Title.

What is Jujitsu

       

  • jujitsu ju·jit·su also ju·jut·su or jiu·jit·su or jiu·jut·su  An art of weaponless self-defense developed in Japan that uses throws, holds, and blows and derives added power from the attacker's own weight and strength used against him

Jujitsu is on of the most ancient forms of self defense and was originated in Japan. The hay day of Jujitsu was probably in the early 1600's by the samurai of the age who that wanted a technique to control the populace without killing them and maiming them with their swords.     Records of Jujitsu date back over 2,500 years.  Ju, translated means flexible or gentle, Jitsu means art or technique.

The beginnings of Jitsu can be traced to the turbulent period of Japanese history between the 8th and 16th Century. During this time, there was almost constant civil war in Japan and the classical weaponry systems were developed and honed on the battlefield. Close fighting techniques were developed as part of these systems to be used in conjunction with weapons against armored, armed opponents.

The birth of jitsu probably coincided with the origins of the Samurai class in 792 AD. The army at that time consisted of foot soldiers armed with spears. Officers were recruited from the young sons of the high families and schooled in archery, swordsmanship, and unarmed combat. The Emperor Kammu built the Butokuden (Hall of the Virtues of War) as a formal school for these officers who became known as Samurai. Their name comes from the Japanese word for service, saburaui. To be a samurai you had to be born into a family that had samurai history. The samurai worked for their masters, called shogun, who dominated political life from 1185 until 1868. Medieval samurai were generally illiterate, rural landowners who farmed between battles. The progression from rural workers to 'samurai' took many centuries as they were increasingly called and relied on to defend the ruling classes. The word samurai means 'those who serve' and had come into use by the end of the 8th century.

Jujitsu is the term which has been applied, at different times, to the whole of the ancient Japanese national art of unarmed self-defense practiced by the Samurai or Warrior Class of Japan.

The basic principle of Jujitsu is to avoid or give way before an opponent's superior weight and strength in order to overcome him by using his weight and strength to his disadvantage, you learn to use leverage, balance, and continuous motion to maximize your effectiveness against an attacker. Jujitsu uses principles of leverage against force, redirection of an opponents energy and harmony of motion. It consists of throws, holds, chokes, joint locks and grappling.


 Therefore Jujitsu is the gentle art form, or the science of softness.   However if you have been on the receiving end of any of the highly effective techniques, especially as taught by Professor Jones, you would agree that the term "gentle art" is a misnomer.

To accommodate this goal Jujitsu equally uses the following:  

  •   Throwing Techniques  - Using Kuzushi (taking an adversaries balance and control) to break an opponents balance and then to bring down the opponent with minimal force.

  •   Joints Techniques - To nullify the force of an attacker using evasive movements and counter measures applied to the joints of the body, redirecting the force of the adversary back upon him or herself.

  •   Choking Techniques - The application of pressure to the carotid arteries or windpipe resulting in loss of consciousness of the aggressor.

  •   Kicking Techniques - Foot techniques (strikes)  applied to vulnerable parts of an aggressors body.

  •   Punching Techniques - Hand techniques (open or closed fist strikes) , applied to vulnerable parts of an aggressors body. Included in this category are straight, round, uppercut, backfist, hammerfist, ridgehand strikes, knife hand strikes and finger gouges.

  •   Blocking Techniques – The use of movements and counter measures applied using the arms and legs to redirect the force of an aggressors strike.
 
- Information courtesy of "Chelo's Jujitsu Page (Ryoku2) as well as "The Jujitsu Annex"



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