What is Jiu Jitsu ?
Jiu Jitsu literally translated means, The Gentle Art.
In Japanese, ju-jitsu is written with two kanji.
The first character, read as jyū or yawara, means
soft, gentle or pliable. The second character, read as jyutsu,
means art or technique. Because of this, ju-jitsu is often
translated as 'the gentle art'.
Its name originates in the sixteenth century when
legend narrates that a young Japanese man called Shirobei Akiyama
witnessed a heavy blizzard. He was able to appreciate how branches
of most trees broke while the elastic branches of the willow tree
bent and efficiently freed themselves from the snow. This gave rise
to the name of the 'pliable art'
Jiu Jitsu
involves multiple techniques that allow a response varying from
gentle but firm dissuasion to infliction of serious injury. Jiu
Jitsu is an art that allows you to defend yourself against a variety
of attacks, in any situation, by responding to the circumstances,
without having to rely on strength and power. Jiu Jitsu utilizes
holds, locks, throws and evading techniques, as well as numerous
different strikes. Jiu Jitsu also involves varying degrees of disarming
techniques to protect against various weapons.
Strength is not a prerequisite for Jiu Jitsu, not to say that it
does not
have its place. Defeating an attacker may involve a gentle technique,
followed
by the use of a short burst of strength to execute a finishing or
subduing
technique.
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