" The answer is unhesitatingly, "YES." If there is to be any kicking, kick first. But in the general run of things you would not be justified in kicking and must be trained in more honorable methods, reserving the kick for an emergency.
These other tricks must be practiced faithfully because they give you presence of mind and an ability to use your body correctly.
ESCAPE FROM CHIN SHOVE
Assailant attacks you with chin shove, his right hand on your chin, his left hand round your waist.
If you stand with feet on the same line you will be immediately unbalanced and unable to resist.
"ONE"
As he takes hold, step back with either foot and take a balanced position.
Bring your left elbow close to your side and palm of left hand onto Assailant's forearm.
"TWO"
Assailant pushes your had back and pulls your waist in.
Throw your head back quicker than it is pushed, knocking up his right arm with your left arm.
Keep your eyes on Assailant.
"THREE"
Instantly regain your balance and shove Assailant's chin back with your right hand.
"FOUR"
Make Assailant stagger slowly backwards. Bring up your knee with full force, stopping three inches from the target.
This practice will make you dexterous in using both hands and feet in a fight and trains you to make your every movement for the purpose of unbalancing opponent.
Keep your balance and make the effort from the Stahara.
ESCAPE FROM CHIN SHOVE
Understand in a real fight you would not shove but would hit your opponent so hard with the heel of your hand below his chin that you would knock him out.
Practice of this trick will give you the power to deliver such a blow and also the presence of mind to use it.
Also without hitting it is possible to shove so hard that opponent is knocked out by the fall.
In practice go no further than unbalancing opponent with a slow shove.
The practice of this trick has greater advantages than merely teaching you a defense against this attack. It teaches you how to use your body quickly in a way that will be valuable in all attacks.
You do not pull his hand away from your chin but evade it by giving way. The effort is made with a swaying motion of the Stahara which keeps your balance.
Take the position of each of the five photos illustrating this trick, and compare your position with them.
Practice it slowly at first. Afterwards you will do it so quickly that an onlooker could not explain what you had done.
In a real fight you would knock Assailant's hand away, and counter, before he got you in the grip illustrated by fig. 38.
BALANCE AND MOMENTUM
Jujitsu tricks are done with great rapidity on an opponent who is usually moving just as quickly. You utilize the momentum of the opponent to unbalance and defeat him instead of relying on your own strength and weight.
If you try to master the two complicated problems of your opponent's BALANCE and MOMENTUM and at the same time make your legs and arms perform a complicated, unfamiliar feat, you are up against an intricate task in which progress is slow. This is why it takes so many years in Japan to learn jujitsu.
The system by which this book teaches is radically different. It eliminates the factor of MOMENTUM by causing the teacher to stand still until the student commences to use his body properly and until he understands how to unbalance his opponent.
When this stage is reached, the student's subconscious attends to the proper working of the arms and legs and to unbalancing opponent, leaving the active mind free to watch opponent's momentum.
The teacher now adds a little movement to the lesson and finally attacks the student swiftly.
As each student alternately takes the role of Instructor (or Assailant), he will stand stationary and allow his opponent (or pupil) to master the movements of arms and legs and to discover how to unbalance his Assailant.
He may then combine movement with his instructions and his pupil will readily learn to deal with the factor of momentum.
THE WAISTHOLD SERIES
When engaged in training thousands of men who knew nothing of wrestling and boxing and who would shortly be engaged in savage trench warfare, the most important thing was to teach them to deal their opponent a kick or blow in a vital spot.
Merely telling them of these blows was not sufficient. The untrained man would think of these tricks after the battle and would sadly exclaim: "Oh, if I had only done so-and-so."
They were first taught to kick with the whole weight of the body. Merely kicking with the muscles of the leg and thigh does not deliver a blow one-third as powerful as if you "put your Stahara" into it.
The waisthold series, consisting of:
waisthold, chin shove, nose push, and escape from chin shove,
gave them more actual practice in five minutes than half-an-hour of desultory wrestling would.
A class of a thousand men could be trained in these methods with the same precision, snap, and disciplinary effect as army disciplinary calisthenics, or setting-up exercises.
A scientific analysis of each trick enabled the movements to be directed from a platform, step by step, and the soldier learned the movements as quickly and correctly as if he were getting a personal lesson from the instructor.
The same scientific analysis has been followed in these pages. The photos take the place of the platform demonstration, and the printed words take the place of commands.
Take the position of each illustration and slowly practice the movement described and you will learn how to apply your strength.
LESSON 8
This lesson teaches you --
Methods of practice for husband and wife.
The psychology of training.
Three different methods of Throat Attack.
First defense to Throat Attack.
Second defense to Throat Attack.
Third defense to Throat Attack.
Edge of hand blow.
Name of Partner Date Practice Commenced 1st Defense 2nd Defense 3 rd Defense
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
Place a check mark against each trick each day you practice it.
A USELESS METHOD OF DEFENSE
It is useless when thus attacked to seize Assailant's wrists and try to pull them off.
Yet that is what most people would do under the paralyzing effects of fear.
It is almost as useless to try and seize a finger and pry his grip open, or even break the finger. If he is strong he would have you nearly choked before you could accomplish this.
Even if you are stronger than Assailant is, strength is not nearly so speedy a way of conquering him as the methods given here, particularly the Third Method.
METHODS OF PRACTICE FOR HUSBAND AND WIFE
If a husband wishes to teach his wife the defense tricks he will assume the role of Assailant, as directed, and attack her with the attempted strangle, the waisthold, etc.
In attacking her throat, he will place his hands on her shoulders and his thumbs on her windpipe, gently, without pressure, and will remain in that position while she slowly executes the defense, practicing this again and again until she acquires speed, and until she can act without hesitation.
He may then hold her neck with gradually increasing pressure in his fingers, carefully avoiding pressure with his thumbs.
Soon she will learn to anticipate the attack and will act so quickly that the defense is made before his fingers can reach her throat.
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF TRAINING
In this way her reflex action is being trained and an attempted move on the part of a ruffian on the street on a dark night would stimulate her reflex action to perform the necessary defense without having to hesitate and think of what to do.
It will train her to act in the face of danger and free her from the paralyzing effects of fear.
The partner with whom you practice knows what your defense will be but must not take advantage of this knowledge to escape or parry the defense. He must attack again and again without variation.
Remember that the ruffian who attacks you on the street does not know what your defense will be and probably expects no opposition at all.
Your properly executed defense will incapacitate him before he has time to change his method of attack.
DIFFERENT METHODS OF THROAT ATTACK
An Assailant might press his thumbs directly into your windpipe.
Or he might cross his thumbs over your windpipe. A strong man could strangle you this way with one hand.
Some men would place the ends of their thumbs on the glands of your neck. This is a very painful grip.
The following lesson provides an adequate defense against any of these methods of attack.
In practice the Assailant may use any of these methods of attack but should exert no pressure with his thumbs.
At first he will merely place his hands on his partner's throat until the partner is familiar with the defense. Later on he will shove you gently. You will retreat more quickly than he shoves, unbalancing him as you retreat, and perform the counter.
Increase the speed of the attack gradually, but never become rough enough to injure one another.
In an actual combat the Assailant might not only try to choke you but to knock you over backward as well. The quickest way to master the defense to the roughest kind of attack is to eliminate the factor of momentum, and practice the trick stationary, until you have mastered all the details except momentum.
If you make your partner shove you while attacking, you will quickly catch on.
FIRST DEFENSE TO THROAT ATTACK
Assailant seizes your throat.
Bring your palms together.
(In practice, Assailant must hold tightly with his fingers, but will not press your throat with his thumbs.)
Bring your hands like a wedge smartly up between his arms, thus breaking his hold.
Place your hands behind his head or on his neck.
Pull his head smartly down, simultaneously bringing up your knee onto his nose with sufficient force to knock him out.
In practice, stop the blow three or four inches from his nose.
Make the effort from the Stahara to ensure efficient coordination between arms and legs, and keep your balance.
SECOND DEFENSE TO THROAT ATTACK
Assailant seizes your throat.
Clasp your hands together as in fig. 50.
Swing forearms upward against the side of Assailant's arms, thus breaking his hold.
Then strike him on the side below his ribs with your double clenched fists.
THREE METHODS OF DEFENSE FOR THROAT ATTACK
There are three methods of defense against throat attack taught in this lesson. The third one is by far the best. After this course is completed you will discard the first and second -- they are merely preliminary training.
A person who uses arm strength alone would not find the third method much better than the others, and would not be able to say why it was better, but you, who are working on the Stahara principle, will soon notice that the third method enables you to discount Assailant's strength to a greater extent, and to deal a more deadly return blow.
If you were taught only one method, you would know so little about the principles of the art that anyone who could do another trick efficiently -- perhaps by sheer superiority of physical strength -- would be able to prevail upon you to discard your former method.
The first and second methods have their place in this scheme of training as they give you experience in using your body in different positions, and give you greater resources of tactics to draw on -- for instance, when the chance presents itself, you would be able to use the knee smash on nose.
When this course is completed, however, your reflex action will make you automatically use the third method and scrap the others.
THE WRIST TWIST AND OTHER COMPLICATED DEFENSES
The wrist twists in Book 6 are also excellent defenses but if you are outmatched by Assailant's strength, use the third method given here, it is your best bet.
THE KNEE KICK
Bear in mind during your practice that in certain circumstances you would be justified in using the knee kick, and when matters come to that pass, kick swiftly, and then follow up with the third method, or take him prisoner with the wrist twist.
In other words, while you faithfully practice these other methods, look upon them as a means to an end, as a training in the effective use to an end, as a training in the effective use of the body, but where it is a case of life or death, use the knee kick, before your Assailant has time to get in his dirty work.
THIRD DEFENSE AGAINST THROAT ATTACK
Assailant takes the throat hold.
Swing your right elbow up over Assailant's left arm, knocking his hands away from your throat and throwing him off balance.
Make the swing, not with the arm, but with the whole body (the Stahara).
Swing your elbow back full into Assailant's neck or jaw. They are both equally vital points and a fair blow will lay him out.
In practice stop the blow three or four inches from your partner's neck.
As you swing in fig. 53, step forward and inward with your right foot and step backward and to the right with your left foot. Compare your position carefully with fig. 53.
Do not knock his arm away with your arm, but bring your armpit in contact with his arm. The swing of the body knocks his arm away and also twists your neck out of his grasp.
Practice this until you get the knack of playing the strength of your body against the strength of his arm. Until this knack is acquired, speed should not be attempted.
After mastering this trick -- the third defense, discard the other two -- the first and second defenses.
THE BLOW WITH THE EDGE OF THE HAND
When standing with your right side towards your opponent, strike him with the little finger edge of your right hand on the right side of the neck.
In practice deliver the blow with full force stopping short three or four inches from your training partner's neck.
When standing with your left side towards your opponent, strike him with the little finger side of your left hand on the left side of his neck.
On the preceding pages you have been taught how to defend yourself against an attack on the throat.
If you wish to attack anyone by the throat you will find the blow with the edge of the hand a much more speedy and efficacious method than the attempted choke with the thumbs.
This is always a backhanded blow, and will drop a man like a log.
THE BLOW WITH THE EDGE OF THE HAND
People sometimes ask whether the blow with the edge of the hand on the throat is more effective than a blow with the fist.
It is, one reason being that you cannot reach the throat with the fist so effectively as you can with the edge of the hand.
But that is not the point. The blow with the edge of the hand is given when you are in a position to deliver it and when you are not in a position to strike with the fist.
Conversely, if you are in a position to deliver an effective blow with the fist, as to the jaw, you would use the fist for you are then not in a position to deliver a blow with the edge of the hand.
In the combination trick of wrist escape and neck blow, Book 3, you can twist your wrist free and deliver the cut with the edge of the hand much more quickly than you could hit with the fist.
Furthermore the edge of the hand blow is not expected and consequently not guarded against, whereas the blow with the fist is more likely to be expected and so guarded against.
It is unnecessary to harden the edge of your hand by constant practice to acquire a hard hitting edge. When you deliver the blow, the hand is held straight and rigid and the point impact is the third joint of the little finger.
A woman of ordinary strength can learn to deliver a blow that will knock out the strongest man whereas a blow from her fist on his chin would only annoy him and cut her knuckles.
You may experiment once or twice on friend husband. Tell him to tense his neck, just give him a little tap, and see how he likes it.
EDITOR'S NOTES
EN1. In more precise terms, this point is located immediately below the septum, which is the fleshy piece separating the nostrils. The targets include a bone joint known as the intermaxillary suture and a major facial nerve known as the nasopalatine nerve. The acupressure point is Governing Vessel 26.
EN2. Thumbing is very common in professional boxing, and is a leading cause of retinal injuries. During self-defense training, in his book On Killing: The Psychological Cost of Learning to Kill in War and Society (Boston: Little, Brown, 1995), Lt. Col. Dave Grossman suggests taping an orange over the Assailant's eye and then having the defender practice pushing hard enough to make the orange squirt.
The Secrets of Jujitsu, A Complete Course in Self Defense, Book III
By Captain Allan Corstorphin Smith, U.S.A.
Winner of the Black Belt, Japan, 1916. Instructor of Hand-to-Hand Fighting, THE INFANTRY SCHOOL, Camp Benning, Columbus, Georgia and at United States Training Camps and Cantonments, 1917 and 1918.
In Seven Books.
BOOK THREE.
STAHARA PUBLISHING COMPANY
Columbus, Georgia, 1920.
***
This electronic version is copyright EJMAS © 2000. All rights reserved.
Contributed by Thomas J. Militello, a 15-year member of Astoria, New York's non-profit Horangi Taekwondo Dojang, which is headed by James Robison.
Readers interested in seeing film images should note the following film held by the National Archives and Record Administration:
NWDNM(m)-111-H-1180.
Title: Physical and Bayonet Training, 1918.
Scope and Content: Recruits at Camp Gordon, Georgia receive detailed instruction in boxing and jiu-jitsu. Wrestling and jiu-jitsu holds are used against a foe with a bayonet. Troops do calisthenics and play rough games calculated to make them physically fit.
35mm film, 15 minutes
Judging from responses from the US Army historians at Forts Myer and Benning, little biographical information is available concerning Captain Smith. Therefore readers with additional information are requested to contact the editor at jrsvinth@juno.com.
LESSON 9
This lesson teaches you --
1. First preliminary wrist exercise.
2. Second preliminary wrist exercise.
3. First wrist escape.
4. Second wrist escape (Book I).
5. Wrist escape and edge of hand blow.
Name of Partner Date Practice Commenced No. 1 No. 2 No. 3 No. 4 No. 5
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
Make a check mark against each trick each day you practice it.
PRELIMINARY WRIST EXERCISE
Assailant seizes your right wrist with his left hand, as in fig. 58, his thumbs above and his fingers below.
Turn your forearm so that the thin edge of your wrist (the thumb edge) faces the opening between his thumb and first finger.
This opening is the weakest point in his grip.
Whip your wrist straight out of this opening.
Practice first with a pause between turning your wrist and whipping it out. Then practice it as one movement.
(In the "FIRST WRIST ESCAPE," if you find yourself trying to force the broad part of your wrist out of his grip, you should return and practice this first exercise until the proper twist of the wrist comes automatically.)
SECOND PRELIMINARY EXERCISE
Lever your wrist out of his hand by pushing your elbow round to his elbow using the edge of his hand as a fulcrum.
Swing the right side of your body towards him, pivoting on the ball of the right foot, making the effort from the Stahara.
The weakest man's Stahara is stronger than the strongest man's wrist. This lesson further teaches you to play the strength of your Stahara against his wrist.
FIRST WRIST ESCAPE
Assailant seizes your right wrist in his left hand and your left wrist in his right hand.
Release your right wrist exactly as described in second preliminary exercise.
The power of the Stahara can be used just as much in this trick as in the upward wrist escape in Book 1.
If a strong man holds your wrists too tightly when you first try this, you will forget all about the Stahara and will only use arm strength, therefore practice it at first with your wrists held lightly.
Release left wrist in the same manner, swinging on the balls of the feet, making the effort from the Stahara.
Keep the body erect and straight and the elbow in at the side.
Practice until you get the knack.
WRONG METHOD
Fig. 65 shows how not to do it. By raising your elbow this way you are using arm strength instead of Stahara strength.
WRIST ESCAPE AND EDGE OF HAND BLOW
Assailant seizes your left elbow with his right hand and your right wrist with his left hand.
Let him shove you slowly back.
You will find it difficult to free your elbow.
But you will have no difficulty in whipping your right wrist away as already taught doing it with a turn of the body.
With the same motion that frees your hand carry it to the height of Assailant's shoulder.
Strike a straight chopping blow with the edge of the right hand at Assailant's neck.
In practice put strength into the blow but stop it a few inches from his neck. With this blow it is an easy matter to knock a man out.
Also practice it with Assailant seizing your right elbow and left wrist.
When done with the proper turn of the body, that is, with the strength of the Stahara instead of strength of arm, you will find it an easy matter to slip your wrist out of a much stronger man's grasp.
At first you may be clumsy and in carrying your right hand your right hand up to your left shoulder you may strike it against his right arm.
With a little practice, however, you will execute the trick with neatness and dispatch.
This, and the other wrist tricks, train you to work with neatness and dispatch, and apart from their value as fighting tricks play an important part in educating your body.
These wrist escapes are very hard on the skin so mutually agree to hold one another's wrists lightly until the correct movement of the body is mastered. You can learn quite as effectively if the wrists are held lightly.
Ladies might be advised to wear old gloves to protect their wrists.
Practice until you can escape from a fairly strong grip, without effort, by the weight and swing of the body.
Try to get the weight of your Stahara into the first wrist escape to the same extent that you did in the upward wrist escape, Book I.
At first direct your attention towards training your own body, disregarding your opponent, in which object your opponent will assist by remaining stationary, and so simplifying your task.
After your body has acquired the correct motion begin to watch Assailant's body, he may then try to prevent your escape.
You can make him relax slightly by taking away his attention, by some remark, or by pretending to kick him, or in a fight by actually kicking, say, his shins, then escape when his grip momentarily weakens.
You now know two simple wrist escapes -- the first wrist escape of this lesson, and the upward (second) wrist escape of Book I. If your Assailant frustrates your attempt to get away with one, you can instantly try the other, and escape.
Even if the effort to escape tears your skin you can still lever your wrists out of a powerful grip, but if you go tearing one another's skin at the start it will interfere with your practice.
LESSON 10
This lesson teaches you: --
1. The upward single wrist escape.
2. The downward single wrist escape.
Name of Partner Date Commenced Upward Wrist Escape Downward Wrist Escape
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
Make a check mark against each trick each day you practice it.
UPWARD SINGLE WRIST ESCAPE
Assailant seizes your right wrist with both his hands, with his thumbs above and his fingers below.
Step forward and drop down exactly as described in Book 1, so that your elbow is below his hands and bent in an acute angle with the Stahara behind.
With the weight of your body, force your wrist up and out of his grasp.
Besides being a valuable wrist trick, it trains you to put the weight of your body into any given movement. Always work with the strength of your body against the strength of Assailant's arms, getting him off balance while doing so.
After a little practice you will execute this trick so swiftly that you make the downward and upward movement before he has time to prevent you getting your elbow below his wrists.
DOWNWARD SINGLE WRIST ESCAPE
Assailant seizes your right wrist with both his hands.
He twists his hands around until the palms (instead of just his thumbs) are above your wrist.
This makes the previous mode of escape impossible.
With a turn of the body bring your elbow perpendicularly over your fist.
With the weight of your body, force your hand down through his fingers.
Push him off balance with your shoulder and his grip will still further weaken.
You may make a feint as if going to try to force your wrist up as in the previous trick and then suddenly change your tactics, bring your elbow above your fist instead of beneath it.
The two tricks taught in Lesson 10 train your ability further to play the strength of your body against the strength of Assailant's arms: to use your balance against his balance.
Every fresh step you make along these lines makes it easier to apply these principles in all other tricks.
Do not make the mistake of thinking that some of these lessons or tricks are superfluous or uninteresting.
A great many simple tricks are given here for the purpose of teaching you anatomy, not the anatomy of the college textbook which teaches you to name each part of your body, but the practical anatomy of the jujutsu man who knows what part of his opponent's body to seize, and how to use each part of his own body to the greatest advantage.
LESSON 11
This lesson teaches you: --
1. Escape when Assailant seizes you with the under grip.
2. How to reinforce the grip of the hands with the strength of the Stahara.
3. Escape when held with such a grip.
In Lessons 9 and 10, Assailants were above your wrists. In this lesson his thumbs are below your wrists.
Name of Partner Date Commenced No. 1 No. 2 No. 3
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
Make a check mark against each trick each day you practice it.
UNDERHAND GRIP -- DOWNWARD ESCAPE, BOTH WRISTS
Assailant seizes your wrists with his thumbs beneath your wrists. (In the previous tricks his thumbs were above your wrists.)
Keep your wrists straight, use the sharp bone of wrist as a knife.
Come straight down on second knuckle joint of Assailant's thumb as if trying to cut it out.
Step back with one foot as you pull and cut. Draw your elbows down and in to your side. Keep your body erect and make the effort from the Stahara.
The first part of the escape comes from the weight of your body pulling your opponent off balance. The finishing part is the cut of the hands.
These are done simultaneously after the trick is mastered, but you will acquire the knack more quickly if you try to distinguish these two factors in your first practice.
WRONG METHOD
The wrong method is to hold the elbows away from the sides and try to escape by the strength of your arms.
(It is easy to dislocate a man's thumbs by vigorously doing this trick so in practice hold each other lightly. In this way you will save your thumbs and so be able to practice more.)
DOWNWARD ESCAPE -- CONTINUED
Seize opponent's wrists. Hold the heel of your hand beneath his wrists so that when he tries to cut down he is cutting against your palms instead of against your thumbs.
Reinforce the strength of hands by holding your forearms perpendicular, elbows resting on your Stahara, like the man on the left in figure 79. In this way you can hold him indefinitely.
Now, if you are seized in this manner, bring your wrists nearer each other until they almost touch.
Your sharp wrist bones are now directly above the second joint of his thumbs (instead of above his palms), and you can cut down as previously described.
Step back in such a manner that the mere strength of his grip on your wrists brings him on his tiptoes, thus unbalancing him. Then cut down and escape.
By unbalancing an opponent, you make him unable to bring more than 20% of his strength to bear.
By keeping your own balance (by paying attention to your Stahara), you can bring 100% of your strength to bear on him.
SUMMARY
Thus described these movements are absurdly simple. It is by studying each trick in its simplest component parts that you can master it without a teacher.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
These other tricks must be practiced faithfully because they give you presence of mind and an ability to use your body correctly.
ESCAPE FROM CHIN SHOVE
Assailant attacks you with chin shove, his right hand on your chin, his left hand round your waist.
If you stand with feet on the same line you will be immediately unbalanced and unable to resist.
"ONE"
As he takes hold, step back with either foot and take a balanced position.
Bring your left elbow close to your side and palm of left hand onto Assailant's forearm.
"TWO"
Assailant pushes your had back and pulls your waist in.
Throw your head back quicker than it is pushed, knocking up his right arm with your left arm.
Keep your eyes on Assailant.
"THREE"
Instantly regain your balance and shove Assailant's chin back with your right hand.
"FOUR"
Make Assailant stagger slowly backwards. Bring up your knee with full force, stopping three inches from the target.
This practice will make you dexterous in using both hands and feet in a fight and trains you to make your every movement for the purpose of unbalancing opponent.
Keep your balance and make the effort from the Stahara.
ESCAPE FROM CHIN SHOVE
Understand in a real fight you would not shove but would hit your opponent so hard with the heel of your hand below his chin that you would knock him out.
Practice of this trick will give you the power to deliver such a blow and also the presence of mind to use it.
Also without hitting it is possible to shove so hard that opponent is knocked out by the fall.
In practice go no further than unbalancing opponent with a slow shove.
The practice of this trick has greater advantages than merely teaching you a defense against this attack. It teaches you how to use your body quickly in a way that will be valuable in all attacks.
You do not pull his hand away from your chin but evade it by giving way. The effort is made with a swaying motion of the Stahara which keeps your balance.
Take the position of each of the five photos illustrating this trick, and compare your position with them.
Practice it slowly at first. Afterwards you will do it so quickly that an onlooker could not explain what you had done.
In a real fight you would knock Assailant's hand away, and counter, before he got you in the grip illustrated by fig. 38.
BALANCE AND MOMENTUM
Jujitsu tricks are done with great rapidity on an opponent who is usually moving just as quickly. You utilize the momentum of the opponent to unbalance and defeat him instead of relying on your own strength and weight.
If you try to master the two complicated problems of your opponent's BALANCE and MOMENTUM and at the same time make your legs and arms perform a complicated, unfamiliar feat, you are up against an intricate task in which progress is slow. This is why it takes so many years in Japan to learn jujitsu.
The system by which this book teaches is radically different. It eliminates the factor of MOMENTUM by causing the teacher to stand still until the student commences to use his body properly and until he understands how to unbalance his opponent.
When this stage is reached, the student's subconscious attends to the proper working of the arms and legs and to unbalancing opponent, leaving the active mind free to watch opponent's momentum.
The teacher now adds a little movement to the lesson and finally attacks the student swiftly.
As each student alternately takes the role of Instructor (or Assailant), he will stand stationary and allow his opponent (or pupil) to master the movements of arms and legs and to discover how to unbalance his Assailant.
He may then combine movement with his instructions and his pupil will readily learn to deal with the factor of momentum.
THE WAISTHOLD SERIES
When engaged in training thousands of men who knew nothing of wrestling and boxing and who would shortly be engaged in savage trench warfare, the most important thing was to teach them to deal their opponent a kick or blow in a vital spot.
Merely telling them of these blows was not sufficient. The untrained man would think of these tricks after the battle and would sadly exclaim: "Oh, if I had only done so-and-so."
They were first taught to kick with the whole weight of the body. Merely kicking with the muscles of the leg and thigh does not deliver a blow one-third as powerful as if you "put your Stahara" into it.
The waisthold series, consisting of:
waisthold, chin shove, nose push, and escape from chin shove,
gave them more actual practice in five minutes than half-an-hour of desultory wrestling would.
A class of a thousand men could be trained in these methods with the same precision, snap, and disciplinary effect as army disciplinary calisthenics, or setting-up exercises.
A scientific analysis of each trick enabled the movements to be directed from a platform, step by step, and the soldier learned the movements as quickly and correctly as if he were getting a personal lesson from the instructor.
The same scientific analysis has been followed in these pages. The photos take the place of the platform demonstration, and the printed words take the place of commands.
Take the position of each illustration and slowly practice the movement described and you will learn how to apply your strength.
LESSON 8
This lesson teaches you --
Methods of practice for husband and wife.
The psychology of training.
Three different methods of Throat Attack.
First defense to Throat Attack.
Second defense to Throat Attack.
Third defense to Throat Attack.
Edge of hand blow.
Name of Partner Date Practice Commenced 1st Defense 2nd Defense 3 rd Defense
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
Place a check mark against each trick each day you practice it.
A USELESS METHOD OF DEFENSE
It is useless when thus attacked to seize Assailant's wrists and try to pull them off.
Yet that is what most people would do under the paralyzing effects of fear.
It is almost as useless to try and seize a finger and pry his grip open, or even break the finger. If he is strong he would have you nearly choked before you could accomplish this.
Even if you are stronger than Assailant is, strength is not nearly so speedy a way of conquering him as the methods given here, particularly the Third Method.
METHODS OF PRACTICE FOR HUSBAND AND WIFE
If a husband wishes to teach his wife the defense tricks he will assume the role of Assailant, as directed, and attack her with the attempted strangle, the waisthold, etc.
In attacking her throat, he will place his hands on her shoulders and his thumbs on her windpipe, gently, without pressure, and will remain in that position while she slowly executes the defense, practicing this again and again until she acquires speed, and until she can act without hesitation.
He may then hold her neck with gradually increasing pressure in his fingers, carefully avoiding pressure with his thumbs.
Soon she will learn to anticipate the attack and will act so quickly that the defense is made before his fingers can reach her throat.
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF TRAINING
In this way her reflex action is being trained and an attempted move on the part of a ruffian on the street on a dark night would stimulate her reflex action to perform the necessary defense without having to hesitate and think of what to do.
It will train her to act in the face of danger and free her from the paralyzing effects of fear.
The partner with whom you practice knows what your defense will be but must not take advantage of this knowledge to escape or parry the defense. He must attack again and again without variation.
Remember that the ruffian who attacks you on the street does not know what your defense will be and probably expects no opposition at all.
Your properly executed defense will incapacitate him before he has time to change his method of attack.
DIFFERENT METHODS OF THROAT ATTACK
An Assailant might press his thumbs directly into your windpipe.
Or he might cross his thumbs over your windpipe. A strong man could strangle you this way with one hand.
Some men would place the ends of their thumbs on the glands of your neck. This is a very painful grip.
The following lesson provides an adequate defense against any of these methods of attack.
In practice the Assailant may use any of these methods of attack but should exert no pressure with his thumbs.
At first he will merely place his hands on his partner's throat until the partner is familiar with the defense. Later on he will shove you gently. You will retreat more quickly than he shoves, unbalancing him as you retreat, and perform the counter.
Increase the speed of the attack gradually, but never become rough enough to injure one another.
In an actual combat the Assailant might not only try to choke you but to knock you over backward as well. The quickest way to master the defense to the roughest kind of attack is to eliminate the factor of momentum, and practice the trick stationary, until you have mastered all the details except momentum.
If you make your partner shove you while attacking, you will quickly catch on.
FIRST DEFENSE TO THROAT ATTACK
Assailant seizes your throat.
Bring your palms together.
(In practice, Assailant must hold tightly with his fingers, but will not press your throat with his thumbs.)
Bring your hands like a wedge smartly up between his arms, thus breaking his hold.
Place your hands behind his head or on his neck.
Pull his head smartly down, simultaneously bringing up your knee onto his nose with sufficient force to knock him out.
In practice, stop the blow three or four inches from his nose.
Make the effort from the Stahara to ensure efficient coordination between arms and legs, and keep your balance.
SECOND DEFENSE TO THROAT ATTACK
Assailant seizes your throat.
Clasp your hands together as in fig. 50.
Swing forearms upward against the side of Assailant's arms, thus breaking his hold.
Then strike him on the side below his ribs with your double clenched fists.
THREE METHODS OF DEFENSE FOR THROAT ATTACK
There are three methods of defense against throat attack taught in this lesson. The third one is by far the best. After this course is completed you will discard the first and second -- they are merely preliminary training.
A person who uses arm strength alone would not find the third method much better than the others, and would not be able to say why it was better, but you, who are working on the Stahara principle, will soon notice that the third method enables you to discount Assailant's strength to a greater extent, and to deal a more deadly return blow.
If you were taught only one method, you would know so little about the principles of the art that anyone who could do another trick efficiently -- perhaps by sheer superiority of physical strength -- would be able to prevail upon you to discard your former method.
The first and second methods have their place in this scheme of training as they give you experience in using your body in different positions, and give you greater resources of tactics to draw on -- for instance, when the chance presents itself, you would be able to use the knee smash on nose.
When this course is completed, however, your reflex action will make you automatically use the third method and scrap the others.
THE WRIST TWIST AND OTHER COMPLICATED DEFENSES
The wrist twists in Book 6 are also excellent defenses but if you are outmatched by Assailant's strength, use the third method given here, it is your best bet.
THE KNEE KICK
Bear in mind during your practice that in certain circumstances you would be justified in using the knee kick, and when matters come to that pass, kick swiftly, and then follow up with the third method, or take him prisoner with the wrist twist.
In other words, while you faithfully practice these other methods, look upon them as a means to an end, as a training in the effective use to an end, as a training in the effective use of the body, but where it is a case of life or death, use the knee kick, before your Assailant has time to get in his dirty work.
THIRD DEFENSE AGAINST THROAT ATTACK
Assailant takes the throat hold.
Swing your right elbow up over Assailant's left arm, knocking his hands away from your throat and throwing him off balance.
Make the swing, not with the arm, but with the whole body (the Stahara).
Swing your elbow back full into Assailant's neck or jaw. They are both equally vital points and a fair blow will lay him out.
In practice stop the blow three or four inches from your partner's neck.
As you swing in fig. 53, step forward and inward with your right foot and step backward and to the right with your left foot. Compare your position carefully with fig. 53.
Do not knock his arm away with your arm, but bring your armpit in contact with his arm. The swing of the body knocks his arm away and also twists your neck out of his grasp.
Practice this until you get the knack of playing the strength of your body against the strength of his arm. Until this knack is acquired, speed should not be attempted.
After mastering this trick -- the third defense, discard the other two -- the first and second defenses.
THE BLOW WITH THE EDGE OF THE HAND
When standing with your right side towards your opponent, strike him with the little finger edge of your right hand on the right side of the neck.
In practice deliver the blow with full force stopping short three or four inches from your training partner's neck.
When standing with your left side towards your opponent, strike him with the little finger side of your left hand on the left side of his neck.
On the preceding pages you have been taught how to defend yourself against an attack on the throat.
If you wish to attack anyone by the throat you will find the blow with the edge of the hand a much more speedy and efficacious method than the attempted choke with the thumbs.
This is always a backhanded blow, and will drop a man like a log.
THE BLOW WITH THE EDGE OF THE HAND
People sometimes ask whether the blow with the edge of the hand on the throat is more effective than a blow with the fist.
It is, one reason being that you cannot reach the throat with the fist so effectively as you can with the edge of the hand.
But that is not the point. The blow with the edge of the hand is given when you are in a position to deliver it and when you are not in a position to strike with the fist.
Conversely, if you are in a position to deliver an effective blow with the fist, as to the jaw, you would use the fist for you are then not in a position to deliver a blow with the edge of the hand.
In the combination trick of wrist escape and neck blow, Book 3, you can twist your wrist free and deliver the cut with the edge of the hand much more quickly than you could hit with the fist.
Furthermore the edge of the hand blow is not expected and consequently not guarded against, whereas the blow with the fist is more likely to be expected and so guarded against.
It is unnecessary to harden the edge of your hand by constant practice to acquire a hard hitting edge. When you deliver the blow, the hand is held straight and rigid and the point impact is the third joint of the little finger.
A woman of ordinary strength can learn to deliver a blow that will knock out the strongest man whereas a blow from her fist on his chin would only annoy him and cut her knuckles.
You may experiment once or twice on friend husband. Tell him to tense his neck, just give him a little tap, and see how he likes it.
EDITOR'S NOTES
EN1. In more precise terms, this point is located immediately below the septum, which is the fleshy piece separating the nostrils. The targets include a bone joint known as the intermaxillary suture and a major facial nerve known as the nasopalatine nerve. The acupressure point is Governing Vessel 26.
EN2. Thumbing is very common in professional boxing, and is a leading cause of retinal injuries. During self-defense training, in his book On Killing: The Psychological Cost of Learning to Kill in War and Society (Boston: Little, Brown, 1995), Lt. Col. Dave Grossman suggests taping an orange over the Assailant's eye and then having the defender practice pushing hard enough to make the orange squirt.
The Secrets of Jujitsu, A Complete Course in Self Defense, Book III
By Captain Allan Corstorphin Smith, U.S.A.
Winner of the Black Belt, Japan, 1916. Instructor of Hand-to-Hand Fighting, THE INFANTRY SCHOOL, Camp Benning, Columbus, Georgia and at United States Training Camps and Cantonments, 1917 and 1918.
In Seven Books.
BOOK THREE.
STAHARA PUBLISHING COMPANY
Columbus, Georgia, 1920.
***
This electronic version is copyright EJMAS © 2000. All rights reserved.
Contributed by Thomas J. Militello, a 15-year member of Astoria, New York's non-profit Horangi Taekwondo Dojang, which is headed by James Robison.
Readers interested in seeing film images should note the following film held by the National Archives and Record Administration:
NWDNM(m)-111-H-1180.
Title: Physical and Bayonet Training, 1918.
Scope and Content: Recruits at Camp Gordon, Georgia receive detailed instruction in boxing and jiu-jitsu. Wrestling and jiu-jitsu holds are used against a foe with a bayonet. Troops do calisthenics and play rough games calculated to make them physically fit.
35mm film, 15 minutes
Judging from responses from the US Army historians at Forts Myer and Benning, little biographical information is available concerning Captain Smith. Therefore readers with additional information are requested to contact the editor at jrsvinth@juno.com
LESSON 9
This lesson teaches you --
1. First preliminary wrist exercise.
2. Second preliminary wrist exercise.
3. First wrist escape.
4. Second wrist escape (Book I).
5. Wrist escape and edge of hand blow.
Name of Partner Date Practice Commenced No. 1 No. 2 No. 3 No. 4 No. 5
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10.
Make a check mark against each trick each day you practice it.
PRELIMINARY WRIST EXERCISE
Assailant seizes your right wrist with his left hand, as in fig. 58, his thumbs above and his fingers below.
Turn your forearm so that the thin edge of your wrist (the thumb edge) faces the opening between his thumb and first finger.
This opening is the weakest point in his grip.
Whip your wrist straight out of this opening.
Practice first with a pause between turning your wrist and whipping it out. Then practice it as one movement.
(In the "FIRST WRIST ESCAPE," if you find yourself trying to force the broad part of your wrist out of his grip, you should return and practice this first exercise until the proper twist of the wrist comes automatically.)
SECOND PRELIMINARY EXERCISE
Lever your wrist out of his hand by pushing your elbow round to his elbow using the edge of his hand as a fulcrum.
Swing the right side of your body towards him, pivoting on the ball of the right foot, making the effort from the Stahara.
The weakest man's Stahara is stronger than the strongest man's wrist. This lesson further teaches you to play the strength of your Stahara against his wrist.
FIRST WRIST ESCAPE
Assailant seizes your right wrist in his left hand and your left wrist in his right hand.
Release your right wrist exactly as described in second preliminary exercise.
The power of the Stahara can be used just as much in this trick as in the upward wrist escape in Book 1.
If a strong man holds your wrists too tightly when you first try this, you will forget all about the Stahara and will only use arm strength, therefore practice it at first with your wrists held lightly.
Release left wrist in the same manner, swinging on the balls of the feet, making the effort from the Stahara.
Keep the body erect and straight and the elbow in at the side.
Practice until you get the knack.
WRONG METHOD
Fig. 65 shows how not to do it. By raising your elbow this way you are using arm strength instead of Stahara strength.
WRIST ESCAPE AND EDGE OF HAND BLOW
Assailant seizes your left elbow with his right hand and your right wrist with his left hand.
Let him shove you slowly back.
You will find it difficult to free your elbow.
But you will have no difficulty in whipping your right wrist away as already taught doing it with a turn of the body.
With the same motion that frees your hand carry it to the height of Assailant's shoulder.
Strike a straight chopping blow with the edge of the right hand at Assailant's neck.
In practice put strength into the blow but stop it a few inches from his neck. With this blow it is an easy matter to knock a man out.
Also practice it with Assailant seizing your right elbow and left wrist.
When done with the proper turn of the body, that is, with the strength of the Stahara instead of strength of arm, you will find it an easy matter to slip your wrist out of a much stronger man's grasp.
At first you may be clumsy and in carrying your right hand your right hand up to your left shoulder you may strike it against his right arm.
With a little practice, however, you will execute the trick with neatness and dispatch.
This, and the other wrist tricks, train you to work with neatness and dispatch, and apart from their value as fighting tricks play an important part in educating your body.
These wrist escapes are very hard on the skin so mutually agree to hold one another's wrists lightly until the correct movement of the body is mastered. You can learn quite as effectively if the wrists are held lightly.
Ladies might be advised to wear old gloves to protect their wrists.
Practice until you can escape from a fairly strong grip, without effort, by the weight and swing of the body.
Try to get the weight of your Stahara into the first wrist escape to the same extent that you did in the upward wrist escape, Book I.
At first direct your attention towards training your own body, disregarding your opponent, in which object your opponent will assist by remaining stationary, and so simplifying your task.
After your body has acquired the correct motion begin to watch Assailant's body, he may then try to prevent your escape.
You can make him relax slightly by taking away his attention, by some remark, or by pretending to kick him, or in a fight by actually kicking, say, his shins, then escape when his grip momentarily weakens.
You now know two simple wrist escapes -- the first wrist escape of this lesson, and the upward (second) wrist escape of Book I. If your Assailant frustrates your attempt to get away with one, you can instantly try the other, and escape.
Even if the effort to escape tears your skin you can still lever your wrists out of a powerful grip, but if you go tearing one another's skin at the start it will interfere with your practice.
LESSON 10
This lesson teaches you: --
1. The upward single wrist escape.
2. The downward single wrist escape.
Name of Partner Date Commenced Upward Wrist Escape Downward Wrist Escape
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2.
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10.
Make a check mark against each trick each day you practice it.
UPWARD SINGLE WRIST ESCAPE
Assailant seizes your right wrist with both his hands, with his thumbs above and his fingers below.
Step forward and drop down exactly as described in Book 1, so that your elbow is below his hands and bent in an acute angle with the Stahara behind.
With the weight of your body, force your wrist up and out of his grasp.
Besides being a valuable wrist trick, it trains you to put the weight of your body into any given movement. Always work with the strength of your body against the strength of Assailant's arms, getting him off balance while doing so.
After a little practice you will execute this trick so swiftly that you make the downward and upward movement before he has time to prevent you getting your elbow below his wrists.
DOWNWARD SINGLE WRIST ESCAPE
Assailant seizes your right wrist with both his hands.
He twists his hands around until the palms (instead of just his thumbs) are above your wrist.
This makes the previous mode of escape impossible.
With a turn of the body bring your elbow perpendicularly over your fist.
With the weight of your body, force your hand down through his fingers.
Push him off balance with your shoulder and his grip will still further weaken.
You may make a feint as if going to try to force your wrist up as in the previous trick and then suddenly change your tactics, bring your elbow above your fist instead of beneath it.
The two tricks taught in Lesson 10 train your ability further to play the strength of your body against the strength of Assailant's arms: to use your balance against his balance.
Every fresh step you make along these lines makes it easier to apply these principles in all other tricks.
Do not make the mistake of thinking that some of these lessons or tricks are superfluous or uninteresting.
A great many simple tricks are given here for the purpose of teaching you anatomy, not the anatomy of the college textbook which teaches you to name each part of your body, but the practical anatomy of the jujutsu man who knows what part of his opponent's body to seize, and how to use each part of his own body to the greatest advantage.
LESSON 11
This lesson teaches you: --
1. Escape when Assailant seizes you with the under grip.
2. How to reinforce the grip of the hands with the strength of the Stahara.
3. Escape when held with such a grip.
In Lessons 9 and 10, Assailants were above your wrists. In this lesson his thumbs are below your wrists.
Name of Partner Date Commenced No. 1 No. 2 No. 3
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2.
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5.
6.
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9.
10.
Make a check mark against each trick each day you practice it.
UNDERHAND GRIP -- DOWNWARD ESCAPE, BOTH WRISTS
Assailant seizes your wrists with his thumbs beneath your wrists. (In the previous tricks his thumbs were above your wrists.)
Keep your wrists straight, use the sharp bone of wrist as a knife.
Come straight down on second knuckle joint of Assailant's thumb as if trying to cut it out.
Step back with one foot as you pull and cut. Draw your elbows down and in to your side. Keep your body erect and make the effort from the Stahara.
The first part of the escape comes from the weight of your body pulling your opponent off balance. The finishing part is the cut of the hands.
These are done simultaneously after the trick is mastered, but you will acquire the knack more quickly if you try to distinguish these two factors in your first practice.
WRONG METHOD
The wrong method is to hold the elbows away from the sides and try to escape by the strength of your arms.
(It is easy to dislocate a man's thumbs by vigorously doing this trick so in practice hold each other lightly. In this way you will save your thumbs and so be able to practice more.)
DOWNWARD ESCAPE -- CONTINUED
Seize opponent's wrists. Hold the heel of your hand beneath his wrists so that when he tries to cut down he is cutting against your palms instead of against your thumbs.
Reinforce the strength of hands by holding your forearms perpendicular, elbows resting on your Stahara, like the man on the left in figure 79. In this way you can hold him indefinitely.
Now, if you are seized in this manner, bring your wrists nearer each other until they almost touch.
Your sharp wrist bones are now directly above the second joint of his thumbs (instead of above his palms), and you can cut down as previously described.
Step back in such a manner that the mere strength of his grip on your wrists brings him on his tiptoes, thus unbalancing him. Then cut down and escape.
By unbalancing an opponent, you make him unable to bring more than 20% of his strength to bear.
By keeping your own balance (by paying attention to your Stahara), you can bring 100% of your strength to bear on him.
SUMMARY
Thus described these movements are absurdly simple. It is by studying each trick in its simplest component parts that you can master it without a teacher.
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