jujutsu articles by simon keegan
Martial arts in the UK
In the late 19th century various methods of Jujutsu were introduced to England. Japan's masters demonstrated in the musichalls and one Briton, EW Barton Wright trained in Kobe, Japan and brought his findings back.
Barton Wright called his art Bartitsu (Barton-Jujutsu) and it gained such a cult following that Sir Arthur Conan Doyle wrote Bartitsu into Sherlock Holmes' repertoire.
Soon after a Manchester newspaper sub editor called EJ Harrison became England's first Judo black belt.
In around 1905, an advert appeared in Liverpool advertising Jujutsu classes under a master called Kara Ashikaga. This is thought to have been a marketing ploy and the existance of Ashikaga is doubtful.
A few years later the famous Gunji Koizumi left Japan with dreams of joining the British Navy. He'd studied Tenjin Shinyo Ryu in Japan, another style in Singapore and sailed from Bombay to Wales. Next he arrived in Liverpool and contacted the Kara Ashikaga school with designs on becoming the new resident instructor.
Eventually Koizumi relocated to London and established the Budokwai. He was joined by another instructor of the Fusen Ryu named Yukio Tani and together they promoted Jujutsu in England. At the time Jujutsu was not taught as it is now, but rather as a musichall showpiece and often Jujutsuka would fight boxers and wrestlers in grand challenges.
Tani met a Scotsman named William Bankier who introduced Tani to some wrestlers, Percy Longhurst, W H Garrud, Bruce Sutherland and Percy Bickerdike. Between them they went on to set up the British Ju-Jitsu Society.
In the years before WWI, one of Yukio Tani's students named Jack Britten relocated to Liverpool and opened a pet shop and a Jujutsu Dojo. The Alpha school became the north of England's first real Dojo.
In 1928 Liverpool's second Dojo emerged. It was run by Gerald Skyner, a tough instructor who claimed to be the personal student of Mikonosuke Kawaishi (Judo and Daito Ryu Aikijujutsu).
When WWII started in 1939, Jujutsu was frowned upon because Japan was the enemy, but what the war did do for Jujutsu was expose many soldiers and sailors to the fighting methods of Japan, Singapore and Korea.
Gerry Skyner was recruited as an army combat instructor but was sacked after smashing a student in the face with a steel helmet.
In the post war years Britten and Skyner had a number of students worth a mention. Britten's students included Andy Sherry, now the UK's top ranked Shotokan Karate instructor, currently graded 8th Dan; Ronnie Colwell, now one of the UK's senior Jujutsu and Karate instructors, currently graded 9th Dan; and Bob Clarke, later head of the World Jujutsu Federation.
Skyner's students included a police officer named O'Neill whose son Terry became one of the UK's greatest Karateka, currently graded 7th Dan. Another of Skyner's senior students was Bill Nelson my great uncle.
One of the merchant sailors who claimed to have studied martial arts while in the Far East was James Blundell, later head of the British Ju-Jitsu Association. His students include the likes of Allan Tattersall now head of the Dai Nippon Butokukai's UK branch who later studied in Japan under the heads of various Koryu including Takenouchi Ryu.
In the late 1950s while my great uncle Bill Nelson was studying Jujutsu in Walton, my dad and uncle were studying Jujutsu at school in nearby Kirkby with James Blundell's brother Bernie Blundell 6th Dan.
At the other end of the country at this time, there was another exciting development in martial arts - the introduction of Karate.
In the early 1950s Aikido and Judo master Minoru Mochizuki (more on him in a later blog), who had also studied Jujutsu and Karate took two European students, Jean 'Jim' Alcheik and Claude Urvois. They convinced him to send students over to Europe and in 1956, Hiroo Mochizuki flew to France followed by Tetsuji Murikami, Shoji Sugiyama (who went to Italy) and Mitsuhiro Kondo (who went to Switzerland).
By the time Hiroo and Murikami arrived in France Mikonosuke Kawaishi had left Liverpool (via America) and set up a Judo and Jujutsu Dojo in France. And so Mochizuki and Murikami, along with Urvois, Alcheik and a local Judoka named Henri Plee concentrated their efforts on Karate.
In 1956 Essex Judo instructor Vernon Bell began to visit his Judo friend Plee in France, taking Karate lessons.
Bell introduced Karate to England, teaching in his back garden in Essex.
From these humble beginnings, with a few loyal students including Terry Wingrove, (now a Jujutsu 9th Dan and Karate 8th Dan)the British Karate Federation was established.
Soon new Dojos appeared, with Alan Ruddock running the Irish branch, Fred Gille (with a young Andy Sherry and Terry O'Neill) in Liverpool and before long Dojos as far afield as Scotland.
Karate was introduced to Manchester by Martin Stott and the legendary Danny Connor who apparently trained under a Vietnamese instructor in France.
In 1966, Karate exploded in the UK with visiting masters from Wado Ryu (Tatsuo Suzuki), Shotokan (Kanazawa, Enoeda, Kase, Shirai) and Shotokai (Harada), but these early years 1956-1966 should not be forgotten.
Barton Wright called his art Bartitsu (Barton-Jujutsu) and it gained such a cult following that Sir Arthur Conan Doyle wrote Bartitsu into Sherlock Holmes' repertoire.
Soon after a Manchester newspaper sub editor called EJ Harrison became England's first Judo black belt.
In around 1905, an advert appeared in Liverpool advertising Jujutsu classes under a master called Kara Ashikaga. This is thought to have been a marketing ploy and the existance of Ashikaga is doubtful.
A few years later the famous Gunji Koizumi left Japan with dreams of joining the British Navy. He'd studied Tenjin Shinyo Ryu in Japan, another style in Singapore and sailed from Bombay to Wales. Next he arrived in Liverpool and contacted the Kara Ashikaga school with designs on becoming the new resident instructor.
Eventually Koizumi relocated to London and established the Budokwai. He was joined by another instructor of the Fusen Ryu named Yukio Tani and together they promoted Jujutsu in England. At the time Jujutsu was not taught as it is now, but rather as a musichall showpiece and often Jujutsuka would fight boxers and wrestlers in grand challenges.
Tani met a Scotsman named William Bankier who introduced Tani to some wrestlers, Percy Longhurst, W H Garrud, Bruce Sutherland and Percy Bickerdike. Between them they went on to set up the British Ju-Jitsu Society.
In the years before WWI, one of Yukio Tani's students named Jack Britten relocated to Liverpool and opened a pet shop and a Jujutsu Dojo. The Alpha school became the north of England's first real Dojo.
In 1928 Liverpool's second Dojo emerged. It was run by Gerald Skyner, a tough instructor who claimed to be the personal student of Mikonosuke Kawaishi (Judo and Daito Ryu Aikijujutsu).
When WWII started in 1939, Jujutsu was frowned upon because Japan was the enemy, but what the war did do for Jujutsu was expose many soldiers and sailors to the fighting methods of Japan, Singapore and Korea.
Gerry Skyner was recruited as an army combat instructor but was sacked after smashing a student in the face with a steel helmet.
In the post war years Britten and Skyner had a number of students worth a mention. Britten's students included Andy Sherry, now the UK's top ranked Shotokan Karate instructor, currently graded 8th Dan; Ronnie Colwell, now one of the UK's senior Jujutsu and Karate instructors, currently graded 9th Dan; and Bob Clarke, later head of the World Jujutsu Federation.
Skyner's students included a police officer named O'Neill whose son Terry became one of the UK's greatest Karateka, currently graded 7th Dan. Another of Skyner's senior students was Bill Nelson my great uncle.
One of the merchant sailors who claimed to have studied martial arts while in the Far East was James Blundell, later head of the British Ju-Jitsu Association. His students include the likes of Allan Tattersall now head of the Dai Nippon Butokukai's UK branch who later studied in Japan under the heads of various Koryu including Takenouchi Ryu.
In the late 1950s while my great uncle Bill Nelson was studying Jujutsu in Walton, my dad and uncle were studying Jujutsu at school in nearby Kirkby with James Blundell's brother Bernie Blundell 6th Dan.
At the other end of the country at this time, there was another exciting development in martial arts - the introduction of Karate.
In the early 1950s Aikido and Judo master Minoru Mochizuki (more on him in a later blog), who had also studied Jujutsu and Karate took two European students, Jean 'Jim' Alcheik and Claude Urvois. They convinced him to send students over to Europe and in 1956, Hiroo Mochizuki flew to France followed by Tetsuji Murikami, Shoji Sugiyama (who went to Italy) and Mitsuhiro Kondo (who went to Switzerland).
By the time Hiroo and Murikami arrived in France Mikonosuke Kawaishi had left Liverpool (via America) and set up a Judo and Jujutsu Dojo in France. And so Mochizuki and Murikami, along with Urvois, Alcheik and a local Judoka named Henri Plee concentrated their efforts on Karate.
In 1956 Essex Judo instructor Vernon Bell began to visit his Judo friend Plee in France, taking Karate lessons.
Bell introduced Karate to England, teaching in his back garden in Essex.
From these humble beginnings, with a few loyal students including Terry Wingrove, (now a Jujutsu 9th Dan and Karate 8th Dan)the British Karate Federation was established.
Soon new Dojos appeared, with Alan Ruddock running the Irish branch, Fred Gille (with a young Andy Sherry and Terry O'Neill) in Liverpool and before long Dojos as far afield as Scotland.
Karate was introduced to Manchester by Martin Stott and the legendary Danny Connor who apparently trained under a Vietnamese instructor in France.
In 1966, Karate exploded in the UK with visiting masters from Wado Ryu (Tatsuo Suzuki), Shotokan (Kanazawa, Enoeda, Kase, Shirai) and Shotokai (Harada), but these early years 1956-1966 should not be forgotten.
The many faces of Jujutsu
Jujutsu is defined as unarmed (or lightly armed) combat methods of Japan, the name of which suggests using suppleness and pliancy to subdue rather than brute force.
Judo developed from Jujutsu, Kendo from Kenjutsu, Aikido from Aikijutsu... right? Well only sort of.
Although nowadays we often think of any Japanese grappling system prior to 1860 as being Jujutsu, that term itself is often retrospectively applied.
It's a bit like living in the Dark Ages or living in Medieval times. People didn't actually say: "So how do you like medieval times?" or "These dark ages are rough aren't they?" The terms were applied afterwards.
And so with Jujutsu. Hardly any of the schools that we now think of as Jujutsu actually used that term.
Some used the term "Yoroi Kumiuchi" meaning "fighting in armour".
Others used "Torite" meaning "attacking hands"
Some schools used "Kogusoku" meaning "lightly armed."
Others used "Taijutsu" meaning "body techniques"
These terms were all common across Japan prior to the 1600s.
Then Japan began to observe Chinese influences in its styles. The Chinese concept of the soft overcoming the hard was expressed in the word "Yawara" in Japanese or "Ju" in Chinese, meaning softness. This is the root of the phrase Jujutsu. ing directors of the UKBF and TEMAA
Other Chinese concepts were Koppo (destroying the bones) and Kosshi (tearing the flesh).
One Japanese master named Akiyama from Nagasaki learned a style called "White Hand" (Baida) in China. In Japanese this becomes Haku Da (white hand) or Shu Baku (Hand white). It has been suggested the origin of this phrase is "to strike without impurity.
Another is Kempo, a direct translation of the Chinese "Chuan Fa" meaning Fist Law.
So we have seen the following phrases used to express Japanese hand-to-hand combat:
Kumiuchi
Kogusoku
Torite
Tai Jutsu
Yawara
Jujutsu
Koppo
Kosshi
Hakuda
Shubaku
Kempo
So why did the phrase "Jujutsu" become a catch-all for Japanese grappling?
One reason is that wrestling resonates with the Japanese psyche better than pugilism. Japanese gods wrestled, the national sport is Sumo, the Japanese teach Judo in schools, Puroresu (pro wrestling) is popular in Japan.
Now name a famous Japanese boxer...
Kempo, Koppo Jutsu and Hakuda were percussive methods of fighting and may be considered the sister of Okinawan Karate. They were viewed in most of Japan as rather undignified.
Whereas "Jujutsu" expressed the par excellance of wrestling. Subduing another wrestler using gentleness. What skill could be greater?
While Kagoshima prefecture (uncoincidently the bit of Japan nearest to Okinawa and China) enjoyed Hakuda, northern Japan especially around Tokyo wanted to learn Yawara or Jujutsu.
The Kito Ryu school took this concept one further and called its art "Ju-Do" - softness as The Way. That's right - the phrase Judo was used before Jigoro Kano created Kodokan Judo.
Kano's writings talked about how Judo was developed of Jujutsu.
In 1887 Kano told the Asiatic Society of Japan: "In feudal times in Japan, there were various military arts and exercises which the samurai classes were trained and fitted for their special form of warfare. Amongst these was the art of jujutsu, from which the present judo has sprung up. The word jujutsu may be translated freely as "the art of gaining victory by yielding or pliancy." Originally, the name seems to have been applied to what may best be described as the art of fighting without weapons, although in some cases short weapons were used against opponents fighting with long weapons. Although it seems to resemble wrestling, yet it differs materially from wrestling as practiced in England, its main principle being not to match strength with strength, but to gain victory by yielding to strength."
Of Hakuda he stated: "There once lived in Nagasaki a physician named Akiyama, who went to China to study medicine. There he learned an art called hakuda which consisted of kicking and striking, differing, we may note, from jujutsu, which is mainly seizing and throwing."
The name of my system is "Hakuda Kempo Toshu Jutsu". My senior students are graded in both Karate and Nihon-den Jujutsu. Our system name includes the phrase "Hakuda Kempo" rather than "Jujutsu" since our school most strongly owes its origins to the percussive methods of Okinawa and Kagoshima, rather than the softer wrestling of Tokyo Jujutsu.
Judo developed from Jujutsu, Kendo from Kenjutsu, Aikido from Aikijutsu... right? Well only sort of.
Although nowadays we often think of any Japanese grappling system prior to 1860 as being Jujutsu, that term itself is often retrospectively applied.
It's a bit like living in the Dark Ages or living in Medieval times. People didn't actually say: "So how do you like medieval times?" or "These dark ages are rough aren't they?" The terms were applied afterwards.
And so with Jujutsu. Hardly any of the schools that we now think of as Jujutsu actually used that term.
Some used the term "Yoroi Kumiuchi" meaning "fighting in armour".
Others used "Torite" meaning "attacking hands"
Some schools used "Kogusoku" meaning "lightly armed."
Others used "Taijutsu" meaning "body techniques"
These terms were all common across Japan prior to the 1600s.
Then Japan began to observe Chinese influences in its styles. The Chinese concept of the soft overcoming the hard was expressed in the word "Yawara" in Japanese or "Ju" in Chinese, meaning softness. This is the root of the phrase Jujutsu. ing directors of the UKBF and TEMAA
Other Chinese concepts were Koppo (destroying the bones) and Kosshi (tearing the flesh).
One Japanese master named Akiyama from Nagasaki learned a style called "White Hand" (Baida) in China. In Japanese this becomes Haku Da (white hand) or Shu Baku (Hand white). It has been suggested the origin of this phrase is "to strike without impurity.
Another is Kempo, a direct translation of the Chinese "Chuan Fa" meaning Fist Law.
So we have seen the following phrases used to express Japanese hand-to-hand combat:
Kumiuchi
Kogusoku
Torite
Tai Jutsu
Yawara
Jujutsu
Koppo
Kosshi
Hakuda
Shubaku
Kempo
So why did the phrase "Jujutsu" become a catch-all for Japanese grappling?
One reason is that wrestling resonates with the Japanese psyche better than pugilism. Japanese gods wrestled, the national sport is Sumo, the Japanese teach Judo in schools, Puroresu (pro wrestling) is popular in Japan.
Now name a famous Japanese boxer...
Kempo, Koppo Jutsu and Hakuda were percussive methods of fighting and may be considered the sister of Okinawan Karate. They were viewed in most of Japan as rather undignified.
Whereas "Jujutsu" expressed the par excellance of wrestling. Subduing another wrestler using gentleness. What skill could be greater?
While Kagoshima prefecture (uncoincidently the bit of Japan nearest to Okinawa and China) enjoyed Hakuda, northern Japan especially around Tokyo wanted to learn Yawara or Jujutsu.
The Kito Ryu school took this concept one further and called its art "Ju-Do" - softness as The Way. That's right - the phrase Judo was used before Jigoro Kano created Kodokan Judo.
Kano's writings talked about how Judo was developed of Jujutsu.
In 1887 Kano told the Asiatic Society of Japan: "In feudal times in Japan, there were various military arts and exercises which the samurai classes were trained and fitted for their special form of warfare. Amongst these was the art of jujutsu, from which the present judo has sprung up. The word jujutsu may be translated freely as "the art of gaining victory by yielding or pliancy." Originally, the name seems to have been applied to what may best be described as the art of fighting without weapons, although in some cases short weapons were used against opponents fighting with long weapons. Although it seems to resemble wrestling, yet it differs materially from wrestling as practiced in England, its main principle being not to match strength with strength, but to gain victory by yielding to strength."
Of Hakuda he stated: "There once lived in Nagasaki a physician named Akiyama, who went to China to study medicine. There he learned an art called hakuda which consisted of kicking and striking, differing, we may note, from jujutsu, which is mainly seizing and throwing."
The name of my system is "Hakuda Kempo Toshu Jutsu". My senior students are graded in both Karate and Nihon-den Jujutsu. Our system name includes the phrase "Hakuda Kempo" rather than "Jujutsu" since our school most strongly owes its origins to the percussive methods of Okinawa and Kagoshima, rather than the softer wrestling of Tokyo Jujutsu.
Jujutsu or Karate
When I was a child, I viewed martial arts as very easy to define. Karate was about striking, Judo was about throws and Aikido was about wristlocks! Little did I know there were strikes in Judo, and throws in Karate. Today the martial arts are not so easy to define, and really, any effective martial art should teach a full range of attacks and defences at different ranges.
The two martial arts I have trained in the most are Karate and Jujutsu. Both include strikes, throws, locks, grappling and weapons. So if this is the case, what is the difference between the two?
I will attempt to answer this with a number of comparative points. There will of course be a grey area and that grey area is literally where Japan and Okinawa meet. Okinawa is an island off the coast of Kagoshima, and so the Jujutsu of Kagoshima (often termed Hakuda) has much in common with Karate. Similarly the weapons of Kagoshima (ie Jigen Ryu) has much in common with the weapons of Okinawa. Both of these regions also had influences from Fujian, China more so than the rest of the quite literally insular Japan.
So I will ignore this grey area, so please assume I am refering to, for example the Jujutsu of Tokyo, contrasted with the Karate of the Okinawan capital Shuri.
1) Karate is Okinawan; Jujutsu is Japanese
2) Karate uses prescribed stances (ie Zenkutsu Dachi), Jujutsu uses prescribed hand positions (ie Ichimonji no Kamae)
3) Karate uses solo forms, Jujutsu uses paired kata
4) Karateka were primarily empty-handed; Samurai were primarily armed
5) Karate kata hides its applications within the form; Jujutsu applications are seen and are self evident
6) Karate uses many hand shapes (knife hand, single knuckle punch etc); Jujutsu does not (because Samurai wore restrictive gauntlets)
7) Karate was practiced by bodyguards, officials and civilians; Jujutsu was practiced by professional warriors/knights
8) Karate was developed by a handful (maybe a dozen) pioneers across a few hundred years; Jujutsu was developed by thousands of warriors over a thousand years. Karate was taught by individuals on an informal basis; Jujutsu was taught by professional instructors within each warrior clan and taught in a formal arranged fashion
9) Jujutsu was developed almost solely in Japan. Perhaps around 99% of Jujutsu schools were developed purely by Japanese teachers in an isolated fashion within their Ryu; whereas Karate was developed with direct influences from Okinawa, Japan, China, Thailand, Vietnam and Taiwan. Japan was a nationalistic cultural art; Karate was a mixing pot of influences
10) Jujutsu was designed to be practiced in restrictive clothing from full armour to sandles, riding hakama, kimono, while wearing weapons; Karate may be freely executed in a minimal attire, not much different from today's gi.
The two martial arts I have trained in the most are Karate and Jujutsu. Both include strikes, throws, locks, grappling and weapons. So if this is the case, what is the difference between the two?
I will attempt to answer this with a number of comparative points. There will of course be a grey area and that grey area is literally where Japan and Okinawa meet. Okinawa is an island off the coast of Kagoshima, and so the Jujutsu of Kagoshima (often termed Hakuda) has much in common with Karate. Similarly the weapons of Kagoshima (ie Jigen Ryu) has much in common with the weapons of Okinawa. Both of these regions also had influences from Fujian, China more so than the rest of the quite literally insular Japan.
So I will ignore this grey area, so please assume I am refering to, for example the Jujutsu of Tokyo, contrasted with the Karate of the Okinawan capital Shuri.
1) Karate is Okinawan; Jujutsu is Japanese
2) Karate uses prescribed stances (ie Zenkutsu Dachi), Jujutsu uses prescribed hand positions (ie Ichimonji no Kamae)
3) Karate uses solo forms, Jujutsu uses paired kata
4) Karateka were primarily empty-handed; Samurai were primarily armed
5) Karate kata hides its applications within the form; Jujutsu applications are seen and are self evident
6) Karate uses many hand shapes (knife hand, single knuckle punch etc); Jujutsu does not (because Samurai wore restrictive gauntlets)
7) Karate was practiced by bodyguards, officials and civilians; Jujutsu was practiced by professional warriors/knights
8) Karate was developed by a handful (maybe a dozen) pioneers across a few hundred years; Jujutsu was developed by thousands of warriors over a thousand years. Karate was taught by individuals on an informal basis; Jujutsu was taught by professional instructors within each warrior clan and taught in a formal arranged fashion
9) Jujutsu was developed almost solely in Japan. Perhaps around 99% of Jujutsu schools were developed purely by Japanese teachers in an isolated fashion within their Ryu; whereas Karate was developed with direct influences from Okinawa, Japan, China, Thailand, Vietnam and Taiwan. Japan was a nationalistic cultural art; Karate was a mixing pot of influences
10) Jujutsu was designed to be practiced in restrictive clothing from full armour to sandles, riding hakama, kimono, while wearing weapons; Karate may be freely executed in a minimal attire, not much different from today's gi.