Ju meaning "gentle" and
jitsu, meaning "skill" or "combat way", literally translate jujitsu as
"the gentle skill of combat."
Jujitsu is over 1000
years old. Two popular beliefs exist as to its origins. One put the
inception of Jujitsu as a fighting skill even earlier, at about
600A.D. During a wrestling match, an opponent was "stomped and kicked
until death occurred". Obviously this was not just wrestling. The
other places the inception of the art by a man named Shinra Suburo
Yoshimitsu. He taught his simple ways or "tricks" of defense and
categorized them, keeping them secret, and taught his specific ways
only to his followers.
Judo grew out of
jujitsu, when a jujitsu master, named Jiguro Kano began developing
ways to use his skills in a safe and healthy way. He removed all the
deadly aspects of his jujitsu fighting style and called his way Ju-do,
or gentle way. This new and effective way of sport and self defense
could be taught to all ages, and sizes of people. It could be
practiced safely and be used as part of a physical education program.Much of the old jujitsu
styles can be seen in the very popular Judo Kata, Goshinjitsu
Jujitsu is in fact a
deadly form of self-defense. The popular term used today of "sport
jujitsu" is a misleading, and an erroneous statement. There is no such
thing as sport in jujitsu. When practiced correctly, one maintains a
strict moral and ethical code of conduct, Bushido.
Within this Code,
there are levels of force associated with what is right and wrong.
These levels include both hard hands (striking, kicking, pressure
points, chokes, and bone breaks) and lethal force (killing
techniques). Sport jujitsu only uses some of the safer techniques
within its ruling guidelines. Call it "sport fighting" or sport
martial arts"…don’t call it Jujitsu.
Jujitsu is first and
foremost a self-defense skill. It is a way of overcoming your opponent
with a minimum amount of force. Jujitsu has within its arsenal both an
"up top" fighting system and a "ground" fighting system unique of all
other martial arts. It has techniques for
both armed and unarmed defensive tactics
