The advent and popularity of mixed martial arts competitions featuring a blend of striking, kicking and groundfighting, has led more traditional martial artists to recognize the importance of a more well-rounded approach to self-defense and fight training. Two "traditional" martial arts that have long recognized this are combat hapkido and small circle jujitsu. These two arts share many features but are markedly different based on the technical methods and history of each martial art.
History
Combat hapkido, a derivation of the Korean martial art of hapkido, features the spectacular, athletic aerial kicks of other Korean martial arts like taekwondo, tang soo do, and hawrang-do, as well as basic punches and kicks, throws and takedowns. Combat hapkido was developed by traditional hapkido master John Pellegrini in the 1980s and 1990s as an Americanized answer to the older traditions of hapkido.
Small circle jujitsu was developed in Hawaii by a single individual, judo legend Wally Jay. Jay developed small circle jujitsu as a more streamlined way of teaching the fighting art side of the Japanese art of judo. Because his background included western-style boxing, Jay included more of that sport's striking methods in his curriculum.
Focus
Jay intended his martial art, like its forefather judo, to be as much a method of self-awareness and personal development as a fighting art. Combat hapkido, on the other hand, focuses more firmly on combat efficiency than the original hapkido.
This is rather ironic, since combat hapkido features extremely difficult aerial kicks such as the jumping, spinning back kick, that are almost impossible for the average person to execute effectively. Small circle jujitsu on the other hand, focuses on simpler, brutally effective techniques like takedowns and holds that almost anyone is capable of executing.
Techniques
While small circle jujitsu does incorporate striking and boxing techniques into its repertoire, the underlying influence of judo on the art's founder means that takedowns and grappling methods are the backbone of the system. Combat hapkido on the other hand, while featuring takedowns and grappling holds, shares the philosophy of other Korean martial arts on defeating an opponent with striking methods. Combat hapkido uses takedowns and grappling as a method to set up finishing strikes, while small circle jujitsu uses strikes to set up finishing takedowns and finishing holds like chokes and joint breaks.
Weapons
Small circle jujitsu includes no weapons training in Wally Jay's original curriculum. The focus on self-defense and personal development of the martial art precluded the more aggressive weapons training. Combat hapkido on the other hand, developed specifically for battlefield use, incorporates the use of combat weapons. In addition to the knife, combat hapkido expert Robert K. Spear explains in his book on the art's knife fighting system, "Military Knife Fighting," that some masters of the system also teach the use of rifle and bayonet and even the folding military shovel known as an "entrenching tool," or "e-tool."
Uniforms
Most traditional martial arts wear some sort of cotton "pajamas" as a uniform. Combat hapkido and small circle jujitsu do as well. In small circle jujitsu, students wear a traditional Japanese "gi" like that used in Judo. This features short, loose-fitting cotton pants and a padded jacket. The entire uniform is white, although the belts change color as a student advances through the different levels of expertise.
Combat hapkido students wear the Korean equivalent of the gi, which is called a "dobok." This features the same cotton pants, although with longer legs. The jacket of a dobok tends to be of heavily quilted cotton or silk and will often be of a different color. Like the Japanese martial arts, combat hapkido instructors in the United States tend to use different colored belts to denote different levels of expertise.
References
- "Small-Circle Jujutsu;" Wally Jay; 1989
- "Combat Hapkido: Martial Art for the Modern Warrior;" John Pelligrini; 2009
- "Military Knife Fighting;" Robert K. Spear; 1996
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