Coach Freedman has been teaching his own style of Ketsugo Jujutsu for many years now. He has a number of students that are teaching out of their own schools and he is concerned that they may not be teaching the core practices of his style. His style is built on three core practices  which are Footwork, the Nine Angles and the Flow Drill. In order to make sure that all his students are on the same page, he has decided to have a gathering of the Ketsugo tribe 6 times a year. This will be an opportunity to refresh the knowledge of the core practices and to meet with the other practitioners on a regular basis.

This past Saturday April 30, 2011 was the first meeting of the tribe. It was a cool spring day and students from NH and neighboring states met to get some training. Coach Freedman started the class with a warm greeting to all who attended and then talked a bit about martial arts and Ketsugo in particular. He stressed that it is important to know the history and origins of the martial art you are studying so that you can gain a complete understanding of the art you are practicing. He then began to discuss the importance of footwork in Ketsugo Jujutsu. Coach Freedman has identified 50 foot movements that he uses in his system. He took the group through the movements and explained the proper execution of each foot movement. He led the group through the 50 movements which was repeated multiple times.

Coach Freedman next began to demonstrate the usage of the foot movements.  He demonstrated how the foot movements were used to evade an attack with the long knife. By using the movements in the precise angles it became apparent how the movement was effective in the evasion of the attacks. The students then practiced the movements with an opponent attacking with a long knife. people who had not used these movements before were amazed at how effective they were. Coach Freedman demonstrated how the foot movements  along with strikes and locks were a devastating defense for this type of attack.

Coach Freedman next demonstrated leg lock and leg lock techniques. These also come out of the footwork. He had the students practice on long sticks before trying the techniques on each other. These techniques are quite effective and have to be practiced slow in order not to cause injury.

A lot more information was delivered during the course of the seminar. You had to be there to have gotten it all.

The day ended with all the students getting together in Coach Freedman’s back yard and sharing food that was brought by the students.

The date for the next gathering will be on June 25 at the Weare NH dojo from 10:00am to 2:00pm. The cost will be $25. Call (603)529-3564 to find out more information. Anyone can attend.

Below is a gallery of pictures from the day.

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1. Ground Fighting Spring 2011

Another great training seminar with Coach Freedman. The people that attended were excited to learn these very simple and effective flexible weapon techniques. Who thought that you could be so dangerous with just a length of rope,  a belt or even a piece of cloth. Coach Freedman guided the class through several drills and then had everybody team up and practice the defenses he taught. Everybody was impressed how easy these were to perform. Pencak Silat Master Ismail Sujadi was on hand to show us some Indonesian flexible weapon techniques. I would not want to mess with him if he had a rope in his hands (or feet). Check out the video and stay tuned for information on Coach Freedman’s up coming Joint Stopper Seminar on July 25, 2010.

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1. Meeting of the Ketsugo Tribe April 2011

Coach Freedman demonstrating variations of the block, check and counter drills with the help of Guro Birmingham. In the video Coach Freedman explains about rhythm training in Filipino Martial Arts. He explains how to see or spot a 3 count beat or a 4 count beat or even a 5 count beat in a drill. These beats carry over into a fight and if your awareness is high, you can spot these rhythms and disrupt them. Pay attention to your training and see where the beats come in.

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1. Karambit Drills Pt. 2