Shobudo Jujitsu Overview

Shobudo Bujitsu Jujitsu is a style of jujitsu (or jujutsu), a class of Japanese martial arts.  The study of jujitsu is primarily the study of unarmed combat and combat with secondary weapons, such as knives (tanto), sticks (yawara bo), staves (jo, rokushaku bo), and other non-primary weapons, with primary weapons being considered the sword (katana), polearms (naginata, nagamaki, etc.), the spear (yari), and the bow (yumi).  Over the course of Japanese history, there have been as many as 700 or more different styles of jujitsu formulated and taught.  These vary from styles that practiced only striking techniques to styles practicing only ground-fighting techniques, involving pins and locks, and all possible iterations between these extremes.   As well, some styles, including Shobudo,  teach the use of weapons and others do not.  

The study of any jujitsu style should encompass the principle of Ju, or the concepts of suppleness, yielding, and flexibility.  In this, we do not mean that one is training to give way, only that one is training not to resist force with force, but instead utilize the opponent’s strength and momentum to control their movements and, by extension, them.

One of the most important differentiating features of any martial art is the set of core concepts/principles/tenets under which it is formulated, rather than the physical techniques that are taught (which may be quite similar between separate arts).  Some of the core tenets of Shobudo are as follows: 

• Shobudo is the systematic study of the process of controlling a person through pain, with or without injury.
• Do not resist force with force.
• Strive for unification of the body, mind and spirit as one. 

These core concepts manifest themselves in our training and our techniques and are some of the things that create the essence of Shobudo. 

Shobudo Bujutsu Jujutsu is derived from Nakazato Shoshu's family style of martial arts, called Happo ryu.  We don't know the technical curriculum for this style, but it can be extrapolated to some degree based on what is taught in Shobudo, although this issue is clouded, as Nakasato Shoshu is know to have studied several other arts, all of which may have found their way into Shobudo to a greater or lesser degree.  Some, such as his study of Jigen ryu kenjutsu, have no apparent influence on Shobudo technique or philosophy.  Shobudo was brought to the US by servicemen who studied it in the years following WWII.  One of those students, my primary instructor, is now the head of the Shobudo Bujitsu Jujitsu organization in the United States (Nathan Banks, shichidan).

Training in Shobudo Jujitsu is comprehensive and covers a wide range of techniques, including striking, throws, joint-locks, chokes, weapons training, meditation, and more.   However, it is primarily an unarmed art, focusing on joint locking techniques and other techniques meant to control an opponent by attacking their weak points and affecting their structural alignment.  Within the art of Sho Bu Do lie many sub-disciplines, as in most martial arts. Of primary initial interest to students are the physical techniques of an art, although the mental and spiritual disciplines are equally or even more important. We study the application of pain by many different methods. Open hand techniques taught include joint locks, throws, strikes of all sorts, pressure point and nerve techniques, chokes, and weapon defenses. Weapons training includes both one and two person kata and single techniques with tanto (knife), jo (~4' staff), rokushaku bo (6' staff), yawara bo (short stick), and yubi bo (lit. finger stick). Most techniques are done from a standing position, although we do train in seated and ground techniques as well. Movement is an essential part of any martial art, and is especially emphasized in our studies, as it forms the basis of off-balancing and control of any opponent's movements. Mental training in tactics, awareness, conflict resolution and focus is done throughout, with more emphasis is placed on these at higher levels of training. 

The majority of our techniques are oriented around a set of eight principles.

• 1^st principle - Also called nikyo by aikidoka. This is a bent wrist wrist lock (kansetsu waza).
• 2^nd principle - Kote gaeshi in all of its myriad forms.  Another kansetsu-waza.
• 3^rd principle - Also called sankyo by aikidoka. Kansetsu waza with or without bent-wrist.
• 4^th principle - Also called yonkyo by aikidoka. Nerve holds, especially those affecting the radial nerve in the arm and the corresponding nerve in the ankle.
• 5^th principle - Armbars of all sorts and forms, including shoulder locks. 
• 6^th principle - Chokes, both blood and air and various head and neck controls.
• 7^th principle - Throws of any type.
• 8^th principle - Pressure points throughout the body.

Strikes and entries (atemi) are worked into these principles as necessary and training in atemi is done both separately and as an integral part of applying the principles and other techniques to an opponent.

Sensei Nelson holds godan (5^th degree) rank and full instructor certification in Shobudo, as well as a shodan (1^st degree) in Toyama-ryu battodo and Scolaire Saor ranking in the Cumann Bhata (Irish stickfighting).  He has been studying Shobudo for 19 years and has taught classes in Colorado, Oregon and Michigan for the past 12 years.  In addition to his Shobudo studies, he has trained in and continues to study Toyama-ryu and Nakamura-ryu battodo (both Japanese sword styles), medieval Italian fighting in the style of Fiore dei Liberi, Irish stickfighting, Maasai weapons styles, and Hungarian fokos (axe).  Sensei Nelson emphasizes learning the basics of Shobudo in the same manner in which he learned them, by application of multiple techniques within a core principle or concept, thereby requiring exposure to a wide variety of related techniques, each of which reveal another facet of the core principle. 

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