{"id":643,"date":"2022-07-26T20:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-07-26T20:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/graciezug.ch\/?p=184"},"modified":"2022-10-07T07:08:42","modified_gmt":"2022-10-07T07:08:42","slug":"jiu-jitsu-origin-and-emergence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/graciezug.ch\/en\/jiu-jitsu-origin-and-emergence\/","title":{"rendered":"Jiu Jitsu – Origin and emergence"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Especially in the last few years one martial art has become more and more popular: Jiu Jitsu. At the latest when Royce Gracie won the final of UFC 1 as a representative of Jiu Jitsu, it was hard to imagine the still young MMA without this martial art. In fact, the origins of Jiu Jitsu can be traced back much further.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, it is difficult to pinpoint an exact date or country of origin. The first records can be found in ancient Babylonia, where men wrestled with each other. Other sources suggest different origins in China, Persia, or even Egypt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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The first more concrete indications appear in feudal Japan. The name “Ju Jutsu” is composed of the Kanji characters for “Ju” (gentle, soft) and “Jutsu” (art, ability) and can be translated as “gentle art”. Fitting, since it is indeed one of the basic principles of Jiu Jitsu to yield and use the opponent’s own strength against himself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At the time of Japan from the 7th to the 11th century, the so-called Heian period, it was part of the standard repertoire of every warrior to master techniques of unarmed self-defense. It is therefore hardly surprising that it was the samurai who were instrumental in the development of the martial art known to us today as Jiu Jitsu. They were also the ones who incorporated the philosophical origins of Buddhism and Taoism into this form of self-defense. One of these principles is the triumph of compliance over stubbornness mentioned at the beginning of this article. An anecdote from Japan compares this to the snow-covered branches of a tree: while the thick, strong, rigid branches succumb to the weight of the snow and eventually break, the thinner branches bend until the snow slides off them and they rise again unharmed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Since Japan from the 8th to the 16th century was strongly marked by civil wars, there was a great demand for techniques of self-defense, at the same time they could be applied in practice, tested, developed and discarded. However, little else is known about the whereabouts of Jiu Jitsu during this era. Naturally, many teachers kept their techniques under lock and key so that the enemy could not adapt to them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n