Scores of "90-pound weaklings" in Denver, and hundreds of others not so weak, recently have mastered a super form of physical defense, thanks to Prof. Frank A. Matsuyama.

The ancient oriental skill the professor teaches is called "Yawara," and is said to be humane because it enables a man to overcome his opponent before trouble can really begin. Denver police officers almost unanimously have completed a course in Yawara under the professor.

At first glance, Professor Matsuyama looks like a pushover for a fight. He is five feet three inches tall and weighs 130 pounds. But anyone wanting to start a fight with him had better read the newspaper clipping hanging on the wall of his gymnasium at 1818 Stout st.

The clipping tells of the time five 200-pound detectives from Berkeley, Calif., collectively decided to test the professoir's skill. A few moments later three of them were stretcher cases.

"Most of these detectives were skilled in Jui-Jitsu and Judo but they were unable to defend themselves against Yawara," Professor Matsuyama explained.

"Before I began training American police departments, Yawara had only been shown to the Japanese ruling class. The differences can easily be seen in the average Jiu-Jitsu and Judo match which last half an hour while the longest Yawara contest I have ever seen lasted only seven minutes."

Born in Miyakonojo, Japan in 1886, Professor Matsuyama's life story reads like a patent medicine testimonial. His slight stature is a result of a crippling back injury he received when a horse reared and fell on himwhen he was eight years old, leaving him a helpless invalid.

Three years later, his father, a six-foot-two Yawara instructor, began to give him exercises with a large stone which takes the place of an American "dumbbell." Gradually, after months of struggling, Professor Matsuyama was able to rise from his "jack-knife" position and stand upright. It was then that his father began to train him in the secret oriental art which had been handed down from generation to generation.

"I always wanted to learn the English language, so I decided to come to America," Professor Matsuyama related. "I arrived on the West Coast in 1903 and found that there was much more to learn about the American people than just their language."

Regardless of what he did to earn a living, Professor Matsuyama constantly trained himself to perfect his Yawara art. He said the most beneficial job he ever had was washing dishes in a large restaurant because it trained his hands to grasp dozens od different-sized dishes for hours on end.

Five years later, Professor Matsuyama went to work as personal servant to Jack London, the famed actor. In later years, London frequently corresponded with him and took great interest in his Yawara art.

During these years, Professor Matsuyama wanted to teach Yawara, but while his relatives were living in Japan he feared reprisals by the government. Oriental officials were jealous of the science and did not wish it to be shown.

"i have always felt that the only way I could be a friend to the American people is to show them what I knew about my country's science," Professor Matsuyama pointed out. "That is why in 1927, when I was the last one left of the family I began teaching Yawara to some of my friends."

The Yawara method for overcoming a gunman is so succesful that a split-second hold actually results in the gunman being confronted by the muzzle of his own weapon. Professor Matsuyama frequently has trained Federal Buraeu of Investigation Agents in this method and many of them prefer it to the system they originally learned.

Professor Matsuyama can personally vouch for the method's success because on two different occasions he has disarmed gunman who always had the "drop on him." One was a stickup and the other, a man menacing his wife during a domestic argument.

In 1931 Professor Matsuyama became a full-time Yawara instructor for the Berkeley, Calif., Police Department. He also trained classes in San Fransisco, Palo Alto and Witchita, Kan.

Police departments throughout the nation have responded favorably to the system, Professor Matsuyama added. The nature of their work makes it imperative they be trained in defense method as well as "come-along"holds. Yawara is basically humane, although the use of force can result in fractured bones and other serious injuries.

A strong opponent of the blackjack and the traditional nightstick, professor Matsuyama developed a special weapon for police officers and citizens to carry for protection. It is called a Yawara stick and is a pocket-sized plastic tub which fits inside a person's fist.

Thousands of these Yawara sticks have been sold to police departments throughout the nation and Professor Matsuyama has received many testimonials from officers who have had occasion to use them.

With Pearl Harbor, and the evacuation of Japanese from coastal areas, Professor Matsuyama was forced to move inland. Former chief August Vollmer of the Berkeley police suggested he come to Denver.

Vollmer and Chief J. A. Greening of Berkeley called James E. Childers, captain of detectives here, and arrangements were made for Professor Matsuyama to come here to operate his school. Since arrriving here in March, 1942, he has trained a number of recent classes of Denver police in addition to more than 1000 auxilary fire and policemen.

Professor Matsuyama has turned down hundreds of applicants if they did not look like fit subjects to learn Yawara. He explains the he never will train anyone who might use the art wrongly.