South Mountain Martial Arts
91 Main Street, Madison New Jersey 07940-1849
Jujitsu: (973) 822-1977 | Fencing: (973) 906-3503
Related Arts & Contest Venues
Modern judo is an exciting combat sport with a huge international following. It has been included in the Olympics since 1964. Kodokan judo, the art upon which modern judo is based, is the historical gold standard for martial art s training, and the techniques of Kodokan judo form a core subset of the techniques which we teach in our style of jujitsu. Anyone who trains at SMMA may opt to focus their training on judo, to compete in judo contests, and to have their progress ranked in judo instead of (or in addition to) jujitsu. (Additional registration fees may be required .)
Judo
SAMBO
(
Also "sombo" or "cambo"
) is a Russian language acronym name which stands for "s
elf defense without weapons
"
("samo-oberona bes orusiya" or "samozaschita bes orusiya").
Click an image below to view a brief video clip of a sambo technique or drill.
Our jujitsu syllabus includes all of the techmiques which are allowed in the three 3 major forms of sambo (i.e.,
sambo wrestling
,
freestyle sambo
wrestling, which includes chokes, and
combat sambo
, a style of all-in fighting). Anyone who trains in our jujitsu classes may elect to be ranked in sambo instead of (or in addition to) jujitsu, and may participate in properly sanctioned sambo contests.
Sambo is widely known for its throws, its take-downs and its grappling, especially it's repertoire of leg-locks. It originated as a widely and deeply researched Soviet military response to of judo and jujutsu. It's originators made an exhaustive study of the world's prominent self-defense methods, both unarmed and "minimally armed" (e.g.,
knives, short sticks, entrenching tools, et cetera
). They produced an activity which had applications for unarmed self-defense, restraint and control, and for sport/physical training.
One of the main benefits to this style of practice is that mature adults, many already having Karate or Taekwondo backgrounds have been very happily surprised that they don't need extremes of flexibility to be able to kick effectively and that practice of the techniques doesn't hurt their joints as much as those of the more common styles of hand and foot fighting!
Kenpo
(
also; "Kempo"
):
The "k
anji
" for
"kenpo
" or formalized characters in both Chinese and Japanese, refer to "a
method of using the fist (striking/boxing/kickboxing)".
Martial artists may hear the term "k
enpo
" or "k
empo
" quite a lot. It may refer to an American/Chinese/Hawaiian fighting art , a Japanese martial form with Chinese roots, or even a style of Okinawan karate, pronounced the Japanese way. To make things even more diverse, some jujutsu systems call their "a
temi" (or, striking)
syllabus "k
enpo
", with a few even changing the name of the whole system from "j
ujutsu
" to "k
enpo
" (
Araki-Ryu, Tenshin Koryu, Nanban-Satto Ryu and others
).
At SMMA, a specialization in kenpo training is yet another option for those who participate in our jujitsu classes. Kenpo sparring is almost indistinguishable from kickboxing such as boxe Francaise (
sweeping methods without hand-grips are taught
) or combat sambo (
throws and grappling are required in free-sparring; Hand techniques aren't "chambered at the waist"; kicks aren't "snapped"
). Strikes for self defense are
not
merely a secondary study. The practice has very little to no resemblance to what the average practitioner thinks of as "karate".
At South Mountain Martial Arts, the study of the philosophies, the strategies, the tactics and the attitudes of the groups and the individuals who have been identified through Japanese history as "n
inja
", or who came to be called "ninja", will be a focus of our training where and insomuch as they are beneficial to martial arts practice, but they will never be the main thrust of our studies.
Ninjutsu
and the study of the "
Shinobi
" or "
Ninja
", is a fascinating and addictive activity, producing great passion and very firm opinions by its adherents.
There are a number of famous, distinguished experts and scholars of the martial arts who have claimed to be ninja, or to be leaders of those bujutsu ryuha most associated with ninjutsu. Dayn DeRose, one of our instructors, has had the great pleasure of visiting and practicing with some of these men, both in Japan and in the United States. In every case he found he was welcomed by by friendly, dignified luminaries who were exceptionally knowldegable in their version of the craft.
Dayn has found that the best way to approach this consuming study is, simply, to view ninjutsu the way in which Japanese historians view it. The principal views among the modern scholars are that:
-
Ninjutsu was/is something practiced by bujutsu-ka, but not a bujutsu (
not a martial art
) itself.
-
Shinobi learned the martial arts and tools/weapons of their times, and that they were among the foremost in adapting to new ones - even
firearms - and that,
therefore, much of their knowledge did not consitute any sort of "Koryu" art.
-
The famous differentiation between "
Koka
" and "
Iga"
ninja was often blurred by mutually shared lineages and cooperation.
-
Ninja were scouts, intelligence agents, and that they even became "
undercover police
" of a sort, but that they were not primarily "
Assassins
"
(
"Ansatsusha"
).
Arm and leg lock drill
Single leg scissors to leg lock
Freestyle sambo choke drill
Body slam to leg lock
