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Old 12-27-2006, 09:36 AM   #20
DonMagee
Location: Indiana
Join Date: May 2006
Posts: 1,311
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Re: Budo vs Martial Art ?

Quote:
Joshua Reyer wrote:
No, they do not call it "jujutsu" because it is not a koryu art. The article does state that when many people say "jujutsu" these days, it's an abbreviated reference to BJJ. But it's not grouped in with jujutsu because they're considered rather different animals.

I checked some earlier drafts of the BJJ wiki page, and initially it was referred to as a kakutogi. In the course of revisions, it got chopped off (essentially, from "BJJ is a kakutogi that was" to "BJJ was..."), probably for compositionally cosmetic reasons rather than any philosophical leanings about one word or another. Can't really be sure, though, since unlike the English page, the discussion page is completely unused!

'When you think about it, it is really funny that it comes from judo/jiujitsu, brought over by a guy who trained that way, was taught to them, still trained the same way, still has the same techniques (Carlson Gracie Jr. taught wrist lock takedowns and judo throws at a seminar I attended), yet everyone feels a need to segregate it. Some say its not a traditional Japanese art. Other's claim it is sport and not designed for self defense, still others have other reasons why bjj is not in the same category as jiujitsu in general. The best one I heard was that jiujitsu is about killing people, and bjj is not. Something that I find laughable the more I think about it. Breaking limbs, and choking people is most certainly as much about killing people as any other jiujitsu class I've ever attended.

Of course I am not Japanese. I think of judo as just jiujitsu with a little 'can't we all just get along' added in. To me jiujitsu is just a generic word like kung fu, submission grappling, etc. There are so many takes, ideas, styles, philosophy that you are basically just saying "This is a system of fighting" I'd imagine that Fusen ryu jiujitsu looked a lot like bjj.

In fact just saying "I train in jiujitsu" really doesn't tell me anything about what you do. Is it small circle stuff, aiki stuff, judoish stuff, a lot of striking?, maybe its focused on ki, maybe its not. Maybe you take shots to the throat and kicks to the groin? Do you do body hardening? Finger locks? Pressure Points? Spar? Compete? Just like kung fu, it runs the gambit from Sport competition to mystical no touch knock outs.

But again, I am not Japanese and I make no attempts to understand their culture. I tried once, but I found it too frustrating, and I really never plan on going to japan.

- Don
"If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough" - Albert Einstein
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