I trained at Wally Jay’s house, in Alameda, in the early 90s, and let me confess: finger locks are real. When Wally Jay has you in a finger lock, you’re helpless.
I suspect I am not the only one laughing at how calm he is explaining this while the poor chaps are writhing in pain on the floor! Excellent explanation. Clear and concise demonstration. Those "test dummies" are champs.
I was a humble student of Wally Jay. He did these instructions to and in front of the entire class, including yours truly. It’s been almost 50 years since I attended Island Alameda Judo & Jujitsu. It was one of the highlights and privileges of my life.
I had the good fortune to attend a seminar of Professor Wally Jay back in 1992 at a JKD studio in southern oregon. Learned so much in a short amount of time. Thank you so much for this knowledge Grandmaster. Respect J Fennell
This technique dropped a guy to his knees that punched me at a bar once. His hand was open, so grabbed a mitt full of his fingers and bent them straight down towards the floor, "is this the hand you like to punch people with?" It was an attitude changer for sure. Apologies ensued.
At age 15, an unassuming, tall Wally Jay was our island city mail man. At age 43, my Sifu was one of several on the island. All his adolescent students filled our schools, never misbehaving or taking advantage of their learning. He was nearly 90 when he passed away, as lean as he was in his 40s as beloved as an Hawaiian ocean breeze. Our police forces lack these techniques and the confidence in deflating a hostile engagement these can bring. Professor Jay's influence is world-wide and a never-ending ripple.
Which tend to come up more than you think...I had the pleasure of training under the professor years ago for awhile, these techniques were generally more a transition than an end in and of themselves. A finger lock can be used as an incredibly effective means to shift quickly into a more secure lock like a wrist lock or arm bar. You'll find uses for it in almost every fight, particularly against an untrained opponent.
Much respect for this humble man. I attended many of his seminars back in the 80s, & he lived in the spirit of the martial arts; humility, patience & a sense of humour. I still have sore fingers but remember those times with a smile.
Studied with both Gracie and Jay. Two totally different styles. Please stop the dumb comments. Learn about the guy don't just watch a video. Small circle is now incorporated into so many styles. Now I know why real martial artist don't read the idiotic comments on youtube.
I have seen quite a bit of Japanese jiu-jitsu, and Chinese chin-na, both demonstrated and as the Uke and they hurt like hell. I have only met a few scjj practitioners and the little innovations of mechanics were enough to induce noticeably more pain compliance. Very interesting art.
Doesn't work when the criminal is too far away which is when police usually shoot, justified or not. However it could be useful in hand to hand combat as Japanese police do study joint locks.
It is majestic how in all pure Japanese martial arts when the teacher shows you a technique it hurts like hell, incapacitating you, rendering your other muscles useless, when he finishes the technique, we bow to him in respect...
This stuff is illegal in UFC,BJJ, NAGA for good reasons. 1) Many chances present to secure a grab on a finger or toe. 2) The bones and ligaments are small. They break and tear easily. 3) Finger & toe breaks/tears are excruciatingly painful far above proportion to the relative damage inflicted on the body as a whole. 4) This kind of mutilation ends careers and handicaps people for life. 5) It's not sporting (outside of Japan). It's malicious and best used to stop violence & save lives.
yes what does one do when facing your closed fisted opponents,? use a totally different fighting style until you get an open palm or spare finger? is this fighting style limited in applicability because of that or is there a workaround..i'm curious
Small joint manipulation is illegal in the UFC. Just because you don't see it used, it doesn't mean it doesn't work. Proclaim your ignorance of Martial Arts. That's why there is Martial in Martial Arts - it's War, not a sport.
I try not to really comment on RU-vid; however as I check out clips occasionally it's truly amazing how there are so many closed minded ignorant people in this world. Furthermore these ignorant people don't even know they are ignorant. I'm sure a large percentage is due to age. “Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the universe.” ― Albert Einstein
I learned similar stuff from catch wrestling , but I always tell people that finger locks save lives . Some kid tried to bully me in HS by grabbing my book bag strap , so I grabbed(2on1) his wrist and his pinky and front kicked his shin when I twisted . . . Without good training , any random could try beat you'll.
Now, in small circle jujitsu or even jujitsu itself, there are transitions. You can go from a standard wrist lock to a reverse wrist to a finger lock back to a wrist lock to thumb compression. You obv dont have to transition so much to control your opponent so really 1-2 transitions at most. Now if you put the idea of transitions, you can basically defend urself from anything such as someone grabbing your shirt getting ready to punch you. Thumb compression is great here and this hurts a ton
thanks I am glad that I am just watching lol a lot of pain so fast and with out a lot of energy this is the friends I want to have thanks for this video master.
*nod* most of these arts, Small Circle Jujitsu or Krav Maga for example have no use in tournaments. They were made specifically with 1 single goal in mind, effectiveness against life-threatening or severe situations. They were designed specifically as war arts with the intention of causing severe damage or death in the attackers. There's a major distinction between that and wanting to win a tournament. I love UFC, don't get me wrong, but it's not a reasonable model of a real street situation
Anyone who thinks they could handle one of these holds simply hasn't dealt with a reasonable practitioner before. I had the pleasure of training under this guy a number of times in seminars and such and I remember the feeling that you could manage but the second he put a lock on you, you were his, flat out...the big judokas present would try to resist and he'd just add a little torque and they'd be controlled like a dog on a leash, brutally efficient and painful art.
Then you've never had any experience dealing with someone who knows it, these locks are taught as means to an end, a transition point between a lapel grab or a push into something more concrete like an armbar or wrist lock. I'd also wonder what judo tournaments you're attending that allow small joint manipulation, that sort of technique is barred even in most "no holds barred" tournaments, I've been both attending and a part of dozens of judo tournaments and never seen one allow them once.
Seriously? You're still spouting this nonsense? If there's one thing that MMA has taught the world, it's that "the art or style" absolutely matters. "the art or style" defines the training methodologies and in terms of efficacy, those arts or styles that employ live resistance training will consistently outperform those that don't. My own JJJ throws and groundwork were basically useless until I functionalised them by training live with Judo and Sambo practitioners. Same with striking. Kata and Bunkai training is useless when faced with a boxer or muay thai fighter.
I trained with Leon Jay for a while, and finger locks are so effective and painful. No wonder small joint attacks are illegal in the UFC and other combat sports as it would be a quick tap or just very difficult to grapple or strike with a broken finger.
You're right, but that statement applies to any technique. In the real world you're just as likely to get grabbed, shoved or something as you are to get struck. The time for anything is when the opportunity is there. Never put all your eggs in one basket.
But how do you get them to first open their fists? Almost all fights people make fists the entire time or at least while they are swinging at you. They also quickly close their hands up when you try to grab their fingers. Is there another video by this teacher showing how to do all that?
I love how the white guy at the 4 and half minute area makes pain noises as if he's a Chinese guy in a kung fu movie instead of just natural yelps. "Ah tsai! Shee tsah!" What a dork!
Small circle Jiu jitsu is a JIU jitsu style that specializes in finger locks or is it a specialized part of Jiujitsu? In other words,is it a style in particular or a part within another style?
The small circle part refers to the area of study involving making a small circular motion with the hand while applying the locks. It describes the lever and fulcrum motion when viewed from the side. The fulcrum and lever fingers love in opposite directions, hence making a circular motion and becoming a force multiplier on the joint.
These techniques are obviously effective. Thanks. Sadly, Wally Jay lacks self control to teach. He caused excessive pain and needlessly risked permanent damage to his training partners. If ya think about it, avoiding brutes like this is the reason we train.
@shengchenfan At the time of the posting. He was not dead. I have been vey close to him and his family for many years. He had a stroke on Tuesday and just passed early this morning. Thanks anyways.
@jeffery Ransom you're absolutely right, it's straight disrespectful Wally Jay is respected in the Martial Arts World, they do the same thing when viewing Dr. Moses Powell's videos smdh but I bet none of them would step to any disciples of these two Masters
yeah but that looks hard to get in the 1st place. grabbing fingers in a real fight?? i dunno. unless the opponent grabs you or something maybe, but i dont think i'd go for it. doesn't seem practical.
Which tournaments allowed small joint manipulation and eye gouges? I've seen tournaments where it was done, but it caused disqualification...frankly, I've never seen someone able to have their eyeballs shoved into their frontal lobe and still be fighting, that kind of technique is specifically designed to maim for life and kill. *shrug* if the person is stupid enough not to tap out you just break the joint and move on, Wally always stressed if one technique isn't working, just move on.
I don't know, man. All due respect to the late great master, do we really think that an aggressor, pumped with adrenalin and in a battle frenzy, would even care about a broken wrist or finger, no matter how painful it is? A guy could have a knife sticking in his body, but because of the adrenalin, he could still continue to fight his victim. Even for cops, bigger movements would make more sense. Armlock the perp. Out comes the cuffs. You grab somebody's pinkie, you might just get bit or bitch-slapped. You know the trade ~ you can break my fingers, but I will crack your skull. Not a bad bargain, in a real -life scenario. Unless you have a strong grip like Professor Wally Jay, you might loose your lock on the fingers. But anyway, hey, thanks for this video! The man is famous, and so is his "small circle" system. Heard and read about it. GREAT to get this privilege to watch it on RU-vid. Don't mind me. I know nothing about the grappling arts. Absolutely true! LOL.
This sounds like a what if question. Some techniques from other martial arts are bull shit. His techniques could be done from the young to an elderly person. He is showing u how to perform this move but it doesn't happen by u just walking up to a person and doing it. You soften your opponent first. I have done finger locks, and wrist locks against thug street aggressors and it works if u know what u r doing.
It will always depend on the individual and their pain threshold. However some things on the human anatomy hurt categorically more than others. I've broken a finger during sparring. I thought I just jammed it and kept fighting. Do a hammer strike on a person's collar bone and it renders the attached arm useless. Doesn't stop and attacker but renders one of their arms useless. Breaking the knee, hurts. A lot. Same with elbow. And shoulder. Anywhere there is an intersection of nerve clusters....
While I am not experienced in aikido, I've felt such techniques applied to me many times. The thing is very strange, your whole body moves in accordance. If the joint is broken, sure, it'll hurt but then the technique / control has ended. Resisting such a pain to my mind is almost impossible, the feeling is very strange. If you hold your own fingers or arms you can tolerate a lot of pain until you break them, but if someone does a technique the way he does, it is not about the break but the control, and oddly enough - you comply. The way I understand is, that there is a kinetic chain of ligaments and muscles, so with the certain control of the finger (not breaking) you gain control of the elbow and the shoulder, once you have the shoulder, well, you basically have the whole body. And your opponent however tough he may be, it seems to me this directly affects centers in the brain that make your feet go soft, it is quite strange.
There is a pain response that can't be avoided. Like if you touch the end of a needle or get knicked by a chainsaw. You will involuntarily flinch and pull away. The hyperextension of the tendons in the fingers produce this affect. This also prevents an attacker striking with the other hand BTW. And there is next to no grip being used. the finger is trapped by the opposing forces of the palm and finger. its pretty cool and it works.
