1) Professor Wally Jay developed Small Circle Jujitsu in the 1940s by combining techniques from judo, jujitsu, boxing and other martial arts he had studied.
2) Professor Jay passed leadership of Small Circle Jujitsu to his son, Professor Leon Jay, in 2002. Professor Leon Jay teaches Small Circle Jujitsu in England and has promoted its growth in Europe and elsewhere.
3) Sensei Ed Melaugh is a 1st Generation Sokedai (inheritor) of Small Circle Jujitsu chosen by the founder, Professor Wally Jay. He has trained in martial arts since 1972.
1) Professor Wally Jay developed Small Circle Jujitsu in the 1940s by combining techniques from judo, jujitsu, boxing and other martial arts he had studied.
2) Professor Jay passed leadership of Small Circle Jujitsu to his son, Professor Leon Jay, in 2002. Professor Leon Jay teaches Small Circle Jujitsu in England and has promoted its growth in Europe and elsewhere.
3) Sensei Ed Melaugh is a 1st Generation Sokedai (inheritor) of Small Circle Jujitsu chosen by the founder, Professor Wally Jay. He has trained in martial arts since 1972.
1) Professor Wally Jay developed Small Circle Jujitsu in the 1940s by combining techniques from judo, jujitsu, boxing and other martial arts he had studied.
2) Professor Jay passed leadership of Small Circle Jujitsu to his son, Professor Leon Jay, in 2002. Professor Leon Jay teaches Small Circle Jujitsu in England and has promoted its growth in Europe and elsewhere.
3) Sensei Ed Melaugh is a 1st Generation Sokedai (inheritor) of Small Circle Jujitsu chosen by the founder, Professor Wally Jay. He has trained in martial arts since 1972.
the 2000-year-old classical jujitsu, but the revelation of the small circle emphasis dates back to approximately 1944. The founder, Professor Wally Jay studied a style known as Kodenkan Jujitsu from Professor Henry S. Okazaki in Hawaii. Professor Okazaki had studied classical jujutsu styles of yoshin, kosagabe and iwaga, as well as studying Okinawan karate, Filipino knife fighting, Hawaiian lua, the art of throwing a Spanish dirk, boxing, wrestling and kung fu. Professor Okazaki was somewhat of a rebel, as he broke away from tradition on several occasions. He developed his own style of jujitsu called Kodenkan Jujitsu, as well as teaching non- Japanese, which was unheard of.
Professor Jay had studied boxing, weightlifting, judo and jujitsu from various instructors before 1944, when he received his black belt in Kodenkan Danzan Ryu Jujitsu from Okazaki. Professor Jay became aware of the fact that there was something missing with Jujitsu, the way he learned it. The knowledge he gained from the other disciplines and Okazaki's own multi-disciplinary background gave him the perspective to see how classical jujitsu could be improved. It was his two years of judo study under Ken Kawachi that gave him the key to small circle. Sensei Kawachi stressed the use of the wrist action to gain superior leverage. Wrist action is the key to Small Circle Jujitsu.
Over the years he made radical changes in the jujitsu techniques he acquired, believing that this was what his teacher, Professor Okazaki would have wanted. A point in fact is that Professor Okazaki himself was somewhat of a rebel, as he broke away from tradition on several occasions. He taught non-Japanese as well as developing his own style of jujitsu, called Kodenkan Jujitsu.
Professor Jay's years of experience in classical jujitsu, judo, boxing, weightlifting, wrestling, aikido, kung fu, other martial arts training, and many periods of trial and error, led him to develop his theory known as Small Circle Theory. His goal was to refine and improve upon the techniques by combining the best of everything he learned in different disciplines. The small circle theory is a proven scientific method that rapidly became accepted by the martial arts world as an acclaimed and accredited system. Small Circle Jujitsu The small circle theory is not only applicable to jujitsu, but it blends in beautifully with other styles of martial arts. In fact, Professor applied the small circle theory to his judo teaching and led his team to become a winning team. In 1960 he was voted Northern California Judo Coach of the Year by Hokka Judo Yudanshakai. Throughout the 60's and 70's he produced national champions and team winners in Hawaii, Canada, USA, and Mexico.
In 1978 Professor Jay, Willy Cahill, John Chow-Hoon and Carl Beaver created Jujitsu America. They seceded from the Hawaiian based American Jujitsu Institute (which was the Kodenkan organization) because of conflicting ideologies and methodologies. This group represented the mainland jujjitsuka who decided to break away from the old organization. The Hawaiian leaders wished to perpetuate the traditions of the kodenkan system while the state-siders, being modernists, wanted to update and improve their fighting skills to reflect certain modern realities.
This Small Circle Theory improved and cumulated until 1987, when it officially became recognized as a complete jujitsu style on it's own, now known as Small Circle Jujitsu TM . Many had recognized the small circle system as being a separate style for many years, but after an article in Black Belt magazine, it was official.
Professor Jays Small Circle Jujitsu TM techniques are smooth and functional because of his creation of the flow, in which interchangeable techniques are used to counterattack the moves of the attacker. Small Circle Jujitsu TM evolved from combining many sources and elements, and continues to evolve as Professor Jay and others enhance the style with their knowledge.
Small Circle Jujitsu TM , eclectic in style and evolutionary by nature, is continually progressing towards a higher standard. It is understood that no one system has all the answers and it is our goal to strive for better ones. Professor Jay's teachings give us the ability and tools to discover, perfect and improvise. The open sharing of knowledge has been a trademark of the Professors and it is in this spirit of sharing that we can develop to our greatest potential on our chosen path. Although Small Circle Jujitsu TM Concepts are relatively modern ones, based on tradition styles, we choose to move forward honoring the past but not dwelling in it.
Small Circles Second Generation
Who is Professor Leon Jay? On September 1st, 2002, Professor Wally Jay was pleased to announce his retirement and the passing of the title of Grandmaster of Small Circle Jujitsu to his son and heir, Professor Leon Jay.
Professor Leon Jay (9th Degree Black Belt), the son of Wally and Bernice Jay, has been training in the martial arts for over 47 years, having begun at the age of two in his father's dojo. Apart from the obvious advantage of a lifetime's training at the hands of Professor Wally Jay, Leon has had access to many teachers of exceptional talent and accomplishment, including Grandmaster George Dillman and Professor Remy Presas.
Leon and his English wife, Sandra settled in Surrey in 1990, and he immediately established the Small Circle Jujitsu Association, Europe. Leon concentrated on seminar teaching within the U.K., Europe, America and Australasia, and on working on the integration of Small Circle Jujitsu with the principles of Pressure Point fighting. Leon Jay established the first Komaru Ryu (Small Circle Jujitsu) clubs in Surrey, England in 1993. Currently three home clubs are running in Leatherhead, Redhill and Epsom, Surrey. These clubs are teaching Small Circle Jujitsu, Kyusho-Jitsu, weapons defense, pressure-point striking techniques and other aspects of realistic self-defense. Small Circle Jujitsu has made a major contribution to the martial arts scene in the U.K.
Leon was exposed to a wealth of talent at an early age; Leon often came home from school to find Bruce Lee, to whom his father was a collaborator, mentor and friend, on the doorstep awaiting the Professors return from work. His father's friends and contemporaries from Hawaii numbered such martial artists as Ed Parker, founder of American Kenpo Karate, and a relative of Bernice Jay by marriage.
Leon Jay not only comes from a martial arts family of legendary skills, but one in which the Professor's belief, that all martial arts benefit from a free and open exchange of ideas and techniques, dominated. Apart from a highly developed set of sophisticated teaching and technical principles, this is perhaps the single most identifiable feature of Small Circle Jujitsu. The Polynesian concept of Pohai, or a circle of friends, is what most represents the Jay family approach to the arts.
The curriculum reflects Leon's own broad education in the martial arts; his studies have included: judo; jujitsu (both Kodenkan and Small Circle Jujitsu); kyusho jutsu and tuite; Filipino martial arts (Modern Arnis under founder, Prof. Remy Presas, and Kali under Guro John Mellon). Despite its breadth, Professor Leon's education hasn't lacked depth, as this list of formal qualifications demonstrates.
Grandmaster of Professor Jay's Small Circle Jujitsu Black Belt 9th degree, Small Circle Jujitsu Black Belt 8th degree, Tuite from Master George Dillman Black Belt 5th degree, International Ryukyu Karate Research Society Black Belt 3rd degree, Kodenkan Jujitsu Black Belt 1st degree, Kodokan Judo Black Belt 1st degree, Tae Kwon Do Member- Patrick McCarthy's International Ryukyu Karate Research Society Executive Board
Professor Leon has created the Professor Jays Small Circle Jujitsu organization, which oversees all official Small Circle activities, from syllabus and ranking to the promotion and dissemination of the system. The aims are to encourage the expansion of the direct student body of the style, its continued development, and ensure the continued positive image of the Small Circle family.
Small Circle Jujitsu, eclectic in style and evolutionary by nature, is continually progressing towards a higher standard. It is understood that no one system has all the answers and it is our goal to strive for better ones. Professor Jay's teachings give us the ability and tools to discover, perfect and improvise. The open sharing of knowledge has been a trademark of the Professors and it is in this spirit of sharing that we can develop to our greatest potential on our chosen path. Although Small Circle Jujitsu Concepts are relatively modern ones, based on tradition styles, we choose to move forward honoring the past but not dwelling in it.
Who is Sensei Ed Melaugh?
Sensei Ed Melaugh has the honor of being named a 1 st Generation Sokedai (inheritor) to the Small Circle Jujitsu system, hand picked by the founder of Small Circle Jujitsu, Professor Wally Jay.
Sensei Ed Melaugh began his martial arts training in 1972 under his first instructor Professor Dave Castoldi. He studied a street oriented style of JuJitsu that Professor Castoldi founded. Ed was Professor Castoldis first student and studied with him for 18 years.
Sensei Melaugh began his studies with Professor Wally Jay in 1978. Sensei Melaugh was amazed at Small Circle Jujitsus use of fluency and ease on how to render a person helpless with little effort and not cause injury. Sensei Melaugh has earned his 7 degree Black Belt under Professor Wally Jay and is the President of United States Small Circle Jujitsu.
Through his involvement with Professor Jay, Sensei Melaugh has been able to train with many world- class martial arts instructors. These instructors include Professor Willy Cahill, former U.S. Olympic Judo coach, Sijo James DeMile, founder of the Wing Chun Do system (DeMile is one of the original students of Bruce Lee in Seattle Washington), and Grandmaster George Dillman of the Dillman Pressure Point method
The blend of Professor Jays Small Circle Jujitsu, Professor Castoldis Street Jujitsu, Sijo DeMiles Wing Chun Dos entering and trapping, and Grandmaster Dillmans pressure point method creates an unparalleled system of practical effective street self- protection, Small Circle Jujitsu.
Since 1990 Sensei Melaugh has run his thriving martial arts school New England Small Circle Jujitsu Academy, located in Woburn, Massachusetts. He instructs at many prestigious martial arts conventions and seminars throughout the United States and Europe. He promotes the United States Small Circle Jujitsu, Jujitsu America National Conventions, Small Circle Jujitsu summer camps, and ranking camps. He also hosts seminars and Jujitsu grappling tournaments. Sensei Melaugh also has been in numerous martial arts magazines and local newspapers for many years.
Sensei Melaugh teaches all ages from 5 years old and up. He continues to teach many law enforcement officers from the Secret Service, DEA, FBI, and State and local police officers. Sensei Melaugh has received many awards including induction into the World Martial Arts Hall of Fame, nomination into the United States Martial Arts Hall of Fame, JuJitsu Americas Blackbelt Hall of Fame, the Zen Do Kai Hall of Fame, Instructor of the Year for Small Circle Jujitsu, Instructor of the Year for Jujitsu America, Small Circle Jujitsu Internationals Professor Wally Jay Award, and many more. In 1996 Sensei Melaugh competed at the Sport Jujitsu World championships and became the World Champion in Sport Jujitsu in his specialty Self-Defense.
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