South Coast Martial Arts (est 1989)

What is Ju-Jitsu?

It is like folding laundry, but the people are still in the clothes.

​

• “Jū” can be translated to mean “gentle, soft, supple, flexible, pliable, or yielding.”

• “Jutsu” can be translated to mean “art” or “technique” and represents manipulating the opponent’s force against himself rather than confronting it with one’s own force.

​

Ju-jutsu developed to combat the samurai of feudal Japan as a method for defeating an armed and armoured opponent in which one uses no weapon, or only a short weapon. Because striking against an armoured opponent proved ineffective, practitioners learned that the most efficient methods for neutralising an enemy took the form of pins, joint locks, and throws. These techniques were developed around the principle of using an attacker’s energy against him, rather than directly opposing it.

​

There are many variations of the art, which leads to a diversity of approaches. Jujutsu schools (ryū) may use all forms of grappling techniques to some degree (i.e. throwing, trapping, joint locks, holds, gouging, biting, disengagements, striking, and kicking). In addition to jujutsu, many schools teach the use of weapons.

​