History of Martial Arts: Japanese

Japanese Samurai warrior

If history's greatest fighters weren't the Spartans then they were trained in the Japanese Martial Arts, the Samurai Warrior. These two great Warriors had a lot in common. They both were fearless, trained for years to hone their fighting skills and had the mindset to either win in battle or die fighting. Both were trained in armed and unarmed combat.

If a Samurai lost his sword in battle then he would use his Jui-Jitsu skills to continue fighting. In 1312 A.D a monk named Da Zhi traveled from Japan to the Shaolin temple. He stayed there for 13 years studying Shaolin Martial Arts, both barehand and staff. And when he returned to Japan he introduced these arts to Japanese Martial Art practitioners.

In 1335 A.D a Buddhist monk named Shao Yuan went to Shaolin from Japan and mastered Kung Fu, and later returned to Japan in 1347 A.D. These exchanges and probably many more had an influence on the development of Japanese Martial Arts. The Japanese had a variety of Martial Arts that they either developed or that they refined and made it conform to the Japanese Warrior.

One of the oldest was Chikura Kurabe, a wrestling sport that appeared in Japanese Martial Arts around 230 B.C. It had some of the techniques of Ju-Jitsu, and may have had an influence on Ju-Jitsu. Ju-Jitsu translates into the art of using indirect force or to use an attacker's force against him and counter attack at his weakest point. It is not known how Ju-Jitsu developed but there are several theories.

Mysterious Origins

It may have been a desendant of the Spartans' Pankration that traveled from Greece to India, to China and then to Japan, being refined along the way. Since they were both Combat Arts developed to kill or disable an enemy on the battlefield this knowledge would have been very valuable.

Both styles were all encompassing that had Punching, Kicking, Throwing, Foot Sweeps, Joint Locks, Pinning, Choking, Wrestling, and Grappling. Some believe that Ju-Jitsu was influenced by Indian grappling arts or by the Chinese Grappling art called Chin Na. And some believe it was a purely Japanese Martial Art.

One thing that has been documented in numerous Japanese and Chinese documents is how the Chinese Martial Art of Chin Na influenced the development of Ju-Jitsu. One document states that in the early-to-mid 1600s a man named Chin Gempin came to Japan and stayed at a monastery where he met three Ronin.

Chin Gempin told them that in China there is an art of seizing a man. He said he had seen it practiced and gave a brief example of the art. Chin Gempin also stated that he had not learned all of the principles of the art. After hearing this the Samurai Warriors further researched this art.

After achieving a degree of skill the Samurai founded the Kito-ryu school of Ju-Jitsu. This same story is repeated in several other documents. But there were Grappling systems in Japanese Martial Arts that were already being practiced before Chin's visit that brought Chin Na to Japan.

Takenouchi-ryu is one of the oldest Ju-Jitsu schools, and is still in existance. It was founded in 1532, before Chin Gempin was even born. Takenouchi-ryu is considered to be the place where Japanese Ju-Jitsu started and for more than three hundred years after it was founded, Ju-Jitsu was refined by Samurai Warriors who spent their lives dedicated to improving this Japanese Martial Art.

The Rise of Ju-Jitsu

And they did a great job because Ju-Jitsu became one of the most effective Martial Arts known to man. The Ju-Jitsu that was developed between 1333 and 1573 was known as old style Ju-Jitsu. At this time in history these systems were not systems of totally unarmed combat but a means for an unarmed Warrior or someone armed with a small weapon to fight a heavily armed and armored enemy on the battlefield.

Ju-Jitsu was incorporated into a Samurai's Japanese Martial Art training so that if he lost his sword he could still defend himself against an armed attacker. In battle it wasn't always possible for a Samurai to use his long sword, and would sometimes be forced to rely on his short sword, dagger, or bare hands. When fully armored, the effective use of these smaller weapons made it necessary to be able to use Grappling skills.

In the early 16th century the Chinese art of Chuen Fa (Punching and Nerve Strikes) was brought to Japan, and it was introduced into Ju-Jitsu. It became known as Atemi Waza. During the Edo period armed battles gradually declined and so Edo Ju-Jitsu was developed to deal with opponents without armor and not in a battlefield enviroment.

Most systems of Edo Ju-Jitsu include extensive use of Atemi Waza (Striking Nerves and Vital Points) which wouldn't be effective against an enemy wearing armor, but would be very effective on an attacker in street clothes.

By the mid 1800s there were more than 700 different styles of Ju-Jitsu being practiced in Japan, and each Ju-Jitsu school differed in the emphasis put on techniques.

Some schools specialized in Throwing, some in Ground Fighting, and others in Striking. Ju-Jitsu continues to be practiced today, and one of its modern styles Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu has proven its effectiveness in Martial Arts competitions worldwide.

Judo: Born from Ju-Jitsu

Judo is a Japanese Martial Art born out of Ju-Jitsu. Its creator, Jigaro Kano, was born in 1860, and Kano became a master of several styles of Ju-Jitsu. As a child Jigaro Kano was sickly and weak. When Kano was 18 he enrolled in the Tenjin Shino-Ryu school of Ju-Jitsu.

Tenjin Shino-Ryu was a soft Martial Art, that contained Striking and Grappling techniques. After studying there he moved on to the Kito-Ryu school of Ju-Jitsu. This style of Ju-Jitsu was softer and emphasized Throwing. Kano also studied other forms of Ju-Jitsu such as Sekiguchi-Ryu and Seigo-Ryu. He had a desire to master all of these different styles techniques.

Around 1880 Kano started thinking about combining all of the best techniques of the various schools into one system that could create a physical education system to combine mental and physical skill. And he believed that these techniques could be practiced as a sport, if the more dangerous ones were removed.

In 1882 he put together what he thought were the best of Ju-Jitsu's Throwing and Grappling techniques and removed the Atemi Waza (Atemi Waza was still practiced by the highly skilled) and Kano had a new sport version of Ju-Jitsu, called Kodokan Judo. Judo means gentle way. It retained the Throws, Chokes, Jointlocks, and Pins of Ju-Jitsu.

Kano considered Judo to be another style of Ju-Jitsu and before World War II it was still widely called Ju-Jitsu, or Kano's Ju-Jitsu. Jigaro Kano was not only an innovator, but also a great practicioner. When one high-ranking Judoka was asked what it was like to compete against Kano, he said it was like fighting an empty jacket.

Judo was the first Martial Art to have belt ranking systems. It became an Olympic sport in 1964, and is now practiced all over the world.

Aikido

Another Japanese Martial Art that was developed out of Ju-Jitsu at about the same time as Judo was Aikido. Its founder Morihei Ueshiba was also a master in several different Ju-Jitsu styles, and also fencing, and fighting with a spear.

The simplified version of the story is that Ueshiba took the Throws, and Jointlocks of Ju-Jitsu, and the body movements of fencing, and spear fighting, and formed Aikido.

Karate: From Okinawa to mainland Japan

Karate is primarily a Striking Art, that uses Punching, Kicking, Knee, and Elbow Strikes as well as open Hand Strikes, such as the Knife Hand, and also Striking Vital Points, and Foot Sweeps. Some styles also include Grappling, Throws and Jointlocks.

Gichin Funakoshi is called the father of modern Karate and is the founder of Shotokan Karate. He is credited with introducing Karate to the Japanese mainland (from Okinawa) in 1922. Funakoshi had started training in Japanese Martial Arts when he was 11 years old. He studied the Okinawan Karate styles of Shorei-Ryu and Shorin-Ryu.

Karate originated in Okinawa but became associated with Japanese Martial Arts.



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