History of Ju Jitsu
Ju Jitsu has been described as "various armed and unarmed fighting systems that can be applied against armed or unarmed enemies". That's it, in a nutshell.
One of the important pre-modern forms (c.1185-1600 AD) was sumai (lit. "to struggle"). The combat techniques developed from sumai were the predecessors of all Japanese empty-hand martial arts. One of these styles became yoroi kumi-uchi ("grappling in armour"). This style involved techniques by which two warriors clad in full armour could do battle if they somehow lost their weapons. As empty-hand strikes would have been ineffective against someone so protected, the system used a variety of throws and holds which would allow one to use a special dagger to kill his opponent. Of course, to the bushi, the warrior class, who never let his sword leave his side, jujutsu was the very last resort; thus it was relegated to a relatively minor position in the overall canon of techniques.
Early schools of jujutsu, such as Takenouchi ryu, were a very eclectic
group. There were at least 179 groups with names such as kogusoku,
hobaku, taijutsu, wajutsu, torite, kenpo, yawara, and they dealt
with small weapons and empty hand techniques, as well as swimming
and horsemanship. Many schools specialised in one or two areas, such
as striking, throwing, joint locking etc. Much of the practice was
both dangerous and brutal, as E.J. Harrison in The Fighting Spirit
of Japan recalled of his experiences in turn-of-the century Japan:"in those days the contests were extremely
rough and not infrequently cost the particpants their lives. Thus, when
I sallied forth to take part in any of those affairs, I invariably bade
farewell to my parents, since I had no assurance that I should ever return
alive".
With the opening of Japan by Admiral Perry in 1868, martial arts was
one of the many Japanese arts that gradually became known to a few
in Europe and America. The famous Yukio Tani, admittedly no master
of ju jitsu, was a hit in the music hall entertainment of Victorian
England. One can also imagine with delight the antics of wing-collared
Victorian gentlemen being awed by the "tricks" shown to
them at the Japan Society in London by Mr Barton-Wright and his Bartitsu,
which included the art of fighting with a walking stick.
Unfortunately jujutsu schools became synonymous with ne'er-do-wells and thugs and lost popularity with the Japanese public towards the end of the 19th century. Dr Jigoro Kano had to overcome great obstacles to gain the acceptance of his art of Judo as a way of moral development in 1882. His early students had to pretend they were taking English lessons, but by 1911 Judo was compulsory education in schools.
Dr Kano originally had just three colours of belts, white, brown and black, but by the 1920s the rainbow system of colours had developed, and was quickly adopted by other martial arts.
In his book The Fighting Spirit of Japan, E.J. Harrison believed
that "karate is not qualified or at all likely to challenge judo
in its popular appeal". How wrong he was! His opinion was that "only
spectators possessing some prior knowledge of the art would be interested
in a demonstration (of karate)" whereas "Judo ... thanks to
the spectacular nature of its methods ... will always attract a crowded
house". His main criticism of the karate he witnessed was that "only
experts can safely demonstrate karate in public since every blow ... must
be halted by the assailant a fraction of an inch before landing ... on
the victim's body".
Martial arts were officially banned after the end of World War II, but
gradually there was a revived interest in judo, karate, aikido and ju
jitsu which has reached pretty well every town in every western country
today.
In Japan today there are relatively few who study martial arts. More choose baseball, golf and even ping-pong as a recreation. Martial arts are more popular outside Japan.
