JUJITSU

Developed in feudal Japan, Jujitsu is a method of unarmed combat that focuses on using an opponents own force against them. When translated, “Jujitsu” means “gentle art”, a name that can be deceiving considering the highly effective martial art of Jujitsu. The ‘gentleness’ the name refers to is the practice of using an opponents force against them vs. attacking with one’s own force.

Evolving during feudal Japan through the samurai class, jujitsu was utilized as a method of defeating armed and/or armored opponents without the use of a weapon, as striking an armored opponent was ineffective. Jujitsu thus seeks out the most efficient methods for neutralizing an opponent through the use of pins, joint dislocations, constrictions and throws.

As the world has evolved beyond swords and armor, modern jujitsu, or systems of jujitsu founded after Japan’s Tokugawa period, have become Goshin Jujitsu systems or ‘self-defense’ Jujitsu that focuses on modern opponents and their methods.

The Matsuno Ryu (Matsuno Style) Goshijitsu is such a system that traces its roots to the Jujitsu teachings of Joseph Holck (Joichi Matsuno, Co-founder of Kajukenbo), as taught to him by Henry Seishiro Okazaki, the founder of Danzan Ryu Jujitsu. The system was founded by Joseph Holck’s son Vinson Holck in 1982 and combines Jujitsu, Judo and Karate.