Welcome to my martial arts page. I gained an interest in martial arts from my studies of Buddhism and Taoism, two ancient Asian religions which are intertwined with East Asian martial arts. A friend suggested first that I enroll in an Aikido class, as it was one of the more 'spiritual' martial arts. Unfortunately, there was one only one school in town that taught Aikido, and it's class times didn't fit my then-strict schedule. Somewhat by chance, I enrolled in Jujitsu class at Mudokwan School on the east side of Indianapolis. I've been there for about a year and a half now, but, because of my college and work schedules, I've only taken two or three hours of instruction per week.
Jujitsu was first employed about 400 years ago in feudal Japan. The empty-handed (weaponless) art of the samurai had a rather unique name. Most Japanese martial arts end with either -jitsu or -do. In general, forms with the -jitsu suffix are older, more combat-oriented forms while -do (the Japanese word for the Chinese 'Tao') forms tend to be more recently developed, and concentrate more on sportive and spiritual elements than strictly combat.
The prefix of most Japanese martial arts was determined by the weapon used in the art. For example, the Japanese word for sword is 'ken,' so kenjitsu and kendo are both forms of Japanese fencing. Jojitsu is form of fighting with a jo, or short staff, and bodo is the art of using longer staves against an opponent.
Jujitsu, however, is not named for a weapon (or lack thereof). It is named for the concept of Ju, which means gentleness, or yielding. It may seem surprising that one of the most effective martial arts literally means 'the art of gentleness.' Rather than attempting to block an opponent's force, many techniques in jujitsu use an opponent's force against him or her. Jujitsu-kas (students) seem to dodge a blow only to grab an opponent and pull a punch or kick closer to him, thus pulling an opponent off-balance. Opponent's who try to push a student of jujitsu might not be pushed back. Rather, the student will back up and squat down and use a charging opponent's own momentum to throw him (it's somewhat like running into the bottom half of a Dutch door). Much of jujitsu relies, not on the student's strength, but on his or her speed and flexibility.
I've finally finished my essay on physical fitness in the martial arts. If you're interested in martial arts, I think you'll find it informative. Find it here.
The Judo Information Page Possibly the best martial arts page on the web.
The American Judo and Jujitsu Federation.
rec.martial-arts. The Martial Arts newsgroup.
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