I have been giving this a lot of thought in the years since making a first clumsy attempt at looking at this subject in this forum: (http://www.bullshido.net/forums/showthread.php?t=87066)
BKR and Dldr both were very helpful in steering me in the right direction, whether they would endorse where it took me or not.
I'm going to lay out the current state of my thinking and research on this (it's a lot), and my hope is that you guys will do what you do best and rip it to shreds where it's weak, and support it where it's strong. I'm going to lay the initial sketch out sans references to keep the length down, but I have plenty in that regard, and you should feel free to demand to see them where you feel they are needed. In any case, I'll compile and post all the references as we go on.
So, I’m looking to support a version of events that runs like this: Mataemon Tanabe, in association with Yatarou Handa, refined his personal approach to ne waza for the purpose of challenging and defeating the Kodokan, and taught it to a group of students (who used it to defeat the Kodokan.) This approach is carried by the first wave of ex-patriot challenge-wrestlers who arrived in the UK, introducing British wrestlers to the idea of wrestling for submission rather than pinfall, and then feeds directly into the development of Bartitsu and the Budokwai. After experiencing the defeat of his fighters at the hands of the Tenabe’s group, Kano takes steps to absorb Tenabe's syllabus into Kodokan Judo, buttressing his system's relatively limited mat work, but is never comfortable with the acquired material’s place in his system, and eventually takes steps to minimize its impact on the way Judo is practiced (at least in Tokyo close to the Kodokan, if not in the university system and other regions). Among those who learn their Judo at a time when Tenabe’s ne waza was assimilated is Mitsuyo Maeda, who becomes part of the community of the dozen or so Japanese challenger wrestlers, some Kodokan some not - all familiar with Tenabe’s material- who train, travel and fight together under Catch as Catch Can "Jiu-Jitsu" (jacket) rules as well as the rough-and-tumble/vale tudo format. While Maeda may not have had actual contact with any member of the Gracie family in Brazil, it is clear that Carlos Gracie, Sr trained for several years in Maeda’s style of Professional Jiu-jitsu and sought to emulate his success in the ring. In this sense, under this model Gracie Jiu-Jitsu is strictly neither a form of Kodokan Judo, nor a form of koryu Jiu-Jitsu, but rather a body of techniques from multiple sources favored by Japanese challenge wrestlers, and used in the ring to win rough-and-tumble and "jiu-jitsu wrestling" contests, with a substantial influence coming from the ne waza style of a specific group associated with Tenabe and Handa (and not any koryu art, Fusen or otherwise).
Carlos Gracie has a few years exposure to this style but athleticizes it in a way that makes it more difficult to teach to others; Helio removes the athletic element, essentially rediscovering the source style Carlos had been taught, and believes (perhaps honestly) that he had invented that source style, despite its being essentially identical to other Maeda lineages (like that of Fadda Academy). The application of this style to street fighting is most likely the primary contribution of the Gracie family.
Looking over the available evidence, I think Taro Miyake’s statements to the press in 1915 about the relative strength in tachiwaza and newaza between the Kodokan and “Handa” styles is a good indicator that something existed in the Osaka region that was markedly different than Kano’s system (in emphasis, if not in method).
Of course none of this has too much bearing on what is known today as "BJJ" which is a sport invented later by people people in the Gracie system like Rolls Gracie and João Alberto Barreto. What is known today as Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is a body of technique invented an inch at a time by everyone who ever stepped on the mat, some more than others. Still, it seems to bear the influence of the Tenabe/Handa group’s anti-Kodokan ne waza system, and other related offshoots like the body of technique favored by players in the KOSEN rule set have this system as a common ancestor. This, and not a direct influence as has been postulated by some, accounts for the marked similarity of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and the methods common in the KOSEN format.
Ever since arguments first began appearing that Gracie Jiu-jitsu was not a style of Jiu-Jitsu at all (see Mark Tripp's long history of Judo reprinted here:http://mixedmartialartshistory.wordpress.com/2013/03/14/the-great-underground-ryu-ha-ha/), I have been trying to find a more satisfying history than the one offered by the Gracie family, or by those arguing that what Maeda taught in Brazil was "simply Kodokan Judo". The above is, nutshelled, my best current understanding; I'm sure there is much more to learn.
Just as an aside, Miyake’s description of the Osaka style is quite similar to the language Uyenishi used in 1907 (The text-book of ju-jitsu as practised in Japan) to describe the traditional Okinawan art of Tori Te: "Another analogous system, known as tori in some parts of Japan and as shime in others, was an extension of Ju-jutsu in the department of ground work, and it is more than possible thet many of the locks and holds of ju-jutsu were originated by exponents of tori. The last named system cannot, however, be compared with the ‘soft art’ as a method of self-defense, as but slight importance was devoted to ‘throws’, the modus operandi being mainly confined to falling to the ground yourself and then pulling your opponent down, there to struggle for the victorious lock." (emphasis mine)
One naturally begins to speculate about the influence of the already existing Tori Te on the groundwork based strategies coming into favor in the Osaka region. Worth looking into more...
In any case, one of the themes I’m looking to explore is how the tendency for people to rally around words and labels for fighting systems can skew both our view of history, as well as the tribal behavior of martial artists in choosing “sides” to represent in contests for bragging rights. "Jiu-Jitsu" was used in the generic to refer to the broad category of Japanese systems (including Kano’s) that embraced a certain principle of yielding, or it could be used to refer the classical ryu-ha Kano sought to supplant with his Judo. In the West, the term referred to a general category of Japanese self-defense “tricks”, but also to a specific rule set describing jacketed submission grappling in a ring. When the Gracies described Maeda as "Jiu-jitsu champion of the world" it is to this format that they were referring, as there was clearly no world champion of "Jujutsu” as the Japanese used the word. For example, in Estadão newspaper, September 28th 1914:
"The press announces today one more variety show, included in the program a challenge from Italian fighter E. Baldi to the Japanese Jiu-Jitsu champion Count Koma"
(cont.)
BKR and Dldr both were very helpful in steering me in the right direction, whether they would endorse where it took me or not.
I'm going to lay out the current state of my thinking and research on this (it's a lot), and my hope is that you guys will do what you do best and rip it to shreds where it's weak, and support it where it's strong. I'm going to lay the initial sketch out sans references to keep the length down, but I have plenty in that regard, and you should feel free to demand to see them where you feel they are needed. In any case, I'll compile and post all the references as we go on.
So, I’m looking to support a version of events that runs like this: Mataemon Tanabe, in association with Yatarou Handa, refined his personal approach to ne waza for the purpose of challenging and defeating the Kodokan, and taught it to a group of students (who used it to defeat the Kodokan.) This approach is carried by the first wave of ex-patriot challenge-wrestlers who arrived in the UK, introducing British wrestlers to the idea of wrestling for submission rather than pinfall, and then feeds directly into the development of Bartitsu and the Budokwai. After experiencing the defeat of his fighters at the hands of the Tenabe’s group, Kano takes steps to absorb Tenabe's syllabus into Kodokan Judo, buttressing his system's relatively limited mat work, but is never comfortable with the acquired material’s place in his system, and eventually takes steps to minimize its impact on the way Judo is practiced (at least in Tokyo close to the Kodokan, if not in the university system and other regions). Among those who learn their Judo at a time when Tenabe’s ne waza was assimilated is Mitsuyo Maeda, who becomes part of the community of the dozen or so Japanese challenger wrestlers, some Kodokan some not - all familiar with Tenabe’s material- who train, travel and fight together under Catch as Catch Can "Jiu-Jitsu" (jacket) rules as well as the rough-and-tumble/vale tudo format. While Maeda may not have had actual contact with any member of the Gracie family in Brazil, it is clear that Carlos Gracie, Sr trained for several years in Maeda’s style of Professional Jiu-jitsu and sought to emulate his success in the ring. In this sense, under this model Gracie Jiu-Jitsu is strictly neither a form of Kodokan Judo, nor a form of koryu Jiu-Jitsu, but rather a body of techniques from multiple sources favored by Japanese challenge wrestlers, and used in the ring to win rough-and-tumble and "jiu-jitsu wrestling" contests, with a substantial influence coming from the ne waza style of a specific group associated with Tenabe and Handa (and not any koryu art, Fusen or otherwise).
Carlos Gracie has a few years exposure to this style but athleticizes it in a way that makes it more difficult to teach to others; Helio removes the athletic element, essentially rediscovering the source style Carlos had been taught, and believes (perhaps honestly) that he had invented that source style, despite its being essentially identical to other Maeda lineages (like that of Fadda Academy). The application of this style to street fighting is most likely the primary contribution of the Gracie family.
Looking over the available evidence, I think Taro Miyake’s statements to the press in 1915 about the relative strength in tachiwaza and newaza between the Kodokan and “Handa” styles is a good indicator that something existed in the Osaka region that was markedly different than Kano’s system (in emphasis, if not in method).
Of course none of this has too much bearing on what is known today as "BJJ" which is a sport invented later by people people in the Gracie system like Rolls Gracie and João Alberto Barreto. What is known today as Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is a body of technique invented an inch at a time by everyone who ever stepped on the mat, some more than others. Still, it seems to bear the influence of the Tenabe/Handa group’s anti-Kodokan ne waza system, and other related offshoots like the body of technique favored by players in the KOSEN rule set have this system as a common ancestor. This, and not a direct influence as has been postulated by some, accounts for the marked similarity of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and the methods common in the KOSEN format.
Ever since arguments first began appearing that Gracie Jiu-jitsu was not a style of Jiu-Jitsu at all (see Mark Tripp's long history of Judo reprinted here:http://mixedmartialartshistory.wordpress.com/2013/03/14/the-great-underground-ryu-ha-ha/), I have been trying to find a more satisfying history than the one offered by the Gracie family, or by those arguing that what Maeda taught in Brazil was "simply Kodokan Judo". The above is, nutshelled, my best current understanding; I'm sure there is much more to learn.
Just as an aside, Miyake’s description of the Osaka style is quite similar to the language Uyenishi used in 1907 (The text-book of ju-jitsu as practised in Japan) to describe the traditional Okinawan art of Tori Te: "Another analogous system, known as tori in some parts of Japan and as shime in others, was an extension of Ju-jutsu in the department of ground work, and it is more than possible thet many of the locks and holds of ju-jutsu were originated by exponents of tori. The last named system cannot, however, be compared with the ‘soft art’ as a method of self-defense, as but slight importance was devoted to ‘throws’, the modus operandi being mainly confined to falling to the ground yourself and then pulling your opponent down, there to struggle for the victorious lock." (emphasis mine)
One naturally begins to speculate about the influence of the already existing Tori Te on the groundwork based strategies coming into favor in the Osaka region. Worth looking into more...
In any case, one of the themes I’m looking to explore is how the tendency for people to rally around words and labels for fighting systems can skew both our view of history, as well as the tribal behavior of martial artists in choosing “sides” to represent in contests for bragging rights. "Jiu-Jitsu" was used in the generic to refer to the broad category of Japanese systems (including Kano’s) that embraced a certain principle of yielding, or it could be used to refer the classical ryu-ha Kano sought to supplant with his Judo. In the West, the term referred to a general category of Japanese self-defense “tricks”, but also to a specific rule set describing jacketed submission grappling in a ring. When the Gracies described Maeda as "Jiu-jitsu champion of the world" it is to this format that they were referring, as there was clearly no world champion of "Jujutsu” as the Japanese used the word. For example, in Estadão newspaper, September 28th 1914:
"The press announces today one more variety show, included in the program a challenge from Italian fighter E. Baldi to the Japanese Jiu-Jitsu champion Count Koma"
(cont.)