Jujutsu

Histoire

Jujutsu, "the gentle art", is the family of old Japanese unarmed and lightly armed fighting methods of the samurai, used when a warrior lost his sword. The Takenouchi-ryu, founded in 1532, is one of the oldest documented schools; hundreds of schools existed in the Edo period.

In the late 19th century Jigoro Kano built judo from jujutsu, and around 1900 Japanese teachers such as Yukio Tani took "jiu-jitsu" to London music halls, where they beat much bigger wrestlers. Brazilian jiu-jitsu also comes from this line. Today the JJIF runs modern sport ju-jitsu, part of the World Games.

Le saviez-vous ?

• Jujutsu techniques include throws, joint locks, strangles and strikes to weak points.
• In Edwardian London, suffragettes learned jiu-jitsu to defend themselves.
• Sport ju-jitsu has "fighting", "ne-waza" (ground) and "duo" (pre-arranged pairs) events.

Glossaire des techniques

Atemi-waza

strikes to weak points

Nage-waza

throws

Kansetsu-waza

joint locks

Shime-waza

strangles

Ukemi

breakfalls

Armes et équipement

Tanto

knife (wooden in training)

Tessen

iron war fan (classical schools)

⚔ In the Arsenal

TantoJutteTessenKeikogi (gi)

Figures clés

• Takenouchi Hisamori (16th century) — founder of Takenouchi-ryu (1532)
• Yukio Tani (1881–1950) — took jiu-jitsu to Britain
• Jigoro Kano (1860–1938) — created judo from jujutsu

Sources: Ju-Jitsu International Federation (JJIF) · Encyclopaedia Britannica