We’ve previously written about Kosen Judo – the presence of modern bjj guards in it as well as similarities and differences in bjj.

To sum it up –

The last Kosen Judo Taikai was held in (1940). The first tournament of Nanatei-Judowas held in (1952). With the end of Kosen Judoin the 40’s. Nanatei-Judo inherited the technical development and old school rules, eté today continues the tournament that is held annually. The music of the video is original, sung by one of the schools contesting the tournament of Kosen Judo

In this video we can see the judoka of U.Nagoya of Kosen Judo, demonstrate a position that looks like X guard from BJJ, under the supervision of Shihan Mitsunosuke Kosaka. However that exists in Nanatei-Judo and is similar to the BJJ guard.

How is Kosen Judo different or similar to Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu?

If you look at the Kosen Judo video below you can see many moves and flows that are different from modern Judo ground work (which is much more focused on pinning and more static).  These videos were made in the 1970’s by 6 older judokas , among them (in the tapes) was the famous Masahiko Kimura himself (who beat Helio Gracie). When you look at the techniques displayed in the video, it looks very similar to Gracie Jiu-Jitsu (which is more focused on the basics than modern sport BJJ). Kosen Judo players also pulled guard in competition. Kosen had a pinning rule. Strategy is different than BJJ. There was more more turtling than BJJ etc.

There are no written and translated rulebooks to Kosen Judo online – however a video was recently unearthed that shows and explains in english what to expect from this particular ruleset.

As you can see this bares some resemblance to Sakuraba’s quintet.

Interestingly grabbing the belt is not allowed:

And this:

Alexandre Vieira is one of the most exciting up and coming grapplers today under the Brazilian Top Team flag.  In 2017, his loop choke submission was chosen as the Submission of the Year by FloGrappling. Alexandre recently put together his Crucifix and Loop Choke 3 volume instructional set.  Alexandre brings a modern outlook to some of the sports most devastating, but sometimes ignored positions, the crucifix and the loop choke.