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Shindo Menjin Ryu
The Art of Changes
By Yoshin Saito Sensei
International President Shindo Menjin Ryu
In the world of mixed martial arts there are great giants that have paved the way for some of the greatest fights and fighters in the world. For thousands of years the martial arts have trained warriors for battle. Whether it was a stand up style of fighting or a form of wrestling or grappling, warriors from all over the world have trained their bodies and their minds to be the best they could possibly be. In the world of martial combat, there are warriors from all styles that claim that their style is the best of the best. But where did they come from? What was the beginning? That question is a very hard one to answer. However there is one style that stands out in the traditions of the martial arts in Japan. Shindo Menjin Ryu Jiu-jitsu is one of the oldest and most complete styles of hand to hand combat known today. Its tools for combat include all ranges from kicking to punching to clinching to grappling.
For over 25 years, Cappi Woodall has trained under Saito Hanshi. He learned the traditional concepts of an ancient form of combat that leads the way to a great Hybrid form of Mixed Martial arts. The style of Jiu-jitsu that he trained in and now teaches world wide is very much like that of Brazilian Jiu-jitsu only with more leg attacks than traditional Brazilian Jiu-jitsu. I give the Gracies nothing but my respect, and I truly honor them with all that I am as a martial artist, a fighter, and a teacher. They opened up the world to a great thing. They brought us the UFC, and as we all know, that has changed everyones mindset when it comes to modern combat. Cappi says. In the last 10 years, Cappi has trained in Brazilian Jiu-jitsu, Russian Sambo, and Muay Thai to add to his own style of Japanese Jiu-jitsu, Shindo Menjin Ryu. I owe a lot to my traditional training as my foundation, but I owe a lot to Rickson Gracie and his familys style of Brazilian Jiu-jitsu.He was a great help to me every time I was around him, and I truly owe him a lot for showing me new concepts to techniques that I had already used in Shindo Menjin Ryu, but BJJ has a different variation to some of the submission techniques taught in Shindo Menjin Ryu Jiu-jitsu. People seem to believe that there is a huge difference between Japanese Jiu-jitsu and Brazilian Jiu-jitsu. While in some cases this is true, we must remember that there are over 700 documented styles of Jiu-jitsu in Japan alone and many more forms of Jiu-jitsu all over the world. So to many styles of Jiu-jitsu, Brazilian Jiu-jitsu is much different and much more effective. We must remember that Brazilian Jiu-jitsu came from a form of Japanese Jiu-jitsu to begin with, and the argument is also that all forms of Jiu-jitsu came from the Greek style of combat call Pankration. So in that, it is hard to determine what started what. One thing is for sure though, if its not effective then get rid of it.
Cappi Woodall comes from a very detailed and complex background from training with the late Saito Hanshi to being a 4 time TEAM USA member to competing all over the World in Sport Jiu-jitsu, or being one of very few Non Asian Black belts in the Shindo Menjin Ryu Jiu-jitsu. He holds Black belts in Sambo, and Judo. He is a certified Muay Thai instructor and is working his way up in BJJ. He has competed all over the world and has competed in Sambo, Judo, Submission , Sport Jiu-jitsu, and Muay Thai events with an un- blemished record. His NHB record is now 15-4 and he has competed in WEF and IFC and he was the World Pankration Federations Light Heavy weight Champion in 2000. Woodall trains out of Atlanta, GA and teaches his style of fighting all over the South East and in Japan throughout the year. Im very fortunate to be in Atlanta. I am surrounded by some of the Worlds best trainers right here in Atlanta. We have Jacare who is one of the best BJJ trainers in the world, also Ricardo Murgel, who is also a great Jiu-jitsu trainer, and Coach Brown at Eagle Kick boxing, We also have Obake and his American Submission fighting school, and Eddie Camden, who is by far one of the best NHB trainers in the South east, all of these trainers have been a great help to me in my growth as a fighter and a martial arts student. Cappi continues, But when it gets right down to it, its the guys that I train with that I owe the most to. They are by far what pushes me to be my best. When I first started the game of NHB, I found it a much harder task than I expected it to be. I have competed against some of the best in the world in my past, but when it came to NHB I realized that I needed more than technique to survive. See, I jumped straight into my first NHB fight. I had a promoter contact me wanting me to fight on one of his cards. I said, Sure, I thought that it would be a Sport Jiu-jitsu match, so I trained for it up until the day of the fight. I was ready and was looking forward to making my Atlanta debut. Cappi laughs, What I met in the ring that night was an animal named Doug Justice and the ref came up and asked me, Are you going to wear that Gi? I said, uh yeah. He went on to explain the rules, and I knew I was in over my head. But there was no way I was going to step down. Needless to say, I learned a very fast lesson in NHB.
Cappi then set out to find the best Fighters in his area to help him train for the new sport that he had fallen into. The first person he contacted was Joel Chaveous from Griffin GA, was trains NHB fighters, then he contacted a guy named Cam Mchargue from Valley Alabama, who is one of the best fighters pound for pound in Atlanta. He comes from a non tradition form of training. He had taught himself, and he was awesome at NHB. Joel Chaveous, Cam Mchargue, George Allen, John Wehby, Kelly Williams, Joe Merit, and several other guys here in Atlanta, and myself have grown into great friends and training partners. These guys are my family, and I would do anything for them any where any time.
Cappi trains a group of fighters out of his camp as well and he always makes it clear that they are the ones that push him to be the best he can be every time he steps into the ring to fight. I dont know what I would do without my guys. Bo Wallace, Eric Yarnel, Aryan Hahn, Errynn Woodall, Chris Wai Arpp, Danielle and Christian, my beautiful son, are always here to push me to my limits and I love them all.
Cappi had his foundation in Jiu-jitsu already, but it was when he took the concepts of BJJ, and Sambo variations, added them to the devastating strikes of Muay Thai, and mixed them all together to create his own personal style of Hybrid fighting that grew into the change in the traditional art of Shindo Menjin Ryu Jiu-jitsu. I am a Traditionalist at heart, but a Hardcore athlete at soul, I believe in what works, nothing more nothing less. I owe everything to Japanese Jiu-jitsu and my teacher the late Saito Hanshi, but the most important thing he ever taught me was to never be limited., and I never plan on being limited again
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