Aiki Jujutsu: A Creation of Concepts (Part 1)

  Published on February 25, 2014 on AIKIDO EN LÍNEA

In this collaboration, Master Ricardo Sanz, National Director in Spain of the Nihon Aikido / Aikijutsu / Aikibudo Department of the Nippon Seibukan of Kyoto and 6th Dan Renshi of Aikibudo by the Nippon Seibukan Academy, brings us an original article of his first published in 2005 in the magazine "El Budoka" about the creation of Aikijujutsu as a specialization of Jujutsu and the general confusion surrounding the use of the term "Aikijutsu" in contrast to the more popular "Aikido."

Aiki Jujutsu: A Creation of Concepts (Part One)
By Ricardo Sanz

  Shima Ukon Tomoyuki and Saito Yohachiro Toshikata: Two samurai fighting. Yoshitoshi Tsukioka (1839 - 1892)

AIKIJUTSU DOES NOT EXIST

In the cosmogony that represents the confrontation between men, the direct application of force to achieve direct, visible, and immediate results was also an axiom for the peoples who inhabited the lands of the primordial "Japan." Death and life through hunting or land, conflict for the sake of conflict, to dominate or be dominated as an uncontrolled explosion of the "ego" was the daily reality.

In 1951, Master Morihei Ueshiba had a dream in which a spirit told him that one of his students would travel to Europe, and that this journey would be the origin of the development of Aikido worldwide. A few days later, Master Minoru Mochizuki went to say farewell to his teacher because he was leaving for France.

"If you go there, for me the dream will have come true." – Morihei Ueshiba

Desde una perspectiva de desarrollo evolutivo, esa comprensión “irracional y directa” de la lucha, sería contemplada posteriormente como “arte” porque en algún momento el desarrollo de la inteligencia del hombre le hizo interpretar esa fuerza no como un método unidireccional de ataque sino que empleando la fuerza de forma indirecta, sutil y controlada correctamente podría dar lugar a resultados postreros espectaculares dentro y fuera del campo de batalla.

Una visión más amplia del empleo dual de la fuerza, tan común en oriente no sólo en las “artes de la guerra”, kakuto bugei, y extraída de las enseñanzas chinas, inundaría los recién nacidos “métodos de combate con y sin armas”. Estudiando diferentes escritos sobre el origen de las primigenias formas de combate sin armas en Japón es un hecho que el nombre con que estas son denominadas difiere teniendo en cuenta la escuela, momento histórico, status social, maestro, funcionalidad y características de aquellas

The previous terms that define methods of combat, mainly unarmed, such as Sumo, Tegoi, or later terms like Tai Jutsu, Koshi no Mawari, Yawara Jutsu, Ju Jutsu, Judo, etc., refer not to a martial art as they are currently understood by the same name, but rather to a concept, a specific understanding of using the body as a weapon when the Japanese warrior was unarmed in battle.

Among these ways of using the body as a weapon, the sophistication of technique led to the interpretation of defense – attack not only as a “means of death” but as a “method of utilizing binary principles” depending on the attack, the enemy’s typology, the weapon used, the location, the time of day, etc. These could lead, depending on the historical moment, to victory over the enemy, either through control or death.

"Push when they throw."

"Pull when they push."

That victory, which once had a physical and measurable character, would later be used in a strategic and systematic way, understanding these new concepts of "binary principles" as a set of interconnected events based on many variables, rather than being isolated and physical on the battlefield itself. The inherent dichotomy of Japanese culture and tradition is also brought, for the first time, into the art (creation – destruction) of war in a more selective, original, and effective way.

 

FROM JUJUTSU TO AIKI NO JUTSU

From the hand-to-hand combat forms recorded in Japan's historical chronicles, the Kojiki and Nihongi (7th century AD), to the more evolved forms based on high-level competition, Jujutsu has historically been understood and developed conceptually in very different ways.

During the relatively peaceful period known as the Edo jidai (1603-1868), dominated by the Tokugawa shogunate, the strategy of using the sword, Heiho or Seiho, was taken to extremes of Art, and new methods of victory were studied and considered both in their use and in unarmed combat at the newly institutionalized schools of weaponry, ryu or ryuso and their branches, ryuha.

Within these, the ancient arts of war, bugei, were structured, systematized, and developed into techniques for use in battle, bujutsu, with a predominantly utilitarian goal.

Techniques in the use of weapons such as the sword, Tachikaki or ken jutsu, the spear, so jutsu, the bow, kyu jutsu, or the halberd, naginata jutsu, were taught and regarded as "noble arts and techniques" and primary, bugei no bujutsu, while the techniques of unarmed combat, such as ju jutsu, were seen as complementary and supplementary to the first, leading to the taxonomical expression of bugei-ju-happan or the 18 martial arts.

And, obviously, with the flourishing of so many "schools of weaponry", rivalries would also arise between them due to that classification of "school – art – technique – concepts" as primary and secondary. In schools teaching the handling of the sword or spear, unarmed combat became secondary, and in schools where unarmed combat or combat with "minor weapons" was taught, defense against attacks with "greater weapons" was prioritized, making it of great importance to the warrior.

Regardless of this ranking, the importance of "using the body as a weapon, as part of it or emerging from it" was already recognized at the beginning of the Edo period in numerous concepts: "The technique of the body is the father and mother of all martial arts" – bujutsu shogei no chichihaha wa taijutsu nari, or "spirit, sword, and body are one" – ki ken tai ichi.

With this classification, new teaching methods emerged in the schools, with an offensive attitude, Yo ryu, or defensive, Kage ryu, studying natural phenomena and seeking analogies in the understanding and creation of technical and strategic concepts influenced by Chinese teaching systems, Confucianism and Taoism. The softness in form, Ju no ri, the small and the large, ko – o, the soft must control and flow over the hard, Ju yoku sei go, and the dual use of force, In – yo ho, etc., were incorporated into many of them to be used in both armed and unarmed combat.

In addition to the emergence of the term Jujutsu, due to the social situation of the time, instead of the concept "win to survive", the idea of "control the enemy" arose. Later, during the Meiji period (Meiji jidai, 1868 – 1912), victory was not over an enemy, but over an adversary, and the concept of "physical education" was emphasized. From the Taisho period (Taiso, 1912 – 1926) to the Showa period (Showa, 1926 – 1989), the development of the concepts of "defense or self-defense" gained importance, becoming flexible and open to everyone and becoming known in Europe.

"Enter when they throw."

"Turn when they push."

Beyond the physical control through "soft techniques" like Jujutsu, or the use of techniques involving the body itself, Taijutsu, some schools specializing in hand-to-hand combat use these principles to look beyond "winning and surviving." They analyze how to employ that force to win, focusing not only on studying the enemy's body but also their spirit when executing defense-attack. In this way, one could not only control the body but also unite with the spirit of the attacker, penetrate it, direct it back against them based on the received attack, and defeat them.

At the end of the Edo or Tokugawa period, the conceptual and theoretical approach to interpreting hand-to-hand combat, or ryugi, would differentiate the schools from one another, each with its own names, combat methods, philosophies, tactics, and ways of classifying and stratifying techniques.

Today, some of the concepts underlying these schools have reached us directly from the source, while others have been documented or misinterpreted and segmented to serve the interests of masters, entities, and organizations, including the Japanese ones themselves. These schools, aware of the widespread interest that Martial Arts generate, have subjected themselves—forgetting that we are in the West—to the mentality, interests, needs, and desires of others.

However, there are traditional Japanese schools that, far from ostracism, obscurity, and official trends, stand great in themselves. Perhaps not because of the number of techniques, their quality, or the number of students attending their classes, but because of the study of the principles that once made them great and allowed them to survive, thanks to the masters who, beyond their technique, disseminate the invisible concepts that underlie them.

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[1] In 1988, he obtained the 1st dan in Goju Ryu Karatedo, recognized by the All Japan Budo Federation - Seibukan Academy (Kyoto, Japan), whose president was Master Suzuki Masafumi. Since then, he has been certified in various martial arts and represented the organization in leadership positions until 2023.

Continuation: Aiki Jujutsu: A Creation of Concepts (Part 2).