The Saint Paul globe., 1905-01-16
cOTCH R|DICULES
JIU JITSU SYSTEM
Says Any Trained Wrestler Is
More Than a Match for
Japanese Artists

CHICAGO, Jan. 15.-"From what I have
seen of the jiu jitsu,'' said Frank Gotch,
the champion wrestler, 81 am free to say
that 1T has no terrors for me, nor do !
think 1t has for any American athlete.
OF course, if you permit jiu jitsu ex-
pert to take his locks as he pleases and
then exert his strength, he may do you
damage or make you cry enough, the
usual termination to one of their bouts,
but if the man on whom the system is
being demonstrated is permitted to- de-
fend himself, have yet to see the Jap
anese who can accomplish much with his
holds, against even the ordinary man, let
alone well conditioned athlete.
was first introduced to the jiu jitsu
in one of the coast cities. There was a
Japanese there at the time who was doing
all sorts of stunts with the boys in the
gymnasium. We arranged match, in
which defeat was to be accomplished by
forcing any part of an opponents body to
the mat. AS soon as he touched other
wise than with his feet he was defea ted.
l won three falls in thirty-siX seconds,
each time throwing the Jap his full length
on the mat. So far as could see, he had
nothing TO put on me in the way of
bone breaking, chest crushing locks. If
he had he didn't have time to use them,
and after seeing some of his perform
ances later L would almost be willing to
let him, try some of them and agree to
I'VE presume that the art of wrestling
is taught not to serve as parlor magic,
pur Tor use In emergencies, when rough
ness will characterize the action required.
Any rough and ready fighting opponent
does not usually attack man from the
front, leisurely, giving him an opportunity
for an arm breaking clutch. He tries or
d1narily to take his foe unawares, with a
punch IN the eye or a jump on the back.
Now, the American wrestler is to my mind
better qualified than the Japanese jiu
litsu expert for the defense, of his person
in such circumstances, and I believe that
In return he could work more harm than
the foreigner. Any American fighter or
wrestler will defeat a jiu jitsu expert of
ffasual ftls' strength At least 50 have found
What, to your mind, would constitute
a proper test of the two styles?" was
''WeIl, granting that had the time nee
essary to the work, I would say let the
naval authorities pick out two young men
of equal strength and build, as near alike
as as: 1t Is possible to secure two athletes.
ment, and let the Japanese develop one
and me the other. Then put the pair on
the mat and see which one would cry
enough first, all holds permitted ri
make big gamble right here the Ameri-
can trained wrestler wouldn't be the boy
to cry out first.
"If that sort of competition would not
satisfy, then let the two men go on the
mat and let the jiu jitsu boy take his
holdS and have my man try to break them
Then let my man take his holds and have
the jiu jitsu expert try to loosen his grip.
Such tournament between two well
trained men would do great deal to set
tie the fate of jiu jitsu in America one
way or the other.
The jiu jitsu grabs, bitches, twists,
clutches and wrencheS are pretty we'll
known to the American professional ath-
lete, who. while he has not employed them
in his exhibitions, has realized that they
are there to be used in the event of a
fight to the DEATH But there is no use
for them in ordinary athletics and 1 uues
ton seriously whether they develop a man
physically as much as catch as catch can
wrestling indulged in conscientiousIy
would And when it comes to- downright
lighting and scrapping for life or death,
the finished wrestler will make a show of
the jiu jitSu man."