The Gendai Budo

This term means, 'The Modern Japanese Martial Arts'.  It is more than just self defense.  Anyone can get good at self defense, you don't need to go to a karate school to learn self defense.  It should be thought of as 'Zen and the Martial Arts'.  It is self defense, but has a spiritual connotation to it.  You have a right to defend yourself, but you don't have a right to start with anyone or be an asshole.

Karate, Judo, and Jujutsu is Budo.  Aikido means with weapons, and Ninjitsu means stealth and deception.  So the Japanese have a martial art for each aspect of self defense.  Karate is just punching and kicking, Judo is throwing and pinning, Jujutsu specializes in the submission holds, Aikido deals with weapons situations, Ninjitsu teaches you how to be sneaky and deceptive.  Other Asian countries have one style that teaches a mish-mosh of all ranges and aspects, but the Japanese are so obsessed with Budo that they have a different martial art for every aspect of Budo.

The main thing in self defense is awareness.  Most people will not fight fair.  They will sucker punch you, blindside you, shank you, bite you, gouge you, etc...  But the main thing in a fair fight is punching, pinning, and weapons tactics.  A pin is a type of submission.  So is a choke or armlock, but pinning is better than choking and armlocks hardly ever work in streetfights.

Before 1993 and the UFC, people thought just training Karate was enough.  Karate is mostly punching and kicking.  But now we know what Jujutsu really means.  It means being a wholistic practitioner with an answer for everything.  Real Jujutsu is more like Combat Sambo, a sport that allows punch, kick, throw, and submission.  Then there is weapons and stealth.  To be a budo master, you must be complete, so eastern martial arts and wholistic medicine is based on the same concept, wholism.  Not seeing one thing and one thing only, but seeing a rich tapestry of factors.  A good martial artist can punch, kick, throw, do submissions, disarm someone with a weapon, and is aware of stealth and deception.  If you can do all those 6 things, you are a Jujutsu master.

I don't particularly like MMA because it is vicious and commercial and not in the spirit of Budo.  But I like Combat Sambo, because of several factors.  First of all, there are uniforms, which allows for more grips to throw from.  There is no cage, so if you want to take someone down, you have to throw them in the center of the mat.  A knockout, a throw, or a submission ends the bout.  There is a point system where you are rewarded for throws and pins.  And they wear protective gear so it is less harmful to the practitioners.  The Russians know what Jujutsu is about.  It is about fight science, and the Russians are crazy about all combat sports, even boxing and Tae Kwon Do.

So the meaning of the martial arts is not learning how to win an ego beef and be Cassius.  It is about mastering the self, living in peace, and attaining clarity into the human condition.  Budo can be a type of religion just like Judaism or Christianity can be a religion.  It is a moral principle, physical training, and insight into the human condition.

The ultimate teaching is violence always backfires.  The best fighter is never angry, and knows he can use his strength to be benevolent not harmful.  That is why we can use Judo as physical education, because it makes you a better member of society.  Self Defense is for children and all warfare is based on deception.  Nobody cares if you are objectively better than them, business is not based on talent or merit, it is based on stealth and guile.  You don't have to be extremely talented to be rich and successful.  Oftentimes, the richest people are worthless punks and the poorest, humblest people have the most talent and merit.  Life is not fair.  But through Judo and self defense, you can learn to be a better man, and this gives you an inner contentment that can't be bought or sold.

There is a big Judo tournament going on in Tel Aviv right now, and I am happy.  I wish I was there.  I am a citizen of Israel.  But I hardly ever visit because I can't afford the plane ticket.  But Judo is important to all modern people, especially to the modern state of Israel.  In Israel, the Jews there are different from other types of Jews.  They are more tough, more fit, more secular, and more confident.  Judo is the ideal sport for them.  The Jews of the diaspora such as American Jews seem soft in comparison.  Judo is sport, and sport teaches you to win or lose and not complain.  I wish I could be a Judo teacher in Israel, I speak both Hebrew and English.  But life didn't turn out the way I thought it would. 

So the message of the martial arts is to get tough, get fit, get a job, and do exceptional service.  Business is warfare, and there are samurais and there are ninjas.  I'd rather be a samurai than a ninja.  I work with enthusiasm in an honorable way to do the right thing.  I hope you join me.