Raleigh, NC - Gendai Martial Arts

[JJX]

This school also houses the World Hombu of Seki-Ryu Jiu Jitsu.

Now, this school... is so different than any Martial Arts dojo I have ever been apart of. In fact, it is one of the best I have ever trained at and if my schedule wasn't so jacked up I would be there still without question.

Throw out the dogis, quit focusing on belts, pluck the kata from your mind, and get ready to be challenged. (As a student you progress from: No belt to orange, green, brown, and then black. Soke Cobb is an 8th degree redbelt in his own style but holds 2nd-6th dans in other styles -- one of those dans being in Neko-Ryu Goshin Jitsu).


For instructor and founder information, heck man, read the website.

To clear up some information, there are no kids classes. Kids are taught alongside adults and are divided by skill category - Beginner, Intermediate/Law Enforcement, Advanced.


Soke Doug Cobb is not a man who minces words. He is highly vocal on the inefficiency of Traditional Martial Arts and wishes to see that replaced with effective combative principles versus perfection of pointless, complex or fine motor skill techniques that would never be used in an encounter where your skills would be utilized. Also, he is constantly drilling the fact that fighting is illegal, and gets students to remember they need to shout their intentions of non-conflict before they are forced into a dangerous encounter.


Soke Cobb, who is also a chemist, teaches an effective, gross motor skill martial art that, so far, I for one, have found hard to replace. Whether it is closing in, drilling opponents with a flurry blows, subduing persons with useful Jiu Jitsu/Judo & Wrestling (No-Gi) skills. I keep coming back to these skills over and over again in violent encounters.

Soke Cobb has trained under Shihan Danny Glover of Isshin-Ryu Karatedo & Shihan Ernie Cates as well as his son Moose Cates of Neko-Ryu Goshin Jitsu. Soke Cobb is currently training under Shihan Koepke of Seki-Ryu Jiu Jitsu.

You won't find high or spinning kicks here, same with archaic traditions steeped in mysticism. Simple put this is a no-nonsense self-defense system put under the scope of several scientific minds and this is the outcome.

Sparring is not the word I would use to describe how they apply the techniques. Encounter is the word that suits the situation.

An instructor will suit up in protected armor, that is not necessarily appendage friendly (I cut myself in my first series of encounters) and will engage in a scenario that you may find yourself in while out on the street and you will announce your intentions (and give your would be opponent a warning/request to leave), ultimately becoming a worst-case scenario where you will have to "do your thing" and take him/her down. You as the defender doing what is required to defend yourself, remove yourself from situation, and most importantly, get away safely.

I only wish the state's martial art of CRDT was even a sliver as good as this system.

The dojo is in a small warehouse with wrestling mats. There are punching bags and other related equipment around the dojo. No much else to say there, as I came to train not look at flowery wall decorations.

The Ratings:

Aliveness - 8: Instruction is broken down into two phases: Speed practice and Slow practice. Speed to develop timing, awareness, etc. and slow practice to develop skill and a deep understand of how and when to apply the technique.

Equipment - 6: Large mats, punching bags, mitts, etc. its all been broken in, however, its been loved by its students and instructors alike. Nothing is worn out.

Gymnasium Size - 6: 3000 sq. feet should be enough for a small to intermediate class. You didn't feel like you were bumping into others unless you got thrown, broke the fall, and rolled into someone.

Instructor to Student Ratio - 9: More often than not Soke Cobb was always there from the warm-up to the end of class. His small but dedicated cadre of instructors were capable and knowledgeable persons. Usually a 4 student to 1 instructor ratio existed during class time, however, it has shrunk to 2 students to 1 depending on the class times.

Atmosphere - 6: It's a warehouse. Nuff said. However, Soke Cobb and the instructors are friendly and will give you a call from time to time and check on you if you have missed 2-3 classes to see if you are okay.

Striking Instruction - 7: It ain't pretty, but damn, it works. Various strikes are taught, nothing flashy. Combinations, too. These combos have been better to me than any kata I have ever learned.

Grappling Instruction - 7: Judo, Wrestling, and several other styles of Jiu Jitsu (No-Gi)... what's not to love? Throws, locks, take downs, sprawling, groundwork, etc. will be found here.

Full Contact Fight Team: I recall some students were working on competing at the Amateur level when I was enrolled here, but nothing official as I remember.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Raleig...ts/74521846706

Pics of the dojo here.

[ironhill]

If not for the website I would say obvious troll.

[Scrapper]

a "9" in aliveness would indicate a high percentage of live, full-speed resistive sparring in a limited rules scenario; paired with full-contact competition on a regular basis.

Beating on a guy in a redman suit is decent practice, but it is not a "9" in aliveness. It's more like a "6."

A "9" in grappling instruction means that you have a current or former ranked, national level competitor doing your teaching. This is more like a "5" in grappling instruction. The same applies to striking.

Please read the stickies in this section. The number system is not arbitrary. I am inclined to adjust your numbers on this review for you.

[JJX]

Do whatcha feel, Scrapper. I am not an expert reviewer and I use my previous experiences in civilian government taught Martial Arts programs (which are mostly crap) and other TMAs I have dealt with.

By the way, they do not use a "Redman" suit. They do have a suit of their own design.

But considering your words, I have made some adjustments and I will keep it in mind if and when I compose a future review. Thanks.

[danno]

apparently they teach BJJ, but think it's useless:

Brazilian Ju Jitsu (BJJ)? Derived from Judo, Brazilian Ju Jitsu is nothing like real world or traditional ju jitsu. BJJ is a relatively new sport, unique and somewhat different from its judo parent. Judoka spend most of their training utilizing throws to score points. BJJ, on the other hand, spends most and in some cases, all of their time on the ground attempting to score points or submit their opponent. Their claim to fame for teaching self-defense and accessing certain law enforcement and military contracts is that most fights end up on the ground. OK! So, then we should just accept that and go to the ground anyway? NOT!!! We disagree and suggest you learn how to prevent such take down attempts and if you should be taken down, you don’t want to be rolling around on the ground with a bigger adversary who may be armed and probably has friends standing by. Remember, this is a sport with rules – in fact, lots of rules! And referees! There are no rules on the street or referees to come to your rescue. How realistic do you think this is?

[JJX]

I recall the instructors saying everything has its place. You just have to determine when that is.

In my time there, if the fight went to the ground, the purpose was to either secure a win (seriously hurting an opponent with a variety of strikes, positioning, controls, or locks), tactically retreating AND get to your feet, and take the fight back back to standing or to a position of dominance OR escaping the encounter altogether.

Rolling around on a mat is one thing. Rolling on concrete (a diseased prison floor?), a bar room floor (broken glass and wood), a darkened road or highway stretch (tar and rocks are not conducive to rolling in addition to whatever is present on that particular road), or a hazardous backyard (rusty nails, tools, etc.) is another.

It is better to be on top of your grounded opponent, gaining control & ending the fight (especially with a wrist lock that ends with the opponent in a pair of handcuffs) versus rolling on the ground in a self-defense situation.

[danno]

the site lists s number of proven fighting styles and basically says they are all useless anywhere outside sport. this isn't true. in fact, it seems that styles which have a strong, full contact competitive component do much better in reality.

to make things brief i'll say this - i have personally used the skills i learned in BJJ and in the street with success. rolling around on concrete and so on. i know a number of other people who have and there are many others on this site who have.

it's something that has been discussed here ad nauseam.

[prana16]

2004 Inductee into the U.S.A. Martial Arts Hall of Fame as Soke of the Year; 2006 Inductee into the U.S. Martial Arts Hall of Fame as Founder of the Year; 2006 Inductee into the AMAA Hall of Fame as Grandmaster of the Year; Promoted to 8th Dan by the AMAA in 2006 as the Head of Gendai Goshin Jitsu; Re-inducted into the U.S.A. Martial Arts Hall of Fame (2008) as an alumni and Self-Defense Grand Master of the Year; Awarded a Ph.D./Ma.D.Sc, Doctorate of Martial Arts Philosophy & Martial Arts Science by the University of Asian Martial Arts Study (2008)

The Bull shi do ryu is strong in this one.

Why does a non traditional system that is not founded by a japanese nor founded in japan nor a japanese system use dan ranks, a japanese name and titles like soke?

[JJX]

Why does a non traditional system that is not founded by a japanese nor founded in japan nor a japanese system use dan ranks, a japanese name and titles like soke?

Why does any school founded by an American, borrow heavily from the Japanese system?

I am at a Judo and Neko-Ryu Goshin Jitsu school. Neko-Ryu uses a similar ranking system (in fact, it uses the exact Adult USJA belt system) and an Asian sounding name. Why is it not called the Cates School of Self-Defense?


I've read on this forum about some MT styles using colored arm bands (sounds pretty silly to me) to denote rank in the same manner that Judo does.

Even the would-be (or is it wanna be?) king of RBSD, Sammy Franco, still uses the colored ranking system (not with belts but with t-shirts!) borrowed from Judo (and then Kenpo, I believe...) even with an American sounding art name that is as far removed from an Asian art as you can get.

Danzan-Ryu Jujutsu was founded in Hawaii, not Japan. Should it have a Hawaiian name? Or a Japanese name or what?

What about Small Circle Jujutsu? Should it be renamed Small Circle Soft Art/ Art of Softness? Ditto with Brazilian Jiu Jitsu? Who claims that Japanese names are off limits?

On a tangent thought... If there was an unarmed fighting academy, in your local area, that trained in a half-way decent striking and grappling system/style called, "Whoop Ass or Beat Down" would it make it more or less attractive to students? Or do Asian names attract a certain crowd to the martial arts (maybe this is what attracts LARPers to "Ninjutsu/Shinobijutsu")?

I really don't have any of these answers, but they are questions swirling in my mind.

I guess if your "new art" is based on Asian styles, giving it an Asian name is more of an homage to your roots than creating a fraudulent Asian-sounding style. Once again, I look to Neko-Ryu Goshin Jitsu for this explanation.

Definitely looking for some feedback on this one from all Bullshidoka.

By the by, anyone here going to create their own martial art, and if they are, is it going to use a foreign language as the base of its name or something contemporary?

If you are from an English speaking country does that mean you can only use English or a combination of Latin/Germanic/Celtic/Anglo-Saxon languages?

Hell man, I dunno.

Holla.

[Southpaw]

JJX--It seems strange that a martial art totally dedicated to self defense has no weapons training. Am I missing something there?

Also...make sure to come to the next Throwdown and introduce yourself. We have a local group that gets together every few months and we'd love for more people to join.