Thoughts on Small Circle Jujitsu?

Doomed · Yellow Belt

So, last week I was lurking around YouTube for various martial arts videos and whatnot, and I stumbled onto a martial art known as "Small Circle Jujitsu" that was developed by Wally Jay. As I was watching the video, I thought the idea of controlling an opponent by manipulating their finger was very interesting. The way the techniques were done were crisp and lightning-fast, and made me think of Aikido to a huge degree. But it also made me ponder a bit.

My question is for anyone who's trained (or currently training) in SCJJ, or even has a passing interest in it: How practical is it in a real-life situation? Demonstrations are a good aid for developing technique, I know, but how effective is it from a self-defense standpoint? I mean no disrespect to either the art or the practitioners, but it's something I've been thinking about.

Here's the video in question, for those interested.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jM0pTpK7SeQ

Wado Heretic · Green Belt

Wally Jay was a relatively successful Judo instructor and coach, and what he taught has been used with success in Judo competition.

Manipulating small joints can be useful when entering into passive restraints; for example you have some one threatening violence that needs restraining, but is not actively fighting you. It can also be useful for gaining compliance from someone who is actively attempting to resist a hold you already have them in.

However, from a self-defence point of view, like all locks relying on precision control, it can be difficult to gain in the heat of the actual confrontation. I would not particularly advise attempting to engage in such control methods as demonstrated in the video in the majority of self-defence situations. Saying that though, the principles are sound, and will work, but I would not practice them in such a context.

To comment on CJJ as a whole, I am dubious of the current direction of Small Circle Jujutsu, because of its ties to George Dillman. However, the older material written by Wally Jay, when he still had competing students, is quite compelling and worth studying. Also, the finger locking is mostly representative of Wally Jay in later years, rather than reflective of his earlier expressions of SCJJ; think pre-war Aikido versus the Aikido Ueshiba was teaching in later life. As a principle based system, with strong fundamentals, you can do far worse than SCJJ.

However, my only experiences are through seminars, videos, and written materials. I am not a committed student of SCJJ so I would take my opinion with a grain of salt.
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bushido_man96 · KF Sensei

I haven't had any experience with small circle JJ, but have done some Hapkido and Aikido, which are similar, focused on small joint manipulation. With good training, it can be beneficial. Training methods should get to a point where it includes some levels of resistance, so that one can see what its like to apply these techniques to a resisting opponent.
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ninjanurse · KF VIP

I have been a student of Small Circle for many years and have been the recipient of one of Professor Jays personal "finger manipulations"-they are quite effective provided you practice them just as you would any techinque from any art as repitition is always the key. Small Circle theory can be applied to any martial technique-it's no mystery-and Professor Jay was able to articulate and design specific techniques using this theory that when applied allows a much smaller person to effect a larger person with relative ease-much like aikido, bjj, etc.

I agree with Wado on the current direction of some SCJJ "schools"....we strive to preserve Professor Jay's teachings as he taught them to us.

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Kusotare · Purple Belt

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