Christian Martialism on a Budget, 4

Training in Fighting Techniques, cont'd:
One of the greatest advantages to training in a martial art is the development of body skills. These include a sense of balance, coordination, reflexes and various kinesthetic senses. The beginner often thinks he is there to learn a lot of techniques so that he can defend himself. Often, however, the techniques are designed to illustrate and train the body skills. It takes wisdom & experience to winnow the street-effective techniques from those that are useful for body skill training alone.

In the early part of the Twentieth Century, a Scot by the name of Allan Corstorphin Smith was among the first Westerners initiated into the Eastern art of jujitsu. He received his black belt at the Kodokwan in Tokyo at a solemn ceremony which he attended wearing his kilt. After WWI, he taught close quarters combat to the US Army, and in 1920 he published a book called, The Secrets of Jujitsu.

Captain Smith evidently had keen powers of perception, an analytical mind and the ability to communicate concepts simply and clearly. When I found his book online, I realized how much more quickly and effectively I could have picked up certain skills if I'd had this information when I first started my jujitsu training. In fact, I used his book as the core curriculum a couple of times when I thought I'd found a practice partner (sadly, neither partner stuck with it).

You can learn jujitsu, develop body skills and train at applying some basic joint locks & chokes if you have a practice partner and Smith's book. Just this one caveat: PLEASE follow ALL the safety instructions in the book, so they become second nature. Some of the later techniques can be harmful or fatal if you do not follow his safety instructions TO THE LETTER. Even so, your decision to engage in the practice of jujitsu is your own, and I assume no liability whatsoever.

Here are two links to your free copy of Allan Corstorphin Smith's book:
The Secrets of Jujitsu (PDF)

The Secrets of Jujitsu (HTML)
(scroll down toward the bottom of the page for the links to the book)

In "Christian Martialism on a Budget, 5", I'll let you know about some supplemental resources for your training. One is free online, and the other will come out of the $100 budget.