I was watching Discovery Times Channel, and they had this documentry on martial arts. But anyway, They showed this segment on a marine how study japanese martial arts in japan, after the Koren war. They speculated that this guy had no openings when he fought, had powerful fighting techniques, and was a malevolent crackpot!
Who was this guy? does anybody have any info on this fool? Plus don’t say Tom Cruise ethier!
I think you’re talking about Don Draeger (hope the spelling is right). I’ll throw the name into Google and see what I find. . .
yeah thats the guy hes talking about…
that was actually like the first good documentary on martial arts that i’ve seen…
Does anybody else have any information on this guy: Why did he live in Japan? How did he get started? You know! Just like that black kid said on American Idol, " CAN YOU DIG IT!"
I thought they were talking about his Kendo skills…
PL
Kenjutsu
Don Draeger wrote numerous books on the Martial Arts. You could probably pick up more info on him in the MA section of Barnes & Noble
Chris
Donn Draeger:
He was a master of several different Japanese styles, as well as a japanese historian. He co wrote some books with grandmaster M. Nakayama about shotokan, and was also very good with a bokken and jo.
I consulted my copy of John Corcoran and Emil Farkas, “The Original Martial Arts Encyclopedia: Traditions-History-Pioneers” (Pro-Action Publishing, Los Angeles, Ca, 1993). On page 320 is gives the following entry. I have only changed the present tenses into past tenses. These changes are in [brackets].
"Draeger, Donn F. ( -1985), Martial Arts author, historian, and pioneer. Draeger [was] regarded as the foremost Western scholar of the Japanese classical disiplines, in which he [held] numerous black belt ranks and teaching licenses. Draeger [had] lived in Japan, China, Mongolia, Korea, Malaysia, and Indonesia. His works [included]: Judo Training Methods, Practical Karate (six volumes), Judo for Young Men, Penjak-Silat, Weapons & Fighting Art of the Indonesian Archipelago, Classical Bujutsu, Classical Budo, Modern Budo & Bujutsu, and with Robert W. Smith, Asian Fighting Arts.
In 1967 Draeger doubled for actor Sean Connery and was the stunt choreographer for the James Bond film You Only Live Twice. [Before his death] he [had] for some time been engaged in research for his doctoral dissertation in hoplology, the science of weapons."
Under this book’s section on the history of Judo in the USA it is mentioned that Draeger was active in Judo on the East Coast of the United States in 1953 and beforehand. He had a black belt in the art and was apparently affiliated with clubs in the Washington D.C. area. (p. 217) (And no, it doesn’t say where he learned the art)
I also found some more information about him in the book “Martial Arts Talk” by Mark V. Wiley which I’ll type in when I get the time.
From:
Hoplology, as an organized, academic disciple remained dormant from the
time of Sir Richard until the late 1950’s when it reemerged under the
guidance of the founder of the International Hoplological Research Center,
Major Donn F Draeger (USMC Ret.) (1922-1982).
Draeger, after many years in the Pacific Basin, took up permanent residence in Japan in the mid-1950’s and became thoroughly occupied with the study and practice of Japanese martial and related disciplines. Draeger gained membership to Japan’s oldest cultural organization for the study and preservation of classical martial arts and ways, the Nihon Kobudo Shinkokai. Draeger founded the International Research Section (IRS) of the Nihon Kobudo Shinkokai to facilitate non-Japanese persons gaining access to study and conduct research within the Japanese martial ethos. By the early 1960’s this Section had conducted an ongoing series of investigations in Japan and produced a sizable amount of data primarily relevant to Japan. Draeger soon changed the title to the International Hoplological Research Center, and modified the activities of the organization to include a more international scope. Pioneer field workers widened the scope of the organization’s activities and several field expeditions were made into Australia and the Indonesian Archipelago.
By the 1970’s, the organization’s operations were expanded into the Greater Malay Archipelago and the broader Pacific Basin. Draeger spent considerable time at the East-West Center and the University of Hawaii Manoa, lecturing, developing professional contacts between the IHRC and scholars in various field, and performing federally funded research.
Draeger remained director of the IHRC in Tokyo until his death in l982. Since 1983, the functions of the IHRC (renamed the International Hoplology Society in 1986 and incorporated as a not-for-profit organization in Hawaii in 1992) and all of its activities have continued under Hunter B Armstrong, Director of the IHS, David A Hall, Ph.D., Coordinator of the Advisory Committee, and the members of the Board of Directors.
What a man.
I’ve had 2 books by Draeger, both were great, and featured for example extensive biography lists, which you’ll not find in many MA books…
Too bad I had to sell them, grrh… & well you could also see slight bias towards his favorite styles, but it’s not like that’s such a big deal esp. when it’s the only complaint…