Samurai, members of the Japanese warrior class, trained in many battlefield martial arts (bujutsu). The term samurai was originally used to denote aristocratic warriors (bushi) but later came to be applied to all members of Japan’s warrior class who rose to power in the 12th century and dominated the Japanese government until the Meiji Restoration in 1868. A few of the better known samurai arts are listed below:
- Battojutsu / Iaijutsu – art of drawing the sword
- Jūjutsu – gentle / compliant art
- Kenjutsu – art of the Japanese sword
- Kyūjutsu – art of the bow or yumi
- Naginatajutsu – art of wielding the naginata
- Sojutsu – art of the spear
Jūjutsu often spelt ju-jitsu (jujitsu) or jiu-jitsu shouldn’t be confused with Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, a derivative of kosen judo.
Jūjutsu, in it’s original form, is a necessarily ruthless empty hand fighting system comprising methods of striking, throwing, locking, choking/strangling and immobilisation. It is designed to be both defensive and offensive complimenting a samurai’s use of combat weapons with the usual objectives of warfare, to restrain, maim or kill an aggressor.
The principal concept of jūjutsu is the use of jū, from the Chinese character commonly interpreted as “gentle”. Gentle in the sense of bending or yielding to an opponent’s direction of attack while attempting to control it rather than meeting force with force!
The Meiji Restoration of 1868 marked the end of feudal Japan, the restoration of imperial rule and the opening up of Japan to global trading. Many old school (ko-ryū), or traditional, martial arts declined following the 1877 Satsuma Rebellion, a revolt of dissatisfied samurai against the new imperial government nine years into the Meiji Era.
Today Japanese martial art schools (ryū-ha) are considered either traditional (ko-ryū) or modern (gendai) dependent upon the date of establishment, either before (ko-ryū) or after (gendai) the Meiji Restoration.
Jūjutsu is considered the parent or grandparent art of many gendai systems, including:
- Aikido (1942)
- Bartitsu (1898)
- Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (1920’s ish)
- Judo (1882)
- Krav Maga (1940’s ish)
- Sambo (1920’s ish)
- Shorinji Kempo (1947) – also heavily influenced by Chinese Kung Fu
- Wado Ryu Karate (1938) – also heavily influenced by Okinawan karate styles
