Jigoro Kano was a young man, already seriously involved in education, and he
saw the trend of his nation. Things were changing. The emperor was leading a
charge into the next century, trying to modernize Japan as quickly as possible.
This was causing Japan to disregard it’s indigenous arts in favor of Western
culture.
While some of this was good, others aspects were detrimental to Japanese
culture, in that things which helped define the Japanese psyche were being
pushed aside or forgotten in the race to modernize. Ernest Fenellosa, a Harvard
University professor, who taught in Japan, greatly encouraged the Japanese to
look to their own culture and arts for greatness, while they were learning the
ways of the West.
Jigoro Kano was one of those Japanese who learned Fenellosa’s lessons well.
Thus he began to seek instruction in Bujutsu, since it was obvious how
important the concepts of Bujutsu were to a serious understanding of the
Japanese mind. Kano realized early, at the age of eighteen, that the martial
arts were central to Japanese character development and physical fitness. He
began training under Hachinosuke Masayoshi Fukuda, an instructor of Tenshin
Shinyo Ryu. Later, upon the death of Fukuda, Kano continued his study under the
new master of the school, Masatomo Iso. He was elderly as well and died shortly
thereafter.
It was then that Jigoro Kano began training under Tsunetoshi Iikubo, a
master teacher of Kito Ryu Jujutsu. Under this master of Jujutsu, Kano began to
comprehend the true secrets of the art. These secrets are no longer secrets
today and yet they are no longer studied in-depth as they were during the time
of the golden age of Jujutsu.
During the practice of ‘ran o toru’, a free style method of practiced used
in the Kito Ryu Jujutsu system, Iikubo would repeatedly throw Kano, even though
he was thirty years older than the young man. Kano began to analyze the process
of throwing, to see what makes it effective. During this analyzation, Kano came
upon three discoveries. Once he implemented them, he was capable of defeating
nearly anyone. Upon relating these concepts to master Tsunetoshi Iikubo, he was
admitted into the Okuden, inner traditions, of the Kito Ryu, allowed to view
the scrolls and books of the system.
These three discoveries, which relate to the proper use of Jujutsu in self
defense, as well as, in the free practice of Randori, are essential to a full
understanding of the throwing art. When these three principles are applied
correctly, any one of any size, can be thrown easily. It was said that Kano was
such a master Jujutsu practitioner in his later years, that to Randori with him
was like grappling an empty uniform.
The first principle, and in some masters opinions, the most important, is
Kuzushi. Kuzushi literally means, ‘to destroy’, and is used in reference to the
breaking of the assailant’s balance. When a person is in a stable position,
with their weight distributed evenly over the feet, they are impossible to
throw, unless one can physically pick them up to hurl them down, which is
generally not the case in self defense.
There are two sets of movements practiced for developing the skills of
balance breaking. These are; Roppo no kuzushi and Happo no kuzushi, which
translates respectively, the six directions of breaking and the eight
directions of breaking. The six are the same as six of the eight, so they
overlap. The lateral movements are considered the most important of all which
is why there is the set of six, with forward and back being the ones included
in the set of eight.
Thus the eight directions of balance breaking are; forward, backward, left,
right, back left, back right, forward left, and forward right. These eight
directions are combined with either a Tsurikomi, lift pull, or Maruoshi,
circular push, to create a break in the opponents stability.
It is important to not only practice the performance of balance breaking but
to also practice receiving them. For it is in receiving the Happo no kuzushi,
that a Jujutsuka learns how to counter a grappling attack. With the renewed
interest in Jujutsu these days, it is extremely important for students to
engage in this type of practice, just as in the hey days of the Kodokan.
Once a person has mastered Kuzushi, it is then necessary for them to learn
how to apply the Juri, principle of yielding. It is said that the founding of
Yoshin Ryu Jujutsu, began with Yoshitoki Shirobei Akiyama seeing a snow storm,
in which snow gathered on the limbs of large strong trees, causing the limbs to
break off the tree. Then he noticed that on small, ‘weak’ trees, the limbs bent
under the weight of the snow until it fell off, then the limbs would spring
back with great force. This gave Yoshitoki Shirobei Akiyama the idea of using
this concept as the central principle of a system of martial arts. While
Jujutsu existed before this time, the illustration of the willow branch and the
founding of the Yoshin Ryu by Akiyama, serve to explain by example the common
denominator of all Jujutsu styles. This is Ju, the idea of yielding.
In it’s most common interpretation Ju means ‘to push when pulled and to pull
when pushed’. Yet the actual fighting application of this is misunderstood by
many Jujutsu practitioners. To many this has come to mean that if someone
pushes you straight back, you pull straight back, while if someone pulls you to
the right, you must push to the right. This is not actually accurate.
While the admonition to push when pulled is accurate, the direction you push
is determined by several factors, with the same being true in regard to pull
when pushed. There are two determining factors which must be considered. First
of all, notice the alignment of the feet and the weight distribution. If the
person is well balanced, then picture a line drawn between them and push or
pull along that line. When combined with a foot sweep, leg reap, or hip lift, a
person can be easily thrown.
However, if a person’s weight is more on one leg than another, they can be
‘floated’, through the use of hand throws, specifically Sumi otoshi, Uki
otoshi, and the like. Also the weighted leg can be reaped or the unweighted leg
can be swept, or either one can be propped. Thus the pull or push can be
towards a weighted foot and used set up a throw.
The final detail that Jigoro Kano noted about throwing skills is that they
must be performed naturally. Too many people when they begin training in a form
of martial arts begin to use unnatural movements or postures, because they look
esoteric. This problem has been increased thanks to movies, particularly the
kung fu variety, which are very entertaining, but which tend to portray highly
stylized postures for the aesthetic appeal.
Even back in the late eighteen hundreds, people tended to move in what they thought
was the Jujutsu way, which tended to be unnatural. Yet Kano discovered that the
best Jujutsu was one in which a person moved as naturally as possible. Thus
Kano had his students train in Randori moving in Shizentai, the natural body
posture. This training was not only good for developing Jujutsu skills, but was
more realistic in regard to self defense training.
It is said that towards the end of his life Jigoro Kano witnessed a Shiai,
Judo tournament, and lamented the lack of skill shown by the competitors. He
wondered where the principle of Ju was, where was the use of natural movement,
and where was the skill of Kuzushi.
Jigoro Kano founded the Kodokan to preserve the best that Jujutsu had to
offer. He wanted the people of his country to realize the greatness of their
own form of physical culture. He used modern educational methods to create a
syllabus of instruction, which would greatly improve the teaching methods of
the ancient art, but he could not improve on the principles, for they had been perfected
through hundreds of years of practical experience.
He originated the sport form of Judo to help create an interest in the
ancient art. Kano hoped that young people would come to the Kodokan through
Judo and develop an appreciation of the ancient art of Jujutsu. It is said that
his main desire was for students to begin training in Judo and after passing
the age of competition, continue on in traditional Japanese Bujutsu.
In 1885, Jigoro Kano came to a realization of the ‘secrets’ of Jujutsu, which were then confirmed by his Kito Ryu master, Tsunetoshi Iikubo. For people of all styles of Jujutsu, these secrets are just as important today, as they were in the time of Jigoro Kano. Jujutsu is an excellent art of self defense and a wonderful means of exercise. To be effective, the art must be practiced correctly. If strength and force is emphasized, then Jujutsu doesn’t exist. It is only when the methods and principles of yielding are practiced through the skills of Kuzushi, Juri, and Shizentai, can a person be said to know the real secrets of Jujutsu.