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Origins of Judo Martial Arts - Part 2

Author: Tony Hackerott
Date Posted: May 07, 2009

At the end of the Mazuchi - Momoyama period (1573-1600) political stability and order removed the need and eventually the opportunity for the continued practice of kumi-uchi and the sport of sumo recovered its popularity, with kumi-uchi gradually being superseded by ju-jitsu. Much has been made of the contribution of Ch'en Yuan Pin (1587-1674), a Chinese-bom, naturalized Japanese (sometimes known as Chin Gempin), to ju-jitsu. While there is no doubt that he brought a form of kempo to Japan, there is documentary evidence that ju-jitsu-like combat was commonly used before he was even born.

According to legend Takenouchi was taught the fundamentals of his system by a yamabushi (an ascetic warrior hermit) who taught him five arrest and restraint techniques, as well as ways in which short weapons could be used to overcome long ones. As a warrior and swordsman first and foremost, Takenouchi's ju-jitsu system was always of secondary importance to fighting with weapons; it was conceived as a no-holds-barred way of defeating an armed or unarmed enemy whether the exponent himself was armed or not - one of the realities of battle is that weapons frequently get broken or lost. Takenouchi developed systematic methods for throwing, choking, joint-locking, striking, kneeing, kicking, stamping, immobilizing and tying the enemy, as well as employing a variety of small weapons. His system was to be the basis for many future schools of ju-jitsu.

During the Tokugawa period many of the classical bujutsu systems changed into budo forms which, partly as a consequence of the Zen Buddhist tradition, were used as essentially aesthetic and spiritual disciplines, vehicles for spiritual self-perfection.

These budo forms developed parallel to the kind of ju-jitsu that was the forerunner of the modern cognate ju-jitsu disciplines, and in both of these lines of development the use of weapons gradually acquired less significance.

The character 'ju' conveys the idea of yielding or giving way to an opponent's force in order to overcome him; it derives from Chinese Taoist philosophy and is fundamental to ju-jitsu. It is also expressed by the phrase 'yoku go o sei sum' - softness can overcome hardness. The use of physical power was not discouraged, though, even in the late Edo period. Iso Mataemon, a teacher of the Tenjin Shin'yo Ryu, said on the subject: 'after the trainee has developed his technique the use of power is absolutely necessary to his effectiveness in dealing with an enemy.'

During this prolonged period of peace many out-of-work bushi made their living teaching ju-jitsu skills and self-defence techniques to commoners. These commoners used what they learned in their daily lives. Some worked as nanushi (managers) in brothels, and frequently had to deal with drunken samurai customers.

It was during the Tokugawa Shogunate that weaponless ju-jitsu developed, largely as a result of strict laws forbidding commoners to bear arms. Expertise in weaponless fighting was highly prized among commoners, and another consequence of the need to neutralize an attacker without killing was the emphasis on immobilizations and restraining techniques.

In 1868 the Meiji period began and Japanese society underwent huge changes as three hundred years of isolation came to an end and the western world began to exert its influence on Japanese culture. The prohibition on bearing arms passed in 1871 led to the eventual disappearance of the samurai as a class, and there was a very real possibility that the martial arts they had developed and practiced for so long would follow them into oblivion.

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

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