. That ingredient is hard work. All the BS evaporates in the furnace of hard work. This is a fact. People who know the difference have done the work. Individual packaging, whether it’s Judo, Wrestling, Karate, Boxing or whatever doesn’t matter anymore. There are TOO MANY “Couch Kung Fu” experts to go around. Don’t you dare be one of them! See you on the mat!