ANCIENT JAPAN
Grappling styles have existed for eons. Early Egyptian and Greek art show the grappling arts in tombs, on pottery and in statuary. Grappling was known as far back as 2300 B.C. Over the centuries the grappling martial arts spread throughout the world, eventually coming to Japan. Though the exact origin of Jujutsu is unknown, it is agreed that the Japanese Jujutsu techniques were a culmination of many ancient forms used by other oriental warriors. Fighting forms have existed for centuries in Japan, but few were recorded, thus precise dating is impossible. There were, however, orally passed traditions that mention early combative confrontations in ancient Japan. Their exact origins are shrouded in mythology.
The earliest mention of a sportive fight was a style called Chikura Kurabe. Another early tale is of Takemina Kata-no-Kami; a commoner, and Takemikazuchi-no-Kami; a divine champion. They are recorded in ancient tradition as having a combative wrestling match. Another tradition recorded in the NIHON-SHOKI refers to an early fighting style called Sumai (meaning “struggle”), and states that the style may have existed as early as 23 B.C. Here the story is of one Nomi-no-Sukune of Izumo who defeated Tajima-no-Kehaya on a beach in Shimane Prefecture by fracturing Kehaya’s ribs with a side kick, throwing him to the ground and then trampling him, crushing his pelvis and ultimately killing him. This was supposedly witnessed by the Emperor Suinin. Most of these early combative forms resembled modern Sumo and wrestling. Some of the ancient recorded styles were Tekoi, Sumai and Kumi-Uchi. Kumi-Uchi was a battlefield type of Sumai. It was developed especially for battle against an opponent in lightweight armor. The art did not need gripping to make the techniques work. The techniques were based on strong hips and legs which were used to maintain contact with the enemy and throw him to the ground. Another ancient form of Jujutsu was centered around the manipulation of joints and the immobilization of the limbs. It was called Yawara. These combat arts existed with little change for over 600 years.
THE MINAMOTO CLAN
Around 700 A.D. the Japanese began to have more frequent contact with the people of China. Through these contacts, bits of Chinese culture, religion and art became assimilated into the Japanese society. It is during this time, the Heian period, that Jujutsu took the form it has today. Though there were already established combat arts in Japan, this new style of fighting became the most popular. About 875-880 A.D., one of the sons of Emperor Siewa met a Chinese man who taught him a few fighting techniques. From these techniques and principles, Teijun Fujiwara (sometimes called Sadazumi or Sadagami) developed a fighting art he called Aiki-Jutsu. Teijun Fujiwara taught these techniques exclusively to the royal Minamoto family where it remained a secret style until the early 1100’s. At that time, two sons of Minamoto no Yoriyoshi (a 5th generation descendent of Emperor Seiwa and ruler of the Chinjufu area of Oshu) began to thoroughly develop, organize and catalog Aikijujutsu techniques. Minamoto no Yoshimitsu (also known as Shinra Saburo or “Genji”) (1036 – 1127 A.D.) and Minamoto no Yoshiie (Hachimantaro) (1041 – 1108 A.D.) were both Yamusame (archery) and To-Ho (swordsmanship) masters, brought up in the tradition of their forefathers. They both worked together to develop their families fighting techniques by dissecting cadavers and studying the working of the muscles and bones. Yoriyoshi’s eldest son Yoshikiyo was also a famous warrior who fought against Abe no Sadatou in the Zen Ku Nen war (1051 – 1062) and was victorious against Abe at the battle of Koromogawa no Yakata. If Aikijujutsu would develop anywhere, it would be here in the most famous military family in Japan. It was Minamoto Yoshimitsu who named his family style Daito-Ryu AikiJujutsu after his estate called Daito. Minamoto no Yoshikiyo moved to the Kai region and became the head of that branch of the Minamoto family. He called that branch KaiGenjiTakeda. KAI was the region, GENJI the ancient family name and TAKEDA was the town from whence he chose the new family name. The Takeda family ran several martial arts schools in the area for over 400 years. The only two surviving Yamusame schools Takeda-Ryu and Ogasawara-Ryu come from the schools of Takeda no Yoshikiyo.
THE MUROMACHI PERIOD
During the Muromachi period (1392-1537) there was another Jujutsu school that was greatly influential. Takenouchi-Ryu was founded by Takenouchi Hisamori (also called Takeuchi Toichiro) in 1532. Hisamori had spent time in the mountains with a Yamabushi (hermit mountain warrior) and had learned five arresting techniques and some principles of evasion. He combined these techniques with his knowledge of Kumi-Uchi to make a Jujutsu style he called Kogusoku. Later this style was renamed Takenouchi-Ryu Jujutsu. The second headmaster of Takenouchi-Ryu, Hisakatsu, added Shinken Shobu (deadly fighting). The third headmaster added Torite (restraining). One of its core teachings was that of Koshi No Mawari, or grappling in the light armor of the day. It became one of the three core styles of Jujutsu.
Another school of Jujutsu that became popular was founded during the same period by Akiyama Shirobi Yoshitoki, a doctor from Nagasaki. He studied striking and kicking techniques in China under Haku-Tei (also called Pao-Chuan), along with 3 Yawara techniques and 28 different types of Kassei-Ho. Akiyama returned to Japan and began to teach these forms but found it hard to keep students with so few techniques. As a result, Akiyama retired to the temple of Temmangu at Tsukushi about 1723 to study the techniques and attempt to expand on them. During his winter stay he one day noticed snow piling up on the branches of the trees outside the temple. He saw that whereas the snow piled heavily on the branches of the great oak tree, is slipped harmlessly off the pliable branches of the willow tree. Eventually the branches of the oak tree began to break under the weight of the snow, but the willow branches simply yielded and allowed the snow to fall off, thereby saving the tree. This brought a great enlightenment (satori) to Yoshitoki and he used the concept of JU (suppleness) to increase his techniques to 103. From his experience at the temple he decided to name his style Yoshin-Ryu (willow heart school). This ryu is also called Yanagi-Ryu and Miura-Ryu after two of its most famous teachers.
AIZU
Takeda Harunobu (Shingen) (1520 – 1573) was a descendent of Minamoto (Takeda) no Yoshikiyo and one of the great warriors of the Sengoku era. Besides being a sword, spear and archery master, he was a great leader in battle. He warred against Uesugi Kenshin, the ruler of Echigo in his most famous battle known as Kawanakajima in 1561. In those days a wealthy samurai had several retainers under him to take care of many tasks which ran from administration of troops, to running training camps. Shingen had several illustrious retainers, namely Sanada Yukitaka, Obata Toramori and Yamamoto Kansuke (who wrote the famous HEIHO OKUGI SHO). During Haranobu’s great military career he came into conflict with the Tokugawa clan. In a decisive battle in 1572, Takeda Shingen beat Tokugawa Ieyasu. Even though this was a great victory for the Takeda clan, Shingen died from wounds sustained in his clash with the Tokugawas while on his way to Kyoto. In April of 1573, Takeda Kunitsugu brought the last will and testament of Takeda Harunobu to the ruler of Aizu, Ashina Moriuji. Ashina was a long time ally of the Takedas and turned over his portion to Kunitsugu. Takeda Kunitsugu received a large estate and farm lands from Ashina and was persuaded to stay in Aizu as a swordmaster. From that day forward the Takeda family lived and taught Aikijujutsu in Aizu.
In one fateful event in February of 1582, the unbroken line of Takeda Aikijujutsu masters came to an end. It was during that month that the forces of Oda Nobunaga and Tokugawa Ieyasu took revenge for their loss in 1572 and attacked Takeda Katsuyori (the son of Takeda Harunobu) and was victorious over the Takeda clan. As any samurai who felt he had failed his family would do, Katsuyori committed ritual suicide (seppuku). Luckily, the art had been passed onto the retainers of the Takeda family who continued the tradition. The most famous were: Sanada Yukitaka, Sanada Masayuki, Sanada Yukimura, Sanada Nobuyuki, Yamamoto Kansuke, Obata Toramori and Obata Kanbei Kagenori.
It must be understood that the teaching of the martial arts was restricted to extended family and retainers at that time. The headmastership was only passed on from father to son, unless there was no heir. In this case the headmaster was chosen from the head retainer or from a close male member of the extended family. The techniques that were taught as a matter of course to the footsoldiers (ashigaru or chugen) were simple, unrefined movements. Though they were combat effective, they depended on strong legs and hips and a powerful body rather than the skill of a true martial science. Many of the techniques that influenced the formation of Judo which came from the Kito-Ryu and the Tenshin Shin’Yo-Ryu were the techniques of the Chugen. The Goshinkiuchi or secret teachings (later called Otome-Ryu by the Daito-Ryu masters) were only taught to the top classes of samurai. Knowledge of these methods were not allowed to pass to the lower level retainers. Also, during this period families actually kept their knowledge a family secret. This allowed for superiority in battle against opposing family clans.
Because the Aizu retainers were now the headmasters of Takeda-Ryu Aikijujutsu (Daito Ryu), the development of this style remained untouched in that area for another 250 years. This branch of the family came to be known as Aizu Takeda. They were renowned in Japan as great swordmasters. There were 5 styles of TO-HO and two of Aikijujutsu (Mizu no Shinto-Ryu and Shinmyo-Ryu) practiced by the Aizu Takeda. Additionally, there were many private schools in Aizu including 22 for Kenjutsu, 14 for Battojutsu, 16 for Jujutsu, 7 for Yamusame, 16 for Gunnery and 4 for Spear. Students in that area also studied Naginata, Bojutsu, Kusarijutsu, Kacchu Kumiuchi and Jinchyu Ninjutsu. In all there were over 90 schools thriving in the Aizu.
At one time there were over 700 documented Jujutsu schools in Japan. Many called their art Jujutsu, while others used such names as Ju-Do, Aiki-Do, Taijutsu, Koshi-no-Mawari, Torite, Kenpo, Wajutsu, Hudaka, Hobaku, Shubaku and Yawara. All these were Jujutsu.
AIKIJUTSU
During the early 1800’s there arose in Japan an idealogy that rallied around deposing the Tokugawa Shogunate and replacing the Emperor to the throne. Clans were the political parties of the time and the Aizu clan was in favor of the Shogun. The Aizu leader Katamori Matsudaira had served the Shogunate for many years and thus the loyalty of the Aizu lay with the Shogun. The Aizu fought many battles in an attempt to keep the Emperor and his forces from the throne. They were pivotal in the Bakumatsu wars. Now, their political lifestyle was threatened by the Choshu and Satsuma clans who were in support of the Emperor. As a result of their opposing idealogies, the Aizu samurai under the leadership of Saigo Tanomo (1830 – 1905) clashed against the forces of Choshu and Satsuma at Shirakawaguchi.
Saigo Tanomo was an Aikijujutsu and Kenjutsu student under Takeda Soemon (1758 – 1853). Saigo had studied for years with the Takeda schools and was a famous warrior even though he was defeated by the Choshu and Satsuma clans. Because of this loss, however, the family of Saigo Tanomo, 21 in all, committed suicide thinking that Tanomo had been killed. Unknown to his family, Saigo Tanomo survived the battle of Shirakawaguchi! Now that his family was gone, Tanomo returned to Aizu and became a teacher of Mizoguchi Ha Itto-Ryu and Koshu-Ryu Gungaku kenjutsu.
In 1876 Tanomo received a new student into his tradition named Takeda Sokaku (1860 – 1943). Sokaku, the grandson of Takeda Soemon was born in Aizu on 10 October 1860. He studied Aikijujutsu from his grandfather and other arts from his father. By the time he was 16 he had studied Jikishinkage-Ryu kenjutsu from Sakakibara Kenkichi and received his Menkyo Kaiden in Ono Ha Itto-Ryu from Toma Shibuya of Tokyo. Tanomo remembered Sokaku’s grandfather well, as he had also been taught by him. For 3 years Sokaku studied Daito-Ryu with Saigo and mastered many arts such as Aikijujutsu, Battojutsu, Yarijutsu and Kenjutsu. Finally in 1880 at the Nikko Toshogu Shrine, Tanomo passed on all his knowledge including the secret teachings to Sokaku. From that day forward, Takeda Sokaku would be headmaster of Daito-Ryu.
For almost 20 years Takeda Sokaku wandered from dojo to dojo, challenging every known martial arts master, and he was never defeated. He took time in his travels to instruct others, often staying with the student for a period of time before moving on. He intelligently concentrated on government officials and military leaders as well as local police departments for his student body. In this manner his reputation spread quickly.
After the dissolution of the samurai in the late 1800’s contact with the Americans became more frequent for the Japanese. Not only was this the American’s first contact with the Japanese culture, but also with the Japanese martial arts. Sokaku, in one single event sparked wonder in the minds of Americans about the martial arts of Japan. In 1904 a fateful meeting between American teacher Charles Parry and Takeda Sokaku occurred on a train in Japan. An argument ensued between the two about seating in the first class section of the train, and inevitably Sokaku found it necessary to restrain the large foreigner. Amazed at how helpless he was against a 4’11” man, Parry reported to his superiors in the U.S. of the great power of Aikijujutsu. President Roosevelt sent for an Aikijujutsu instructor to come to the U.S. and put on a formal demonstration of the art. Takeda sent Police Officer Shinzo Harade between 1904 and 1910, who immediately gained great renown and many students including Charles Parry. He involved himself in the instruction of Police forces and in exhibitions for dignitaries and public officials.
Takeda Sokaku died on 25 April 1943 at Amori Station in Honshu, leaving behind his great tradition to his son Takeda Tokimune and his senior students Hisa Takuma, Sagawa Yukiyoshi, Yamada Taisaburo, Matsuda Toyosaku, Yamamoto Kakuyoshi and Ueshiba Morihei. Takeda Tokimune currently teaches in Abaragi prefecture, Hokkaido, Japan. From Daito-Ryu came Hakko-Ryu, Yamate-Ryu and Iwama-Ryu, a.k.a. Aikido.
JUJUTSU AND JUDO
At the end of the 1800’s the Samurai were politically disbanded and many Jujutsu/Kenjutsu schools died out. A few survived, however. Jujutsu schools came in from the countryside to the city, and by doing so were exposed to other ryu. There were many contests between Jujutsu schools at the time, each trying to prove they were the best. Many Jujutsu styles were defeated and discredited, some unjustly. Nevertheless, they were forced out of existence, or the practitioners simply joined other ryu. It was also a time of bullying on the part of the Jujutsuka. Many of the younger students found enjoyment in trying the techniques out on unsuspecting city folk. Also, many bar brawls were started in order to practice their techniques. Jujutsu itself fell into ill repute and many of it’s practitioners were seen as trouble makers. Because of this view the practice of Jujutsu was restricted to a very few traditional schools.
It was in 1882 that things began to change. It was in that year that Kano Jigoro founded a new type of Jujutsu that he called Judo. Kano was a Jujutsu master who had studied under senseis Teinosuke Yagi and Hachinosuke Fukada of the Tenshin Shin’Yo-Ryu. Later he also studied under the tutelage of Tsunetoshi Iikubu of the Kito-Ryu. He also studied a while with the Sekiguchi-Ryu.
Kano was born in a small costal town outside of Kobe, Japan in 1860. His main martial theories were developed by his study of the “secret” books HONTAI and SEIKO which discuss the fundamentals of Nage (throwing) through the principle of KI-TO (to raise up – to strike down). This, combined with his grappling knowledge from the Tenshin Shin’Yo-Ryu led Kano to retire to the solitude of the Eishoji temple and develop his Judo.
What made Kano’s Jujutsu different was his approach to training. Because he sought to preserve the Jujutsu techniques, but realized that Jujutsu had a bad reputation, he changed the entire philosophy surrounding his art. Kano emphasized the physical fitness aspects of the art and altered the techniques to make them appealing to the general public. The sporting aspect of the art was also suggested. Kano arranged KATA, (prearranged forms) for the self defense techniques in order to ensure safety and enjoyment in learning, but retained SHIAI (contest) to test timing and technique in s semi-combat situation. Kano also invented the ranking system that consisted of KYU ranks (trainees) and DAN ranks (graded). Before Kano the ranking system was non-existent. Kano also targeted government and military officials as his primary student population. By doing this the popularity of his Judo spread quickly.
Of course, it must be realized that Kano’s Judo achieved it’s notoriety because of Aikijujutsu. It seems that Kano was an excellent Jujutsuka himself, but felt that in order to prove that his new for was “undefeatable” he would need to employ an “undefeatable” representative of his new art form. This man was Saigo Shida who changed his name to Saigo Shiro (1867 – 1922).
Shiro was the adopted son of Aikijujutsu master Saigo Tanomo. Shiro was a master of Daito-Ryu at a young age and was trained for the headmastership of the Takeda tradition, but was recruited by Kano to be his “showman” for the Kodokan system. This is basically why Takeda Sokaku became Daito-Ryu’s headmaster. Shiro was known for his great ability and strength at a young age. In fact, he was a Godan (5th degree) by the age of 21. In the contests set up between the Kodokan and the area Jujutsu schools, Saigo easily defeated all opponents, mostly with his favorite technique YAMA ARASHI. Kodokan was “proving” its worth by using Aikijujutsu, although most of the techniques Saigo used were never taught by Kano. As a matter of fact, whereas Aikijujutsu had over a thousand techniques, the Kodokan system boasted about 150. After many years Saigo Shiro left the Kodokan and became a reporter and master of Kyudo (archery). Only when Saigo left the Kodokan did the style move into the realm of martial sport. Saigo Shiro, perhaps one of the world’s greatest Jujutsuka died on 23 December 1922 at the age of 57.
By the time Judo moved into the 20th century, many of the KORYU or “ancient schools” were gone or disappearing. Thus, it was the perfect time for Judo to come on strong. Kano made his Judo the standard physical education for the Japanese Police Force and Army. Judo was also popularized in the United States. In 1889, Kano had sent Yamashita Yoshiaki to the U.S. to live and instruct Judo at Harvard University and at the Annapolis Academy. This had greatly enhanced the popularity of Judo with the new American audience. Even though Kano had, in fact, used Aikijujutsu to make his art famous, he did do Jujutsu a great service. If it were not for the renewed interest in the grappling arts caused by Judo there is a distinct possibility that Jujutsu would have never survived as a martial art.
After an illustrious career, Kano died while travelling at sea in 1938. Today Judo is practiced all over the world and is a sport in the Olympics.
DAITO-RYU TO AIKIDO
Ueshiba Morihei, one of the senior students of Takeda Sokaku was born on 14 December 1883 in the Motomachi district of Tanabe City in Wakayama Prefecture. As a young man he moved to Tokyo and there studied Kito-Ryu Jujutsu and Shinkage-Ryu kenjutsu. Around 1903 he joined the military and served in the Russo-Japanese war.
In 1912 he moved to the northern island of Hokkaido with a Japanese resettlement project and became one of the community heads. While he lived in Hokkaido he was introduced to Takeda Sokaku by Yoshida Kotaro. For the next 7 years he studied Daito-Ryu Aikijujutsu with Takeda. In 1922 at the age of 39 he was granted, along with 20 other students, the teaching license called KYOJU DAIRI. This meant he was considered to have mastered most of the Daito-Ryu techniques that numbered around 350. Two other students of Takeda received higher degrees; Hisa Takuma received KAIDEN and Sagawa Yukiyoshi received SHODEN. The SHODEN meant he had learned the complete catalog of arts numbering about 2800 techniques. Yukiyoshi became the 36th Soke (headmaster) of Daito-Ryu, but upon the death of Sokaku, relinquished the headmastership to Tokimune, Sokaku’s son.
In 1936 Ueshiba opened his first school in Tokyo. Ueshiba called his art many names including: Ueshiba Juku Aikijujutsu, Aikibujutsu, Kobukai Aikibudo, Tenshin Aikibodo, Takemusu Aiki and Aikido. He finally chose to stick with the name Aikido in 1942. Prior to WWII his dojo was known as Jigoku dojo or “hell” dojo. The students of this school were subjected to grueling workouts that lasted many hours and in which several people could be injured in one day. These students, however, became the best of the Aikido practitioners. Some were: Shioda Gozo, Hirai Minoru, Rinjiro Shirata, Saito Morihiro, Mochizuki Minoru and Tomiki Kenji. Saito and Shioda seemed to have retained the closest style to that of the old Daito-Ryu system.
In 1942 Ueshiba moved to Iwama in the Ibaragi Prefecture where he built a dojo (still run by Saito Sensei today), and became a farmer. One reason for this change in lifestyle was his involvement in the Omoto Kyo Shinto sect led by Deguchi Onisaburo. After 1945 Ueshiba began to teach again in Tokyo. It was there that the first changes came to Aikijujutsu. Older now, and under the mental and spiritual influences of Omoto Kyo, he began to change the emphasis of Aikido from martial arts training to perfection of the spiritual self through discipline, breath power and harmonious movement with others. Aikido was the way. Now as Aikido moved away from the martial aspect, it was accepted by the occupying U.S. forces as a “non-martial” form of physical education. Because of the need for peace, his school out-shone all others of Aikijujutsu in Japan. And, because of his charisma he parlayed his art into a worldwide phenomenon. Ueshiba Morihei died 26 April 1969 leaving his son Kisshomaru in charge as the second headmaster of Aikido.
Several other forms of Aikido have developed today. Two are very influential. Those are the Tomiki school and the Yoshinkai. The Tomiki school was founded by one of the top students of Ueshiba; Tomiki Kenji. The style was developed to firstly, remove the supernatural aspects from the art, and secondly to allow competition. The Yoshinkai form was developed by Shioda Gozo, another of Ueshiba’s top students. Shioda’s form strives to retain the original Daito-Ryu Aikijujutsu methods. His U.S. representative is Takashi Kushida.
From the Yoshinkan have stemmed many schools claiming direct lineage to true Aikijujutsu, especially Daito-Ryu. In a way, this is true, because from Takeda through Ueshiba and Shioda, the “new” Aikijujutsu schools have come into existence. What must be realized is that there are still schools today that practice actual Daito-Ryu Aikijujutsu directly from either the Japanese source or from the assigned U.S. representatives. This does not make the other schools invalid, however. One must just realize their origins in the scope of Jujutsu history.
JUJUTSU COMES TO THE WEST
In the late 1800’s a master of Yoshin-Ryu; one Tanaka Yoshimatsu opened a dojo in Hilo, Hawaii which he called SHINYU-KAI. One of his students; Henry Sieshiro Okazaki became pivotal in the dissemination of Jujutsu in the modern world.
Henry Sieshiro Okazaki was born on January 28, 1890 in Fukushima Prefecture, Honshu, Japan. He moved to Hilo, Hawaii in 1906. When he was young he found himself in ill health. It was the practice of Jujutsu, he felt, that eventually cured him of his maladies. Eventually becoming a Jujutsu master himself, he decided to break from tradition and to teach his art to non-Japanese. Okazaki was not regarded well by his peers for this decision, but he felt that Jujutsu should be for all people. Okazaki began to teach U.S. military men stationed in Hawaii and received attention from the public for this. In 1921 he accepted a challenge from heavyweight boxing champion K.O. Morris, who claimed to have travelled throughout Japan defeating Judo and Jujutsu men with boxing. In a highly publicized fight, Okazaki defeated Morris by breaking his arm, even though Okazaki did receive a broken nose in the effort. This victory greatly improved the reputation of Jujutsu.
Okazaki sensei opened his first school in 1930 and finally established a permanent dojo, the HAWAIIAN JUJUTSU GUILD (later called the AMERICAN JUDO AND JUJUTSU INSTITUTE OF HAWAII) in Honolulu in 1936. Okazaki also travelled to Japan and made some extensive studies of other Jujutsu such as Yoshin-Ryu, Kosogabe-Ryu, Nambashoshin-Ryu and Shibukawa-Ryu. He also studied Ryukyuan Karate, Hawaiian Lua, Kung Fu and Kodokan Judo, in which he also received a Black Belt. After making these studies Okazaki began to form his own style of Jujutsu. He called the style Kodenkan/Danzan-Ryu . Kodenkan means “School of the Ancient Tradition” and Danzan means “Cedar Mountains”, the ancient Japanese name for the Hawaiian islands. From this system Jujutsu spread first to the United States.
Henry Sieshiro Okazaki died in July 1951. His son Hachiro now runs the famous Nikko Restoration and Massage Sanitorium in Honolulu, Hawaii. Ramon Ancho is the presiding elder of the system and has appeared in many movies. He was a high ranking military man and now does private instruction to government agencies as well as performing types of bodyguard duties in foreign countries. Prof. and Shihan Sig Kufferath was the Soke (headmaster) of Kodenkan/Danzan-Ryu and taught in the Los Angeles, CA area. He also gave private seminars and personal instruction in a few other areas of the country. Sig died in 1999. Shihan Fransisco Limbago is the current president of the AJI. Although there is no legally recognized Soke – many attribute this title to Sig’s longest student and teaching partner, Tony Janovich.
During the early part of this century Jujutsu made a big influx into the American martial arts scene by US contact with the orient during the Second World War. Many soldiers returned with training, however slight, and truly raised the popularity of the grappling arts. One Jujutsu style, Hakko-Ryu came on the western scene in the 1940’s. Founded 1 June 1941 by Okuyama Yoshiji (Yoshinobu) Ryuho, Hakko-Ryu picked up a small following in the U.S. quickly. Okuyama was born February 21, 1901 in Yachi Cho, Japan. Yoshiji learned from Daito-Ryu master Matsuda Toshimi (Hosaku). Okuyama made some small changes and developed several theories of unarmed combat. Hakko-Ryu is designed to thwart attacks by applying pressure to the body’s kieraku (meridians) to cause intense but nondamaging pain and thus destroys the attackers will to continue. Okuyama created the system based on the belief that the successful application of technique versus physical strength could neutralize and control any attacker. Hakko-Ryu means “School of the Eighth Light”. The Hakko-Ryu Hombu is located in Satama Prefecture and their heir apparent is Okuyama Toshio. The US representatives are Dennis Palumbo of Colorado and Brian Workman of Washington state.
Gracie Jiu-Jitsu was founded by Helio Gracie of Brazil. Carlos Gracie, his brother had met the leader of a Japanese resettlement colony named Maeda Esai (a.k.a. Count Koma). Maeda taught Helio Gracie the art of Jujutsu and eventually taught four of the Gracie brothers. In 1925 Carlos and his brothers opened the first Jujutsu dojo in Brazil. Helio stood out the most of the brothers and developed the original techniques into what is now called Gracie Jujutsu. The Gracie family is the largest “sports” family in history with 40 active members. The Gracie family is known for having an open challenge for anyone to fight against their Jujutsu; no holds barred style. The Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu style was taught to several families in Brazil and has now spread around the world as one of the fastest growing martial arts ever. There are now representatives all over the world.
Goshin Jutsu was founded by Tanaka Tatsu around 1950. Tanaka had studied classical Jujutsu for years, and when he finally opened his own dojo in Tokyo in 1952, he decided to eliminate the injurious techniques from his art. He removed kicking, striking and leg tripping. Instead he concentrated on pressure point Atemi, Kansetsu and Nage techniques. There are 150 basic techniques in his form and Tanaka states that his main purpose in the development of his art was to promote good health through exercise and proper knowledge of self defense.
Small Circle Jujutsu was founded by Wally Jay. Jay was born in Hawaii on 15 June 1917. Early in life he studied boxing and in 1935 began Jujutsu under Paul Kaelemakule. In 1940 he started to study Kodenkan/Danzan-Ryu Jujutsu under the top student of Henry S. Okazaki; Juan Gomez. He also studied Judo under Ken Kawachi with whom he credits for the catalyst that started the small circle theory. He also received his oriental therapeutic massage (Siefukujutsu) diploma from Henry S. Okazaki. In 1950 he moved to California and began to teach Jujutsu. From the 1960’s on he has toured extensively teaching his style which is based on the theory that a small tight circular movement by the Jujutsuka’s hands make the techniques more painful and effective. He resides in Alameda, California.
The system that has come to be known as ZenBudo-Ryu stems from the genius of one man – Hanshi Raymond “Duke” Moore. Duke Moore began his training with Ray Law – a student of Seishiro Okazaki of the Danzan Ryu. Duke Moore began in the early 1940’s and has studied Kyokushin Karate from Mas Oyama, Judo from George Yoshida, Danzan-Ryu Jujutsu from Ray Law, Shorinji Kempo and Daito-Ryu Aikijujutsu from Richard Kim, and Jujutsu from Kiyose Nakae. He founded his system, a combination of the best of all of his knowledge in the early 60’s. He opened the now famous Market Street Dojo in San Francisco, CA, and then oversaw over 10 dojo in Northern California for many years. He was awarded, in the early 80’s the title of Hanshi and the rank of Judan, 10th degree blackbelt by a board of senior blackbelts from many different martial arts. In the early 80’s he also founded ATAMA, American Teachers Association of the Martial Arts. Today this is a worldwide organization that credentials martial arts instructors by a rigid set of standards. His school was named the Zen Budokai. At 80+ years of age, he is still a Jujutsu and Karate practitioner. He has assigned a successor to the ZenBudo-Ryu – Tim Delgman – 9th Dan.
JU-JITSU TODAY Ju-Jitsu is still evolving and spreading during the beginning of the 21st century. Although today it has many names, and many “styles”, it really remains as whole and concise as it ever was. What we have learned is that there are no secret techniques. There are only so many ways one can manipulate a body. And knowledge flows freely through organizations, competitions, training centers, video tapes, and the internet. It is the “golden” moment for Ju-Jitsu. During this early part of the 21st century, the techniques of Ju-Jitsu can be seen in the following named grappling arts: Mixed Martial Arts, Jujutsu, Ju-Jitsu, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Pancrase, No Holds Barred, Submission fighting/wrestling, Shoot fighting, Shooto, Cage Fighting, Ultimate Fighting, etc. What we must ensure is that the traditional ways of Jujitsu are not lost, and that the training methods are improved for future generations
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