Japanese self defense art or Nihon Goshin Jutsu is an eclectic sampling of ancient and modern techniques of self defense as they were developed in Japan. Primarily consisting of striking, throwing, choking and joint locking techniques, this generic system of Japanese self defense forms the basis of all hand-to-hand combat training taught in nearly every military in the world. The syllabus I am most familiar with is the one developed by Britain's Professor Richard Morris, 9th dan. It is a hard style of JuJutsu which uses hard punching and kicking strikes to distract an attacker allowing the defender to unbalance the attacker by throwing him to the ground using one of the many throws taught in this syllabus. Once the attacker is unbalanced a painful joint lock can be applied to control him or he can be rendered ineffective by having the joint dislocated or broken. other options include further striking techniques, choking into submission or painful spine and neck locks. Defenses against multiple attackers, knives and guns are also part of the syllabus which makes this a particularly effective form of self defense.
Page author, Steve Lonsdale, demonstrates a shoulder throw.
After throwing and striking, a wristlock is applied.
There are many books available on many forms of JuJutsu however the syllabus discussed here is best presented in a series of books by Professor Robert Clark of the World JiuJitsu Federation. It provides general information and excellent pictorial representation of all the techniques from white to black belt. Professor Clark is the former partner of Professor Richard Morris and he is also from Great Britain.
A series of video tapes showing the Jiujitsu syllabus discussed here can be obtained from the World Kobudo Federation by contacting the European Director:
Information on the World Kobudo and Can-Ryu Jiu Jitsu can be obtained by contacting the Canadian Director:
Samurai--individual homepage, much information about jujutsu and other arts.
Furyu--homepage of the magazine: several articles on jujutsu, including an excellent one on Hontai Yoshin Ryu.
