Soke Jim van de Wielle

Soke Jim van de Wielle is the founder of Sochin Ryu Kobudo and a significant martial arts master. With his deep dedication and extensive knowledge, he has developed a unique style that combines traditional techniques with modern approaches. His life’s work and commitment have made Sochin Ryu Kobudo known worldwide and have inspired many students.

In the 1970s and early 1980s, Kobudo was hardly known in Europe, but Soke Jim van de Wielle (born 1937) was one of the few who were interested in it. He studied Jiu-Jitsu intensively and was in close contact with southern English Jiu-Jitsu schools. There he learned basic techniques of various weapons such as Bo, Sai, Tonfa, Kama and Nunchaku, which were part of the Jiu-Jitsu examination program.

Based on this knowledge and inspired by the limited information from Okinawa and Japan, Soke Jim van de Wielle developed his own Kobudo system in the 1980s. The first Sochin Ryu Kata were created around 1989. In the 1990s, together with Patrick Hesbeens, he formed Sochin Ryu Kobudo, which was officially founded in 1998 as an independent style with its own examination program.

Sochin Ryu Kobudo differs from other Kobudo styles in its openness to further developments and its focus on practical self-defense. It offers comprehensive insights into various Kobudo weapons and places particular emphasis on everyday application. Jim van de Wielle’s creation integrates the essence of the old Kobudo and adapts it to modern requirements.

Sôchin-Ryu is not a static, strictly historical concept, but is open to further development and advancement. Due to its beginnings in Jiu-Jitsu, a focus of Sôchin-Ryu is also in the area of self-defense; this applies at least to the weapons that are still considered suitable for everyday use today, such as Jo, Tanbo or Yawara, or their modern equivalents such as walking stick, rolled-up newspaper or umbrella. In Sôchin-Ryu, the spirit of the old Kobudo, to defend oneself in everyday life with improvised weapons, is carried into the present.