Jiu-jitsu

Jujutsu (Japanese for "Gentle art" is a Japanese martial art and origin of Judo.

Names

In the first half of the XX century, the words jiu-jitsu and ju-jitsu were preferred. In many places they still been used for this art. Ju-Jitsu in France, Canada, Mexico and the United States and Jiu-Jitsu in Germany and Brazil.

The term "jujutsu" was coined in the 17th century. Before that, it was called taijutsu, yawara, among other names.

Origin

This martial art was created by Samurai in feudal Japan for fighting when they lost their weapons. There were many schools of jujutsu, such as Yoshin-ryu, Tenjin Shinyo-ryu, Kito-ryu, among others.

Techinques

Jujutsu is an unarmed grappling art. Throws, pinning techniques, jointlocks, chokes, and defenses are its basics. Often, jujutsu has striking techniques which make use of the body's vital points.

Judo took its techniques from Tenjin Shinyo-ryu, Yoshin-ryu, and Kito-ryu, but the techniques were modified for competition so nobody would get hurt.