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‘Berimbolo’ Was Already Being Used in Kosen Judo Way Back in 1950’s

‘Berimbolo’ Was Already Being Used in Kosen Judo Way Back in 1950’s

Many BJJ players wrongly believe that techniques such as Berimbolo, X guard, De La Riva guard or Spider guard are BJJ specific moves, but they have been used in Judo (especially Kosen Judo) for years even before Marcelo Garcia, Ricardo de La Riva etc.. brought it to the attention of the world (since the 90’s). Just like many techniques that seem to be have been recently invited, we can never be sure that other martial artists in the past weren’t doing the exact same move.

By the way, Kosen Judo is not a lost art, because people still practice it. 7 national universities in Japan (i.e. Kyoto, Tokyo, Nagoya, Hokkaido, Kyushu, Osaka, and Tohoku universities) have Judo clubs that adopt this style of Judo, and hold annual tournaments among each club.

Kosen judo (高專柔道 Kōsen jūdō) was a refinement of Kodokan judo that was developed and flourished at the Kōtō senmon gakkō(高等専門学校) (Kōsen (高專)) technical colleges in Japan in the first half of the twentieth century. Kosen judo’s competition rules allowed for greater emphasis of ne-waza (寝技, ground techniques) than in mainstream judo and it is sometimes regarded as a distinct style of judo. Today, the term “Kosen judo” is frequently used to refer to the competition ruleset associated with it that allows for extended ne-waza. Such competition rules are still used in the shichitei jūdō / nanatei jūdō (七帝柔道 seven imperials judo)competitions held annually between the seven former Imperial universities.
(from the wikipedia article on Kosen Judo)

 

Here is an old video from the 1950’s of Mitsuro Kimura 8th Dan Mr “Sankaku” applying a Berimbolo back take from the top. Now many BJJ practitioners believe that the Berimbolo  was “created” by Brazilian Jiu Jitsu competitors having derived from the De La Riva Guard but this is obviously wrong. Kosen Judoka were also using De La Riva guard as you will also see in the 2nd video:

Here is a Kosen Judo tournament in 1952. You can see use of Spider Guard, De La Riva Guard, some Z Guard:

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