Ju Jitsu

Ju-Jutsu or Ju-Jitsu (Japanese, “science of softness, soft art”), techniques of combat elaborated by the bushi (“knights”) during the Kamakura period (1185-1333) in Japan. It was intended for disarmed warriors so they could defend themselves against enemies who were still armed. Thus, the techniques were designed to disable, cripple, or kill. This art developed from the ancient techniques of kumi-tachi or yawara described in the 12th-century work Konjaku monogatari. Over the centuries various schools developed, such as wa-jutsu, yawara, kogu-soku, hakuda, shubaku, and kempo. Techniques were combined with movements and countering grips adopted from Chinese methods of combat. Ju-jutsu became a martial art during the Edo period (1600-1868), when Japan was at peace. Many schools were created by the ronin (masterless samurai) and the techniques spread through the country. They were codified at the beginning of the Meiji period (1868-1912) from the time when samurai were forbidden to carry swords and feuds between noble families were prohibited. By this stage ju-jutsu had a bad reputation and was associated with bandits and criminals. From it, in 1882, Dr Jigoro Kano developed judo (“the gentle way”).

Judo

The man responsible for the “invention” of judo was Dr Kano Jigoro who combined the styles and techniques of ju-jutsu to create the new mode. He achieved this by the time he was 20 and founded the first Kodokan (judo training hall) in 1882 at Shitaya. He became a distinguished schoolmaster and his philosophy of judo was that it should be a mental and physical training which should produce a mind, brain, and body in a state of harmony and balance (a fundamental concept in most martial arts). He introduced the principle of tskuri-komi (see above). By the end of the 1880s judo had caught on in Japan and rapidly became very popular. The Japanese Ministry of Education adopted it as a sport and the police included it in training programmes. The Paris police adopted it in 1905. Kano visited Britain in 1885 and devoted much of his life to advancing judo. His pupils did likewise. The first club in Europe, the Budokwai, was established in London in 1918 by Gunji Koizumi (1885-1965) who did an immeasurable amount to popularize judo in Britain and Europe.

Karate.

Karate developed in Japan, the name originating as recently as the 1930s. However, the techniques are very ancient, and derive from the 6th-century Chinese art of Shaolin boxing which was further developed on the Japanese island of Okinawa in about 1500 into “Tang hand” which enabled the islanders to fight bare-handed against armed Japanese oppressors. In the 1920s Tang hand was introduced to Japan by Funakoshi Gichin who adopted the word karate. The style he practised became known as Shotokan, now one of the five major styles of Japan; the others are Wado-ryu, Gojo-ryu, Shito-ryu, and Kyukushinkai. Each places different emphases on technique, speed, and power.