| It’s really a difficult task to narrow Jujitsu as a | | | | |
| particular style. The problem with it is that it’s | | | | Since then, Jujitsu has evolved into several different |
| the root of several different styles of combat. While | | | | styles, some of which maintain the name of Jujitsu. |
| the techniques vary, the essence of it remains the | | | | Judo is an offshoot of this style, as is Brazilian Jujitsu. |
| same. | | | | All of the newer schools of fighting maintain the old |
| | | | | way of thinking: An unarmed combatant can take |
| Jujitsu was a style of combat originally founded by | | | | down a fully armed opponent. |
| the samurai. Ultimately, the goal was to enable an | | | | |
| unarmed and unarmored combatant to be able to | | | | Judo excluded for the most part, the newer |
| take on a fully armed and armored samurai. From this | | | | variations on Jujitsu (or more accurately, Edo Jujitsu) |
| essential philosophy, several systems of combat have | | | | have grown to incorporate kicks and punches and |
| been founded. | | | | weapons. One little known weapon is the hojo cord. |
| | | | | The use of the hojo cord was developed for the |
| The essential style of Jujitsu is to use attacks and | | | | Japanese police for when they deal with a particularly |
| defenses that negate the advantage of another | | | | awkward situation. Japanese tradition held that |
| opponent. Originally, it was about the bare-handed | | | | accused, but not convicted, prisoners cannot be |
| warrior being able to take on a fully armed opponent. | | | | bound by a rope tied in knots. Until relatively recently, |
| Consequently, its primary focus was on throwing | | | | the Japanese police force used rope to bound their |
| techniques, pinning, and joint locks that used the | | | | prisoners. This led to a particular style of Jujitsu and |
| aggression of the opponent against him. | | | | rope binding called Hojojutsu, which involved binding |
| | | | | prisoners without knots. |
| At one point in Japan’s history, it became illegal | | | | |
| for samurai to stride around fully geared for combat. | | | | Ultimately, the problem for the lay person in learning |
| This led to a style that disregarded the question of | | | | jujitsu is that it takes many years of practice and |
| armor called Edo Jujitsu, which added the element of | | | | training to be proficient at. Most people don’t |
| striking vital parts of the opponent, leading to the | | | | care to wait that long to be good at something, and |
| legendary Kyushojutsu, aka Dim Mak or Death Touch | | | | all the classes leading up to being “good” |
| techniques. | | | | don’t mean anything if you’re attacked now. |