Jujutsu or Jiu-Jitsu

JUJUTSU or JIU-JITSU, the Japanese method of offence and defence without weapons in personal encounter, upon which is founded the system of physical culture universal in Japan (Sinico Japanese, muscle-culture). Some historians assert that it was founded by a Japanese physician who learned its rudiments while studying in China, but many writers maintain that ju-jutsu was in common use in Japan centuries earlier. It is certain that the sci ence was originally imported from China but the Japanese have modified it greatly in the course of centuries. Originally it was an art practised solely by the nobility and particularly by the samurai who, possessing the right, denied to commoners, of carrying swords, were thus enabled to show their superiority over common people even when without weapons. It was a secret art, jealously guarded from those not privileged to use it, until the feudal sys tem was abandoned in Japan, and now ju-jutsu is taught in the schools, as well as in public and private gymnasia. In the army, navy and police it receives particular attention. About the begin ning of the loth century, masters of the art began to attract at tention in Europe and America, and schools were established in Great Britain and the United States, as well as on the continent of Europe.

Jujutsu may be briefly defined as "an application of anatomi cal knowledge to the purpose of offence and defence. It differs from wrestling in that it does not depend upon muscular strength. It differs from the other forms of attack in that it uses no weapon. Its feat consists in clutching or striking such part of an enemy's body as will make him numb, and incapable of resistance. Its object is not to kill, but to incapacitate one for action for the time being" (Inazo Nitobe, Bushido: the Soul of Japan).

Many writers translate the term ju-jutsu "to conquer by yield ing" (Jap. ju, pliant), and this phrase well expresses a salient characteristic of the art, since the weight and strength of the op ponent are employed to his own undoing. When, for example, a big man rushes at a smaller opponent, the smaller man, instead of seeking to oppose strength to strength, falls backwards or sidewise, pulling his heavy adversary after him and taking advantage of his loss of balance to gain some lock or hold known to the science. This element of yielding in order to conquer is thus referred to in Lafcadio Hearn's Out of tile East: "In jiu-jitsu there is a sort of counter for every twist, wrench, pull, push or bend : only the jiu jitsu expert does not oppose such movements. No he yields to

them. But he does much more than that. He aids them with a wicked sleight that causes the assailant to put out his own shoul der, to fracture his own arm, or, in a desperate case, even to break his own neck or back." The knowledge of anatomy mentioned by Nitobe is acquired in order that the combatant may know the weak parts of his adver sary's body and attack them. Several of these sensitive places, for instance the partially exposed nerve in the elbow popularly known as the "funny-bone" and the complex of nerves over the stomach called the solar plexus, are familiar to the European, but the ju jutsu expert is acquainted with many others which, when com pressed, struck, or pinched, cause temporary paralysis of a more or less complete nature. Such places are the arm-pit, the ankle and wrist bones, the tendon running downward from the ear, the "Adam's apple," and the nerves of the upper arm. In serious fighting almost any hold or attack is resorted to, and a broken or badly sprained limb is the least that can befall the victim ; but in the practice of the art as a means of physical culture the know ledge of the different grips is assumed on both sides, as well as the danger of resisting too long. For this reason the combatant, when he feels himself on the point of being disabled, is instructed to signal his acknowledgment of defeat by striking the floor with hand or foot. The bout then ends and both combatants rise and begin afresh. It will be seen that a victory in ju-jutsu does not mean that the opponent shall be placed in some particular posi tion, as in wrestling, but in any position in which his judgment or knowledge tells him that, unless he yields, he will suffer a disabling injury. This difference existed between the wrestling and the pan cratium of the Olympic games. In the pancratium the fight went on until one combatant acknowledged defeat, but, although many a man allowed himself to be beaten into insensibility rather than suffer this humiliation, it was nevertheless held to be a disgrace to kill an opponent.