The official web site of Shinjido inventor Danny Da Costa

Shinjido for Judo

Shinjido has much to offer the judoka. Approached with an open mind it can provide a springboard for endless innovation. Shinjido is not meant to replace sport Judo, far from it. Shinjido is designed to compliment Judo. However it is not so much a matter of “thinking outside of the box” but rather casting the box away altogether. We start with two questions. (1) What are the objectives of Judo (throws, hold downs, submissions) and (2) What are the rules of the game? Starting with a blank sheet lends itself to innovation, encouraging the judoka to develop an individual style.

 Shinjido is subject to a number of basic principles or concepts that include: - (1) The element of surprise. We favour the unusual over the usual. (2) Gravity Assisted Power (3) The Effortless use of Intrinsic Power. (4) Attacking From a Wide Range of Angles. We also stay aware of popular in vogue techniques on the bases that we need to demolish these rather than copying them. It is helpful to explain some of this in more detail. The element of surprise needs no further explanation. It is included in Judo but the variations available through Shinjido increase the possibilities.

Gravity Assisted Power - GAP

This is the predominate principle that distinguishes Shinjido from other throwing arts. It is helpful to use Judo as a comparison.

 The power for a Judo throw requires substantial muscular effort. Kano (the founder of judo) described Judo as “the gentle way”. If you watch judo competition, particularly at international level, you would hardly describe it as gentle. Something has been lost in translation. A more accurate description, also used by Kano was “maximum effect with minimum force”. However Kano did not regard judo simply as a sport and some of the techniques today would hardly be recognized by him as judo.

 A throw can be broken down to 3 elements of which the first is Tsukuri or breaking balance. Geof. Gleason, British Judo’s first full time professional coach, describes tsukuri in more detail: “the action done by tori (the thrower) to make Uki (the recipient) move in the direction of the throw. It can be done many ways, using body weight, hand action, using uke’s (uncontrolled) body weight….” The second element is Kuzushi or the thrower positioning their own body in preparation for completing the throwing action. The final element is the throwing action that completes uki’s downfall. In reality the three elements that constitute a throw are likely to merge into one continuous action.

 The preparation for a throw i.e. tsukuri or balance breaking may on occasion be subtle but the driving force that makes the throw work, is anything but. The power is most frequently derived from a driving leg. Therefore a forward throw becomes the most difficult direction to throw because Tori (the thrower) must turn 180 degrees and place their driving leg behind them. The further back they place the driving leg, the more powerful the action will be. Uki will seek to prevent this by blocking with an outstretched arm or thrusting the hip forward. Tai Toshi, Seionage, Harai Goshi, Uchimata are just a few examples of forward throws that require the action of a driving leg

 The other major use of muscular power is in a throw that requires a lifting action such as Ogoshi, Uranage, Katagaruma etc. Both the lifting and the driving action oppose the force of gravity. To be effective they require much skill in reducing the effect of gravity through initially unbalancing the opponent – tsukuri and kuzushi.

 The Shinjido approach is to join with the force of gravity, applying body weight directly down. The power required is not a muscular force. It is effortless power created by moving the body mass and adding your weight to the opponent. Tsukuri or balance breaking is still required but not to the same degree as with a Judo throw. Consider this, an upright body can only lean forward about 10 degrees before it needs to take a step or fall. Because Judo requires muscular effort, at the application stage there is a great deal of tension. With Shinjido, the emphasis is on remaining as relaxed as possible, which allows the application of more weight. This is a very efficient way to make a throw. The most remarkable first impression is that the throw seemed effortless both for tori and uki.

 I frequently take someone with no martial art or falling experience and drop them down using GAP. I am so much in control that I can easily vary the impact from soft to severe and the novice can have their head protected while they are gently sat down. The remark of students with experience in other arts is “how did you do that? It seemed so easy.” Intrinsic or effortless power works that way. Because there is no great muscular effort it does indeed seem effortless. Strong thigh muscles are wonderful to have but provided you can “let go” and bend your knees, little muscular effort is required to put someone down, when you work with, rather than against gravity. The principle is easy to understand but as in all things, skill is still required.

Effortless Intrinsic Power

This is the sort of energy that distinguishes the soft internal arts from the hard arts; although there is an element of each in both. It might be helpful to describe this in terms of a punch. As a schoolboy boxing champion, I won all my contests by KO. I would practice on the heavy bag and with a fairly wide stance, press off the back foot, putting my shoulder and weight behind the punch. I was told that a good fighter could “punch his weight” and I was punching more than my weight. Consequently whenever I landed a stiff jab the KO punch followed immediately. This would have been an example of “hard style” Obviously it got results and was effective but was it efficient? The soft approach would not require such a wide stance. The action would start with the moving body so that the weight was constantly “going with punch” The fist would explode away from the body as contact is about to be made. The focus should be on relaxation of the upper body so as not to impede the punch.

Put this in a Judo context. If you launch yourself into an attacking throw, the moment your lead foot comes to rest, the body’s power in movement is over. If the throw has been completed, all well and good but Tori can now only rely on upper body strength. A Shinjido throw will look entirely different but Shinjido principles can also be used with traditional Judo techniques. In the example quoted, the back leg would move in closer. The focus would be in dropping weight down, rather than driving. Shinjido largely concentrates on throwing backwards (although we have some very powerful forward throws.) This is simply a matter of expediency. With a backward throw, you only have to throw the opponent down. With a forward throw you also have to turn them over. It is also in martial term easier to defend against someone who turns their back on you. Let me give you an example using Osotogari. We would take a cross grip (both hands on the same side). As we move our outside foot towards the opponent we would drop our weight by bending the knee. This has the effect of anchoring them making is very difficult to counter. The dropping action is continuous. If the opponent is not on their back, a small sweep with the outside leg completes the action. In short – effortless intrinsic power can be the body mass in motion. 

Angles of Attack and Grips  

I have linked these together because they are interdependent. Lets us make a comparison with Judo. The range of attacking angles is within around 90 degrees. This is due to the restraining grips that we impose on one and other of which sleeve and collar are most familiar. Imagine fighting someone with no arms (I should be a bit alarmed if you had imagined this already!) The opponent would have no control over you and attacks could be made from a 360 degree range. This is the Shinjido approach, we barely need to grip at all while we can break, avoid or utilize any grip that is attempted by the opponent. In this way we can place ourselves in the most advantageous position. In Judo the first element of a throw is balance breaking, followed by body positioning leading to the throwing action. With Shinjido we have more choice. Body positioning can precede balance breaking or vica versa.

I have focused on throwing but Shinjido includes groundwork. These are moves of my own invention that can easily be included within a Judo repertoire and benefit from the surprise element. It is worth mentioning that an important part of Judo is transference from standing work to groundwork. Shinjido is conceptually faster off the mark. We refer to completion, where the opponent is no longer capable of resistance. Because Shinjido throws allow for greater control, we naturally follow the opponent down into a restraint or submission.

They say that a picture is worth a thousand words. Therefore a moving picture must be worth far more. I recommend that you purchase the DVD – Da Costa Shinjido. In due course there will be pictures and video clips available on the website.