THE BELT ONLY HOLDS YOUR PANTS THE TRUE ART IS IN YOUR HEART
ShinZenDo Ryu
The term jujutsu means, technique or art (jutsu) and supple, flexible, gentle (varying interpretations of the ideogram JU). All representing a single principle, the use of the human body as a weapon in unarmed/armed combat. As far back as 3000 B.C. there existed in India a warrior class that was taught unarmed combat. Buddhist texts tell of at least three different systems. The founder of the Zen sect of Buddhism, Daruma Taishi (Bodhidharma), was born into the warrior class in India at the end of the 5th century BC. As a boy, he was taught unarmed combat, but decided as a young man to become a Buddhist monk. After several years of study, Daruma decided to travel and spread the teachings of the Buddha. Eventually his travels led him to China, where he took up residence at the Shaolin monastery about 500 BC. According to legend Daruma began to teach the monks at Shaolin, that he had learned as a boy, a set of physical and mental disciplines known as the “I Ching Sutra”. This art in Japan became known as Shorinji Kempo. Impressed by its effectiveness the Japanese nobility and the samurai engage in is practice as a form of self-defense or in order to subdue others. The practice of art was privileged and secret. In the mid 19th century, the Samurai class was formally disbanded, and many schools of Ju-Jitsu died out. In 1882 Jigoro Kano re-structure some of the techniques of jujutsu and called it Kodakan Judo. In a different area of Japan (Okinagua) due to its geographical location the art took a different dimension and was referred to as Naha-Te, Shuri-te or Jute, later to be known as karate. In 1917, Gichin Funakoshi introduces the Okinawan art of karate, Jogoro Kano, the founder of Judo and a very influential figure in the Japanese martial arts, gave Funakoshi his support and invited him to teach at the famous Judo headquarters, the Kodokan. Thousands of Japanese from many walks of life began to study the style of Karate taught by Funakoshi, which came to be known as Shotokan. Morihei Ueshiba studies various jujutsu styles and Aido. He combine his martial training with his religious and political ideologies, and in 1942 founden “Aikido”. Ju-Jitsu is considered by many to be the parent art of Judo, Aikido, and Karate.