E-Journal of Jujutsu

Modern Grappling Quarterly

Spring 2007
AIKIDO BRIDGE
SEMIN A R:
Tissie r
Do ran
Ikeda
Mu rashige

GROwing u p in j u do: dan camarillo

T he Beginning Jo u rne y of B JJ: ROY H A RRIS
1)(-% Performance Enh ancer: Robb Wolf Intervie W
 E-Journal of Jujutsu
Volume 1, Number 2

Spring
2007

Letter from the editor 3

Roy Dean

THE BEGINNING JOURNEY OF BJJ 5

Roy Harris

PERFORMANCE ENHANCER: ROBB WOLF INTERVIEW 8

Roy Dean

GROWING UP IN JUDO 13
Dan Camarillo

AIKIDO BRIDGE SEMINAR

Tissier • Doran • Ikeda • Murashige
Review: Jeff Sodemon 16
Pictorial: Alicia Anthony 18

The E-Journal of Jujutsu is an online subscription-based quarterly and a division of

ROY DEAN MEDIA. For more information contact www.jujutsujournal.com..
COVER PHOTO
Christian Tissier by Alicia Anthony
DESIGN
Julie Wilde
All content copyright ROY DEAN MEDIA and its respective authors.
Unauthorized reproduction or distribution is strictly prohibited by law.
Subscriptions are available at $24.95 for 1 year or $44.95 for 2 years. 1)(-%



Roy Dean
Aikikai Aikido Black Belt
Kodokan Judo Black Belt
Seibukan Jujutsu Black Belt
Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Black Belt
DIRECT EXPERIENCE VS. Belief
In an interview years ago, Bill Moyers asked the
sagely Joseph Campbell if he were a man of faith.
His cordial reply was: “I don’t have to have faith.
I have experience.”
There it is. Direct experience. It’s the path that Zen
teaches, with their goal of satori. It’s the path that many
martial artists also seek, whether through training,
competition, or combat. A taste of martial truth can
be powerful, and slightly addictive, encouraging the
student to seek higher doses. But the pathway of direct
experience is not always comfortable.
e-Journal of Jujutsu | ROY DEAN Media | SPRING 2007 | 
Many people discover this in their first days on the mat of
a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu school. The first 6 months to 1 year are
spent learning to defend and survive in the fully resistant,
fully alive randori environment. This phase diminishes
the ego and greatly reduces a student’s expectations.
It squares you with your actual physical and technical
capacity, in that specific realm, for all to see. The truth is
revealed on a nightly basis, leaving very little room left
for beliefs.
Grappling, in its various forms, can be a close simulation
of a real altercation. It is direct experience, on
several levels. Of course, sparring of even moderate
intensity involves strong exertion of a body’s nervous,
muscular, and cardiovascular systems. More importantly,
concentration is intensely one-pointed. As Matt Thornton
cogently points out in his lecture, “Why We Train,” our
instincts are honed through millions of years of evolution
to repel those who physically dominate us. On both
conscious and unconscious levels, the sum of our
coordinated powers are called upon for self defense. It
is powerful method of stopping thought, and one reason
he considers BJJ a modern form of yoga.
It is important to train under someone with direct
experience. They can adequately prepare you to handle
an encounter without injury or use of excessive force. A
teacher without direct experience in the application of
their art against resistant opponents puts their students
at an immediate disadvantage. They may know their
particular art well, but it’s always necessary to go one
step beyond, to feel out the adaptations necessary for
their age, and modify the arts to suit the current culture.
Each of the EJJ’s spring writers has direct experience to
share. Roy Harris has grappled with all types in the nearly
300 seminars he has instructed globally. Dan Camarillo,
as a national champion in both Judo and Brazilian
Jiu Jitsu, knows how to handle the resistance of both
highly skilled and highly conditioned athletes. Each of
the Aikido Bridge Seminar shihan (Tissier, Doran, Ikeda,
and Murashige) are passing on their direct experiences
to a new generation of aikidoka, to discover and apply
in the flow of life for themselves. And Robb Wolf, with an
unblemished amateur kickboxing record and heavy
powerlifting credentials, has been both athlete and
trainer, with access to the vault of unbiased observation
we know as the scientific record. Direct experience is
our to utilize, painstakingly recorded under stringent
guidelines. Many have sacrificed for our benefit. We
should use and eventually contribute to this record.
objective recording of a direct experience, contradicts it.
Beliefs are often handed to us, or subscribed to because
of a resonance, or longing for things to be a certain way.
Life is not logical or reasonable, and neither is a conflict.
So I take small steps to rid myself of belief, one experience
at a time, and hope that the EJJ will also be a conduit
for those wishing to pass on their direct experiences of
martial truth.

MMA is a profound and considerable contribution to Sincerely,

the record of direct experience, and has already forced Roy Dean, Editor
several adaptations in the consciousness of budoka.
Royce Gracie inspired today’s fighters to drop everything
and train in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, just as Steven Seagal did
for Aikido, and Bruce Lee before them, paving the way
for martial arts to be spectacularly displayed on film.
Observations of direct experience don’t allow a person
to be fully engulfed by the truth of the moment, but it’s
a strong second place, leaving blind speculation and
“educated” guesses far behind.

Public consciousness of martial arts is rapidly growing,

thanks to the influence of mainstream media. The alliance
between Spike TV and the UFC catapulted the faces
and stories of an up-and-coming generation of MMA
athletes to the masses, and boxing (among other arts)
will never be the same. Their flagship show, “The Ultimate
Fighter,” is a fully documented study of hot blooded
mixed martial artists, and the techniques they employ to
eliminate their opposition, in and out of the octagon. We
are allowed a perfect window as those that seek direct
experience get what they want. Full martial exertion.
They become the fight. They do not stop at discussion or
online hypothesizing. Discussion is helpful in preparation
for direct experience—but it is no substitute. There are
no substitutes. There is only experience. And logical
arguments hold little weight against the truth of direct,
personal experience, which has been “felt,” rather than
“thought through,” or merely “heard.”

Belief can fill in the gaps of what hasn’t been observed

and what we have yet to analyze. But we have to be
willing to drop those beliefs if direct experience, or an

e-Journal of Jujutsu | ROY DEAN Media | SPRING 2007 | 

Roy Harris
Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Third Degree Black Belt
President, Harris International

THE BEGINNING JOURNEY

OF BRAZILIAN JIU JITSU
Each year, hundreds of new students begin their journey
in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. Many of them start off by learning all
kinds of new and exciting techniques. Some start off by
learning cool things like the flying arm bar or omo plata
techniques. Others begin by learning simpler techniques
such as a spinning arm lock or triangle choke from the
guard. And still others begin by learning some escapes
from headlocks and bear hugs.

Now, while all of this training is good, if the student has

no understanding of where these techniques are in
the whole scheme of things, he or she is left wondering
“How should I progress or where should I begin my
journey in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu?” So, in this short article,
I would like to outline a progression that starts from the
absolute beginning in this sport and gets you ready for
the intermediate level of training.

For starters, I believe your training should mimic your

sparring. Consider the following; most practitioners
should spend less than one-tenth of your time training
of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (those who wear a white, blue, or
this technique. Does this make sense?
purple belt) spend the majority of their time jockeying for
control or position. Therefore, when a person trains their
Now, if you train 4 hours per week, you should spend
groundwork in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, most of their time should
less than 24 minutes training your flying arm bar.
be spent working on jockeying for control or position.
However, I am sure this 24 minutes will actually be shorter
since many do not actually TRAIN 4 hours per week.
While it may be cool to learn a flying arm bar, a question
Let me explain:
that begs to be asked is this: “How often, during your
sparring matches, do you have the opportunity to
employ this technique?” In other words, if you spend
“If you train 4 hours per
600 seconds (10 minutes) sparring with a fellow week,” I am speaking of
classmate, how many seconds do you spend going the actual time you spend
after the flying arm lock? If your answer is, “Probably less training, not the amount
than 60 seconds,” then you can see you spend less than of time you spend in class.
one-tenth of your time trying to employ this technique. There is a difference
So, since you spend less than one-tenth of your time
between the two.”
trying to employ this technique in live sparring, you

e-Journal of Jujutsu | ROY DEAN Media | SPRING 2007 | 

When I write “if you train 4 hours per week,” I am speaking
of the actual time you spend training, not the amount of
time you spend in class. There is a difference between
the two. If class time is 2 hours long, most do not train or
practice for the entire 2 hours. More than likely, a student
spends 5 to 30 minutes performing calisthenics, receives
10 to 20 minutes worth of instruction, spends 20 minutes
practicing (what I mean when I write “training”) and then
the remaining 30 to 60 minutes is spent sparring. So, if a
student attends 2 classes per week, the actual training
time is somewhere around 40 minutes each week.

“To train, I believe students

So, if a student trains 40 minutes per week, they should
should practice repetition,
really spend less than 4 minutes training the flying
for it is the mother of skill
arm bar.
and habit!”
Now at this point in time, I am sure you are wondering why
The more time a person spends repeating a movement,
I have not included the sparring time as training time.
the more natural and efficient the movement becomes.
My answer is simple: I do not believe students actually
Here is what I believe the progression looks and feels like:
train when they spar. I believe they spend the majority
of their time trying to gain the upper hand against their 1. A technique is unknown
classmate, as well as trying to tap them out. But I am
2. A technique is learned and then becomes
not sure I would call this training. From my perspective,
“knowledge” in the student’s mind
students don’t FOCUS on any one area when they spar.
Rather, they spend most of their time going with the 3. A technique is practiced and the student

flow and experiencing the euphoria of sparring. Others becomes “familiar” with it

will focus their attention on tapping out their fellow
students, as well as not getting tapped! So from my
perspective, this is not training—it’s competition.
4. A technique is practiced even more and the
student becomes “comfortable” with it
5. A technique is practiced and drilled and the
student becomes “confident” with it

6. A technique is practiced and drilled even more

and the student becomes “efficient” with it

7. A technique is practiced and drilled even

more and the student “combines” it with
other techniques

8. A technique is practiced and drilled even more

and the student “personalizes” it

9. A technique is practiced and drilled even more

and the student “masters” the technique

10. Once the technique is “mastered,” the student

becomes playful with it

E-Journal of Jujutsu | ROY DEAN MEDIA | SPRING 2007 | 

When you analyze how you spar, this should tell you
how your training should look. If you spend most of your
sparring time jockeying for control and positioning, then
most of your training time should be spent jockeying for
control and positioning.

“When you analyze how

you spar, this should tell
you how your training
should look.”

Now, with all of that said, here are the areas I believe
are important to those beginning their journey in
Brazilian Jiu Jitsu:

• Side mount escapes

• Guard control

• Guard passing

• Side mount control

I believe all beginning level students should spend the

first 5 years of their time focusing on these 4 important
areas. Additionally, I believe these 4 areas will set the
stage for intermediate-level training!

If you analyze your last few grappling matches, how

much time did you spend in the 4 areas mentioned
above? If you are like most students, you spent anywhere
from 50% to 80% of your time in these areas. If that is
the case, shouldn’t you spend at least 50% to 80% of
your training time in them?

To begin your journey, focus on learning how to escape

from inferior positions and control from your guard. Don’t
worry about the submissions. They will come in time!
Spend most of your time focusing on the areas you will
use most often in sparring. Believe me, in 6 to 10 months,
you will thank me!

www.harris-international.com

www.royharris.com

E-Journal of Jujutsu | ROY DEAN MEDIA | SPRING 2007 | 


Robb Wolf
USAW Olympic Weightlifting Coach
Editor In Chief, Performance Menu
Certified CrossFit Coach
BS Biochemistry
performance enhancer:
ROBB WOLF interview
by Roy Dean
EJJ:  Robb, please tell us about your background,
formal education and athletic accomplishments.
RW:  Athletically, I participated in football in high
school until I sustained a near-fatal neck injury at age 16.
I suffered a bruised spine and had significant paralysis
on my left side for the better part of a year. I began
lifting weights as part of my rehabilitation and found I
e-Journal of Jujutsu | ROY DEAN Media | SPRING 2007 | 
really enjoyed that activity and threw myself into the
endeavor with all the gusto a 17-year-old nerd
can muster! I was taken under the wing of 2 local
powerlifters, Rich Woods and Danny Thurman. Both
were, at various points, world and national champions,
so I learned from some of the best at a pretty early age.
After 2 years of training and an un-godly amount of
eating I entered and won the Natural Athletes Strength
Association (NASA) California State meet for the teenage
181 lb division. My best lifts were 565 lb squat, 565 lb dead
lift and 345 lb bench press.
I enjoyed power lifting immensely, but after winning the
state meet, I really lost the fire for continuing with the
sport. It was about this time that a friend persuaded me
to attend a Kempo Karate class with him. I loved it from
the first day and became pretty fanatical about the
training. My instructor was VERY into the kata elements of
the Ed Parker Kempo Karate so I became very proficient
at spinning crescent kicks and snappy reverse punches…
all performed to the air! I did some sparring but it was all
sport karate point sparring and I was to discover, not very
effective in the “real world.” At age 21 I moved to Long
Beach, California and sought out the Inosanto Academy
to “augment” my Kempo training with Jeet Kune Do. I
showed up on a Friday, typically a sparring day, and
was matched up with a kid about 30 lbs lighter than I,
who only had 6 months of training in some goofy art
called “Muay Thai.” Hmm…how to describe that event.
I think civil wars have occurred with less blood-shed than
I sustained in that session. I hobbled home and literally
burned my belt. I started studying the full JKD curriculum
but really gravitated towards the Muay Thai. I compiled
a 6-0 amateur record but faced a crossroads of what to
do next. I worked part time as an emergency medical
technician and teaching Thai boxing but I really wanted
to finish school and do “something else.” I visited Chico,
California with a friend over the winter break from school
and after an epic night of bar hopping decided Chico
was the place to finish my undergraduate education.
I wrapped up a degree in Biochemistry from CSU Chico
but I had an intense interest in alternative medicine.
I moved to Seattle, Washington and took classes at
both Bastyr University and Seattle Institute of Oriental
Medicine. It turned out I was far more interested in
learning about alternative medicine than practicing
it so I never finished either the Naturopathy or degree
in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). I worked at
the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center doing
lipid metabolism research and I conspired as to how
to move back to sunny California. In 2003, I was
introduced to BJJ black belt John Frankl from Coach
Greg Glassman. Apparently John was considering
moving to Chico to set up a BJJ school and we decided
the synergy between the BJJ school and a CrossFit
style strength and conditioning program would be compiled by anthropologists points to the tendency for

phenomenal. I’ve been in Chico for the past 4 years Hunter-Gatherers to derive larger and larger proportions

building our practice while John ended up being too of their foods from animal sources as one nears the

talented for his (or our) own good and he was offered, higher latitudes. The Inuit for example derived nearly

I believe, an associate professorship at Seoul University 90% of their calories from hunted and fished animal

in South Korea. foods. In contrast, the !Kung San of the Kalahari have
an enormous seasonal variation that ranges from a high
of ~90% of calories derived from animal sources during
EJJ:  What problems can you identify with modern
the winter to as little as 10% in the summer and fall.
diets. What do they lack and where are they in excess?
My main point is that amounts of protein, carbohydrate,
and fat might have been different for various locations
RW:  Well…from my perspective modern diets,
and seasons. However, one commonality remained: our
particularly western diets are far too processed, contain
ancestral diet was devoid of grains, legumes, and dairy
far too many carbohydrates from grains in general but
until very recently in our evolutionary past.
refined grains in particular. This may sound nuts but if
one buys into evolutionary biology there was a clear
The implication of the Paleolithic diet is that it represents
demarcation for our species when we passed from the
the nutritional approach best suited to our genetics
Hunter-Gatherer lifeway (Paleolithic) to the Agriculturalist
as Hunter-Gatherers. An ever growing list of ailments is
lifeway (Neolithic). In simple terms, the protein content
being ascribed to an approach to nutrition and lifestyle
of our diet decreased, the carbohydrate content
that are at odds with our genetic heritage. It is interesting
increased and the amazing variety and bounty of our
to me that the study of any organism fundamentally
foraging ancestors was lost. Professor Loren Cordain is
involves how it acquires energy for growth and survival.
an amazing pioneer in this area of research. You can
There is little controversy that a koala bear for example
find loads of information at www.thepaleodiet.com.
is adapted to eat eucalyptus and removing it from a
specific ecology will likely negatively impact its health.
EJJ:  Please give us the scientific lowdown on
Most of medicine ignores this fact with regards to humans,
Paleolithic diets.
possibly because we are opportunistic omnivores
who can survive on almost anything, at least for a time.
RW:  I think it’s important to point out that there is no
Survival, however, is quite different than optimal living
one representative “paleo” diet. In reality the amounts
and that is what emulating a Paleolithic diet can provide
and types of macronutrients varied from location to
with regards to performance, health and longevity.
location and also on a seasonal basis. Information

E-Journal of Jujutsu | ROY DEAN MEDIA | SPRING 2007 | 

EJJ:  What should athletes strive for in a diet? How
many more vegetables do I need to be eating? And
how much sleep should I be getting?
RW:  As a basis, folks should get a palm-sized piece of
lean animal protein with every meal. To this should be
added seasonal, local veggies, some fruit as needed for
glycogen replenishment and nuts, seeds. Beneficial fats
like olive oil and avocado can be added to round things
out. Eating in this simple manner will all but guarantee
excellent health. This approach crushes the Food
Guide Pyramid with regards to food quality and the
amounts of vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients such
as antioxidants.
That’s about it as far as day-to-day supplementation.
Protein shakes are “ok” and possibly even vital under
certain conditions but I think once one needs liquid food
to enhance performance or recovery it needs to be
clear that this type of eating may be at odds with health
and longevity. Shakes usually mean a potent insulin
spike and although this may be useful to facilitate
recovery under extreme training loads I do not think
good things come of this in the long term.

Now as to sleep, ideally one is logging at least 9 hours

per night in a completely dark room. I know it can be
tough to do but this is amazingly important to health and
well-being. I frequently steal a line from the book Lights
Out: Sleep, Sugar and Survival: “Sleep as much as you
can without getting divorced or fired…” This is really at
odds with our production oriented society that creates a
sense of bravado at how little sleep one can “get by” on.
Think about that for a minute…what good EVER comes
from figuring out how to barely get by. If one is looking
for optimized performance and health 9 hours of sleep
is the gold standard.

EJJ:  What supplements do you recommend? What

are your thoughts on protein shakes?

RW:  I’m not a big supplement person. I like fish oil

which provides the essential omega three fatty acids
EPA and DHA. A hard-training athlete should shoot
for about 5 to 10 grams of total EPA and DHA per day.
R-alpha lipoic acid might also be smart. We used to
obtain large amounts of EPA/DHA and alpha lipoic acid
EJJ:  What would be an ideal pre-workout meal, and
from wild game but since virtually all of our meat supply
the timing of it. The optimum post-workout meal?
is grain fed we simply do not get the amounts of these
nutrients that might greatly benefit health. A low dose
B-vitamin a few times per week can help ensure all bases RW:  Pre- and post-workout meals can be highly

are covered. goal specific. If one is trying to gain muscle mass

it may be beneficial to ingest a small amount of
protein and carbohydrate 20 minutes pre workout

E-Journal of Jujutsu | ROY DEAN MEDIA | SPRING 2007 | 10

(10 to 20 grams protein, 10 to 20 grams carbohydrate) and
then a 4:1 ratio of carbohydrate to protein immediately
post workout (up to 100 grams carbohydrate). If
performance, recovery and maximum mass gain are
the goals then a shake might be in order. If one has an
eye towards health and longevity one may mitigate
the insulin spike of a 4:1 carbohydrate protein meal by
sticking with whole foods. If fat loss is the goal I would
stick with a protein/fat post workout meal like a salmon
salad with olive oil. Low carbohydrate, paleo-type diets
are amazingly effective at shedding fat.
EJJ:  Some martial arts instructors lead a demanding
physical warmup, while other disciplines, like gymnastics,
often save conditioning for the last part of class. How
would you order a martial arts class for the optimum mix
of skill development and body exertion?
RW:  The skill-less calisthenics many martial arts
instructors employ for warm-ups are unproductive in
two ways. The first is that we have finite resources with
which to train and recover and it behooves us to get
as much as possible in our training. With this in mind
skill-less warm-ups impart little to our training. Straight
Blast Gym is very good at making all the curriculum alive
and beneficial. For warm-ups one can do very low energy
hand fighting, progressing to body pummeling and
head position. 5 to 10 minutes of this activity warms the
athletes up AND expands their skill base in a meaning full
way. The second way skill-less warm-ups hamper training
is the nervous system is not fresh and therefore less able
to imprint new activities. There is certainly a time to train
far into fatigue to create efficiency in a given activity
but initial skill acquisition is NOT the time. Schools that
employ the skill-less warm-up and endless calisthenics
select for only the students with the best recovery ability.
Typically these folks are young and have little else going
on in their lives. This all but selects out the older, busier
student who has limited recovery capacity and perhaps
more life stressors.
All this considered, I would structure a session such that
familiar, simple movements are drilled in an alive format,
slowly increasing resistance and complexity. Once
E-Journal of Jujutsu | ROY DEAN MEDIA | SPRING 2007 | 11
the students are fully warm and moving well it might
be a good time for introduction of new material or a
review of material from the last session. This should also
be introduced in a progressive way. At the end of the
session some general conditioning may be of benefit.
If you are dealing with an older or very new student I
might stick with primarily strength work. This can simply
be calisthenics, or weight work.
If you are dealing with more advanced students who
have a high degree of efficiency at say BJJ, I would
incorporate circuit type anaerobic conditioning
1 to 3 times per week for general training, perhaps more
frequently as a competition nears. I would keep those
circuits sport specific and match the time demands of
the activity. For example if someone is preparing for an
MMA bout that is 3 x 5 minute rounds, with a 1 minute rest
between rounds, structure the conditioning sessions to
match those demands.
EJJ:  What was scientific thought regarding strength
and conditioning 100 years ago? 50 years ago? What
have the major advances been, in both conditioning
and nutrition? What does this mean for those looking for
maximum performance with minimum effort in this era?
RW:  I think the main difference, if we do not count
performance enhancing drugs, is that we have compiled
an enormous amount of data about WHAT WORKS. We
certainly understand better how the body functions
and that does direct some of our programming but
by and large we have arrived at general formulas for
how to get people stronger, faster, better stamina, etc.
Many of the effective methods of today were in place
50 to 100 years ago, we just better understand how to
manipulate training variables for desired outcomes.

EJJ:  What do you see as the next frontier in athletic

enhancement?

RW: We should talk to Brad Hirakawa about this!

Undoubtedly, it will be genomics. Tinkering with our
genes, the genes of other critters on this planet and
genes that have yet to be created except in the lab.
I think this will be hugely powerful but it will open a
can-o-worms with regards to what it means to be
human, what is “fair” competition, etc.

EJJ:  Tell us about Performance Menu, your vision for

the publication, and the causes you’d like to advance.

RW:  The Performance Menu grew out of a need to

help people in and out of the CrossFit community better
feed themselves. I constantly received emails asking for
help constructing “paleo” breakfasts and wheat free
alternatives to various foods. This is where we started but
we have grown into a journal that straddles the world
between peer review science and Cooks Illustrated!
We are interested in enhancing performance health and
longevity and explore the interplay of these concepts
in terms of nutrition, athletics, and life. Although we
certainly carry some biases we tray to remain open to
what works, as that may mean something very different
to a 26-year-old MMA fighter than a 45-year-old, stay
at home mom. Our recipes are typically grain, legume
and dairy-free so we have somewhat inadvertently
championed the gluten-free and multiple food
allergy causes.

www.performancemenu.com

www.thepaleodiet.com

e-Journal of Jujutsu | ROY DEAN Media | SPRING 2007 | 12


Dan Camarillo
Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Black Belt
Judo Third Degree Black Belt
GROWING UP IN JUDO
Starting a sport at a young age is not an easy thing to
do. I remember when I was almost 5 years old, and I used
to watch my father leave at nights, never knowing where
he was going. One of those nights I decided to ask him
where he was going and what he was doing. His reply
was, “Judo, do you want to go?” This was the beginning
for me. I didn’t know what to expect, but for some reason
I was excited. I pictured it was going to be like all the
Bruce Lee movies I watched on TV I found out it wasn’t;
I found out it was far better, but it took me a long time to
realize just how much better it was.
There was a problem about being young and being
serious in a sport. How serious can you be when you are
5 years old right? To my father, he was as serious then
as he is now. How serious? No matter what I was doing,
or what I wanted to do, I always had practice to go to
at the end of the day. I was training 5 days a week and
sometimes on Saturdays. When I got a little older, he
added Sundays…
e-Journal of Jujutsu | ROY DEAN Media | SPRING 2007 | 13
Once I turned 10, judo training started to get harder and
harder for me. The Doryoku Judo Dojo I used to go to
was putting on a week camp for all the students. Think
about it, this camp was not during school days. It was
during the summer time, when as a young kid, all you
wanted to do was play and have fun with your friends. I
was stuck in this camp and all we did was drill, run, and
get thrown repeatedly. Sound like fun for a 10 year old?
Judo is an all year sport. Summer, spring, fall, it didn’t
matter what time of year, you still had to take the time
to train. I started to compete at a young age, and when
I had a brother that started training, we never missed
a competition. For the next 10 years we competed at
every opportunity we could. It seemed like every single
Sunday I was at a competition, from Hawaii to Florida.
Who else has been to Las Vegas over 50 times, twice
a year just to compete? Not only did my brother and
I compete everywhere, we had to compete in our
weight class and the weight class above. This was how
serious my father was, and it didn’t stop there.
“I pictured it was going to
be just like all the Bruce Lee
movies I watched on TV.
I found out it wasn’t; I found
out it was far better, but it
took me a long time to realize
just how much better it was.”
My father sent us to Japan for training camps and
competitions. My summers were nothing more than a
training school. It seemed like I was never going to get
the time to do anything else. I was getting older and
started to compete in the Junior High School Nationals.
This was when we would train every single day. Sundays
were the best: what could be more fun than to wake up
at 6 am on a Sunday, to train on our back porch while
it’s freezing outside? I wore socks and my toes would still
freeze up. The wrestling mat that we trained on was so
hard that I couldn’t tell which was harder, the mat or
the concrete.
My brother was four years behind me, but because “I used to think my father
of my age, our father would push us both the same.
trained us too hard and
David would hide his Judo gi and tell our father that he
complain. Once I was at
could not find it, in hopes that he wouldn’t have to go
to practice. Little did he know that our father always
Chuo I realized that we
had extra uniforms for us. David didn’t get off that easy. didn’t train that hard at all.”
Practice was a part of life for us and we just had to get
used to it. Did all this practice pay off? It took a long time Every day at Chuo, we would get up at 6 am, and run
for us to start winning, but winning did not keep me from 5 miles. This would lead us to a long stairway up a hill.
wanting to do other things. We would sprint up that stairway as fast as we could,
then 5 miles back to the dorms. We would get an hour

I got into big arguments with my father about Judo. to eat and rest. Judo practice would start around 9 am,

I always wanted to take time off and go with my friends to and it would last three hours. This was not all we did, we

the beach. It would have been nice not to have to leave had another practice that started around 5 pm and was

home to compete. My father and I argued so badly that another three hours. I remember this very well, because

I decided to quit Judo. All I did was hang out with friends this was where I spent my birthday. This was the hardest

and do those things that Judo kept me from. I thought I have ever trained in my life. I wanted to go home.

I was having fun, but deep down inside I realized I was Not because I couldn’t do it, but because I felt so out

missing something. There was a competitive side of me of place, and wanted to spend my summers differently.

that always drove me back to Judo. After about six I also felt like I was not doing it for me, but was doing it

months of doing what I wanted, I started to train again. for my father.

My father knew exactly what it took to be a top Judo

competitor. He decided to erect a building in the
backyard big enough for a full competition area. This is
when he started to bring in top Japanese judo players
from Japan to stay at our house. We would train every
day. If our judo club was closed, our backyard building
was open. We even had a top Japanese judoka live at
our house for a year straight. I had no choice now: Judo
surrounded our family.

During my high school days in judo, I competed in several

My father was getting more and more involved with
national competitions. Traveling far was becoming
Judo. He even became the head of the US high school
necessary to keep up with the top of the judo chain. At
judo team. The team consisted of the US high schools
the end of high school, I traveled to Japan for my second
finest competitors, David being one of them. One of
time, I staying two months of my summer. The first month
the most memorable competitions the Team had was in
the whole team traveled and competed together in
Japan. Japan took this competition so seriously that they
Japan. The last month the team split up, and since I had
have never lost it, and the Japanese where determined
completed high school, I was not allowed to travel with
to win it again. This competition was so big, they had
the team. Instead, I went to Chuo University with two
twenty mats with teams competing at one time. The US
others. I was the youngest judoka on the Chuo University
won the competition and the Japanese would not hand
mat, which consisted of 30 black belts.
over the trophy. The trophy was supposed to be handed

E-Journal of Jujutsu | ROY DEAN MEDIA | SPRING 2007 | 14

to the team that won and stay with them for that year.
We don’t even know if they put the US teams name on
the trophy.
A simple night of training with the Ralph Gracie Crew:
Cameron Earle (far left), David Camarillo (center left),
BJ Penn (second right), Dan Camarillo (far right)
Bakersfield is very close to Fresno, and Fresno State
University at that time was in the top 3 places in the US
to train for Judo. The closer the National competitions
came the harder we would train. Which meant, we
would drive to Fresno every Friday night to train. So now
our Friday nights are taken up by traveling to Fresno for
a hard practice. This was getting old very fast, but we
did this for years. The training we really needed was right
there in Fresno. So once both my brother and I got old
enough, we moved. We became a part of the Fresno
State Judo Team. Some how, my father still had a hold of
everything we did. He still made sure we always trained
no matter what. I felt there was no escape. No matter
what I did or where I went, my father was going to be
right there making sure I was training.
I believe training in Fresno help us a great deal. But I
was still not training the way I should have, and that is
because of me. I have no one else to blame but myself.
I was still young and wanted to do other things. After
being in Fresno for a couple of years and trying to find a
way out of Judo, I finally found my chance. My brother
and I were both fascinated by the UFC and how Royce
Gracie won using what we thought was just plain Judo.
So fascinated that for the three years in Fresno I would
drive to the Bay Area every weekend to train with Ralph
Gracie, a cousin of Royce Gracie. I was still in Fresno
though, and still training in Judo, and still under my
E-Journal of Jujutsu | ROY DEAN MEDIA | SPRING 2007 | 15
father’s control. The opportunity came to me to move to
the Bay Area and so I did.
Once I started training in Jiujitsu I finally felt like I was
doing something on my own. My father did not call me
every day to see if I was training. I was actually training
on my own and it felt good. All these things that I was
complaining about were gone. I did not train a single
practice of Judo for the next three years. This was not a
problem because I was advancing so fast at Jiujitsu and
it was because of me. The time was flying by so fast that
I did not realize something until it was too late.
As an adult, I now understand why I did not want to train
and wanted to goof off. I was very immature and thinking
I knew what was best for me. Wishing I would not miss out
on fun was a mistake I will have to live with. I found out
my father was just trying to do what was best for me. He
was trying to make me the best I could before it was too
late. Now I am older and can not go back in time. I wish
I would have listened to my father and trained correctly.
Everyone thinks they have all the time in the world to
accomplish their goals. I now know that time is not
what we have, and we need to do what we can to be
the best.
All those times I complained and quit I regret. I owe my
father a lot. I love Judo and Jiujitsu and what they have
given back to me. If it was not for my father I would never
have been who I am today. If I would have listened to my
father, who knows what I would have accomplished.
www.armhunter.com
Aikido Bridge Seminar
Tissier • Doran • Ikeda • Murashige
Jeff Sodemon
Chief Instructor, Jiai Aikido
On an afternoon stroll through a museum of fine art
you will most likely come across some of the works of
Pablo Picasso. As with many of the great lifelong artists,
Picasso’s exploration of painting took him through several
distinct phases of his career. Viewing pieces from his
Blue period, Cubism, or Surrealist phases you can watch
Picasso’s evolution and exploration of art; distinctly
different looks but still with an underlying quality that
says “this is Picasso.”
Imagine Picasso taking on different students for a few
years here and there over his storied career. Depending
on when they studied, they would come away with
different ideas and opinions of the art of painting. As
those students pass along their knowledge to another
generation, the opinions and styles slowly diverge.
e-Journal of Jujutsu | ROY DEAN Media | SPRING 2007 | 16
The career of Aikido founder Morihei Ueshiba spanned
a full lifetime of study from his early days of Daito Ryu
Aikijujutsu to his final days as the father of Aikido. Many
people lived with and studied under Ueshiba, and they
can generally be broken down into four generations of
students. These students are the ones that went on to
spread and teach Aikido throughout the world.
As with Picasso, Ueshiba’s various phases of growth
influenced his students in different ways, and now several
generations along we find numerous interpretations and
Aikido organizations in existence. The unfortunate side
effect of the dissemination of Aikido is that very few
people have a full picture of what the art encompasses,
with the original students of Ueshiba slowly passing on.
“The Aikido Bridge was
formed to help ensure the
survival and growth of Aikido
for upcoming generations of
students and teachers.”
The first annual week-long Aikido Bridge Friendship
Seminar brought together master instructors (shihan)
and a full range of students from a variety of different
“styles” and organizations from across the globe to
share, exchange, and grow their Aikido practice.
The seminar took place in mid-January at Jiai Aikido in
San Diego, California. The 30+ hours of training featured
daily classes by: Hiroshi Ikeda shihan from the Aikido
Schools of Ueshiba (Boulder, CO), Frank Doran shihan
from the California Aikido Association (Redwood City,
CA), Christian Tissier shihan of Circle Tissier (Paris, France),
and special guest Morihiko Murashige of Birankai
(San Diego, CA). Every night also included a different
regional guest instructor including: Haruo Matsuoka
sensei, Frank McGouirk sensei, Francis Takahashi shihan,
Dang Thong Phong sensei, and Lia Suzuki sensei.
Ikeda Doran Tissier Murashige

The 4 main instructors each brought a distinct flavor
to classes, but common themes carried throughout
the entire seminar. Often, the same principles and
problems were addressed in multiple ways, with different,
yet equally, effective solutions. One important
commonality was how to perform Aikido in a martially
effective manner.
Ikeda shihan’s classes focused on controlling the
attacker’s power from the first moment of contact, and
how to control the attacker’s body through barely visible
spiral movements.
Doran shihan mixed humor with his clear teaching style
to demonstrate the need for closing off the attacker’s
options, while creating openings that will be used
against them.
of the guest instructors was a great example of how well
Aikido works for all types of people. Every morning also
featured a class by some of the highly ranked instructors
in attendance.
Despite record cold temperatures, the Bridge Seminar
was a fantastic success, with many people commenting
that it was the best seminar they had ever attended.
A notable part of the success were the open attitudes,
the desire to learn and try new things, and the friendly
faces that came together in training.
Dates and details for next January’s 2008 Bridge Seminar
will be announced soon on the Aikido Bridge website
along with reviews, articles, and pictures from the
2007 event. DVDs of the 2007 seminar are currently in
production and will be available through Bujin Design.

Tissier shihan presented a very interesting dissection of

what directions of movement and possible techniques www.aikidobridge.com
exist, or are blocked, depending on the relationship
www.bujindesign.com
between the attacker and defender.
www.jiaiaikido.com

Murashige shihan demonstrated the ability to provide

devastating power while remaining soft and relaxed,
mixed in with some uncommon full body throws
and chokes.

The nightly guest instructors all brought something

different to their classes. Young to old, small to large,
male and female, each teacher shared an example of
what interests them. The diverse personalities and bodies

e-Journal of Jujutsu | ROY DEAN Media | SPRING 2007 | 17

AIkido Bridge PICTORIAL
Tissier • Doran • Ikeda • Murashige

© aliciaphotos.com

e-Journal of Jujutsu | ROY DEAN Media | SPRING 2007 | 18

Aikido Bridge PICTORIAL
Tissier • Doran • Ikeda • Murashige

© aliciaphotos.com

e-Journal of Jujutsu | ROY DEAN Media | SPRING 2007 | 19

Join us in the evolution of modern grappling
Subscribe now at www.jujutsujournal.com

Don’t miss out on the EJJ summer issue, featuring an in-depth interview with Sheila Haddad, 15th dan Bujinkan Budo
Taijutsu, and founder of Seido Jujutsu; Robb Wolf prescribes a proven conditioning routine for competitive fighters;
Systema seminar review; black belt tips for finishing the triangle choke, and much more!

The E-Journal of Jujutsu: Moving the Arts Forward

E-Journal of Jujutsu | ROY DEAN MEDIA | SPRING 2007 | 20