Aikijujitsu: Chiassi Maru: Brossard, QC

Background: Sensei Andre Boudreau encompasses the spirit of Martial Arts more than just about anyone I have ever met. He is a small, unassuming man with a great sense of humor and always a smile on his face. If you didn't know of his skills you would pass him by on the street with maybe a wave and grin. But for all of his considerable skills those aren't what define him as a Martial Artist.

 Myself, Chisaii Maru, Jukaido Kan and many more at Sensei Boudreau's 25th

anniversary seminar.

Over the years I have known him Sensei Boudreau has given back like crazy to the Martial Arts Community. He holds seminars where he invites Martial Artists to get together and exchange knowledge. I have been with him as he teaches at seminars for charity and then participates in other teachers’ seminars. Yet when I visited him last he set the bar higher again.

He informed me that we were having other visitors as well. This in itself is novel since most times I am the only outsider in a school. However, I then found out that the reason we would be having visitors is was because another school that had lost their facility due to unpreventable circumstances and had nowhere to train in the interim. Sensei Boudreau opened his own school, invited them to come train with him and told them that the door was opened to come visit as often as they needed while they were getting settled. This is what makes him a great martial artist. He puts aside all pride and pretence and steps in to help members of the Martial Arts community because it is the right thing to do. That is a true Martial Artist.

What did I learn: “Aiki” anything has faced criticism in recent years. With effectiveness of a Martial Art being tied to its ability to produce an MMA champion “Aiki” has suffered ridicule and disrespect. I don’t believe that the success in the ring is indicator of the effectiveness of an art. Rather, it is a statement about an arts global presence and organization, both factors that have nothing to do with anything martial.

Sensei Boudreau demonstrating the knee bar. 

The nice thing about Sensei Boudreau’s classes are that I don’t have to mount a defence Aikijujitsu. They do that all on their own with their actions. Contrary to many places I have been Chisaii Maru students have the option to begin their training with an hour long grappling session. This is where they test their skills and develop new ones. As they are interested in grappling and submissions from a self-defence perspective they aren't training from a tournament stand-point or to get medals. Rather they are more concerned with controlling and submitting non-conforming opponents.

In Sensei Boudreau’s class what I found very interesting as a lesson was breaking up a fight. In the scenario’s we worked on you had a dominant attacker and a more submissive victim. Our task was not only to gain control of the attacker but we had to meet certain criteria. First, controlling the attacker and stopping the violence. Second, we needed to stop the attacker without using excessive force. After all we were interfering with the attack from behind. Third, we had to maintain a position of dominance so should the victim begin attacking we could extricate ourselves and deal with them.

Sensei Boudreau showing how to pull an attacker down. 

What was similar: Joint locks are joint locks and many of them I have seen before. This is why when wrist locks are applied I typically drop to my bum and not my knees. Kicking my feet out has several advantages in my opinion. I immediately relieve pressure from the area and hopefully create a little space allowing me to break the lock. Also, it brings my feet into play for grappling while removing my head from nasty striking bits like fists and feet.

 Sometimes it is fun to be the attacker.

Pressure points are another thing I am familiar with. Compliance through pain is taught in almost every Martial Art. Being able to control someone without permanent injury is becoming increasingly important. With the prevalence of video technology the ability to subdue an attacker via compliance techniques is quite relevant.

Conclusion: Training with Sensei Boudreau will always be a pleasure. If you are interested in learning not only the principles of Aikijujitsu but also testing the applications than Chisaii Maru is a great place to train. You will meet great people and Sensei Boudreau brings in enough outside talent that you will never be bored.

Myself and Sensei Boudreau after a great evening of training. 

Best regards and keep training,

Martin "Travelling Ronin" Fransham 

If you are interested in training together I would love to get together with you. Drop me a line on facebook and we can connect. I would love to learn from you. On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Travelling-Ronin/583588935029877?ref=hl
On Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwXDjTjOSVMm3-98e0gHUXLlQecYRkcvN

Check out Chisaii Maru: https://www.facebook.com/pages/%C3%89cole-dArts-Martiaux-Chisaii-Maru/260069834662