Tuesday, July 19, 2011

A jiu-jitsu demos from the 1980s

John Coles of the Kojutsukan blog has posted a set of 3 videos of his instructor -- the late Greg Palmer -- delivering his impressive second dan jujutsu grading (under the late Jan de Jong) in 1985*.  They feature lecture-style explanation and 'quick action' demonstration from Sensei Palmer and his students, including a young John.

Each part is just over 10 minutes.  The links are to John's blog, which give additional commentary and historical information:
  1. Part I
  2. Part II
  3. Part III

*Technically, these are "take two", done for the camera.

14 comments:

John Coles said...

Thanks for the reference Dan. Most appreciated. Unfortunately I'm having difficulties in posting the fourth and final instalment to YouTube. A lack of technical expertise is showing. But viewers get the idea anyway.

Dan Prager said...

Hi John

My pleasure. Thanks for sharing, and good luck with the technical gremlins.

martial artist said...

Thanks for sharing this historical information about jiu jitsu. I learned a lot of stuff here and i'm also searching for this kind of my report in our P.E. class in school. Thanks pal!

sanfran martial artist said...

Jiu jitsu before is really the same from today. Only just improve other techniques. Thanks for sharing.

martial artist said...

Thank you sir Dan for sharing this video. I've learned a lot and gives me an idea.

mr ray hamilton said...

That was really cool. Thanks for sharing its been a long time and until now the jiu-jitsu demos from the 1980s still significant today.

martial arts fanatic said...

It's so nice to see that film again and again. I remember the old times from before. Anyway thanks for sharing! I hope there will be a downloadable version of it.

John|Martial Arts said...

I am a fan of martial arts, when I was still a child I managed to be a taekwondo black belter, after that I am encouraged to take lessons on aikido, but I always wanted to try jiu jitsu, I am glad to see demos like these. Maybe, when I had time I will definitely enroll on a jiu jitsu class.

Lori (Jiu-jitsu Sensei Martial Arts/Self-Defense Blog) said...

That orange belt at the beginning looks great! Really impressive Jiu-jitsu for that level.

Dan Prager said...

That orange belt is none-other than John Coles, now a fifth dan.

John adds:

"Yes. That is me in my youth. Thank you for the compliment. It’s most appreciated. That was a very special demonstration for many reasons. It was the repeat of a grading for Greg Palmer. Second dan has a grading whereby the candidate has to put on a demo comprised on non-dan students. 20 minutes explanation of jujutsu/our style of jujutsu, and 10 minutes fast action. We trained twice a week for six months for that demo. This was a repeat because the original demo’s recording was (a) faulty, and (b) considered so good that De Jong wanted a recording of it. The first was amazing. Everything went right; even when it went wrong it went right. Greg’s now passed away, so I treasure the fact that I helped him achieve one of his goals in life, completing the grading system, and that his demo grading was acknowledged as the best ever."

Perth Kick said...

Thanks for the links Dan. It's hard where I live trying to practice martial arts (I live in Perth but I'm mostly in the Kimberley region) so this helps a lot.

Jim SFK said...

I'm watching the video and thinking... I bet they were doing the same techniques in the 1800s, 1700s, and earlier! Thanks for sharing.

Unknown said...

Great blog! It is indeed a helpful for those who wanted to join for jiu-jitsu martial arts. I was just amazed for the lady, she so cool even though she's just a yellow belter. And this video encourages some women who wanted to know how to defend themselves.

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