Brief Jujitsu History
Jujitsu History
Jujitsu is an ancient art of self-defense that can trace its roots over two thousand years, but as it is a parent art, one cannot delineate a straight line, such as in two of it's "children", Judo and Aikido. The Korean martial art of Hapkido is directly related to jujitsu, as it’s creator devised this method as a combination of the Korean art of Tae Kyon with Daito ryu aikijujitsu. Korean Kuk Sool Won and Hwarang-do may also be related to jujitsu, with the predominance of grappling techniques they possess.
The first dated mention of jujitsu was during the period of 772- 481 BC when empty hand techniques were used in the Choon Chu era of China.
In 525 AD Boddidharma, a Zen monk, traveled from India to China and while there, visited the Shaolin monastery. He soon combined Chinese kempo (Japanese-kenpo) with yogic breathing to create Shaolin chuan fa (Japanese-Shorinji kenpo). According to legend Boddidharma eventually developed the system into what the Japanese referred to as go-shin-jutsu-karate (self-defense art of the empty hand).
In 230 BC the wrestling way of chikura kurabe developed in Japan, and was integrated into jujitsu training. There is also mention of the development of wrestling and related techniques that served as the base for jujitsu. Evidence points to the development of empty hand techniques used by the samurai warriors of Japan during the Heian period (794-1185 AD), and was held in conjunction with weapons training. This stands to reason that the samurai warrior would have little use for punching and kicking techniques, considering the armor worn during the period. Research does show, however, that the weapons study dominated the time of the samurai, as opposed to empty hand training. Training did continue through the years, and especially thrived during the Tokugawa era (around 1650). This could be said to be jujitsus’ golden age. During this time there were some 725 ryu of jujitsu, with the most popular being Takenouchi-ryu, Jikishin-ryu, Yoshin-ryu, Sekiguchi-ryu, Kito-ryu, and Tenshin-shin’yo-ryu.
In 880 AD, Prince Teijun formed the Daito-ryu aikijujitsu school. Daito ryu was based upon the secret teachings of the shukendo (shu meanin search, ken meaning power, and do meaning way), the eventual source of kendo, which used circular hand motions to assist in defending oneself with weapons. This ryu was one of O’sensei Morihei Ueshibas’ inspirations for the development of aikido (among other empty hand and weapons styles).
Much of the credit for the formalization of jujitsu training is owed to Hisamori Teninuchi, who formed a school of jujitsu in 1532 in Japan. But the next major phase for jujitsu was in 1882, when Jigoro Kano developed the art of Judo, it was developed into a sport to increase the popularity of the martial arts, and provided a relatively safe sport using selected techniques from several ryu of jujitsu.
Today, there are at least three major types of jujitsu. The first are orthodox systems of Japanese origin dating back to the feudal era of Japan. Each of these systems has its own governing board in Japan, and rank accreditation is carefully monitored. These systems care more about preserving culture and heritage than just the effectiveness of techniques. Examples are daito-ryu, tenshin shin’yo-ryu, and yoshin-ryu. The second type of jujitsu is modern Japanese jujitsu, or nihon goshin-jutsu. Their techniques are derived from old schools of jujitsu, and influenced greatly from judo, karate, and aikido. This type of jujitsu teaches practicality in its techniques, and will take the best from many systems. Examples are hakko-ryu, nihon-ryu, ryoi shinto-ryu, and hideyoshi-ryu. The third type is known as gaigin goshin-jutsu; basically the same as nihon goshin-jutsu, but formulated by non-Japanese.
Much of this article was paraphrased from "Black Belt Judo" by George Parulski, Jr. 1985
Yoshin Ryu Jujitsu, the "School of the Willow Heart" or "School of the Willow Spirit," presumably founded by Akiyama Shirobei Yoshitoki, a physician from Nagasaki, is one of the Edo-period jujitsu schools that is best known here in the West. This style or ryu dates back to sometime before 1671. Yoshitoki felt that the jujitsu techniques he had learned were not sufficient in number, so he retreated to Tenmangu Shrine, where he devoted himself to meditation for one hundred days, during which time he developed 303 techniques of his own. One snowy day when Akiyama Yoshitoki was still on retreat in Tenmangu Shrine, he happened to notice a willow tree on the shrine grounds. Despite the recent heavy snows, this willow, unlike some of the other,trees on the grounds, did not have even a single branch broken. The Willow branches simply yielded and allowed the snow to fall off, there by saving the tree. This yielding principle was not only understood to be an essential element of the warrior arts of ancient Japan, but have been perfected through there test of time to the present.
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