Master Lajos Jakab

I'm reading a book at the moment about Lajos Jakab who devised a sytem that he has been teaching since the 60s. He rekons that his system was/is the no 1 self defence system and superior to anything out there. Does anyone know what his system was like?

Never heard of him or the system. But on the concept of "ultimate styles."

A style or system doesn't exist in a vacuum. They are constellations of various techniques and tactics focused on a certain set of problems. The easiest way of explaining it is using the military as a metaphor. You enemy has these and these and those strengths and weaknesses, then you figure out a way to deny them their strengths and exploit their weaknesses. The French Marginot line Vs. the German blitzkrieg approach is one example. Shitloads of styles have been thought up mostly for the purpose of defeating other styles. And they may be excellent at that. While simultaneously sucking against an untrained but committed ruffian.

Look at aikido. I'm not that familliar with aikido, but I'm pretty sure aikido is largely based on exploiting the trained defensive reflexes of some of the main Japanese styles. This clip illustrates the difference between the target having the reflex or not and how that affects technique pretty well.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qxm09n5lIMk

Yes, breaking the arm is effective, of course, but how does that jive with the peace and mercy message aikido espouses? Not quite what they had in mind I imagine... The reflex is the engine. So when asking what the best tool is, it depends on the job. Both need to be considered.

Lajos Jakab's system may well have been superior for the job back in the 60's. Not that much historically up to date stuff around. Today? Impossible to say anything without knowing what exactly it was. But there's a lot of very good stuff around today, so he'd definitely have stiff competition. And also the matter of what exact problem you're faced with. I don't think there are ultimate systems. But you might be able to find the best solution to your specific problem in this time and place by becoming very familliar with it and devising your approach to exploit the conditions of that.

Of course these things change with time and geography but today, generally. Shitloads of people carry knives. They walk in small groups. Social interaction is usually applied to set it up. Most troublemakers are largely untrained, but may have experience and possibly trained in some sport fighting system like boxing, thai or some kind of grappling. But there might be local trends in your area. As well as environmental conditions to consider. Anyway, through the magic of google...

Here's the man's website. http://chris.mycyrex.co.uk/index.htm

It doesen't look bad, they do pay attention to physical fitness, seems fairly all-rounded, although wearing gi's always makes me sceptical. Talking about the quality is guesswork without at least some video material, but I'm pretty sure it's not the ultimate system for todays problems anymore, if it ever was.

Lajos Jakab has a couple of websites; here and here

Jakab's book title, written by his wife Sheila; "My Name is Jakab, Master Jakab" references
his brush with greatness having trained Roger Moore for the movie "Man with the Golden Gun" in 1974. Sir Roger also wrote the foreward to Mr. Jakab's book.

Jakab's site states "Jakab Defence and Fitness was created by Master Jakab in 1957 and comprise of
over 2000 fighting techniques and 650 various exercises in sequence..."

technics1210: Is her book any good?

nix wrote:

Lajos Jakab has a couple of websites; here and here

Jakab's book title, written by his wife Sheila; "My Name is Jakab, Master Jakab" references
his brush with greatness having trained Roger Moore for the movie "Man with the Golden Gun" in 1974. Sir Roger also wrote the foreward to Mr. Jakab's book.

Jakab's site states "Jakab Defence and Fitness was created by Master Jakab in 1957 and comprise of
over 2000 fighting techniques and 650 various exercises in sequence..."

technics1210: Is her book any good?

Thanks for your input guys. I think the book's excellent. It's inspirational aswell given what the man went through, perticularly in the younger years of his life in Hungary. To my shame i wasn't aware of the hungarian uprising so a bit of a history lesson for me. I reccomend it.

Hello gentlemen

Apologies for reviving an old thread but having trained under Master Jakab and his son Steve I thought I may be able to shed some light on the original post.

I wouldn't be so brash as to call it the ultimate fighting system given that I haven't done it for over a decade but I'd certainly call it extremely comprehensive and effective for the street which given it was pioneered over fifty years ago is still remarkable considering what was available in the UK then. It is fundamentally a street fighting style with every technique and exercise being complimentary as well as having a practical application. If anything I'd call it the original mixed martial art based on hard work and technique rather than myth or legend.

From a personal perspective what I really enjoyed was the intense physical training and sparring which set it apart from anything else I'd seen or practiced. There was also a sense that it was continually evolving and there was a willingness to adapt and include new techniques as long as they were proven effective. It wasn't for kids, in fact under 18's weren't allowed to join and in the seven or so years that I studied and trained I still only reached a relatively low rank not because of my lack of effort but because they just didn't give belts out like candy just to keep you interested. It's probably the reason it's relatively unheard of now as only a few reached the highest ranks and were allowed to set up their own schools to the detriment of the styles notoriety if not integrity. I believe one school is still going in High Wycombe and if it is I'd recommend anyone interested in the fighting arts try it before this once fairly unique combination of styles dies out completely.

Regards

I googled "master lajos jakab" after reading "antdads" post. This sounds intriguing. I was living just down the road from high wycombe before I came away.

If anyone has any more information, I'd love to hear about it.

Hello there, I remember Master Jakab having a saying....

Bruce Lee bought Kung Fu to the big screen, David Carradine to the small screen and Master Jakab to the street, Kung fu of course as I'm sure you all know means hard work and it was certainly that. He was an original member of the British Kung Fu council but as with most governing bodies became disillusioned with the politics and simply carried on without their recognition and interference.


I have a box of info somewhere, if I find it I'll try and post it. I can't post links as noob so google is your friend.

Regards

any further info would be appreciated - the top two search terms I found in google for his name led back to this post

note : some people will not know that Kung Fu literally translates as "skill and achievment through hard work" and that the Chinese for Arts most Martial is "Wu Shu" (literally Military Method)

thanks for the post

To be honest I don't have much more to add that the links posted by Nix can't tell you, the club contacts are there as well as the list of experts which is less than twenty so you can see why the name may have faded into obscurity.




This picture brings back fond memories, seeing as it was posted in the website gallery I don't think I'm betraying any confidences by describing this block and skin grab to the chest as mightily painful. Skin and nerve techniques were just a small part of the armory, a 20 stone sparring partner of mine would dance like a girl and fall to his knees and submit on the application of a skin grab. He never got used to it and we all know as a kid how painful a camel pinch is to the inside leg, imagine the same thing except applied by someone with a vice like grip. The demonstrations by senior members were always high intensity and near enough full contact which is always impressive.

Anyway hope I've peaked some interest and someone pops along for a session at Wycombe or Crystal Palace.

Regards

.....................

........

s.lim wrote:

A friend of a friend trained under him for many a year, achieving black belt. As those who trained under him know, he didn';t give belts out easily. I've heard some stories of very brutal training, stuff no class/dojo would get away with these days. Part of the system from what i'm told seems very military based. It was mixed martial arts before mixed martial arts.

Exactly that , it was a mixed martial art before the term or style was common place in th UK.

As I said earlier the training and sparring was tough but not reckless and no one I witnessed was subjected to techniques below their rank and experience. I'm loathed to compare it to anything else but looking through the Krav Maga "syllabus" there isn't anything there that is unfamiliar.

../

No not Palace, I'd rather not say where I trained on an open forum but it's probable the sparring had tempered down somewhat compared to the early days of Palace.

................

hi i trained at Crystal Palace (above the 7/11) back in the 80's when Jose(joe ) Paves and Mr Green were at their peak. the "style" he taught was no style. the warm ups were unbelievable skin grabbing and body hardening. the blocks to the wrist were painful to say the least. his teachings were and still are unique. anyone who has any questions or want a chat give me a shout.

doe anyone remembers the fight at the Hammersmith Palais if i recall with the Golden Tiger Club.

Fight-street-pain aside I think Lajos has used his mind and experience to bring up and oversee a wonderful family. His hands are scary though. O

Sorry for reviving an old thread. Would you say what he taught was actually krav Maga (apart from the kickboxing and wrestling)? I'm not near any of his clubs, could the techniques be picked up from dvd instructionals?

Should give you an idea...

Nice one!