Isshin Ryu
Shelia Englen is one of my female students who is currently a senior serving police officer within the UK, Sheila is my personal student and the first and only female to make it to our Shodan-Ho grade (Probationary Black Belt) within Ishin Ryu Ju-Jitsu, it should reflect the high standards that we believe in and uphold.
-Soke Kevin Pell
“A Birds Eye View”
By Sempai Sheila Eglen
A Females Perspective Of Training Towards And Becoming The First Ever Female, Within Ishin Ryu Ju-Jitsu To Achieve The Grade Of Shodan-Ho
During the first week of February 2002 I had my first real insight into the world of martial arts (well I say first… I was awarded an orange belt in knot tying and paper folding, after just ten weeks of training, when I joined Norfolk Constabulary in 1992, however I doubt this really counts)
I joined Ishin Ryu Ju Jitsu, then on a Friday evening at Caston village hall (and in a desperate craving, and need, to learn more this soon progressed to Monday evenings at Thetford) and on my first evening I was somewhat out numbered by my male counterparts - when I say outnumbered I was the only female in the whole class.
One of the only things I can remember from that day is a chair being placed in the middle of the mats and being requested to do a front rolling breakfall over the top of it, needless to say, I just crashed straight into it, leaving myself in a dishevelled pile on the floor.
My arrival was met with much scepticism verging on complete disdain (not by all I hasten to add) I often refer to the handful of, then, senior grades who were unable to bring themselves to even talk to me. Had I of joined the class alone I could of mistaken this as the normal welcoming behaviour for new students, however I joined at the same time as two other men both of whom were made welcome. It was admitted some months later that the reason for this treatment and the absence of “hellos” was because “girls never make it anyway” so their logic was why bother to get to know me when I was going to leave soon anyway. Fair point I suppose, I wasn’t offended, on the contrary I found it somewhat amusing, I accepted this as a definite challenge to stay (long before the importance of the gauntlet badge was explained to me - lets hope this was a good omen) it may be of no importance but those spoken of senior grades have long since disappeared. But it still leaves the question begging to be asked.
Why don’t more females also accept this challenge?
We live in an age when fitness, diet and general healthy living is at a pinnacle of importance, never has it been so necessary to live so healthily with new illnesses being discovered every day due to unhealthy and lazy living. So martial arts, Ju Jitsu in particular, has such great value not just because of the *simplicity of its practical application of techniques for the purpose of self defence, but as an art it also offers so much more, with physical training alongside instilling good moral values, discipline and a good sense of old fashioned challenge, much missed in this day and age. In what other areas of modern life are there such expectations for etiquette and respect?
*Consider palm heel strikes - simplistic in their method of application but executed with 100% effort and commitment - devastatingly effective.
Since beginning Ju Jitsu I have progressed from being barely able to do five press ups to being able to push out at least fifty, again due to Ju Jitsu I have started to run again (something I haven’t done much of since leaving school some years ago) and also, with Johns help, weights and circuit training. So Ju Jitsu has very much overlapped into my life outside the Dojo, even down to what I eat (pre grading pasta meals) and how much I drink (I actually refer to water but Ju Jitsu, as a social event, has had some impact on other drinking habits also!) knowing now that by the time you feel thirsty you have already deprived your body of fluid and you are already dehydrated, high fluid intake is a definite must not only during training but also before and after.
Everyone is built differently, but with the right attitude and good coaching there is no reason why women cannot be on a level with men, whilst not as physically strong a good technique and ability will shine through, we are not always the weaker sex. There will be occasions when skill alone is insufficient, take for instance when an opponent twice your weight lays over you and holds you down. There will be exercises that are more difficult for women to excel at (a lack of chest muscles makes it more difficult for women to do press ups - more difficult that is, not impossible) I have found chest protection an issue because whilst it is recognized as a problem area there appears to be very few commercial outlets that cater for this need (I found two plastic cups in a vest a bit of a hindrance after a while!) but on the other side of the coin what we lose in one skill we can make up in another (most women tend to be more flexible than men making some techniques easier to apply and far less painful) but these are not sufficient reasons alone to stop women taking part, is it the fear factor stopping them entering the Dojo, most women wouldn’t fancy the idea of having their noses smashed across their faces. Or is it the male dominance that’s put women off?
Ultimately a good student, male or female, must have so much more than just physical ability, they must have the self-discipline to get out of that comfy armchair in the first instance and get into the Dojo, once in the Dojo they must have the strength of mind to push just that bit harder for just that bit longer, and yes it will hurt, but that’s the whole idea. It was not uncommon for Ninja’s, male and female alike, to have their limbs repeatedly dislocated and broken from a very young age so as to allow them to feign injury if captured or to conceal them selves in obscure places, so we can hardly consider today’s training a hardship.
This ultimately led me to be at the Golf and Country club at 0700 hours one Saturday morning, getting ready to run two six mile laps of the countryside. After an hour and a half of running in the increasing heat we entered the most disgusting lake full of weeds and dirt and branches, having made a deal with John that he would stay with me for the run I had agreed to stick with him for the swim, which was fortunate because half way across it became a genuine concern that at least one of us wasn’t going to make it (I quote ” I’m going under” and it wasn’t me!!) once out of the lake we still had another couple of miles to run, but now we were cold and dirty and stung to bits by all the nettles.
Having survived the 12 miles and the water it was time to do the physical tests, 50 of everything, but this is what we had trained for so no real problems.
In a charitable moment Soke allowed us to shower and change before returning to the dojo for the rest of the day.
Back at Honbu we began with our Embu’s, John and I had practiced, but it was still nerve racking to stand up in front of all the senior grades and show our wares, each stage complete was one less to do and then to move onto our first set of four by fours. This set flew by, although we guessed that wouldn’t be our only set, and then onto weapons.
Conscious of the fact we were being closely watched I think I choked John repeatedly and no doubt hit him a few times to. (Finally got some justice as John broke my nose on our first ever grading!) Soon the weapons were behind us and now onto the more physically demanding bits.
Starting with the Red/White belt we began to make our way through all the belts, John and I were at the far end of the Dojo and I can still remember the other Sempai’s standing by the door and cheering us on. My biggest support during the day was always going to be my partner John, who has been with me through every grading to date - Thank you - the belts went by in a blur, I had been training for eight months for this so it was all going pretty much to plan.
After the belts were behind us it was due time for the four by fours, 96 throws, which gets a bit tiresome having to pick yourself up off the mat every time your partner dumps you on the ground. Having been dumped to the ground so many times it was only fitting that we should stay on the ground for ground work, this was my real low point, for every time Sempai Andy H cheered me up Big Dave landed on top of me and I was reduced to tears again - much to sempai Will’s delight! - I wasn’t crying because I was injured, I cried because I was so exhausted my limbs just wouldn’t work the way I wanted them to. After 20 separate fights it was time for the milling, which traditionally indicated the near end of a grading, but at only 3.30pm I knew this was not a good sign.
The milling offered me two opponents, John and Sempai Andy H, the intention was to keep my guard up for two minutes whilst I was repeatedly got punched around the head, this was really emotional, John and I had never milled against each other before and once we got going I think John found it much more difficult than expected to punch his future wife around the head. Anyway, somehow he managed and we exchanged blows for the required time.
With the milling over we knew it was much to early to finish, for starters no one had been sick yet, and so the sense of humour test began with a re-run of the physical test, another 50 of everything. This set was not quite so easy, the press-ups were agony and I think I completed the burpees in a daze.
I was emotionally and physically drained when we started the second lot of four by fours, now it was sheer stubbornness keeping me going, I had every intention of being the first female Shodan Ho.
So when Soke asked for the full syllabus again I had every intention of doing exactly what was asked, fortunately by orange belt Soke had seen enough and we were sent away to contemplate the day whilst the senior grades decided if we had passed, on our return to the dojo we were given the good news, we had all been successful, more tears!
All in all an emotional day for the three of us, a big thank you to all those who helped us through, whilst I had only myself to prove anything to its still nice to be able to prove to everyone else that women can do just as well as the men.
Sheila Eglen
Honbu Dojo
http://www.ishinryu.com
San Yama Bushi
Jujutsu is called the Gentle Art
We at the San Yama Bushi and Combination GoJu School of Self Defense Inc., (SYBCG) provide a number of services. One of the styles that we teach is San Yama Bushi Jujutsu. The school was founded by, Sensei Zurriane Bennett. The version that we offer at the school is a Combat Jujutsu style. The original style of San Yama Bushi Jujutsu was founded by, Shinan Hector Negron. Whom trained under the late Shinan Antonio Pereira Sr,. Like many martial arts, San Yama Bushi is a, Martial arts with a great history. The history of the arts goes back to Japan. San Yama Bushi Jujutsu gets its connection from its parent a style of Jujutsu. That style is Mi Yama Ryu Jujutsu. This styles, was created by Shinan Antonio Pereira Sr, in the 1960’s. Shinan Pereira trained in Japan at the Kodokan under O Sensei, Master Morihei Uyeshiba in the 1960’s. Shinan Pereira was truly a man with vision several of the processes use today he was using in the back in the early 70’s.
The system uses, punches, kicks, locks, holds, throws, wrist techniques, body movement, ground controls, sitting techniques, wall techniques, knife, gun, club techniques etc. With these techniques, we also hold high Respect, Honor, Focus, Self-control, and a Positive mental attitude with a high level of professionalism. As the late Shinan Pereira said, You do not know how in the devil a man is going to attack you.” “So you can not enter with a prearranged form of defense.” So, we prepare for all types of attacks. Training is like having an insurance policy.
What makes our system great and useful in today’s world? The system has taken classic jujutsu, judo, karate, aikido techniques, and the modern requirements of today. This provides a style that meets the needs of those living today. This is from the mothers to the fathers, whom have not done any exercise, to the cook, the police, and members of the military. We also understand the one size does not fit all. We deal with each person as a person. The ages of the people that are active in the system are also very wide from teenagers to students in there late 70’s.
We had an open house at my school a few months ago. One of the Shihans in the system attended. During the open, we had several demos for all who attended. There was a warm –up period and the students were running and diving over other students and doing a roll out. All of a sudden this, shihan who is 70 years old ran then dived over 5 people not touching anyone did a prefect rollout and popped up and said “that is the way you do it young fellows.†It was an amazing thing to see. One of the other guest instructors from another system said I hope I can do that when I am at that age.
We have had several students that come to train with us that had health problems and concerns before they started training with us. Most of them have greatly improved and most said that they no longer have any problems. All have commented on greater flexibility and stamina. So the martial arts has again had a positive effect on not only them but their families. The Martial Arts have had a very positive effect on these people.
Like any art is this the pioneers that made it but it is the professional instructors of today and tomorrow that keep it great. A mind once stretched by ideas never regains its original dimensions. Come joint us and learn the gentle art.
Ous!
Sensei Zurriane Bennett