Jujitsu as a Combat Skill

Jujitsu's origins have been largely lost in Japan 's prehistory. Even before the Samurai of ancient Japan existed, jujitsu-like forms were being developed and used in combat. The first records of combative grappling can be found shortly before 750 A.D. This is an historical and well-documented fact. Another fact is a samurai was seldom, if ever, without a weapon. That leads to the question of why a group of warriors who were always armed would devote the time and considerable effort and energy to develop a system of empty-hand combat. Classical jujitsu maintained a balance of weapon and empty-hand methods with a great deal of overlap and blending. Therefore, jujitsu was designed originally as an auxiliary skill to be used in conjunction with weapon arts, not as a replacement.

Samurai of pre-Tokugawa Japan were required to be adept in a vast range of combat skills. Kyujitsu, kenjutsu, bajutsu, sojutsu and kumi-uchi were among the basics, these being the techniques of the bow and arrow, the sword, horsemanship, the spear and grappling in armor. These skills were part of a vast array of bugei or martial arts, essential to combat in feudal Japan . The term bujutsu also means martial arts but came into use much later and tends to be used today when listing such non-sport arts as kenjutsu, iaijutsu and aikijutsu. Under a daimyo (a regional authority) or within a family clan, instruction was offered to retainers or family members in the weapons and skills of the Samurai as taught by their particular ryu. While ryu is usually translated as school or style, there were often many different arts taught within any one ryu. In order to adequately prepare their members for combat, the ryu instructors would have needed to teach a wide variety of bugei. Most ryu contained some jujitsu methods.

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