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Origins of Judo Martial Arts - Part 1

Author: Tony Hackerott
Date Posted: May 06, 2009

Judo is little more than a hundred years old but derives directly from a much older martial art, that of ju-jitsu. Ju-jitsu is a generic term which describes a number of traditional Japanese martial arts systems. It has its roots in the samurai past of Japan and was originally conceived as a system of close quarter fighting techniques that could be employed with or without weapons in hand to hand combat. Ju-jitsu skills were the last resort of the warrior who found himself either disarmed or weaponless in battle. Classical ju-jitsu was just one of an estimated fifty kakuto bugei (fighting disciplines/martial arts). Others included archery, swordsmanship, spear fighting, horsemanship and more esoteric disciplines such as tessen-jutsu, fighting methods involving the use of the iron fan, and suiei-jutsu, methods of swimming and fighting in water even when wearing armour. Classical ju-jitsu was the product of a violent age and was never an independent weaponless system; its position was approximately similar to the role of unarmed combat for modern commandos or paratroopers.

In Japan Takenouchi Hisamori is sometimes regarded as the creator of the core ju-jitsu school, the Takenouchi Ryu, which he founded in 1532. Other similar systems had developed independently and there were many ryu with differing names, strategies and points of emphasis. The terms yawara, kempo, taijutsu, torite and kogusoku all describe ju-jitsu like areas of pre-Edo classical bujutsu systems.

The inception of the Takenouchi Ryu marks a clear point of departure from which the later Tokugawa or Edo ju-jitsu was to develop and proliferate.The bulk of the Takenouchi Ryu fighting techniques were derived from the much older combat form of sumai, the ancient Japanese form of sumo, which had given rise to a body of techniques known as kumi-uchi (a generic term for grappling techniques).

The origins of sumai are lost in the prehistory and myth of ancient Japan. The first recorded combat occurred in the year 23BC when Nomi-no-sukne of Izumo kicked to the ground, trampled and killed Tajima-no-Kehaya in a bout fought before the Emperor Suinin on a beach in Izumo in Shimane Prefecture. Sumo developed into a religious ritual and spectator sport, but reverted to the combat form in Heian times (794-1185) by decree of Emperor Nimmyo (834-850).

By the end of the Heian period sumo was standard training for combat for many warriors and developed into the kumi-uchi form, which reflected battlefield practicalities rather than sporting concerns. The emphasis shifted from man-to-man combat based on punching, kicking and wrestling to group and mass tactics. As striking techniques such as punches and kicks were relatively ineffective against armoured foes, methods of taking down to the ground and immobilizing the enemy became of paramount importance. The hold-downs and immobilizations of modern ju-jitsu, judo and aikido evolved from a situation in which one unarmed warrior could disarm and trap an enemy on the ground until he could be captured or killed by a comrade, usually with a bladed weapon.

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Article Source: JKD Street Combat - online collection of Judo articles.

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