We have a YouTube channel which we have used to host copies of older World Ju-Jitsu Federation (WJJF) videos. These videos were originally recorded and produced by the WJJF to serve as revision aides. Below you can find our 3 main playlists, or go directly to our channel here – https://www.youtube.com/c/DragonSpiritJuJitsu
WJJF Unarmed Katas.
This playlist is a collection of various unarmed katas taught in the WJJF. Each video plays at normal speed, then at half speed for a clearer view.
WJJF Weapon Katas.
This playlist is a collection of various weapon based katas taught in the WJJF. Each video plays at normal speed, then at half speed for a clearer view.
The 1986 syllabus VHS tapes.
In 1986 the World Ju-Jitsu Federation recorded the then syllabus as instructional guides, selling them on VHS tapes. This playlist splits those tapes into each belt for easier viewing.
Each video is demonstrated by the late Sōke Robert Clark (1946-2012), assisted by Alan Campbell acting as his Uke.
It should be noted that since the publication of these tapes in 1986, the WJJF syllabus has changed more than once and thus these videos do not reflect the current WJJF syllabus. However the individual techniques shown may not have changed and these videos can still be used as revision aides.
Why do you have a YouTube channel?
We have a Google account because we advertise on Google. As YouTube is a part of Google by default you automatically have a YouTube account, and in turn having a YouTube account means you have a YouTube channel, even if you don’t post anything. It’s simply a space for you to upload videos should you wish.
As the channel has our name on it, it is possible for it to appear in search results. We figured that if we’re going to have something with our name on it that might show up in search results, we might as well set it up with all of our branding and information to point people to this website, or other appropriate places like the Facebook page or Twitter profile.
Initially we never intended to post any videos there, however in March 2020 came the Coronavirus/COVID-19 outbreak and our classes were forced to close. The WJJF had previously published the videos in the playlists above which Sensei Adam had downloaded for private reference use. He also found copies of the 1986 VHS tapes elsewhere online which he also saved privately.
So when it became clear we would have several months of no classes, it made sense to re-upload this collection to our channel to provide educational content some in lieu of any actual classes.
Do you have any plans to use the channel in the future?
We will probably continue to use the channel to share videos from other channels that we feel are educational about Ju-jitsu or martial arts in general.
As for uploading videos created solely by us, then no. We don’t have neither proper recording equipment (aside from our phones) or editing software. We aren’t ruling out the possibility that we could post videos in the future, but any videos we put up would probably require some degree of editing or ‘polishing’ prior to uploading which takes time and effort.
Another part of this is GDPR concerns. We would not want to create a video depicting someone who later asked for it to be taken down. It’s quite hard to take photos or videos of our classes without depicting people! While we can censor people from photographs, it would require editing software for us to do so for videos.
Finally there is the topic of monetisation, or in other words allowing adverts to be run on videos we have posted. This for us will thankfully not be a problem as YouTube requires a minimum of 4,000 hours of watch time (that is the total amount of time people have spent watching our videos) in the last 12 months as well as a minimum of 1,000 people subscribed to us. In the extremely unlike event both of those happened, we would only get $0.0005 per view after that. Even then YouTube doesn’t pay you until you’ve earned at least $20, which works out at a mere 40,000 views.
In other words, our content will never be monetised.