more small circles...

above: wally jay and son, leon


Reflecting a lot upon small-circle theory lately, especially with the passing of Wally Jay (see post below), I have come up with a few reasons why I think the small-circle concept holds water.
*small-circle jiu-jitsu is a style of MA where traditional japanese jiu-jitsu is used with a focus on quick, tight, circular movements (as opposed to larger, looser motions).
Here is a list of some of the positive aspects I see for myself regarding this style:

• pain and/or control comes on very fast



• very few telegraphing motions



• little effort required to achieve big results



• surprise factor (movements often shoot in at an attacker, which few thugs expect)



• sets up variety and/or flow (small techniques can readily be switched up as the commitment is less... ie. a big forward stance strike may be harder to reset into a throw, whereas a tight wrist lock can be turned into a throw or a dojo favourite where I train, the lock stays on during the throw. it'll make you feel sick, trust me....)

So, this isn't a compare and contrast post bashing other styles which I also respect. These are just thoughts meant for myself, and why I feel comfortable with the art I practice. Surely there are aspects of every branch of MA that can be suitable for the practioner.

link...

Journeyman on the passing of Professor Wally Jay: a true innovator and legend.

nature's pattern

Cross-Thinking...

Cross-training..... hmm... check out journeyman's blog about this here.

I don't feel I need to add much more to the martial/athletic aspect of this subject as he and Sue C. seem to have explored the idea well.

However, something I've noticed in myself, which is a bit of a twist on the subject, is the need to cross-think. Blogging, in itself, is a form of this. So is reading the thoughts of others. In doing this, often in conversations with students/teachers of other styles and/or schools, we are expanding our internal understanding of our own paths through contemplation and dialogue with peers outside of own dojo. While I study small-circle jiu-jitsu, much of my philosophy is influenced by aikido, and i cross train, mentally, by corresponding to others who are attuned to this school of thought. I also gravitate to judo in some aspects and karate in others. While I don't desire to alter my physical training at this juncture (largely due to time constraints and focus), I can still enter into the world of these complementary arts and add the information to my own sphere of training. In a nut shell, by reading blogs I am studying not only my own style of budo, but indirectly many others as well.

I do this with books, also, linking not just Eastern thought to my Path, but Western and indigeonous tradition, too.

I feel a more rounded thinker makes a more complete student of life itself.

The Wheel

More circles.

Often, our technique consists a large circle (the arch of a shoulder throw), and often, or almost always in the case of my art, it has a smaller one as well (the tight wrist lock that finishes the technique).

I see the whole experience in this way.

When we initially come to train we start recognizing patterns, and learn by returning to a technique again and again over a course of months and years. It's a big cycle of learning, where, at every level we realize that we are just at the start of a new one. It's a constant spiral of understanding that seems to never end.

And then there are the small aspects. Returning to a wrist throw and honing the way it's applied ever more sharply. Ever more carefully. This is the small circle of one's education that insists on perfecting the simplist techniques in order to perfect the larger whole of one's abilities.

It seems that it's only when both circles move in unison that we advance further our journey.

more wally jay.... in his seventies....

small circle theory

I was looking through a book I bought in a used book store a couple of years ago, The Art of Holding, by Marc Tedeschi. It’s a good book for joint locks and contains many, many images and defense sequences. Tedeschi has a hapkido background, although the book would be a good fit in any martial artist’s library, especially anyone interested in jujitsu. What I like about Tedeschi’s technique, at first glance, is his use of the small circle. It immediately made me think of the legendary Professor Wally Jay, a man who is now in his 90s, who has impacted the world of budo as much or more than any other teacher in the past century. He developed the Small Circle Jujitsu style, which is known for its simplicity and excruciating pain. Bruce Lee is one of many who took notes from Professor Wally Jay.
Anyway, it was with these thoughts that I found something in Tedeschi’s book that I had never before noticed. It was a dedication, at the beginning of the book, to none other than Professor Wally Jay, praising him as “a generous and innovative teacher who helped me perceive the common threads that run through all martial arts.”
Apparently, my thoughts weren’t far from the mark.
Here’s a bit more about Small Circle theory from Professor Leon Jay, Wally’s son, and second grandmaster of the style:
“Small Circle has been brought to kung fu, karate, martial arts of all styles and people with no martial arts background. We’re not just stuck in one place – Judo, or Ju-jitsu. It works across the board; there’s Aikido and Savate and Silat – it transcends stylistic differences.
“One of the key elements is about not having to use massive amounts of power to control people – we control them with as little effort and, therefore damage to them, as possible.
“Students take on board the 10 principles that Dad drew up and apply them to their own systems. There’s balance, avoiding head on collision of forces, mobility and stability, mental resistance to an attack, concentrating the maximum force to the smallest point, energy transfer, the two-way action of the fulcrum and lever and making a base, sticking to your opponent and feeling what he’s doing, rotational movement, and transitional flow – where you can flow from one technique into another effortlessly.” (from an interview at Smallcirclejujitsu.com)

The Circle Game

Basically, the way I see it, is that martial artists are reprogramming their patterns of thought to view the world in a circular format rather than a linear one.
It is a concept that extends beyond technique and merges into the student’s overall perception of reality itself. After all, linear forms are human, and not of nature. The universe works effortlessly, utilizing spin to create and sustain energy. This is true with planets or atoms, and everything else in between. Even space itself bends, causing starlight to curve as it travels from its source to our eyes.
In martial arts such as small-circle jiu-jitsu, aikido and judo, this relationship with the circle is paramount. The techniques won’t work without it. Force eases with its use, and an attacker’s energy can be transferred away from harming the defender.
When this concept is taken outside of the dojo, into daily life, it works the same way. Deflecting negativity allows our own energy to remain stable. We learn about cycles of seasons, growth, emotion, economy, injury and age. In the trees we see the rings of years, which are comparable to our own periods of inner development.
However, while everything exists in circular form, as a species, we juxtapose our own patterns onto nature’s: square houses, right angled roads, rectangular books and screens, etc. This is because we don’t view the world around us as an integrated whole. We see it in limitations and separations.
But when we learn to think in circles, we maximize our energy and potential. In this way, we may expand our understanding of our own lives and remove ourselves from the boxes in which we have placed ourselves.