Small Circle Jujitsu^TM News - 7/1/97

Small Circle Jujitsu^TM International’s Hawaiian Convention
and
Professor Wally Jay’s 80^th Birthday Banquet

Honolulu, Hawaii - On June 14-15, 1997, Professor Wally Jay celebrated his 80^th birthday with his family and friends. Ron Ogi did a great job hosting and running this once in a lifetime event. The convention was planned around Professor Jay’s birthday (the 15^th) to honor him with the martial arts he loves and has dedicated his life to. It was held in the place of his birth and where some of his fondest memories were formed. People came from all around the world to wish Professor Jay a happy birthday in person, including some of the best martial artists from Europe, Trinidad, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and all over the United States. Some came from very far despite financial difficulties.

On Friday, things were jump-started with a great party after registration ended. There was lots of great seafood and other dishes, including some of the biggest jumbo shrimp I’ve seen (but you had to get there early!). A great time was had by all.

Toward the end of the party, the second official meeting of Small Circle Jujitsu^TM International (SCJI) was held. It was a general presentation by Professor Jay and the SCJI staff. The goals and plans of SCJI were presented and an open discussion was held to get everyone’s ideas on what they would like to see happen with SCJI. If anyone still has ideas or suggestions, please feel free to write to Professor Jay. Professor introduced the SCJI staff. His soke dai (inheritors) are Professor Lee Eichelberger, Sensei Leon Jay, Sensei Ed Melaugh and Sensei Ron Ogi. The technical advisors are Professor Willy Cahill, Sijo James W. DeMile, Professor James Muro, Professor Tony Maynard and Sensei Dave Castoldi. The technical director is Professor Lee Eichelberger and the board of directors are Professor Wally Jay, Professor Lee Eichelberger, Sensei Leon Jay, Sensei Ed Melaugh, and Sensei Ronald Ogi. The registration chairman is Sensei Chris Peterson and the business manager is Sensei Rob Gale.

Clinics were held during the day on Saturday and Sunday lead by the following staff instructors:

There were demos at the beginning and end of each day by the following people:

The demo that people seemed to be the most impressed with was by Professor Don Jacob of Trinidad. His speed, agility and accuracy are amazing. He performed his famous one finger roll, and did a new one where, after taking his opponent down to his back, placed the offenders knife in his eye and did a forward roll straight up and over. The demo that seemed to be the most entertaining was by Sensei Ernie Boggs and his hillbillies from West Virginia. Ernie showed what kind of trouble a bunch of rowdy mountain rednecks can into when they mess with a Jujitsuka from a (slightly) more civilized part of the south. You can really see why Ernie won the world jujitsu championships with his effectiveness and agility. Both Don Jacob and Ernie Boggs seem to defy gravity with some of their techniques. They really float like a butterfly and sting like a bee (or maybe more like a vicious badger). Professor Wally Jay did two demos. He did an impromptu demo before the full contact fights on Saturday with Chris "Professional Uke" Peterson and the final demo on Sunday with Ed Melaugh. He tossed his ukes all over the mat and twisted them up with throws, arm bars, leg locks and finger locks. He demonstrated his famous "one finger dance of pain" and the "pretzel hold". Professor Jay, as always, looked smooth. It’s hard to believe he’s 80 years old!

At the end of the clinics on Saturday, there were two World Title Sport Jujitsu Professional Full Contact Matches:

Bantamweight fight: Ben Brotherton vs. Sheldon Tokuda, with Ben winning the World Title.
Lightweight fight: Craig Oxley vs. Tommy Lam, with Craig maintaining his World Title

After the clinics and demos on Sunday, a huge gang stayed to help break down the mats. Thanks to all of you who volunteered to help, it went very quickly!

Sunday night was Professor Jay’s Birthday Banquet and Convention Awards Ceremony. It was started off by an entertaining video about Professor Jay’s life, created by Ron Ogi. Most of Professor Jay’s family came and Professor brought them up on stage to honor and thank them for their support.

Ron Ogi presented certificates to the convention staff for their hard work and support in making the convention a success. The instructors also received beautiful jackets with the convention/birthday logo embroidered on them.

Ernie Boggs presented the newly created Professor Wally Jay Cup to the Sport Jujitsu competitors, which will be a perpetual award given to the country that is the winning team at the international championships. The U.S. team is the current champions. This starts a tradition in which all the countries will be fighting to take home the team cup.

Professor Jay awarded promotions for the following ranks in Small Circle Jujitsu^TM International:

Lee Eichelberger, Black Belt 6^th degree
Ed Melaugh, Black Belt 4^th degree
Ron Ogi, Black Belt 4^th degree
Chris Peterson, Black Belt 3^rd degree
Chuck Bueri, Black Belt 1^st degree
Rob Gale, Black Belt 1^st degree
Clare Krebs, Black Belt 1^st degree
Stan Miller, Black Belt 1^st degree

Many people presented Professor Jay with birthday gifts and he was honored by the following guest speakers:

Among the many beautiful gifts were a statue of Professor Jay presented by Jujitsu America, and a unique gift from Professor Don Jacob which was a wooden chair from Africa given only to highly honored members of the clan.

The convention birthday card banner was signed by people throughout the weekend and was given to Professor Jay at the birthday banquet. There were so many people that signed it, that there wasn’t even enough room left to sign an "X".

Videos of the convention and the video about Professor Jay’s life will be available for purchase from Ron Ogi. Stay tuned for information on when those will be available.

Between the ideal location, weather and great turnout by people from all over the world, an awesome time was had by all. Professor Jay was extremely happy with the turnout, as was apparent to all by his constant grin. You’d never know Professor Jay was 80 years old. He is testimony to the benefits of eating right, not smoking or drinking, exercising daily, being easy going and having a great sense of humor. We can all look forward to him being around for a long time to come. Anyone want to host his 100^th birthday party?

Thanks go out to Ron Ogi for hosting a great event, to everyone who helped work at the convention and to all who were able to make it to participate and wish Professor Jay a happy 80^th birthday!

Rob Gale
Business Manager, Small Circle Jujitsu^TM International

This page was developed and is maintained by Robert Gale for Professor Jay.