judo in Japan 1930- 1950

https://youtu.be/gcLyH-Zv7rI

budoitaly wrote:

Thank you for that. It is an interesting document, but it requires further analysis. The title says "Judo in Japan 1930-1950". I assume that this refers to a much larger piece of film. There is no way that this is close to 1930. Ôsawa Yoshimi is easy to recognize, but ... in 1930 he was just a 3-year old kid ...

Also, Mifune who is easily recognizable, does not look anything like what he was looking in the 1930s. I reckon that this document dates instead from 1948-1950.

The excerpt from the Ura-kata of Koshiki-no-kata at the start is very interesting.

The tempo of this series in this demonstration is a bit faster than in other performances I have by Nagaoka-sensei.

Is this really Nagaoka ?  The image is not crisp, but it is likely as there are a couple of instances at where you can see the shape of his head and the receding hairline which is similar to his. This is particularly so at 00'14" when he is getting up.

If so, then this move confirms exactly what other recordings of Nagaoka-sensei which I have confirm, namely that much of Daigo's recollection of Nagaoka's koshiki-no-kata is incorrect. This is not 'blame', but quite normal consider that Daigo was only in his 20s and much too young for something as advanced as Koshiki-no-kata when Nagaoka-sensei died.

For example, at 00'03" you can clearly see in Mi-kudaki (first technique of the second series) that there is absolutely no cut up, interrupted way of moving, where after each tsugi-ashi the movement is halted. Instead, the entire displacement is dynamic with tori almost jumping his tsugi-ashi, so that it is indeed possible to actually have an action/reaction, which has totally disappeared in today's performances.

For example, see this contemporary demonstration at last year's Kôdôkan Summer Kata Course at 07'20", which looks nothing like what Nagaoka-sensei is doing in the clip posted here by the original poster. For those who do not know, Nagaoka-sensei held the rank of menkyo kaiden in Kitô-ryû, Noda-ha style.



This also isn't just an age thing as I have recordings of Daigo-sensei when he was still 8th dan and able to perform these kata himself, and that is what he is teaching today (with some evolution) not so much how Nagaoka-sensei did it. One has to be very careful teaching from mere memories as a youngster without cross-referencing with actual images or authentic documents reassessed when one has the age of maturity.

I cannot say with certainty who Nagaoka-sensei's uke is here. It does not seem to be Samura Kaichirô-sensei. I was more thinking along the lines of Koyasu Masao-sensei, but his face it too unclear to be sure.

Anyways, though it is a pity that this document only shows a partial demo, it is certainly welcome, so thanks !