The average person that does
not practice any forms of martial arts may believe that Judo and Ju-Jitsu are
the same thing. This is probably because they sound, and sometimes look, very
similar. But, in fact, Judo and Ju-Jitsu are two different types of martial
arts.
Ju-Jitsu
Ju-Jitsu was a fighting style that was developed by Samurai warriors. It is
considered to be one of the oldest Japanese martial arts and was developed out
of necessity during the Feudal period. The first records of an unarmed martial
art that is similar to Jui-Jitsu is in the Chronicles of Japan. They speak of
the creation of unarmed combat arts in the country of Japan. One of
the first stories of a warrior using Jui-Jitso was of the warrior Nomi no
Izumo. Izumo defeated Tajima no Kehaya in front of Emperor Suinin using throws,
strikes, and restraining movements.
Those that practiced this style of fighting called it nihon koryu jujutsu.
Other names started emerging, such as kogusoku, kumiuchi, hakuda, and yawara.
These styles of martial art were not meant to be used without any weapons. On
the contrary, this style of fighting was meant to enhance fighting, and to give
a warrior who was fighting with only a few weapons a chance against an opponent
who was heavily armored. Many of the samurai took it one step further and would
find it unnecessary to unsheathe their weapons.
The martial art continued to develop, becoming less and less dependant on
weapons. The art relied on striking, throwing, restraining, evading, bending,
and escaping. A weighted chain, a dagger, or a weapon called a helmet smasher
were used with the martial art to enhance the Samurai’s chance of
winning in a battle.
Judo
Kano Jigoro was a very small man. He was born small and was always very frail
and picked on by those larger than he was. When he was 17, he tried to find a
master to teach him the unpopular art of Ju-Jitsu, but had a difficult time
finding one. A year after he started searching, Jigoro found Fukuda
Hachinosuke. Hachinosuke, however, died a year after he began teaching Jigoro.
Jigoro then found Iso Masatomo, who was a much different style of teacher than
Hachinosuke was. Hachinosuke put more emphasis on technique, while Masatomo put
more emphasis on forms, or katas, than Hachinosuke had.
Jigoro moved up the ranks quickly and became a master instructor and direct
assistant to Masatomo when he was 21. Masatomo became ill, however, soon after
Jigoro was promoted, so he went to another master. This time his master,
Tsunetoshi Iikubo, taught him to focus on free practice and on throwing
techniques.
Jigoro had learned a lot from all of his teachers, and at 22 he was finishing
up his degree at the University and took some students on his own. He began
creating different moves, such as the shoulder wheel and the floating hip, both
moves which are practiced in the modern day Judo. Jigoro realized that he could
change Ju-Jitsu to make it more appealing to the population, especially since
Ju-Jitsu was a dying martial art. Unlike Ju-Jitsu, this new form, dubbed “judo”, was a much
more practical approach to martial arts. It did not focus on full contact
wrestling and strikes, but instead focused on throwing the opponent off balance
so that they could be tossed to the ground. In theory, the sport can be used
successfully for defense against an attacker. Once the attacker is down, the
person defending themselves can run away.
Even though those practicing Judo do not use strikes, they are trained to
protect against them. They are taught to anticipate that their attacker will
use strikes, and learn how to deflect and use their opponent’s strikes to
their advantage. Judo throughout the years all over the world has remained the
same. Meaning the rules and regulations. In certain countries they may train
differently and use subtle different techniques, but when it come to
competition point are all scored the same throughout the world. A famous Judoka
known throughout the world is Rusty Kanokogi. She introduced women’s Judo into
the Olympics. She was also one of the first ladies to ever train at the Kodokan
(judo training center in Japan).
Rusty has been an inspiration to many throughout the world when it comes to
Judo.
Ju-Jitsu is the father of Judo, but both types of martial art are still
practiced. A Judo teacher, however, can often be found much more easily than a Ju-Jitsu
teacher can, but often a traditional old school instructor that teaches Judo
will be trained well enough in Ju-Jitsu to give lessons on that martial art as
well. Another current aspect is the uniform jui-jitsu fighters wear. They like the gi more snug to the body so
that it's hard to grab. Whereas the Judo
uniform, the player may wear is a bit more loose so that the opponent
has a chance to score with a good grip.
These days now ju-jitsu has evoled into a more complex art. There are different
form of Jujitsu such as Brazilian ju-jitsu, Small circle ju-jitsu, Vee Arnis Jujitsu, Samurai Aiki-jujitsu,
& Sanuces Ryu. All these variations still come from the same roots that the
Samurai warrior from Japan
trained in. One thing is for certain: both martial arts require a lot of
physical moving and throwing, and both can cause a lot of injury when necessary.
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