So I was getting esoteric in discussing techniques with one of the students in my class at the Broadway dojo, as I sometimes do. We were discussing different variants of leg reaps at the time, but somehow I got onto the subject of escalation in terms of different aspects of the same technique. For example, there is the aikido variant which actually doesn't even use legs, but forces the opponant so off balance that they can be easily let down to the ground - for the friend who is being a jerk. Then there is the judo-oriented variant, one of the "bellringer" throws, which sweeps both of their legs up into the air, and drives their head to the ground - for competition KO's, and reacting without thought. Then, the old-school jujitsu: clothesline combined with stomping between their legs or directly onto the back of their leg - life-threatening or anti-terrorist (in this post 9-11 era....i had to say it at least once, sorry).

Of course: neither I nor the other students will probably ever be in any sort of fight, but in being students of the martial art, I think it behooves us to know the insides and outs of our techniques. For example: while there are myriad kinds of hip throws out there, each with their own purposes, in the history of the original jujitsu variant (of our variety of jujitsu, that is) the opponant was thrown over the hips as usual, but their head was held tightly as their body kept going - even with armor, their neck would be broken by their own bodyweight. We'll never use it in all probability, but it's part of our discipline's history. And that qualifies it as something significant to me.