Jujutsu: Its Aims and What It Is.

By Stephen Cheney, Sensei

Sensei (Sehn-say) means: Teacher (one who has gone before).

Self Defence is a life saving and life-time vocation.  A short course will serve to introduce you to the contributing martial arts that make up Self Defence.  There you will be shown some of the art and magic and by training enable you to do it also.  To maximize learning time, All students should arrive on time.  Preferably already having done their warm-ups.

Aims:
At the end of a short course in JuJutsu, given by a Sensei skilled in JuJutsu and also skilled in Teaching, even if you are not very strong nor highly skilled, you will be able to:

• Escape from some grabs by a much stronger person.
• Not be overwhelmed in a crowded brawl or panicking crowd.
• Have good chances of avoiding being hit or kicked.
• Have practice at some ways of surviving an attack on your life.
• Have good chances of restraining a violent person instead of knocking them out or killing them.
• Have good chances of interceding to save another person or child who is being attacked.
• Know your legal rights and what restrictions the law places on what you are allowed to do when you are being threatened and attacked.
• Have learned some of the practical strategies used to avoid a fight, or if not able to avoid: then to survive a fight.
• Learned some ancient breathing arts for health and combat.
• Experience a little of the magic, beauty and practicality of the Martial Arts through the multiple arts within JuJutsu.

What is JuJutsu?
JuJutsu (Joo-Ju-tsoo) means: The Art of Practical (Combat) Techniques using flexible methods and harmonious minimal force with maximum effect.

Presumably as we are in the internet age, all would have looked it up on the internet.  ‘JuJutsu’ is the proper Japanese spelling for the Martial Art (often confused with Ju Jitsu or Jui Jitsu.  ‘Jitsu’ only meaning the Science, that is, technical aspects of the Martial Art, not the Martial Art itself).  As alternative spellings have come into common use they are accepted as alternate names for the art.

JuJutsu is a martial art that specializes in Self Defence.  JuJutsu is thus a very comprehensive Martial Art as the varieties of attacks are numerous.  It includes many of the other martial arts within its curriculum.  Its prime concern is attacks where you have been grabbed and thus your mobility is restrained, as you cannot then easily get away from an intended attack such as a strike.  Close Quarter Fighting.  However it also deals with other fighting distances such as those of punching, striking and kicking and ground fighting.  It uses strategies that affect the mind, strikes, locks and holds and throws and restraints.  It is not a sport; it is for survival, for Self Defense.  It is the ancestor of modern sports such as Judo and Aikido which have rules and thus restrictions on their ultimate effectiveness in the street.  JuJutsu is concerned with fighting without rules, as attacks in the street do not have rules.  Sport is about fair fighting, but there is no fair fighting in the street.  It originated in Japan as can be seen from its Samurai method of fighting, of conserving energy and not flowing around as is the Chinese preference.  It originated on the battlefield where fighters wore armor and so were not readily defeated by strikes alone, but by attacking weaknesses.  In modern soldiering soldiers are often weighed down with protective gear, as can be Law Enforcement officers.  Like most Martial Arts, however, techniques are shared, borrowed and improved from many other arts and teachers.

JuJutsu comes from the weaponed arts, arts that it assisted when a warrior lost or broke his weapon or otherwise engaged in unarmed combat.  JuJutsu schools often also teach weapons.  It is a multi-sided Art that may one day save the life of you or of your loved ones.

A broad art, it can be differentiated from others by its philosophy, its defensive strategies.  It is classified with the ‘Soft’ or ‘Internal’ arts.  Meaning: instead of matching a dangerous force with an equal or better force or strength of your own (which you will not always have), you weave around a Force.  ‘Soft’ is the common translation for ‘Ju’ but that neglects to mention that it does not meaning ‘weak’ as the word Soft can mean in English.  It better means ‘adaptable’ or ‘flexible’.  Ocean waves are soft but they are not weak; the wind is soft but it is not weak.  It does not train to meet force with force as in some Karate (or ‘Hard’ art) schools, but to redirect force.  Its strategies and relating techniques make it efficient in dealing with opponents who are far stronger, bigger and meaner than yourself.  Not depending on physical strength, it can be practiced for a lifetime from childhood to old age.

It is an art that gives you options.  Unlike a weapon or a power strike from Karate or Boxing that may kill, JuJutsu techniques allow you to break away and run, or to lock and restrain an aggressor, not only to incapacitate them.  Killing is an option against a killing attack on you.  Thus it is an art ideal for Law Enforcement and those who in their jobs need to restrain violent people or patients, but not by using less force to do so end in losing and becoming victims themselves.

JuJutsu has absorbed the philosophy of Zen Buddhism for its conduct and understanding of combat and also of daily life.  JuJutsu is about Life and Death, which ultimately are inseparable.  Valuing Life, which is so transient, especially valuing your own life.  Acknowledging Death, and that Dangers come to you, and test you on the choices that you make in a crisis.

Being skilled at JuJutsu does not mean that you will win every fight.  No world champion boxer or other combat sportsman wins every fight.  Seeking out fights is dangerous to your health.  But you will through JuJutsu be dangerous to tackle, and hopefully that will show in your attitude and body language, upon which the eyes of an Aggressor watch intently.  Needing a victim, he has decisions to make that are all his own.

In battle, you are only as good as your level of practice.  As one day your life or that of a loved one may depend on your level of skill, it is prudent to practice Self Defensive arts as much as you can.  Better a few minutes every day rather than hours once a month.

The prime skills that one learns from any real martial art are Balance and Coordination of body movements and power from various combat Techniques; and from the Mental aspects of the martial art you learn to enhance your Awareness and Perceptions, not only of your surroundings and the dangers there of your opponent, but as well an enhancement of the perception and understanding of You, and thus your Control over yourself.