“Mr. Congeniality”
Wally Jay 1917 – 2011
“Mr. Congeniality”
American martial artist Wally Jay was
born in Honolulu, Hawaii of Chinese descent. He holds a 10th degree red belt in
Small Circle Jujitsu, and a 6th degree red and white belt in
Judo. He primarily studied and taught
jujutsu and judo, and was experienced in boxing, and Danzan Ryu and Kodenkan
Jujutsu styles. He was the founder of
the Gendai Budo martial art Small Circle JuJitsu.
At age 11, he began to study boxing under a community program. In 1940, he studied Danzan Ryu jujutsu under Juan Gomez and learned judo under former Hawaiian Champion, Ken Kawachi.In 1948, Jay and his wife Bernice were awarded a Certificate of Mastery by Henry S.Okazaki, founder of Danzan Ryu jujitsu.
Affectionately known as “The Professor”, he spent time with Bruce Lee and his associates in 1962 teaching them judo and jujutsu techniques. Jay was head instructor of Jay's Jujitsu Studio also known as Island Judo/Jujitsu Club in Alameda, California.
Past the age of 90, Jay traveled worldwide teaching seminars on Small Circle Jujitsu. He published two books Dynamic Ju Jitsu and Small Circle JuJitsu and numerous instructional videos.
During the 1990s Wally Jay, Remy Presas (Modern Arnis), and George Dillman (Kyusho Jitsu) traveled together throughout the United States and worldwide promulgating small-circle jujitsu.
Through Remy Presas elements of Small
Circle JuJitsu have been integrated into Modern Arnis.
In the early 1980’s Jay dropped in to visit Bruce Lee’s student, Dan Inosanto. He demonstrated how his Small Circle Theory could be applied to virtually all techniques to increase their effectiveness and speed of application. The lock flows, for example, fit in well with weapons flow. Over the next several years Professor Jay often visited the Inosanto Academy to hold seminars and share his expertise with Guro Dan and his students.
Jay’s broad background in the
fighting arts led to his creation of the Small Circle Theory of Jiu Jitsu. Based on a downward corkscrewing effect of
techniques ending in the smallest possible circle, hence the name Small Circle
Jiu Jitsu. His theory consists of ten major elements, including balance,
mobility and stability, mental resistance and distraction, focus on the
smallest point possible (proper direction of force), rotational momentum, and
transitional flow. The tighter and
smaller the circle, the quicker the application and the smaller the area of
escape: i.e. finger locks.
Professor Wally Jay served as
technical advisor to a number of national and international jujitsu
organizations and associations. He
received commendations and awards from numerous groups including the prestigious 
National AAU Bud
Estes Pioneer Memorial Award. A
classroom was named after him in Alamada, California, and in 1965 he was named
the city’s Man of the Year. In 1982, he
was honored at a dinner in Waikiki, Hawaii, by friends and students, including
Richard Kim, Ed Parker, Don Warrener, Ken Kawachi, Don Jacob and Juan
Gomaz. In 1969, he was inducted into Black Belt Magazine’s Black
Belt Hall of Fame as “Ju-Jitsu Sensei of the Year”, and in 1990 as “Man of the
Year”.
Wally Jay was a truly humble and talented martial artist, who often praised the many pioneers who had influenced him and the martial arts world. His most famous quote was: “some people like ice cream some like jello”. Jay attended the 1999 Jujitsu America Convention in San Mateo, CA.