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E-J f JjsModErn GrapplinG QuartErly

Sg 2007

AIKIDO BRIDGESEMINAR:

Tissier

Doran

Ikeda

Mrasige

GROwING up IN juDO: DAN cAMARIll

ThE BEGINNING jOuRNEy Of Bjj: ROy hARR

pERfORMANcE ENhANcER: ROBB wOlf INTERvIE
http://www.roydeanacademy.com/http://www.roydeanacademy.com/

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Sg2007

Letter from the editor 3Roy Dean

the BeGiNNiNG JoUrNeY of BJJ 5Roy Harris

PerformANCe eNhANCer: roBB WoLf iNterVieW 8Roy Dean

GroWiNG UP iN JUdo 13Dan Camario

AiKido BridGe SemiNAr

Tissier Doran Ikeda Murashige

Review: Jeff Sodemon 16

Pictoria: Aicia Anthony 18

E-jorna o jts

Vme 1, nmbe 2

The E-Journa of Jujutsu is an onine subscription-based quartery and a division ofROY DEAN MEDIA. For more information contact www.jujutsujourna.com..

COVER PHOTOChristian Tissier by Aicia Anthony

DESIGNJuie Wide

A content copyright ROY DEAN MEDIA and its respective authors.Unauthorized reproduction or distribution is stricty prohibited by aw.

Subscriptions are avaiabe at $4.95 for 1 year or $44.95 for years.
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E-JOURNAl OF JUJUTSU | ROY DEAN MEDIA | SPRING 007 | 3

DIRECT EXPERIENCE VS. BElIEf

In an interview years ago, Bill Moyers asked the

sagely Joseph Campbell if he were a man of faith.

His cordial reply was: I dont have to have faith.

I have experience.

There it is. Direct experience. Its the path that Zen

teaches, with their goal of satori. Its the path that many

martial artists also seek, whether through training,

competition, or combat. A taste of martial truth can

be powerful, and slightly addictive, encouraging the

student to seek higher doses. But the pathway of direct

experience is not always comfortable.

Many people discover this in their rst days on the mat o

a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu school. The rst 6 months to 1 year are

spent learning to defend and survive in the fully resistant

fully alive randori environment. This phase diminishes

the ego and greatly reduces a students expectations

It squares you with your actual physical and technica

capacity, in that specic realm, for all to see. The truth is

revealed on a nightly basis, leaving very little room leftfor beliefs.

Grappling, in its various forms, can be a close simulation

of a real altercation. It is direct experience, on

several levels. Of course, sparring of even moderate

intensity involves strong exertion of a bodys nervous

muscular, and cardiovascular systems. More importantly

concentration is intensely one-pointed. As Matt Thornton

cogently points out in his lecture, Why We Train, ou

instincts are honed through millions of years of evolution

to repel those who physically dominate us. On both

conscious and unconscious levels, the sum of ou

coordinated powers are called upon for self defense. I

is powerful method of stopping thought, and one reason

he considers BJJ a modern form of yoga.

It is important to train under someone with direc

experience. They can adequately prepare you to handle

an encounter without injury or use of excessive force. A

teacher without direct experience in the application o

their art against resistant opponents puts their student

at an immediate disadvantage. They may know thei

particular art well, but its always necessary to go one

step beyond, to feel out the adaptations necessary fo

their age, and modify the arts to suit the current culture

Each of the EJJs spring writers has direct experience to

share. Roy Harris has grappled with all types in the nearly

300 seminars he has instructed globally. Dan Camarillo

as a national champion in both Judo and Brazilian

Jiu Jitsu, knows how to handle the resistance of both

highly skilled and highly conditioned athletes. Each o

the Aikido Bridge Seminar shihan (Tissier, Doran, Ikeda

and Murashige) are passing on their direct experience

to a new generation of aikidoka, to discover and apply

Ro Dean

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in the ow of life for themselves. And Robb Wolf, with an

unblemished amateur kickboxing record and heavy

powerlifting credentials, has been both athlete and

trainer, with access to the vault of unbiased observation

we know as the scientic record. Direct experience is

our to utilize, painstakingly recorded under stringent

guidelines. Many have sacriced for our benet. We

should use and eventually contribute to this record.

MMA is a profound and considerable contribution to

the record of direct experience, and has already forced

several adaptations in the consciousness of budoka.

Royce Gracie inspired todays ghters to drop everything

and train in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, just as Steven Seagal did

for Aikido, and Bruce Lee before them, paving the way

for martial arts to be spectacularly displayed on lm.

Observations of direct experience dont allow a person

to be fully engulfed by the truth of the moment, but its

a strong second place, leaving blind speculation and

educated guesses far behind.

Public consciousness of martial arts is rapidly growing,

thanks to the inuence of mainstream media. The alliance

between Spike TV and the UFC catapulted the faces

and stories of an up-and-coming generation of MMA

athletes to the masses, and boxing (among other arts)

will never be the same. Their agship show, The Ultimate

Fighter, is a fully documented study of hot blooded

mixed martial artists, and the techniques they employ to

eliminate their opposition, in and out of the octagon. We

are allowed a perfect window as those that seek direct

experience get what they want. Full martial exertion.

They become the ght. They do not stop at discussion or

online hypothesizing. Discussion is helpful in preparation

for direct experiencebut it is no substitute. There are

no substitutes. There is only experience. And logical

arguments hold little weight against the truth of direct,

personal experience, which has been felt, rather than

thought through, or merely heard.

Belief can ll in the gaps of what hasnt been observed

and what we have yet to analyze. But we have to be

willing to drop those beliefs if direct experience, or an

objective recording of a direct experience, contradicts it

Beliefs are often handed to us, or subscr ibed to because

of a resonance, or longing for things to be a certain way

Life is not logical or reasonable, and neither is a conict

So I take small steps to rid myself of belief, one experience

at a time, and hope that the EJJ will also be a conduit

for those wishing to pass on their direct experiences o

martial truth.

Sincerely,

Roy Dean, Editor

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THE BEGINNING JOURNEYOf BRAZIlIAN JIU JITSU

Each year, hundreds of new students begin their journey

in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. Many of them start off by learning all

kinds of new and exciting techniques. Some start off by

learning cool things like the ying arm bar or omo plata

techniques. Others begin by learning simpler techniques

such as a spinning arm lock or triangle choke from the

guard. And still others begin by learning some escapes

from headlocks and bear hugs.

Now, while all of this training is good, if the student has

no understanding of where these techniques are in

the whole scheme of things, he or she is left wondering

How should I progress or where should I begin my

journey in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu? So, in this short article,

I would like to outline a progression that starts from the

absolute beginning in this sport and gets you ready for

the intermediate level of training.

For starters, I believe your training should mimic your

sparring. Consider the following; most practitionersof Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (those who wear a white, blue, or

purple belt) spend the majority of their time jockeying for

control or position. Therefore, when a person trains their

groundwork in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, most of their time should

be spent working on jockeying for control or position.

While it may be cool to learn a ying arm bar, a question

that begs to be asked is this: How often, during your

sparring matches, do you have the opportunity to

employ this technique? In other words, if you spend

600 seconds (10 minutes) sparring with a fellow

classmate, how many seconds do you spend going

after the ying arm lock? If your answer is, Probably less

than 60 seconds, then you can see you spend less than

one-tenth of your time trying to employ this technique.

So, since you spend less than one-tenth of your time

trying to employ this technique in live sparring, you

should spend less than one-tenth of your time training

this technique. Does this make sense?

Now, if you train 4 hours per week, you should spend

less than 24 minutes training your ying arm bar

However, I am sure this 24 minutes will actually be shorte

since many do not actually TRAIN 4 hours per week

Let me explain:

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Ro harris

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When I write if you train 4 hours per week, I am speaking

of the actual time you spend training, not the amount of

time you spend in class. There is a difference between

the two. If class time is 2 hours long, most do not train or

practice for the entire 2 hours. More than likely, a student

spends 5 to 30 minutes performing calisthenics, receives

10 to 20 minutes worth of instruction, spends 20 minutes

practicing (what I mean when I write training) and thenthe remaining 30 to 60 minutes is spent sparring. So, if a

student attends 2 classes per week, the actual training

time is somewhere around 40 minutes each week.

So, if a student trains 40 minutes per week, they should

really spend less than 4 minutes training the ying

arm bar.

Now at this point in time, I am sure you are wondering why

I have not included the sparring time as training time.

My answer is simple: I do not believe students actually

train when they spar. I believe they spend the majority

of their time trying to gain the upper hand against their

classmate, as well as trying to tap them out. But I am

not sure I would call this training. From my perspective,

students dont FOCUS on any one area when they spar.

Rather, they spend most of their time going with the

ow and experiencing the euphoria of sparr ing. Others

will focus their attention on tapping out their fellow

students, as well as not getting tapped! So from my

perspective, this is not trainingits competition.

To ti, I bliv tdt

old pctic ptitio,

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d bit!

The more time a person spends repeating a movement

the more natural and efcient the movement becomes

Here is what I believe the progression looks and feels like

A technique is unknown

A technique is learned and then becomes

knowledge in the students mind

A technique is practiced and the student

becomes familiar with it

A technique is practiced even more and the

student becomes comfortable with it

A technique is practiced and drilled and the

student becomes condent with it

A technique is practiced and drilled even more

and the student becomes efcient with it

A technique is practiced and drilled even

more and the student combines it with

other techniques


and the student personalizes it


and the student masters the technique

Once the technique is mastered, the student

becomes playful with it

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

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When you analyze how you spar, this should tell you

how your training should look. If you spend most of your

sparring time jockeying for control and positioning, then

most of your training time should be spent jockeying for

control and positioning.

W yo lyz ow

yo p, ti old tllyo ow yo tii

old loo.

Now, with all of that said, here are the areas I believe

are important to those beginning their journey in

Brazilian Jiu Jitsu:

Side mount escapes

Guard control

Guard passing

Side mount control

I believe all beginning level students should spend the

rst 5 years of their time focusing on these 4 important

areas. Additionally, I believe these 4 areas will set the

stage for intermediate-level training!

If you analyze your last few grappling matches, how

much time did you spend in the 4 areas mentioned

above? If you are like most students, you spent anywhere

from 50% to 80% of your time in these areas. If that is

the case, shouldnt you spend at least 50% to 80% of

your training time in them?

To begin your journey, focus on learning how to escape

from inferior positions and control from your guard. Dont

worry about the submissions. They will come in time!

Spend most of your time focusing on the areas you willuse most often in sparring. Believe me, in 6 to 10 months,

you will thank me!

www.harris-international.com

www.royharris.com

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PERfORmANCE ENHANCER:ROBB WOlf INTERVIEWBY ROY DEAN

Ejj: Robb, please tell us about your background,

formal education and athletic accomplishments.

Rw: Athletically, I participated in football in high

school until I sustained a near-fatal neck injury at age 16.

I suffered a bruised spine and had signicant paralysis

on my left side for the better part of a year. I began

lifting weights as part of my rehabilitation and found I

really enjoyed that activity and threw myself into the

endeavor with all the gusto a 17-year-old nerd

can muster! I was taken under the wing of 2 loca

powerlifters, Rich Woods and Danny Thurman. Both

were, at various points, world and national champions

so I learned from some of the best at a pretty early age

After 2 years of training and an un-godly amount of

eating I entered and won the Natural Athletes StrengthAssociation (NASA) California State meet for the teenage

181 lb division. My best lifts were 565 lb squat, 565 lb dead

lift and 345 lb bench press.

I enjoyed power lifting immensely, but after winning the

state meet, I really lost the re for continuing with the

sport. It was about this time that a friend persuaded me

to attend a Kempo Karate class with him. I loved it from

the rst day and became pretty fanatical about the

training. My instructor was VERY into the kata elements o

the Ed Parker Kempo Karate so I became very procien

at spinning crescent kicks and snappy reverse punches

all performed to the air! I did some sparring but it was al

sport karate point sparring and I was to discover, not very

effective in the real world. At age 21 I moved to Long

Beach, California and sought out the Inosanto Academy

to augment my Kempo training with Jeet Kune Do.

showed up on a Friday, typically a sparring day, and

was matched up with a kid about 30 lbs lighter than I

who only had 6 months of training in some goofy art

called Muay Thai. Hmmhow to describe that event

I think civil wars have occurred with less blood-shed than

I sustained in that session. I hobbled home and literally

burned my belt. I started studying the full JKD curriculum

but really gravitated towards the Muay Thai. I compiled

a 6-0 amateur record but faced a crossroads of what to

do next. I worked part time as an emergency medica

technician and teaching Thai boxing but I really wanted

to nish school and do something else. I visited Chico

California with a friend over the winter break from schoo

and after an epic night of bar hopping decided Chico

was the place to nish my undergraduate education.

I wrapped up a degree in Biochemistry from CSU Chico

but I had an intense interest in alternative medicine

I moved to Seattle, Washington and took classes a

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both Bastyr University and Seattle Institute of Oriental

Medicine. It turned out I was far more interested in

learning about alternative medicine than practicing

it so I never nished either the Naturopathy or degree

in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). I worked at

the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center doing

lipid metabolism research and I conspired as to how

to move back to sunny California. In 2003, I wasintroduced to BJJ black belt John Frankl from Coach

Greg Glassman. Apparently John was considering

moving to Chico to set up a BJJ school and we decided

the synergy between the BJJ school and a CrossFit

style strength and conditioning program would be

phenomenal. Ive been in Chico for the past 4 years

building our practice while John ended up being too

talented for his (or our) own good and he was offered,

I believe, an associate professorship at Seoul University

in South Korea.

Ejj: What problems can you identify with modern

diets. What do they lack and where are they in excess?

Rw: Wellfrom my perspective modern diets,

particularly western diets are far too processed, contain

far too many carbohydrates from grains in general but

rened grains in particular. This may sound nuts but if

one buys into evolutionary biology there was a clear

demarcation for our species when we passed from the

Hunter-Gatherer lifeway (Paleolithic) to the Agriculturalist

lifeway (Neolithic). In simple terms, the protein content

of our diet decreased, the carbohydrate content

increased and the amazing variety and bounty of our

foraging ancestors was lost. Professor Loren Cordain is

an amazing pioneer in this area of research. You can

nd loads of information at www.thepaleodiet.com.

Ejj: Please give us the scientic lowdown on

Paleolithic diets.

Rw: I think its important to point out that there is no

one representative paleo diet. In reality the amounts

and types of macronutrients varied from location to

location and also on a seasonal basis. Information

compiled by anthropologists points to the tendency fo

Hunter-Gatherers to derive larger and larger proportions

of their foods from animal sources as one nears the

higher latitudes. The Inuit for example derived nearly

90% of their calories from hunted and shed anima

foods. In contrast, the !Kung San of the Kalahari have

an enormous seasonal variation that ranges from a high

of ~90% of calories derived from animal sources during

the winter to as little as 10% in the summer and fall

My main point is that amounts of protein, carbohydrate

and fat might have been different for various locations

and seasons. However, one commonality remained: ou

ancestral diet was devoid of grains, legumes, and dairy

until very recently in our evolutionary past.

The implication of the Paleolithic diet is that it represents

the nutritional approach best suited to our genetics

as Hunter-Gatherers. An ever growing list of ailments is

being ascribed to an approach to nutrition and lifestyle

that are at odds with our genetic heritage. It is interesting

to me that the study of any organism fundamentally

involves how it acquires energy for growth and survival

There is little controversy that a koala bear for example

is adapted to eat eucalyptus and removing it from a

specic ecology will likely negatively impact its health

Most of medicine ignores this fact with regards to humans

possibly because we are opportunistic omnivores

who can survive on almost anything, at least for a time

Survival, however, is quite different than optimal living

and that is what emulating a Paleolithic diet can provide

with regards to performance, health and longevity.

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Ejj: What should athletes strive for in a diet? How

many more vegetables do I need to be eating? And

how much sleep should I be getting?

Rw: As a basis, folks should get a palm-sized piece of

lean animal protein with every meal. To this should be

added seasonal, local veggies, some fruit as needed for

glycogen replenishment and nuts, seeds. Benecial fats

like olive oil and avocado can be added to round things

out. Eating in this simple manner will all but guarantee

excellent health. This approach crushes the Food

Guide Pyramid with regards to food quality and the

amounts of vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients such

as antioxidants.

Now as to sleep, ideally one is logging at least 9 hours

per night in a completely dark room. I know it can be

tough to do but this is amazingly important to health and

well-being. I frequently steal a line from the book Lights

Out: Sleep, Sugar and Survival: Sleep as much as you

can without getting divorced or red This is really at

odds with our production or iented society that creates a

sense of bravado at how little sleep one can get by on.

Think about that for a minutewhat good EVER comes

from guring out how to barely get by. If one is looking

for optimized performance and health 9 hours of sleep

is the gold standard.

Ejj: What supplements do you recommend? What

are your thoughts on protein shakes?

Rw: Im not a big supplement person. I like sh oil

which provides the essential omega three fatty acids

EPA and DHA. A hard-training athlete should shoot

for about 5 to 10 grams of total EPA and DHA per day.

R-alpha lipoic acid might also be smart. We used toobtain large amounts of EPA/DHA and alpha lipoic acid

from wild game but since virtually all of our meat supply

is grain fed we simply do not get the amounts of these

nutrients that might greatly benet health. A low dose

B-vitamin a few times per week can help ensure all bases

are covered.

Thats about it as far as day-to-day supplementation

Protein shakes are ok and possibly even vital unde

certain conditions but I think once one needs liquid food

to enhance performance or recovery it needs to be

clear that this type of eating may be at odds with health

and longevity. Shakes usually mean a potent insulin

spike and although this may be useful to facilitate

recovery under extreme training loads I do not thinkgood things come of this in the long term.

Ejj: What would be an ideal pre-workout meal, and

the timing of it. The optimum post-workout meal?

Rw: Pre- and post-workout meals can be highly

goal specic. If one is trying to gain muscle mass

it may be benecial to ingest a small amount of

protein and carbohydrate 20 minutes pre workou

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(10 to 20 grams protein, 10 to 20 grams carbohydrate) and

then a 4:1 ratio of carbohydrate to protein immediately

post workout (up to 100 grams carbohydrate). If

performance, recovery and maximum mass gain are

the goals then a shake might be in order. If one has an

eye towards health and longevity one may mitigate

the insulin spike of a 4:1 carbohydrate protein meal by

sticking with whole foods. If fat loss is the goal I wouldstick with a protein/fat post workout meal like a salmon

salad with olive oil. Low carbohydrate, paleo-type diets

are amazingly effective at shedding fat.

Ejj: Some martial arts instructors lead a demanding

physical warmup, while other disciplines, like gymnastics,

often save conditioning for the last part of class. How

would you order a martial arts class for the optimum mix

of skill development and body exertion?

Rw: The skill-less calisthenics many martial arts

instructors employ for warm-ups are unproductive in

two ways. The rst is that we have nite resources with

which to train and recover and it behooves us to get

as much as possible in our training. With this in mind

skill-less warm-ups impart little to our training. Straight

Blast Gym is very good at making all the curriculum alive

and benecial. For warm-ups one can do very low energy

hand ghting, progressing to body pummeling and

head position. 5 to 10 minutes of this activity warms the

athletes up AND expands their skill base in a meaning full

way. The second way skil l-less warm-ups hamper training

is the nervous system is not fresh and therefore less able

to imprint new activities. There is certainly a time to train

far into fatigue to create efciency in a given activity

but initial skill acquisition is NOT the time. Schools that

employ the skill-less warm-up and endless calisthenics

select for only the students with the best recovery ability.

Typically these folks are young and have little else going

on in their lives. This all but selects out the older, busier

student who has limited recovery capacity and perhaps

more life stressors.

All this considered, I would structure a session such that

familiar, simple movements are drilled in an alive format,

slowly increasing resistance and complexity. Once

the students are fully warm and moving well it might

be a good time for introduction of new material or a

review of material from the last session. This should also

be introduced in a progressive way. At the end of the

session some general conditioning may be of benet

If you are dealing with an older or very new student

might stick with primarily strength work. This can simply

be calisthenics, or weight work.

If you are dealing with more advanced students who

have a high degree of efciency at say BJJ, I would

incorporate circuit type anaerobic conditioning

1 to 3 times per week for general training, perhaps more

frequently as a competition nears. I would keep those

circuits sport specic and match the time demands o

the activity. For example if someone is preparing for an

MMA bout that is 3 x 5 minute rounds, with a 1 minute res

between rounds, structure the conditioning sessions to

match those demands.

Ejj: What was scientic thought regarding strength

and conditioning 100 years ago? 50 years ago? What

have the major advances been, in both conditioning

and nutrition? What does this mean for those looking fo

maximum performance with minimum effort in this era?

Rw: I think the main difference, if we do not count

performance enhancing drugs, is that we have compiled

an enormous amount of data about WHAT WORKS. We

certainly understand better how the body functions

and that does direct some of our programming but

by and large we have arrived at general formulas for

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how to get people stronger, faster, better stamina, etc.

Many of the effective methods of today were in place

50 to 100 years ago, we just better understand how to

manipulate training variables for desired outcomes.

Ejj: What do you see as the next frontier in athletic

enhancement?

Rw: We should talk to Brad Hirakawa about this!

Undoubtedly, it will be genomics. Tinkering with our

genes, the genes of other critters on this planet and

genes that have yet to be created except in the lab.

I think this will be hugely powerful but it will open a

can-o-worms with regards to what it means to be

human, what is fair competition, etc.

Ejj: Tell us about Performance Menu, your vision forthe publication, and the causes youd like to advance.

Rw: The Performance Menu grew out of a need to

help people in and out of the CrossFit community better

feed themselves. I constantly received emails asking for

help constructing paleo breakfasts and wheat free

alternatives to various foods. This is where we started but

we have grown into a journal that straddles the world

between peer review science and Cooks Illustrated!

We are interested in enhancing performance health and

longevity and explore the interplay of these concepts

in terms of nutrition, athletics, and life. Although we

certainly carry some biases we tray to remain open to

what works, as that may mean something very different

to a 26-year-old MMA ghter than a 45-year-old, stay

at home mom. Our recipes are typically grain, legume

and dairy-free so we have somewhat inadvertently

championed the gluten-free and multiple food

allergy causes.

www.performancemenu.com

www.thepaleodiet.com

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GROWING UP IN JUDO

Starting a sport at a young age is not an easy thing to

do. I remember when I was almost 5 years old, and I used

to watch my father leave at nights, never knowing where

he was going. One of those nights I decided to ask himwhere he was going and what he was doing. His reply

was, Judo, do you want to go? This was the beginning

for me. I didnt know what to expect, but for some reason

I was excited. I pictured it was going to be like all the

Bruce Lee movies I watched on TV I found out it wasnt;

I found out it was far better, but it took me a long time to

realize just how much better it was.

There was a problem about being young and being

serious in a sport. How serious can you be when you are

5 years old right? To my father, he was as serious then

as he is now. How serious? No matter what I was doing,

or what I wanted to do, I always had practice to go to

at the end of the day. I was training 5 days a week and

sometimes on Saturdays. When I got a little older, he

added Sundays

Once I turned 10, judo training started to get harder and

harder for me. The Doryoku Judo Dojo I used to go to

was putting on a week camp for all the students. Think

about it, this camp was not during school days. It was

during the summer time, when as a young kid, all you

wanted to do was play and have fun with your friends.

was stuck in this camp and all we did was drill, run, and

get thrown repeatedly. Sound like fun for a 10 year old?

Judo is an all year sport. Summer, spring, fall, it didn

matter what time of year, you still had to take the time

to train. I star ted to compete at a young age, and when

I had a brother that started training, we never missed

a competition. For the next 10 years we competed at

every opportunity we could. It seemed like every single

Sunday I was at a competition, from Hawaii to Florida

Who else has been to Las Vegas over 50 times, twice

a year just to compete? Not only did my brother and

I compete everywhere, we had to compete in ou

weight class and the weight class above. This was how

serious my father was, and it didnt stop there.

I pictd it w oi to

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My father sent us to Japan for training camps and

competitions. My summers were nothing more than a

training school. It seemed like I was never going to ge

the time to do anything else. I was getting older and

started to compete in the Junior High School Nationals

This was when we would train every single day. Sunday

were the best: what could be more fun than to wake up

at 6 am on a Sunday, to train on our back porch while

its freezing outside? I wore socks and my toes would sti

freeze up. The wrestling mat that we trained on was so

hard that I couldnt tell which was harder, the mat o

the concrete.

Dan camario

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J th degee Bck Be

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My brother was four years behind me, but because

of my age, our father would push us both the same.

David would hide his Judo gi and tell our father that he

could not nd it, in hopes that he wouldnt have to go

to practice. Little did he know that our father always

had extra uniforms for us. David didnt get off that easy.

Practice was a part of life for us and we just had to get

used to it. Did all this practice pay off? It took a long timefor us to start winning, but winning did not keep me from

wanting to do other things.

I got into big arguments with my father about Judo.

I always wanted to take time off and go with my fr iends to

the beach. It would have been nice not to have to leave

home to compete. My father and I argued so badly that

I decided to quit Judo. All I did was hang out with friends

and do those things that Judo kept me from. I thought

I was having fun, but deep down inside I realized I was

missing something. There was a competitive side of me

that always drove me back to Judo. After about six

months of doing what I wanted, I started to train again.

My father knew exactly what it took to be a top Judo

competitor. He decided to erect a building in the

backyard big enough for a full competition area. This is

when he started to bring in top Japanese judo players

from Japan to stay at our house. We would train every

day. If our judo club was closed, our backyard building

was open. We even had a top Japanese judoka live at

our house for a year straight. I had no choice now: Judo

surrounded our family.

During my high school days in judo, I competed in several

national competitions. Traveling far was becoming

necessary to keep up with the top of the judo chain. At

the end of high school, I traveled to Japan for my second

time, I staying two months of my summer. The rst month

the whole team traveled and competed together in

Japan. The last month the team split up, and since I had

completed high school, I was not allowed to travel with

the team. Instead, I went to Chuo University with two

others. I was the youngest judoka on the Chuo University

mat, which consisted of 30 black belts.

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Every day at Chuo, we would get up at 6 am, and run5 miles. This would lead us to a long stairway up a hill

We would sprint up that stairway as fast as we could

then 5 miles back to the dorms. We would get an hou

to eat and rest. Judo practice would start around 9 am

and it would last three hours. This was not all we did, we

had another practice that started around 5 pm and was

another three hours. I remember this very well, because

this was where I spent my birthday. This was the hardes

I have ever trained in my life. I wanted to go home

Not because I couldnt do it, but because I felt so ou

of place, and wanted to spend my summers differently

I also felt like I was not doing it for me, but was doing it

for my father.

My father was getting more and more involved with

Judo. He even became the head of the US high schoo

judo team. The team consisted of the US high school

nest competitors, David being one of them. One of

the most memorable competitions the Team had was in

Japan. Japan took this competition so seriously that they

have never lost it, and the Japanese where determined

to win it again. This competition was so big, they had

twenty mats with teams competing at one time. The US

won the competition and the Japanese would not hand

over the trophy. The trophy was supposed to be handed

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to the team that won and stay with them for that year.

We dont even know if they put the US teams name on

the trophy.

Bakerseld is very close to Fresno, and Fresno State

University at that time was in the top 3 places in the US

to train for Judo. The closer the National competitions

came the harder we would train. Which meant, we

would drive to Fresno every Friday night to train. So now

our Friday nights are taken up by traveling to Fresno for

a hard practice. This was getting old very fast, but we

did this for years. The training we really needed was right

there in Fresno. So once both my brother and I got old

enough, we moved. We became a part of the Fresno

State Judo Team. Some how, my father sti ll had a hold of

everything we did. He still made sure we always trained

no matter what. I felt there was no escape. No matter

what I did or where I went, my father was going to be

right there making sure I was training.

I believe training in Fresno help us a great deal. But I

was still not training the way I should have, and that is

because of me. I have no one else to blame but myself.

I was still young and wanted to do other things. After

being in Fresno for a couple of years and trying to nd a

way out of Judo, I nally found my chance. My brother

and I were both fascinated by the UFC and how Royce

Gracie won using what we thought was just plain Judo.

So fascinated that for the three years in Fresno I would

drive to the Bay Area every weekend to train with Ralph

Gracie, a cousin of Royce Gracie. I was still in Fresno

though, and still training in Judo, and still under my

fathers control. The opportunity came to me to move to

the Bay Area and so I did.

Once I started training in Jiujitsu I nally felt like I was

doing something on my own. My father did not call me

every day to see if I was training. I was actually training

on my own and it felt good. All these things that I was

complaining about were gone. I did not train a single

practice of Judo for the next three years. This was not a

problem because I was advancing so fast at Jiujitsu and

it was because of me. The time was ying by so fast tha

I did not realize something until it was too late.

As an adult, I now understand why I did not want to train

and wanted to goof off. I was very immature and thinking

I knew what was best for me. Wishing I would not miss ou

on fun was a mistake I will have to live with. I found ou

my father was just trying to do what was best for me. He

was trying to make me the best I could before it was too

late. Now I am older and can not go back in time. I wish

I would have listened to my father and trained correctly

Everyone thinks they have all the time in the world to

accomplish their goals. I now know that time is no

what we have, and we need to do what we can to be

the best.

All those times I complained and quit I regret. I owe my

father a lot. I love Judo and Jiujitsu and what they have

given back to me. If it was not for my father I would neve

have been who I am today. If I would have listened to my

father, who knows what I would have accomplished.

www.armhunter.com

A simple night of training with the Ralph Gracie Crew:

Cameron Earle (far left), David Camarillo (center left),

BJ Penn (second right), Dan Camarillo (far right)

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AIKIDO BRIDGE SEMINARTIssIer DOran IkeDa MurashIge

je Sodemon

Chef isc, J ak

On an afternoon stroll through a museum of ne art

you will most likely come across some of the works of

Pablo Picasso. As with many of the great lifelong artists,

Picassos exploration of painting took him through several

distinct phases of his career. Viewing pieces from his

Blue period, Cubism, or Surrealist phases you can watch

Picassos evolution and exploration of art; distinctly

different looks but still with an underlying quality that

says this is Picasso.

Imagine Picasso taking on different students for a few

years here and there over his storied career. Depending

on when they studied, they would come away with

different ideas and opinions of the art of painting. As

those students pass along their knowledge to another

generation, the opinions and styles slowly diverge.

The career of Aikido founder Morihei Ueshiba spanned

a full lifetime of study from his early days of Daito Ryu

Aikijujutsu to his nal days as the father of Aikido. Many

people lived with and studied under Ueshiba, and they

can generally be broken down into four generations o

students. These students are the ones that went on to

spread and teach Aikido throughout the world.

As with Picasso, Ueshibas various phases of growth

inuenced his students in different ways, and now severa

generations along we nd numerous interpretations and

Aikido organizations in existence. The unfortunate side

effect of the dissemination of Aikido is that very few

people have a full picture of what the art encompasses

with the original students of Ueshiba slowly passing on.

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The rst annual week-long Aikido Bridge Friendship

Seminar brought together master instructors (shihan

and a full range of students from a variety of different

styles and organizations from across the globe to

share, exchange, and grow their Aikido practice.

The seminar took place in mid-January at Jiai Aikido in

San Diego, California. The 30+ hours of training featured

daily classes by: Hiroshi Ikeda shihan from the Aikido

Schools of Ueshiba (Boulder, CO), Frank Doran shihan

from the California Aikido Association (Redwood City

CA), Christian Tiss ier shihan of Circle Tissier (Paris, France)

and special guest Morihiko Murashige of Biranka

(San Diego, CA). Every night also included a different

regional guest instructor including: Haruo Matsuoka

sensei, Frank McGouirk sensei, Francis Takahashi shihan

Dang Thong Phong sensei, and Lia Suzuki sensei.

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The 4 main instructors each brought a distinct avor

to classes, but common themes carried throughout

the entire seminar. Often, the same principles and

problems were addressed in multiple ways, with different,

yet equally, effective solutions. One important

commonality was how to perform Aikido in a martially

effective manner.

Ikeda shihans classes focused on controlling the

attackers power from the rst moment of contact, and

how to control the attackers body through barely visible

spiral movements.

Doran shihan mixed humor with his clear teaching style

to demonstrate the need for closing off the attackers

options, while creating openings that will be used

against them.

Tissier shihan presented a very interesting dissection of

what directions of movement and possible techniques

exist, or are blocked, depending on the relationship

between the attacker and defender.

Murashige shihan demonstrated the ability to provide

devastating power while remaining soft and relaxed,

mixed in with some uncommon full body throws

and chokes.

The nightly guest instructors all brought something

different to their classes. Young to old, small to large,

male and female, each teacher shared an example of

what interests them. The diverse personalities and bodies

of the guest instructors was a great example of how wel

Aikido works for all types of people. Every morning also

featured a class by some of the highly ranked instructors

in attendance.

Despite record cold temperatures, the Bridge Semina

was a fantastic success, with many people commentingthat it was the best seminar they had ever attended

A notable part of the success were the open attitudes

the desire to learn and try new things, and the friendly

faces that came together in training.

Dates and details for next Januarys 2008 Bridge Semina

will be announced soon on the Aikido Bridge website

along with reviews, articles, and pictures from the

2007 event. DVDs of the 2007 seminar are currently in

production and will be available through Bujin Design.

www.aikidobridge.com

www.bujindesign.com

www.jiaiaikido.com

Ikeda Doran Tissier Murashige

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AIKIDO BRIDGE pIcTORIAlTIssIer DOran IkeDa MurashIge

aliciaphotos.com
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AIKIDO BRIDGE pIcTORIAlTIssIer DOran IkeDa MurashIge

aliciaphotos.com
http://www.aliciaphotos.com/http://www.aliciaphotos.com/http://www.aliciaphotos.com/

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