Martial History Team

Robert Drysdale on Trapp BJJ Facebook Live Stream, 11 Apr 2020 Introduction Earlier this week, Robert Drysdale, creator of the forthcoming movie Closed Guard , spoke to the Trapp BJJ community on Facebook . Around the 30 minute mark, Robert began discussing the movie and his research on the history of Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ). Throughout this post I will use "BJJ" in order to differentiate from traditional or pre-Kano jujutsu, even though I usually just use "jiujitsu." Also, in a few places I've added links to articles that I referenced while writing this post. My goal here is not to confirm, disprove, agree with, or disagree with Robert's findings, as I only heard him on a video and did not see his sources. The links provide additional investigative leads for those interested. Robert's Purpose for the Movie Robert said the purpose of the movie is "to tell history as accurately as we could, given what we know." Robert said he was a...

Prof Renzo Gracie, from Legacy (2008) I just watched a video recorded during the taping for the excellent documentary " Legacy " featuring Renzo Gracie. In the video, Prof Renzo claims Mitsuyo Maeda met president Theodore Roosevelt at the White House. There is no evidence that this happened. It's an unfortunate mixing of related stories, perpetrated by author John Stevens in his 1995 book Three Budo Masters , and picked up in later books that never bothered to verify the story. Those false retellings may include "The Toughest Man Who Ever Lived" (basically historical fiction) and "No Rules Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu: Techniques for Mixed Martial Arts and Self-Defense," a technique book. You can read information from Maeda's point of view in his biographies. There's an archive of a 1998 review of a Maeda biography, "A Lion’s Dream, the Story of Mitsuyo Maeda”, by Norio Kohyama. The author of the review, a gentleman who can apparently...

Welcome to the October 2021 reading survey!  Introduction In October 2021, I (Richard) continued my reading plan that prioritized print books that have been on my shelf for months, or years. This post describes the biographies of a collection of martial artists -- some famous, some not. The Life and Tragic Death of Bruce Lee, Linda Lee, 1975 Linda Lee (Cadwell) published  The Life and Tragic Death of Bruce Lee  in 1975. This is the London-based Star Books edition. In the United States, the book appeared as Bruce Lee: The Man Only I Knew, via New York-based Warner. This book seems ghost-written, but it might not be the case. It integrates some material from the late Mr. Lee's (1940-1973) writings, most or all of which have subsequently been published.  I like this book because it is one of the earliest by a family member, and it contains bits of information not seen elsewhere. For example, Ms. Lee notes that Mr. Lee participated in reserve military training as a stude...

   Welcome to the August 2022 book survey, part two. I decided to break this month's survey into two posts, as I did last month. Introduction In August 2022, I (Richard) continued my reading plan. This post describes 7 more books that I surveyed in August. Part 1 addressed the first 8 that I surveyed last month. Read on to separate the wheat from the chaff.  Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu: Theory and Technique, Renzo Gracie, Royler Gracie, Kid Peligro, John Danaher, 2001 Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu: Theory and Technique  begins our look at Brazilian jiu-jitsu books for this month. My copy is an 8 1/2 inch by 11 inch color paperback with heavy glossy paper and 256 pages. This appears to be the first book featuring the philosopher of BJJ, John Danaher. The book offers a section on theory, followed by 110 techniques, each occupying two pages. They are grouped according to rank (blue, purple, brown, black), but that appears to be more for organizational purposes. It's clear to me professo...

   Welcome to the September 2022 book survey, part one. I decided to break this month's survey into three posts. Introduction In September 2022, I (Richard) continued my reading plan. This post describes 8 books that I surveyed in September. Subsequent posts will address the other 16 that I surveyed last month. Read on to separate the wheat from the chaff.  Karate: Its History and Practice: 空手道 その歴史と技法(英語版), Koyama Masashi, Wada Koji, Kadekaru Toru, Alexander Bennett (translator), 2021 Karate: Its History and Practice is a small paperback offering 483 pages. I had high hopes for this book, as one of my favorite martial arts authors, Dr. Alexander Bennett, was the translator. Unfortunately, this book is a largely incoherent collection of material. It contains no real insights into karate's origins. It sometimes repeats what other "famous" instructors wrote in their books, with no analysis as to whether what they wrote was correct or justified. Some material is interes...

 As of July 2023 I (Richard) am no longer publishing a survey of books each month. At this point in the Martial History Team project, I will highlight only a few books that I read or surveyed in a given period. This is the first post to use this new approach. I have three books to share from July. Chinese Archery, Stephen Selby, 2000 (2003 reprint) Chinese Archery is an impressive book. It features an outstanding integration of translated primary sources, along with the original Chinese text. Despite being a solid resource for domain experts, as a newcomer I was comfortable with the material. I appreciated the author's insights into Chinese culture. Here are a few I highlighted: "It is a tradition in Chinese culture to assign an 'inventor' to objects and activities which are culturally significant. Chinese society shows its respect for certain things by ascribing their invention to some character venerated in Chinese history (or respect for the person by ascribing to ...

My reading theme for February 2021 was Japanese history texts. These are a few thoughts on the titles I (Richard) read. There are many others, but these are the group I chose to read in February 2021. Introduction Each month I have a theme for my martial arts reading. In January 2021 the theme was Primary Japanese Samurai Philosophy Texts . This month I decided to get a better understanding of Japanese history. I selected a mix of general history texts, military history texts, and first-person accounts. Premodern Japan 2nd Edition and Modern Japan 5th Edition by Mikiso Hane and Louis G. Perez, 2014 and 2012 Premodern Japan 2nd Ed , Mikiso Hane and Louis G. Perez, 2014 Modern Japan 5th Ed , Mikiso Hane and Louis G. Perez, 2012 I present Premodern Japan and Modern Japan together as you could consider them volumes 1 and 2 of a general history of Japan. The authors each earned PhDs. While I could not determine the field for the late Dr. Hane (who passed away in 2003), I read tha...