SHINGITAI JUJITSU
WELCOME MAT JUDO JUJITSU SAMBO
Welcome Mat offers Shingitai Jujitsu as one of its mainstay programs. Shingitai is a training philosophy and approach to teaching and learning jujitsu, or any martial art for that matter. "Shin" indicates the determined mental approach to training and personal combat. It's the "fighting heart" necessary to be successful in any form of grappling or martial art. "Gi" is the realistic technical approach to performing the skills fo jujitsu and martial arts. Functional, realisitc and pragmatic skills are emphasized over aesthetically pretty, and possible less-effective techniques. "Tai" is the physical approach to training. Functional strength and aerobic fitness are very important for succes in any martial art or style of grappling. Physical fitness is one of the key elements of our approach to jujitsu.
This "Shingitai" philosophy is a fairly old one emphasized in several fighting systems from Japan and John Saylor made it the central part of his approach to training, especially in the martial arts, back in the early 1980s. Shingitai's main emphasis is self-defense, but also has a national sport jujitsu grappling championship yearly as well as local and regional Shingitai sport jujtisu events held here at Welcome Mat.
In 1984, John Saylor organized the Shingitai Jujitsu Association to promote this philosophy of training and Steve Scott, Welcome Mat's Head Coach, joined this new organization. Steve and John were (and continue to be) good friends and shared the concept of Shingitai as a central part of their coaching and personal philosophy. Welcome Mat is an enthsiastic supporter of the Shingitai Jujitsu Association and all belt ranks in jujitsu at our club are issued through this organization.
Shingitai Jujitsu is considered one of the "mainstream" approaches to teaching jujitsu in the United States and recognizes the Japanese masters of jujitsu and judo who came before us as the people who gave us the gift of jujitsu. Our "Shingitai" approach to jujitsu is a serious and realistic way of teaching and practicing jujitsu. Shingitai is a pioneer in the concept of a "self-defense athlete" meaning that a person doesn't have to compete in a sport to be considered an "athlete." John Saylor has often said that Shingitai is the "pentathlon of jujitsu" meaning that any practical and effective skills are welcomed and practiced in our approach to grappling, self-defense and martial arts.
To learn more about Shingitai Jujitsu, visit www.JohnSaylor-SJA.com or call John Saylor at (419) 938-6089.
THE SHINGITAI APPROACH TO TRAINING: MAKE SHINGITAI YOUR BASE MARTIAL ART
"The principles of Shin (fighting heart or spirit), Gi (a practical emphasis on technical skill) and Tai (physical fitness) are the principles of any good martial artist, grappler or fighter. While no approach to martial arts training can be complete, our goal in Shingitai is to offer the most practical, effective and technically sound education possible to anyone who chooses to embrace it."
By Steve Scott
Every culture since the dawn of mankind has produced some kind of grappling, wrestling or fighting. It’s human nature to fight, no matter what anyone says. Whether in personal combat or combat in groups such as armies, humans are good at it. I’m not saying this to be macho or sound tough. It’s simply a statement of fact.
Some cultures through the ages have made more emphasis than others on fighting and the Japanese tradition of personal and group combat has evolved into a variety of different fighting systems. Jujitsu, as practiced today, offers a variety of appraoches to personal combat using hand-to-hand fighting skills as well as using weapons. The feudal jujutsu of Japan transformed into Kodokan Judo in the late 1800s. While some jujutsu systems remained after Prof. Jigoro Kano organized Kodokan Judo, they were minor in comparison to Kano’s judo. Prof. Kano was a brilliant organizer, teacher, theorist and technician. Through his work, Kodokan Judo eventually spread to every corner of the planet. We will have more on this historical development later in this book, but suffice it to say it was Kano’s judo that laid the path for the modern forms of grappling that evolved as a result of his work. Kodokan Judo continues to be very popular and is an Olympic sport. Millions of people practice it, but it has also been the genesis of a variety of significantly different grappling styles that were developed in the 20th Century.
In the former Soviet Union, the rough-and-tumble grappling style of sambo was developed. Sambo’s roots are in Kodokan Judo as the founder of the Soviet grappling system studied directly under Jigoro Kano, then combined a variety of other wrestling and grappling styles from the various Soviet republics and developed sambo. In another culture and country, Brazil, the seeds of Kodokan Judo were planted and eventually produced what has become Brazilian Jujitsu. In our own culture here in the United States, legitimate professional wrestling was widely popular in the early 1900s. Great wrestlers such as Frank Gotch, Farmer Burns and others popularized what became known as Catch-as-Catch-Can wrestling. Before there was professional football, baseball and basketball, the sport of professional wrestling attracted thousands of spectators all across the country. Just about every county fair featured wrestling matches where a touring professional would take on all comers. Eventually, professional wrestling became the thing that it is today and lost most, if not all, of its original authenticity.
Our approach of Shingitai Jujitsu evolved from the Kodokan Judo that John Saylor excelled at as well as the American tradition of taking what we know and making it work for us. We believe our emphasis of the three principles that make up Shingitai make it a comprehensive approach to not only grappling, but also to personal combat. As John Saylor has said often; “Jujitsu is first and foremost a fighting art.” The principles of Shin (fighting heart or spirit), Gi (a practical emphasis on technical skill) and Tai (physical fitness) are the principles of any good martial artist, grappler or fighter. While no approach to martial arts training can be complete, our goal in Shingitai is to offer the most practical, effective and technically sound education possible to anyone who chooses to embrace it.
SHINGITAI AS YOUR BASIS FOR TRAINING ON THE MAT
We firmly believe that Shingitai Jujtisu is the type of approach to martial arts that can be someone’s base as a serious martial arts athlete or student. Like the Russians embraced sambo, the open-ended approach to accepting anything that works is a characteristic of Shingitai Jujitsu. It’s a large and solid enough base that you can take the principles and skills of SJJ and use them in any form of fighting or self-defense you wish. If there is any phrase to describe what SJJ is, it’s “open-ended.” This means that we emphazise function and effectiveness and use any tool or tactic to achieve success. Our approach is to learn the basic core technique and make it work for us. One thing leads to another and the action-reaction-action that takes place in real fighting is our appraoch to teaching skills. No technique is isolated; everything leads to something else, sets another move up or can be countered. Through disciplined, austere training, an individual progresses in the Shingitai philosophy or approach to jujitsu, self-defense, grappling or martial arts.
Shingitai is more than a "style" of jujitsu. It's an approach to training. The 3 elements of Shin, Gi and Tai form a functional, comprehensive and effective approach to training for anything, whether it's jujitsu, judo, sambo, submission grappling, self-defense or anything else.
Some cultures through the ages have made more emphasis than others on fighting and the Japanese tradition of personal and group combat has evolved into a variety of different fighting systems. Jujitsu, as practiced today, offers a variety of appraoches to personal combat using hand-to-hand fighting skills as well as using weapons. The feudal jujutsu of Japan transformed into Kodokan Judo in the late 1800s. While some jujutsu systems remained after Prof. Jigoro Kano organized Kodokan Judo, they were minor in comparison to Kano’s judo. Prof. Kano was a brilliant organizer, teacher, theorist and technician. Through his work, Kodokan Judo eventually spread to every corner of the planet. We will have more on this historical development later in this book, but suffice it to say it was Kano’s judo that laid the path for the modern forms of grappling that evolved as a result of his work. Kodokan Judo continues to be very popular and is an Olympic sport. Millions of people practice it, but it has also been the genesis of a variety of significantly different grappling styles that were developed in the 20th Century.
In the former Soviet Union, the rough-and-tumble grappling style of sambo was developed. Sambo’s roots are in Kodokan Judo as the founder of the Soviet grappling system studied directly under Jigoro Kano, then combined a variety of other wrestling and grappling styles from the various Soviet republics and developed sambo. In another culture and country, Brazil, the seeds of Kodokan Judo were planted and eventually produced what has become Brazilian Jujitsu. In our own culture here in the United States, legitimate professional wrestling was widely popular in the early 1900s. Great wrestlers such as Frank Gotch, Farmer Burns and others popularized what became known as Catch-as-Catch-Can wrestling. Before there was professional football, baseball and basketball, the sport of professional wrestling attracted thousands of spectators all across the country. Just about every county fair featured wrestling matches where a touring professional would take on all comers. Eventually, professional wrestling became the thing that it is today and lost most, if not all, of its original authenticity.
Our approach of Shingitai Jujitsu evolved from the Kodokan Judo that John Saylor excelled at as well as the American tradition of taking what we know and making it work for us. We believe our emphasis of the three principles that make up Shingitai make it a comprehensive approach to not only grappling, but also to personal combat. As John Saylor has said often; “Jujitsu is first and foremost a fighting art.” The principles of Shin (fighting heart or spirit), Gi (a practical emphasis on technical skill) and Tai (physical fitness) are the principles of any good martial artist, grappler or fighter. While no approach to martial arts training can be complete, our goal in Shingitai is to offer the most practical, effective and technically sound education possible to anyone who chooses to embrace it.
Shingitai Jujitsu: A Culture Of Discipline
By John Saylor
The modern Western culture in which we live values comfort, instant gratification, and ease. Just look at all the advertising claiming easy weight loss, or fitness without effort. The “want something for nothing” philosophy is everywhere around us. In Shingitai Jujitsu, though, we have different values that we maintain within a culture of discipline. We exercise this discipline in the following three categories:
Shin: means mind, spirit, or heart.
Gi: refers to technique or skill.
Tai: means the body, or the physical.
If you possess discipline in each of these areas you will set yourself apart from the milk-suck, weak-willed majority around you. You will prevail in jujitsu and in life.
The philosophy of Shingitai was something I first learned from my coach, Yoshisada “Yone” Yonezuka, a 2-time U.S. Olympic Judo Coach and All-Japan Collegiate Champion. As Yone explained, if you possess these attributes in the right proportion you will most often emerge the winner in judo or other martial arts. The Japanese often combine these three words into one: Shingitai, and it’s no accident that Shin is always first. You must first have the right mind-set before you will acquire great skill or physical conditioning. The qualities of Shin, Gi, and Tai are closely interwoven and each has an influence on the others. Keep these things in mind as you train in Shingitai Jujitsu.
