Small Circle
Wally Jay
The Wally Jay Connection
It’s the middle of 1996 and I’ve just confirmed a seminar date with non other than ‘Professor Wally Jay’ of the Small Circle Ju Jitsu fame, he’s invited here (Scotland) to teach when he is visiting his son Leon in England on an official seminar tour.
Leon and I hooked up via some George Dillman seminars in London and he (Leon) immediately asked me to host his father here in Scotland. My answer was a definite YES!
As an ambassador for martial arts in any part of the world there can be no-one more qualified than Professor Jay, a humble and enthusiastic practitioner and innovator not to mention creator of his famed Small Circle style.
To cut a long story short, Wally Jay and Leon came to Greenock, to conduct a seminar to a group of around sixty to seventy pre-booked Instructors and students from many arts including Kung fu, Judo, Ju jitsu, Karate, Tae kwon do, and even Kickboxing, many of which were my own students. I was to play host to one of the worlds most famous Instructors, one whom was a friend to and, had taught the late ‘Bruce Lee’ and who was also a world hall of fame inductee member & is heralded as one of the most enigmatic of martial arts teachers of the 20th century, bar none.
Picking up this famous guy and his son from Glasgow airport was an exciting time for me as I followed and admired his skill and his work. Soon they were in my car and off to my home in Greenock Scotland where I lived with my Fiancée at that time Karen and my then youngest son Aidan. We lived in a small two bedroom apartment to which we gratefully vacated for just over a week and moved into a friend’s house so that Professor Jay and his son Leon could have some peace and relaxation whilst here in Scotland.
Wally Jay couldn’t believe we would allow a couple of strangers stay at our home while we temporarily moved out to accommodate him, he thought this was the most flattering gesture he had ever had bestowed upon him, one which was rewarded later on that week.
After the first few days (& nights) of just talking, laughing, partying & demonstrating (martial art skills) and listening about the stories of Wally and Bruce and how Small circle came to be it was time to set the scene for the up coming seminar.
We had planned for Professor Jay to conduct the whole seminar but Leon wanted to make his mark in Scotland and they argued lightly about Leon taking a load off Wally by doing part of the seminar.
At first this wasn’t well received by my fellow assistants and me but, we knew that Wally Jay was the main reason for hosting this prestigious event and we were still happy to go ahead as planned, this wasn’t taking anything away from Leon it was just that we wanted to get the info from the horses mouth as it were.
Wally was intrigued from day one as to the history of our Kung fu system and its creation etc and because I had practised Ju jitsu with my father and many others before to instructor level this interested him even more that he asked literally hundreds of questions about us and what we did in class etc. I did mention that I had a vast collection of over 1000 personal video’s of what it was that we did whilst training & what I did besides Kung fu & Ju jitsu and he was very eager to have a look, in fact the whole time he was here despite the great hospitality he slept very little due to watching and sifting through the thousands of videos in my collection in order to better grasp what we personally would benefit from during the seminar.
During the seminar ‘Wally’ made several comments about my video collection that kept him awake at night, he would regularly say he learnt a specific skill from Sifu James Watson (that’s me) and would comment on what other stylist should practice and whom they should be practising with during the here in Scotland.
Prof Jay was always on hand for questions and always prepared to demonstrate at any time and any where just how well his Ju jitsu worked with other systems and how it warmed to all styles.
There was a point in the seminar when an assistant was required for Wally to demonstrate a finger lock on when a local karate instructor jumped to his feet and without warning proceeded to attack Wally Jay with a devastating punch strike when, within a split second he was floored by an un-perturbed Professor, the make shift assailant was in total pain and the point was proved and all enjoyed the precise way in which Wally had dealt with the attack.
There were many examples of his skill and prowess not to mention his wit and enthusiasm combined with professionalism.
So the seminar came and went Wally and Leon were going home in a day or two and we were still in the party mood after a fantastic seminar which I may say went fantastically well and in my favour with the other local instructors afterwards when they booked seminars with myself. Anyway, we went for a drive down the coast of the West of Scotland on a sight seeing tour and when we came back we dropped into the home of one of my then assistants in Weymss Bay on the coastline of Scotland some 15 miles from by home and called for another party, so I phoned a couple of other assistants and their wives to come and join us. We had a ball, a great laugh and lot’s of stories of the many exploits of Professor Jay life and times, I suppose you could say a little history lesson also with regards to the early times of Small circle and its creator.
Prof was introduced to his first taste of “IRN BRU”, a soft drink brought to life in Scotland to which Wally couldn’t get enough of. He drank and drank litres of it and wanted more. Now here is where the story gets to a point. Wally was in and out of the kitchen re-filling his glass when he stopped to talk to one of my assistants John who’s home we were in when he was advising john to stick in at training as he was considered by Wally to be good.
John and Wally talked for ages whilst Leon entertained the rest of us with stories of George Dillman and Remy Presas and how growing up as a child, a regular visitor to his father and mothers home came and who would sit on the doorstep waiting for Wally to finish work (Wally Jay was a mailman) was none other than “Bruce Lee” himself. Well my glass of “Pepsi” was empty so I went to fill up in the kitchen where both Wally and John were still talking, when Wally dropped the proverbial bombshell for all to hear.
Without delay he announced first to John and I that he was allowing me to teach Small circle Ju jitsu in Scotland with his blessing and that he would sign a photo confirming that I was Scotland’s Chief Instructor for said system, now shortly afterwards Leon was in the kitchen when Wally mentioned his intentions and Leon flew off in one, he did not approve of what his father had decided and without thought and also without being silent literally displayed a jealous rage saying under his breath “Hey Dad they gotta pay for this stuff”, Wally was evidently embarrassed by his sons outburst and quickly exited the kitchen as John and I followed leaving Leon to steam on his thoughts.
Leon was well pissed off for the rest of the journey back to my house and very little was said in the car as we travelled the 15 miles back to my place. When I dropped off Wally and Leon, Leon went into the toilet and Wally had a quick word for me.
“James (he said) I believe that Leon was disrespectful” but he said he understood to an extent as what pissed him off which was that, to Leon, in England Leon is boss, and by giving me this honour Leon was left without a say in what I did with Small circle and that Leon believes that all instructors in Britain should get promoted only through him and that they had to pay for the pleasure. Wally assured me that what he said still stands and that he would sort out Leon’s mind and assure him that I was not about to steal his living from him and that I was no threat to his status in England.
Wally also believed that in Britain consisting of Scotland, England, Ireland and Wales were four countries and like the United states no one person had control of Small circle and this should apply also to these four countries.
Wally would have wished for four representatives in Britain but Leon believed that he should be the one and only British and International Small circle teacher.
I then assured Wally that I had already been promoted in Ju jitsu and that although Small circle had of course “Small circle” the rest of the Ju jitsu content was just the same as any other and that anytime I used any part of Small circle in my classes and or seminars I would always promote in a honourable way and without publicising or professing to be a stand alone certified Small circle teacher, with that Professor Wally Jay gave his blessing that I should quote him whenever I needed to for my heartfelt hospitality and that I could promote Small circle in my classes any time, he then gave me a signed promo photo with the words “To James Watson a wonderful host and Scotland’s Chief Instructor aloha & Maui, Professor Wally Jay”.
So like a Japanese Shogun you must govern for the good of a country and not for personal gain, I have been granted by the creator that if I so wish to call myself an Instructor of Small circle Ju jitsu I could, however knowing that only inspires me to tell the tales of Professor Wally Jay and not involve myself in the political wrangles of a style and gain any monetary value from such an honourable award and that if Leon Jay wants to run Small circle in Britain as he is doing then who am I to stand in his way as I will not pay to Leon nor any other Instructor for the benefit of promoting their system.
I completely admire Professor Wally Jay for his judgement and his kind words and will show nothing but respect for him and his system no matter who teaches it, if only for the best.
Sifu James Watson
(See qualifications click here)
Ten Principles of Small Circle JujitsuTM
- 1. Balance
- 2. Mobility and Stability
- 3. Avoid the Head On Collision of Forces
- 4. Mental Resistance and Distraction
- 5. Focus to the Smallest Point Possible
- 6. Energy Transfer
- 7. Create a Base
- 8. Sticking Control and Sensitivity
- 9. Rotational Momentum
- 10. Transitional Flow
- Whilst:
- Exert ing Continual Pain During Transitions
- Creating Maximum Pain Without Dislocating Joint
- Maintaining Mobility During Transition Rather than Stability
