Jiu Jitsu, Blue Belt to Brown Belt, by Robert Clark

his English manual is number two in the series of three, issued as a syllabus for World Ju Jitsu Federation (WJJF) by "Professor" Robert Clark from Liverpool. The actual book you see here shows the syllabus for the blue, purple and brown belt. The actual techniques are very close to the ones found in the older WJJF manual from 1979 (read about it here).

The biggest difference is not to be found in the techniques as such. Clark has his personal style, which he sticks to. And by and large you will find very much the same stuff here as was in the older manual. The main difference is that the pictures ar far better, and it is much easier to see the different moves since Clark fortunately sticks to not using a hakama (a form of traditional Japanese "pants").

The fact that there isn't any great degree of changes in the syllabus, at least as far as I can see, does of course not need to be a negative point at all. First of all - that something is newer, doesn't automatically make it better! There are plenty of really great, old schools (ryu) of martial arts/ju jitsu which have remained virtually unchanged through centuries. Still, I dare to claim that much of the British ju jitsu, as presented by Clark, Morris and others have been somewhat left behind due to all the positive progress that are present elsewhere. The British Juko Ryu style is not a typical traditional (old) school, but rather represents one of the more modern styles. And as such it is not modern enough - thing are more or less done the same way as they have been for a long time. This, to me, shows a lack of evolution, adaption and progress.

What is good in this book is amongst other things the very clear and strong/powerful techniques - after all the juko ryu is a hard style ju jitsu! Another highlight is the control techniques of R. Clark. These are one of the his specialities. If you like the British style you'll find none better than this! Don't forget to start your search at: Abebooks.

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