Ancient origin of the art of Jiu-Jitsu:

Ju-jitsu (or Yawara) is an ancient Japanese Martial Art. Its origins date back to the sixteenth century when legend narrates that its founding father, a young Japanese man called Shirobei Akiyama who was studying medicine in China, witnessed a heavy blizzard. He was able to appreciate how branches of most trees broke while the elastic branches of the Willow tree bent and efficiently freed themselves from the snow.

The Gentle Art or Art of Subtleness (for this is the meaning of Ju-Jitsu) would not aim to neutralize power with power but rationally absorb an attack and convert that energy to the opponents own detriment. This basic principle became the heart of the teaching of the Yoshin ryu school, founded by the Akiyama.

Jiu-Jitsu is one of the oldest arts of Japanese Martial arts. Historical records show that the Japanese emperor employed warriors who utilised there skills of Jiu-Jitsu to completely defeat hostile tribes. These dreaded warriors were the samurais - whose existence is recorded as far back as 200 years before the Christ.

Another school of thoughts has it that Jiu-Jitsu, or literally translated "Flexible Art", developed from many individual martial art systems that either originated in japan, or were taken to Japan from neighboring countries. The practice of Jiu-Jitsu has been traced back in history as far as 2000+ years. Evidence shows us that Jiu-Jitsu techniques, although not necessarily under that name at the time, were included with warrior training circa 1100AD.

Japan in ancient tribes was a land of feuding tribes strife with civil battles. Though there was a governing body it was difficult to maintain law and order. It was up to the local feudal lord to maintain peace. These head of clans employed samurais to do this task. Consequently this warrior class gain much prominence in the social structure. In the early part of the 12th Century Japan was united under a military rule and a code of ethics for the warrior class was documented, called the "Bushido". And the warriors came to be called the "Bushi".

The name Ju-Jutsu is a generic one that first came into common use well after 1600AD. Ju-Jutsu was a term given to many arts that previously went under names such as - Kumiuchi, Yawara, Kowami, Taijutsu, Hade, Goho, Koppo, Kogusoku, Koshi no mawari, Hakuda, Kenpo, Shubaku and so on.

The Art developed throughout the Sengoki Era and continued through the Kanei, the Munnji and the Kanbun (1624-1673) periods. In the years of civil disorder the Samurai class (Aristocratic warriors / Bushi) came to dominate. It is during this period that Ju-jitsu first developed as an open-field art of combat and then more and more as a physical and mental study.

Development of Jiu-Jitsu

Jiu-Jitsu itself was developed in Japan during the Feudal period. It was originally an art designed for warfare, but after the abolition of the Feudal system in Japan, certain modifications needed to be made to the art in order to make it suitable for practice. During Feudal times, Jiu-Jitsu was also known as Yawara, Hakuda, Kogusoko, and an assortment of other names. The earliest recorded use of the word "jiu-jitsu" happens in 1532 and is coined by the Takenouchi Ryu (school). The history of the art during this time is uncertain because teachers kept everything secret to give their art a feeling of importance and then would change the stories of their art to suit their own needs.

Jiu Jitsu was developed from many of the more weapon oriented arts drawing upon thrusting, cutting and importantly disarming and restraining techniques. The art of Jiu Jitsu was developed so that a Samurai who found himself without his weapon(s) could still defend himself effectively. Jiu Jitsu was the battle field art of unarmed combat. Jiu Jitsu is an art that was compatible with fighting in armour and against armoured opponents. This caused the development of Jiu Jitsu to include locking, throwing and pinning techniques as well as the more common place kicking and striking techniques of other martial arts.

Jiu-Jitsu was one of the main unarmed combat systems used by the Samurai in ancient Japan. Today there are many variants of the Ju-Jutsu theme. Most modern systems involve variations of Judo, Karate, Aikido and wrestling amalgamated into a self-defence style.

Traditional Ju-Jutsu is not, however, a mixture of modern martial arts, but is an original form from which many of these modern arts evolved. Even the name is seen spelled in variations of Jiu-Jitsu, Ju-Jitsu, Jui-Jitsu and Ju-Jutsu.

In late ninteenth century and the first half of the twentieth century, variations of this art was derived in the form of Judo and Aikido by Masters Jigaro Kano and Morihei Ueshiba, respectively. These were done by using existing Jiu-Jitsu techniques and tailoring them for the use in less demanding fashion