Japanese Jujutsu and Judo

By the mid 1800s, jujutsu had gained a reputation as an anachronistic bully's art, something people of quality did not study. jujutsu owes much of its survival to Kano and Kodokan Judo. A student of traditional jujutsu from an early age, Kano realized that jujutsu was in danger of being discarded by a Japan eager to embrace all things Western and modern. Drawing heavily from Kito Ryu and Tenshin Shinyo Ryu, Kano developed a budo form of jujutsu in 1882. Emphasizing the principle of Sieryoku Zenyo (maximum efficiency with minimum effort), Kano and his senior students (many already expert in other jujutsu ryu) created the most well-structured martial art ever seen. The yudansha/mudansha ranking system, colored obi, gi and ukemi were all developed and refined by Kodokan Judo.

With the rise of judo, most jujutsu ryu slipped into obscurity and died away. A few, such as Jikishinkage-Ryu, continued to maintain small dojo for family and retainers, but the majority could not exist without a continued influx of students. Seen as archaic and impractical by the public, traditional jujutsu mostly faded away in Japan and was kept alive by Japanese immigrants in Europe, South America, and North America. Except for a very few, the remaining jujutsu ryu observed judo's success and borrowed freely from the Kodokan, evolving and adapting in order to survive and meet changes in society and styles of combat.

Japanese Aikido, Japanese Judo, and Japanese Karate like many styles of martial arts, have borrowed from the gendai (modern) budo. The gi, dan/kyu ranks, ukemi, most chokes and much of newaza (ground work) are realtively new innovations, most less than 100 years old. Kodokan Judo can be directly linked to many of these advances.