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    U.S. Army's Basic Hand To Hand Fighting of World War I

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    Anatol


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    Post by Anatol Wed Jun 15, 2016 9:07 am

    Not bad at all (the instructor) - why did they know all these techniques at this time?

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ga4zLsMmkE0&t=4m39s

    As far as I do remember, Teddy Roosevelt had lectures in Judo from Yamashita, 10th Dan

    but the whole US Army in WW I ?

    Maybe the Judo Historians or US Sensei can bring some light to the very early history of Judo in the US (and US Army)?
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    Brainjutsu


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    Post by Brainjutsu Fri Jun 24, 2016 7:27 pm

    An interesting piece of history showing what early judo looked like, though not having much to do with Yamashita. You can find some facts about captain Smith here:

    http://ejmas.com/jnc/jncart_bowen_0603.htm

    Also, a short story with few photos here:

    https://books.google.ba/books?id=R9gDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA46&lpg=PA46&dq=Captain+Allan+Corstorphin+Smith&source=bl&ots=Ojd4d3WVd0&sig=1IIDqiQduY0aLE6_emVq8IEHue4&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiM_ICxjcDNAhVCtBQKHa02DGMQ6AEIRDAH#v=onepage&q=Captain%20Allan%20Corstorphin%20Smith&f=false


    However, I don't think this was a unified approach to hand-to-hand combat in US Army of the day. As far as it is known Smith was instructor at Fort Myer and Fort Benning. The latter was used for basic training and considering the background it's probably where they filmed all that. Fort Benning was established in October 1918, so the film was probably from that era too. That's supported by an interesting detail. Those more familiar with military equipment will recognize that the "American" soldier in the drill wears the experimental helmet Model 5. Those were produced in small numbers (cca 2000). However, despite their excellent design, they were discarded by commanders who thought they too much resembled Germans' M16s (worn by the "German" soldier in the film). Only few were ever used in the field at the very end of war, making the unused pieces more suitable for training (while the "good stuff" was being sent to trenches).

    In terms of actual techniques, the film clearly shows the type of judo/jujutsu Smith was exposed to while in Japan i.e. more combat oriented and probably not so strictly Kodokan.

    For further reading his most known book "The Secrets of Jujitsu" published in 1920 can be found here:

    http://judoinfo.com/judobooks.htm

    I hope this helps.
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    Anatol


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    Post by Anatol Sun Jul 03, 2016 10:00 pm

    Thank you for your help.
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    Brainjutsu


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    Post by Brainjutsu Fri Sep 23, 2016 6:20 pm

    In case you haven't seen it before, here's a great page on the media coverage of early jujutsu time in US (and Europe). I believe you'll find it interesting.

    Best regards

    http://www.mixedmartialarts.com/forums/OtherGround/10-23-1905-First-Major-MMA-match:2515413

    Here you can find a piece that refers to Cpt. Smith. Interesting in more than one way:)

    http://www.mixedmartialarts.com/forums/OtherGround/10-23-1905-First-Major-MMA-match:2515413-4

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