“To subdue the enemy without fighting is the highest level of skill.” – Sun Tzu
THE FIRST official Jiu Jitsu demonstration in Cyprus took place yesterday at Cyprus College as part of the inauguration of a college-based Judo-Jiu Jitsu sports club.
Jiu Jitsu (the ‘flexible’ or ‘soft’ art) is a Japanese martial art based primarily on grappling and joint lock techniques, though it also includes basic strikes, throws, sweeps, and ground fighting. Judo (the ‘gentle way’), which developed out of Jiu Jitsu, is mainly emphasised on throwing and groundwork.
Former Olympian (1980 Moscow Olympics and 1984 Los Angeles Olympics) and General Director of the Cyprus Sports Organisation Costas Papacostas said that the opening of the club was a “dream made into a reality” as they have been trying to start a university-based Judo club in Cyprus since 1972, when the first Cyprus Judo club opened.
The former judo champion told the Cyprus Mail that he believed one needs experience in Judo to practice Jiu Jitsu but noted that Judo, along with karate, branched out of the ancient Samurai art of Jiu Jitsu. “I believe that people in Japan and Europe are returning to Jiu Jitsu,” Papacostas said.
The presentation included a 15-minute exhibition of Judo and Jiu Jitsu techniques. Judo students demonstrated a variety of acrobatic sweeps, flips and throws, while Jiu Jitsu students demonstrated escapes and submission holds from chokes, punches, kicks, collar-grabs, and wrist-holds, as well as from knife, gun, and stick attacks.
The Cyprus College Jiu Jitsu-Judo club will fall under the aegis of the Cyprus University Sports Federation (CUSF), which organises all Pancyprian student competitions.
The CUSF has organised three international competitions: Badminton in 1990, FUTSAL in 1995 and Windsurfing in 1996. On June 13 to 18 CUSF will hold the third international Beach Volleyball competition in Protaras.
President of the Cyprus University Sports Federation (CUSF) Dinos Pavlou told the Cyprus Mail yesterday that based on a suggestion by Papacostas, the CUSF plans to open a Students Sports Organisation that will hold at least one yearly official tournament. The winners will then compete in international sporting events.
He hoped that athletic scholarships would be extended to university clubs like Jiu-Jitsu. “There is interest [in Jiu-Jitsu and Judo] among students but there have been no university organisations where college students could practice,” Pavlou said. “We want to make it easier for them as well as offer incentives such as scholarships.”
Judo and Jiu Jitsu instructor Stanislav Jankovic told the Cyprus Mail he has been practicing martial arts for 35 years, which included the training of Air Force and Special Forces units in Yugoslavia.
“Jiu Jitsu is not about using muscle,” Jankovic said. “It’s about using your brain. With minimum power you have maximum effect.
“It also gives you confidence and peace. Every time I finish a Jiu Jitsu session I come out feeling calm.”
n Anyone interested in Judo – Jiu Jitsu should contact Stanislav Jankovic at 99-469857 or the Cyprus College Judo Ju-Jitsu Club at 22-713111 or 22-713239
