What is Ju Jitsu?

Ju-Jitsu

Ju-jitsu is an open handed fighting art of the Japanese Samurai. It was designed to enable the disarmed soldier overcome opponents and is considered as the predecessor of all Japanese martial arts. (Although it is thought to have originally gone by the names Aiki Jujitsu, tai-jutsu, yawara or hakuda and to have been introduced from China).

Ju-jitsu tends toward grappling, using more techniques such as throws, joint locks, chokes, and holds. However, all forms of Ju-jitsu incorporate a fair amount of striking techniques using kicks, punches, knees, and elbows. Originally only used by the Samurai (Knights), it was soon adopted by the Ninja (assassins) and then common soldiers and bandits. This didn’t do wonders for its image. More recently (1914 to be precise) a Japanese Ju-Jitsu master named Mitsuyo Maeda, alias “Count of Combat”, went to Brazil and taught a bright young lad named Carlos Gracie. Carlos tested and refined the system through constant matches, open to all comers. At one point, he even advertised in newspapers for people to fight.

He fought anyone and everyone who was willing, regardless of size, weight or fighting style. Even though he was a mere 135 pounds, his style was so effective that Carlos Gracie was never defeated and became a legend inBrazil. Thus giving rise to Brazilian or Gracie Ju-Jitsu. Because martial artists tend to make poor spellers Jiu-Jitsu can be written as Jijitsu, jijutsu, jiujitsu, jiujutsu, jujitsu, jujutsu or jiu-jutsu.

Karate (known as “Empty Hand” because weapons are not used)

In 1470 the Japanese invaded the island of Okinawa (about half way between China and Japan) which at that time belonged to China who had invaded previously. In order to keep the peace a law was passed saying that anyone found carrying a weapon was to be put to death.

In order to protect themselves from the marauding bandits and their new masters, both of whom tended not to bother with any laws, the locals with the help of some friendly Zen Buddhist monks created a fighting system that turned the hands and feet of the practitioner into very effective weapons. This empty hand system was called te (hand) and then went on to become t’ang (China hand) because of the influence of Chinese martial arts that crept in. For a few centuries t’ang spread throughout Okinawa and also picked up the name Okinawa-te (Okinawa hand). In 1917 a Mr. Gichin Funakoshi, the grandfather of modern karate, took t’ang to mainland Japan where it has gone on to become one of the most popular martial arts in the world.

Of course he decided to change the name to Karate first. For the purists out there he actually took Karate-Jutsu to Japan and then renamed it Karate-Do. After a while the Do part was dropped although all three names still exist today the Do and Jutsu variants are far less common and all three are more or less the same anyway.

Kick Boxing

Kickboxing started in the US during the 1970′s when American karate practitioners became frustrated with strict controls on martial arts competitions. Eastern martial arts were still relatively new in the West and were still being taught in a very traditional manner. Sparring matches would take place under very controlled and artificial conditions. For instance each time someone scored a point by hitting the opponent with a “proper” technique both competitors would go back to their starting positions.

Also competition sparring didn’t allow full contact kicks and punches (knockdown karate did exist but was a bit rough). The emphasis was on how a technique was performed rather than would it have hurt. So in an attempt to bring more reality to competition opponents were basically let loose on each other in an attempt to knock out their opponent using only punching and kicking techniques. Many questions were raised when the sport began about the high risk of injury. As a result, safety rules were improved and protective clothing was added. Competitors fight with boxing gloves, foot pads, head guards and gum shields.

The sport has undergone changes and been refined during the last two decades. There are now full-contact and semi-contact versions. The full-contact version does have professional and amateur status.