If Boxing is called the sweet science then Kajukenbo should definitely be referred to as the savage science of street fighting.  Kajukenbo was developed as a brutally effective street fighting system, the reader should take notice that I didn’t say self-defense system. The creators of Kajukenbo literally brought the street into the dojo. Those who brought about the concepts and creation of Kajukenbo trained like they were fighting in the streets and knew if they didn’t get it right, they would likely end up cut, beaten, stabbed, shot and even dead. Kajukenbo is NOT the peaceful ..read more

The goal of Kajukenbo is to hit first, hit fast, and hit hard be it with your striking techniques or your throws. Kajukenbo includes multidirectional movements, short starts and stops with bursts of speed, rapid change in direction, explosive power delivery of an impact through contact with an opponent or the ground or a wall, instant power reception at a point of contact and explosive power delivery to the opponent or combatant. The entire body can be called the kinetic chain; however, the body consists of several chains depending on what is being done. Kajukenbo demands multidimensional mov ..read more

I was in elementary school, the 6th grade, when I bought my very first martial arts book at the school book fair. It was called Junior Judo by E.J. Harrison. When I was in 7th grade, I bought my second martial arts book, Bruce Lee’s Fighting Method Vol. Two: Basic Training by Bruce Lee via mail order. I still have them both. I honestly have to admit that the “Channeling my Inner Bruce Lee” articles have been the most fun ones that I have done. Doing judo out of Bruce Lee’s famous strong side forward stance and interjecting some of his concepts with my favorite Judo technique has just been a bl ..read more

The following is the first in a series of articles on “Channeling my inner Bruce Lee.” Grip or hand fighting in judo is a fairly new development. It is an art in itself, and represents the very highest levels of competition. Modern Olympic judo competitors look almost like boxers, circling each other while jabbing and probing their opponent’s defenses, parrying the opponent’s grip attempts and countering by punching in their grip like a punch. Grip fighting is an important aspect of Judo and it requires some serious time in training.  I look at my particular style of judo from the perspec ..read more

Article by Barron Shepherd  Pictured Barron Shepherd and Eddie Sebastia  There is a world of difference between doing judo and actually being able to fight with judo whether it be sport or self defense. Grip fighting represents the very highest levels of competition however, at the lower levels of competition judo and in judo clubs around the world the approach of no grip fighting style still very much persists. A common mistake made when seeking grips is to be so focused on getting your grip that you allow the opponent to get the same grips. These ‘mirror gripping tactics’ (sleeve&n ..read more

“THE STOP” can be found in the US Army combatives Field Manuals 21-150 from 1954 through to 1971. It can also be found in earlier works such as Willaim Jacomb’s 1918 book on Practical self defense where it is referred to as “THE STOP”. It is also used in the 1905 book, The Complete Kano Jiujitsu/Judo. Simple, gross motor driven direct and effective, it takes our natural survival instincts into consideration and allows those survival instincts to work as a foundation for a very rapidly delivered technique. Turning this instinctive reaction into a hit, thrown much like a straight punch in boxing ..read more

  What we don’t see today is the effective use of Judo outside of the dojo in an urban environment. The question then becomes how can we incorporate these skills and techniques in an uncontrolled and unexpected situation? Being able to utilize judo and its principles in a street encounter requires more attention to the technical aspects of throwing an aggressor not wearing a judo gi (uniform). I have in the past two years written three books addressing this very thing, two of which got great reviews and have sold out. My third book (pictured left) “Combat Judo” will be published 2024.&nb ..read more

Since World War I the styles of boxing and judo have been blended together for effective use in combat. There probably isn’t a better marriage of two distinctly different styles, one a pure striking style while the other a pure grappling one. Boxing and Judo are indeed a lethal merge when combined with proper mechanics and footwork. It will give you many effective ways to end a fight and will allow you to choose where the fight takes place, standing or on the ground. FOOT WORK The Quick Shift – A variation of the side step in boxing, the quick shift is a change of the position of the feet by a ..read more

The cross-arm guard, referred to in combatives circles as the O’Neill Cover is often credited to Pat O’Neill. Dermot Pat O’Neill was the legendary hand to hand combat instructor for the FSSF First Special Service Force the precursor special forces group to the Green berets and army special forces. O’Neill’s methods differed from his mentor Fairbairn as in that O’Neill was tasked to train commandoes to fight in close quarter combat behind enemy lines. On this type of mission taking on multiple combatants from all angles and directions was a distinct possibility. What O’Neill came up with turned ..read more

“Barron Shepherd’s second book Combat Judo to Kajukenbo takes the momentum of Real Combat Judo and delivers to an even higher and broader level.  Combat Judo to Kajukenbo is as inspiring as it is informative. There is a lot of information in this book, but it is well presented in bite-size chunks. There is a clearly thought-out learning sequence where each set of techniques builds on from the one before. For the judoka, there are huge learning opportunities to broaden their skills, particularly within the detailed sections on boxing, striking, blocking, and knife work. These are areas we ..read more