Tegumi (Stand up Wrestling) Practise Clip

I word things badly, my point is that we dont wrestle for sport etc etc.

What we need is not at that level as we train a broad range with a striking emphasis.

If someone wants to suppliment karate with judo, wrestling, BJJ etc etc then more power to them, my point is for basic self defense it isnt needed.

we (ie my group) are not gladiators and arnt training to deal with a sport enviroment or indeed to deal with a significantly trained opponent.

Putting it simply balance, keep yours and take your partners.

It also teaches other things such as passing the guard, body position etc etc. (you begin to see openings for strikes, locks, takedowns etc etc that just dont hapen in one step)

The practice itself is also very good for strengthening muscle and ligaments and teaching body structure/position, its also an excellent stamina workout, in a fighting context etc etc.

No one wins or loses, alot of the time when practising specific tactics, one side goes 'passive' ie gives a little resistance but not to much, the other side can then, for example practise getting behind, or breaking the posture, grip location etc etc.

Its a component of our karate, not the whole and certainly something that isnt trained by the vast majority of karate clubs,

although thats changing and as already said an increasing ammount of karateka train a second art to fill the grappling gap,

we find the tegumi is enough for our needs - it does not make us expert grapplers - thats not the point.

The little 'free' sparring we do allows tegumi (grappling) to take place along with strikes and locks and takedowns etc etc, but this is still eveloping as my students arn't ready for the full monty just yet, I am keen to not have any injuries, well as few as possible.

Well Jim, I think your tegumi practice is a very good thing. A lot of people have no idea what the difference between Okinawan Sumo/Tegumi is versus traditional folk wrestling as seen in other places. The aspect that you're training, neck wrestling, is actually a small part of tegumi but is very salient to gaining position in a close up standing grappling situation. That's why the Muay Thai guys practice it.

On the street you should try and avoid the ground. Duh. Carlos "Caique" Elias a 5th degree BB under Rickson and Helio once told me that in a streetfight he would never perform and armbar. He would gain position and elbow strike. IOW G-n-P. This is one of the top ranked BBs of the Gracie style who went on to form his own school which he calls "Caique Jiu Jitsu". This guy is a real fighter who fought for real in Rio de Janeiro.

I know that "ground avoidance" may seem impossible, but somehow cats like Lidell have figured it out. Wrestling, Judo and GJJ are good arts to know. They are a possible component of any physical altercation. They are nothing more than supplementary to good karate training. They are not that necessary if you know how to sprawl or stay on your feet. They are not necessary if you control the flow. A good system like some Okinawan styles, kickboxing and Muay Thai should suffice for the average person if they train had.

I like your take on things, James. You are the nicest butt-kicker on here. One of these days you're just gonna explode on folks who are quick to dis what you do or say. Or you can leave that to me. I like doing it ! No worries, bro. Your neck wrestling/tegumi is a very important aspect of good Okinawan karate training.

I know I'm a-hole number one and persona non-grata on here, but I like your steelo and that has nothing to do with your sensei being a student of my teachers! You know karate and ring fighting, so you know the real. Peace...

Thanks for the nice comments Bryan,

our tegumi practise is popular with anyone who comes along and trains, I have stated the reasons why we train it and feel very strongly that it is a very important aspect of what we do.

I remember my early years training and the grappling/close/contact range just wasnt accounted for in karate,

I always questioned this and therefore researched and developed our solution, im guided by some very expierienced karateka so its hardly inventing anything, just training.

I shall get a clip of working with someone less skilled and strong as Ian to show the next stage of our tegumi, it will show application better.

Take care and speak soon mate.

Yay for me! I finally got quicktime installed on one of my computers! Now I can watch the video!

Jim, good stuff. Clinch work is a very often neglected part of training - it certainly is for me. That looks like a great way to get students used to grappling fundamentals.

Thanks for the comments Matt, great you got quicktime sorted!

good article with reference to Tegumi/Okinawan grappling:
http://seinenkai.com/art-sumo.html

Thanks Ed, appriciate that.

I think I may have read it before, but I certainly don't have a copy, will get that sorted.

I think this sort of training definitely has a place.

Not having any experience with Tegumi, do you ever include the judo aspects so that the throws are actually performed?

Clinch with cloth! Luis Gutierrez of the SBG in Florida is working very hard on exactly this type of thing. It looks very similar to that.

Are you or would you move on to also simulate striking out of this clinch?

All in all good stuff. Its "alive" and would certainly have a place in any training curriculum, particularly if you're adding in takedowns and striking at some point??



-John

Hi John,

Yes the standup wrestling is just one aspect, we build the throws (very few), locks, strikes, takedowns all in (via drills), after students have been training a while,

the clip shows the basic free practice as I generally teach at that level (my dojo is only 1 year old). I will get some footage up of the next stage of practice soon.

obviously with all the strikes, locks and throws you need to work at an alive level that doesn't get students injured seriously or to often,

hence my experimentation with light body armour, head gear etc etc, it's working out well overall.

we also do a fair bit of 'free' style conditioning, which is essentially three excersises done on the move, involing arms, legs and torso.

Were not training for the ring or to fight superman so whilst significant to us there are other things to trian as well, ie kata..............

Thanks for the kind comments

Sounds good buddy!


-John