In the Edo or Tokugawa period (1603 to 1868) and years prior in Japan, jujutsu was for training Samurai who acted as the army and police force. Jujutsu schools were broken out by families or clans and usually had their specialty. Typically you would study or learn different weaponry and skill sets from different clans. All of these were extremely pragmatic until the end of the Edo period when there was peace in Japan as the country became unified and feudal lords stopped their civil wars.
Today a few of those jujutsu schools still exist, but they all focus on outdated and antiquated weaponry. The old school or Koryu systems are more for cultural exploration than self defense. In fact today most martial arts are not tailored for self defense at all.
Martial arts today can be broken into three categories: self defense, sport and cultural fighting art. Most arts today are either a sport or a cultural. If you look at the origins of most modern forms of martial arts you’ll find that they were developed to promote fitness, national pride, sports entertainment or a combination of all three. On the contrary, the purpose of Tekkenryu was more in line with traditional Japanese jujutsu systems where the application was strictly civilian and police self defense. This was what the founders, Carl Cestari and Damian Ross, had in mind when they put pen to paper and began the seven year development of Tekkenryu.
The main purpose behind creating the system was training. In all of their combined 62 years and 5 Black Belts in the martial arts, there was nothing that closely resembled what they wanted to focus on and teach. This was because there was nothing that was specifically self defense oriented. If you look at the creation of all martial arts they are either a cultural exploration or a combat fighting art. Many claimed a self defense component but when examined all were attempts to apply sporting or cultural arts to self defense. They took the opposite approach and began with self defense and then selected sport and culture methods that would only enhance that self defense aspect.
Tekkenryu Jujutsu was founded in 2001 by Cestari and Ross. Tekken means “Iron Fist”, “Ryu” means “system” so it is literally the “Iron Fist System”. The feeling was that through your training you forge your mind and body into iron. Both Cestari and Ross were large proponents of Makiwara training. This is the process of gradually conditioning your hands, feet and other body parts by striking a wooden plank (and other hard objects) over an extended period of time. They felt that if you were willing to do this, you were willing to go through anything. The “Iron Fist” also refers to Carl’s legendary knuckles that have been conditioned to pulverize anything they hit. The Japanese name is to pay homage to the primarily Japanese martial arts experience of both Ross and Cestari.
What they developed was a combination of World War II era military combatives and street fighting, Pre-World War II Judo, Knockdown Karate and traditional Akijujutsu.
The goal is to give the student the tools for self defense as fast as possible and then if they wanted to learn more about the martial arts and combat sport they could. The feeling was most people train for six months to a year and then stop. As instructors Damian and Carl felt that their obligation would be complete because anyone who studied in the system for even a brief period of time would at least know how to defend themselves since it doesn’t take a lot of training for someone to learn how to protect themselves and not everyone wants to devote their life to martial arts training.
The military combatives segment of training was selected because World War II was the height of hand to hand combat. This was before technology like night vision, precision firearms, smart bombs and superior intelligence gathering tools like predator drones and satellites. This is when the US and British were not technically superior to the enemy and hand to hand combat was a reality and not an exercise in teamwork and confidence building like it is today. It was a time of “attack and die” trench warfare and espionage when a soldier’s life depended on close quarters combat. It is without question that these methods by far are the most brutal, the easiest to learn, and the most effective when compared to all other methods. Carl drew on his study of military combatives in the mid-eighties when he received an Instructor certification from self defense legend Charles Nelson. He also interviewed dozens of people who both created and trained in these methods to ensure that what they were doing was correct.
Judo was chosen as the sport component above all other grappling arts because its primary principles relate directly to self defense. Judo trains you to stay on your feet, gain a dominant position on the ground and end the fight as soon as possible. It demands that you “go for the knock out” as soon as you get the chance. The Pre-World War II Judo syllabus from M. Kawaishi’s “My Method of Judo” was chosen because it has all the neck dislocations, leg locks and other nasty techniques that are illegal in today’s sport competition. Judo also has in it an inherent sense of urgency to end the fight as quickly as possible which is crucial in self defense. In addition, Judo is a system with strong international roots and enables students to continue to participate at any age. You don’t see old boxer’s still boxing, but you see old Judoka still getting on the mat (when their joints don’t bother them too much!) Both Damian (second degree) and Carl (first degree) received Black Belts in Judo from Judo Master Yoshisada Yonezuka.
The Karate element was derived from Carl’s experience in Kimura’s Shukokai Karate (first degree Black Belt) and Damian’s Tae Kwon Do training (second degree Black Belt). The focus is a traditional Karate style consisting of as little kicks and punches as possible. The goal is to generate as much power as possible to promote “Ikken Hitatsu” or the “One Strike – One Kill” philosophy. To do this there was a lot of makiwara training along with occasional Bogu (complete body armor) sparring. Instead of training for points, students are demanded to hit as hard, as fast and as often as possible. Once a student gains the advantage he or she is encouraged to continue the attack until there is full submission. In order to do this and maintain safety, the sparring would consist of 15 to 30 second bursts to simulate the intensity, the violence and urgency of a real fight. Make no mistake you can’t do this every week. Only about once every four to six weeks.
Finally there is the Aikijujutsu component. Even though Carl did have a black belt in Daitoryu jujutsu, he chose the Danzanryu syllabus because he felt it was better organized. The purpose of studying Aikijujutsu is mostly academic and cultural. It gives students a deeper understanding of biomechanics, pain management and connects them with the Japanese heritage of the system. Even though it’s in the advanced belt ranks of the system it’s the least important.
Tekkenryu is a 10 kyu (10 level system). The first 3 kyus are the combatives portion of the training and usually takes eight months to a year of training one to two times a week for an hour to complete. The next 4 kyus consisted of knockdown karate, judo and basic Aikijujutsu. The last three kyus involved close quarters weapons offense, more complex judo and Akijujutsu skills. The advanced kyus were not “better” or more effective than the first 3 kyus. They’re simply a further study of more traditional martial arts.
Tekkenryu jujutsu, though extensive was not enough. The system had to be taught and field tested. Drills had to be developed to ensure that students were learning as fast as possible. The goal was to shorten time in training as much as possible. Most systems have class or time requirements. Tekkenryu did not. The only requirement is that you know the material. Development of the system happened from 2000 until 2007 when Damian taught hundreds of people from a variety of ages and backgrounds in three locations. Over the years the curriculum was simplified and drills were developed to get the desired effect. He discovered that the more complicated methods were indeed the least effective.
Over time only the most effective techniques for self defense along with the most effective training methods were retained. Later all of the culture and sport would be eliminated from Tekkenryu, leaving only the most brutal and effective methods, It was re-named to the Self Defense Training System (SDTS) and can be found here www.theselfdefenseco.com.
Carl Cestari died in August 2007 leaving behind a fragmented legacy that is so common among the martial arts world. Tekkenryu jujutsu is the only system of self defense Carl has ever founded. Damian Ross is the founder of the Self Defense Company and developer of The Self Defense Training System, the only living legacy of Tekkenryu jujutsu which is carried on through The Self Defense Company and its global network of instructors and legion training members.
This article was published by SDC Instructor Steve Drake in physique magazine, you can see the published article on the SDTS facebook page HERE
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