The Evolution of Jiu Jitsu

1 Comments, Posted by: Roy Dean in: Articles

George Rego, chief instructor of the Jukido Academy of Martial Arts in Florida, recently wrote this article on the evolution of his jiu jitsu lineage:

The concept of “change” is often perceived as a negative in the context of traditional martial arts. As a modern traditionalist this is not my view. The ability to flexibly adapt is a necessary requisite for long term success. Winston Church Hill once said, “there is nothing wrong with change as long as it’s in the right direction.”

The ‘gentle art’ (jujitsu) is, in large part, build on the ideology of being able to adapt to the circumstances presented in the course of a combative encounter in order to achieve victory without meeting force against force. This guiding principle has been expanded beyond the scope of an individual combative encounter and has been applied the art itself. That is to say, the art of jujitsu – even traditional jujitsu has had to adapt in order avoid a “force on force” collision between the past and the present and ensure it’s applicability in the modern world. This evolution has taken us from classical schools of jujitsu, to Kodokan Judo, to an approach to jujitsu that is consisitant with the intent & principles of classical schools, while embracing the technical improvements and realities of the present – the brainchild of Shihan Paul Arel, the Jukido school of Jujitsu.

The classical schools of jujitsu, also known as koryu jujitsu, were the resource of the feudal warriors of Japan (samurai) when their weapons were gone or as an augment to armed combat. The application of classical jujitsu was real in everyway and nothing was artificial. The intent of this classical form of the ‘gentle art’ was absolute combat effectiveness and victory against a larger, stronger, and often armed attacker in the course of a larger battle between warring clans. There was no need for grading ranks or conducting rank evaluations in the classical schools. Survival in battle was the metric by which one’s expertise and experience was measured. Although the arts of war were highly respected they were not viewed as a type of philosophy. These were the tools of war. The objective was clear: utilize the full scope of techniques, be it a throw, a choke, a joint break, or whatever else was necessary in order to eliminate the threat and move on until the objective was complete. The practice of classical jujitsu was often very crude and even dangerous. The term “ju” in the name jujitsu, loosely translates as gentle or flexible. In koryu jujitsu this had much more to do with the guiding principle of the art then it had to do with the actual physical practice. To some extent this was necessary and beneficial for preparing warriors for the reality of combat, which included discomfort and physical pain. An old samurai maxim reads, “cry in the dojo, laugh in the battle field.”

Things change. In fact, in the later part of the 19th century everything in Japan changed in a major way – including the extinction of the samurai and the relevance of the form of jujitsu that they practiced. Japan’s attempt to modernize in every way, including militarily, lead to a major clash between the past and the present. Despite being among the best warriors to ever walk the face of the earth, the samurai met their match with the advent of a modern military which waged war not with the use of swords or close range hand to hand combat but rather with the use of firearms and the ability to ensure large scale damage to an enemy at greater and greater distances. When met with this clash between past and present, there were two essential choices: (1) fight force on force with the inevitable (and necessary) change or (2) flexibly adapt in order to ensure long term survival, viability, and success.

A young intellectual and student of classical jujitsu by the name of, Jigoro Kano, understood the dilemma facing the art that he loved. Kano understood that in order for jujitsu to survive it needed to undergo some very radical changes. Kano’s assessment was that jujitsu; with a modification in approach (in terms of intent, technique, and public relations) could not only survive but also thrive in modern Japan and, eventually, the rest of the world. Kano began by viewing jujitsu in a larger context. No longer was it to be viewed as a form of (outdated) battlefield combat but as an endeavor that all people (children, women, and men of all classes) could pursue in order to better themselves and society physically and mentally. In this vein he eventually decided to de-emphasize the term jujitsu (gentle art) in favor of the more encompassing judo, or gentle way. Today judo is considered it’s own art, separate from jujitsu. At that time, however, judo was seen as a new approach to the same art. The terms jujitsu and judo were often used interchangeably referring to the same art. Of course, Kano faced some resistance in these changes – but over time the majority of jujitsu schools were merged into his school – the Kodokan. In fact, other arts, such as Gichin Funakoshi’s school of karate (Shotokan) adopted some of the same changes as it pertains to an academic approach to martial arts.

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