Is Judo considered a martial art?
Pluss Ju Jutsu, why do you call it a soft martial art, when it encompasses so many styles? Both Judo and Karate wich are very different, do both take Ju Jutsu as a starting point(Jigiro Kano, the founder of Judo was a very good Ju Jutsu "fighter"). Ju Jutsu is merely the name of all the fighting styles in Japan than evolved after the Samurai`s weren`t allowed to carry Weapons anymore.
Ok. Let us split hairs then. (But do notice that Motrax asked a “beginner´s question” so he got a “beginner´s answer”)
Up to 1869 in Japan, “martial arts” were family property. You could only learn them if you were part of the family, or at least if you were a vassal samurai (in which case you would be considered part of the family). However there were levels: no one was taught the full art, only the “heir” of the style. A very famous case was Choki Motobu, one of most feared fighters in Japan. His famlily had developed its own style (Motobu-ryu) yet, Choki was not allowed to learn it because he was not the first son. So instead he went to Okinawa to learn Karate (his brother who learned the full thing got killed in second world war so the system was lost).
Anyway, as I said, before 1869, martial arts in Japan were primarily “weapons” affairs. Unarmed combat was a “plan B” in case you lost your sword or your halberd. There were all sorts of styles (“ryus”) each claiming to be the best. As a Samurai you would learn not only all sorts of weaponry but also unarmed combat (“tai – jutsu”) comprising a full curriculum: Strikes (“atemi waza”), throws (“Nage waza”), locks (“Kansetsu waza”), strangles (“Shime waza”) and wrestling (ground work or “Katame waza”).
However – as you said – with the Meiji restoration in 1869 the Samurai class became extinct overnight. They were disarmed, ordered to cut their top-knot hair and become westernised as quickly as possible. The great martial arts masters of the time quickly realized that they have to do something about it, or their arts would be completely lost. In a famous meeting of all sorts of styles that took place in 1906, it was decided that the only way forward was to open the styles beyond the immediate sphere of clan and family. At the same time, the masters did not want to share openly their secrets (for several reasons – not only a “guild mentality”, but also so that they would not be used by criminal elements). What they come up with was a very interesting solution.
First they changed the focus from “craftsmanship” (jutsu) to “way of life” (“Do”) which to Western ears sound very much like a religion, but in the East is a very widespread concept not necessarily tied with any religious affiliation (of course, religion can be a “Do” itself, so “way of life” encompasses and supersedes religion – not the other way round as in the West).
Then they split the curriculum: Now you did not learn a complete martial art, but rather parts of it. So the complete curriculum of a Samurai became split into strikes (“Karate-do”), rough throws and primitive locks (“Ju-Do”), subtle throws and sophisticated locks (“Ai-Ki-Do”), and fencing (“Ken-Do), while before you would have Ju-jutsu, Karate-jutsu, Ai-Ki-jutsu and Ken-jutsu (There are other martial arts as well, like Bo-jutsu/Bo – staff fighting as well as Japanese archery and so on, but we do not need to discuss all of them to understand the general principle).
So a student would be accepted in a Dojo (“training hall”) and be taught an incomplete system. For instance, if he chose Judo, he would not be taught how to strike, and he would be indoctrinated into throwing by only holding on the arm and lapels of his opponent. Any other style of throw (for instance by grabbing a single leg of the opponent) would be frowned upon and considered “inferior” and not worthy of the superior style of Judo. Arm locks of a primitive kind would be allowed, but leg locks would be forbidden (a major feature of its predecessor ju-jutsu – from which Judo practitioners wanted to distance themselves since it was considered a ruffian’s/gangster/low life province).
Likewise, if you enrolled in a karate school, you would be taught only strikes (and very powerful ones at that). Grappling and throwing was considered tabu – as a karate guy once told me, karate was such a superior art that it was not necessary to learn grappling: the opponent who tried it on a karate person would be killed before it ever came to that. When I proceeded to lock and strangle him without too much difficulty (since he knew nothing of grappling) he still maintained his philosophical stand. (I guess it was then that I first came across the Hanonite mindset: completely impervious to reasoning).
Kendo people would never touch a real sword and do all their fighting in heavy armour and bamboo swords. If you wanted to experiment with a live blade, you would have to enroll on a different martial art: Iai-do which only dealt with drawing the sword from the scabbard – no fencing at all. Needless to say, enrolling on a different martial art with a different teacher was akin to high treason. If you were found out, you would be expelled from the Dojo in disgrace (and probably your new teacher would do the same, since if you did it to one you would do it to the next).
So as you can see, in the early days (after 1870) any normal student would be taught a watered down, incomplete and very ineffective version of what once was a powerful system of combined armed and unarmed combat. And this was done on purpose for the protection of the system.
After a number of years (in the beginning there were no coloured belts – these were introduced by the Americans after 1949), usually 5 or 6, the master would know you very well. Also these first years were made unbearably hard and dull, so if you did not give up, this already said something about your character. In any case, after 5 or 6 years the master would decide if you were worthy to receive the “secrets” of the style. This had to do as much with personal talent (physical facility for the style) as with character. Also, even if you were deemed worthy, you might not receive all the secrets. These were still reserved for the “heir” of the system. You see, each master had the obligation to pass the total knowledge for the next generation, and only one disciple was chosen to occupy that role.
The “secrets” of course usually pertained to what had been left out, so one ended up with the ironical situation that what were the “highest” secret of a style, often were the first thing you ever learned in a different style. So karate people “basic” techniques were punches and kicks. While Judo basic techniques were grappling and throwing (in my time strangle and lock techniques were considered secret techniques taught only to black belts). However once you got your black belt in karate, you would be taught (all in hush hush tones) about grappling and throwing! (Usually badly since the karate people really did not have a clue about it), while judo people would be taught striking after they got their black belt (again usually badly, since they did not have a clue).
In the early days, when all that was being implemented, it was thought that karate was the poorest of the styles, after all it was only strikes. So they added “forms” (“kata”) to karate – something that even today is very poorly understood and many students dislike them. Often you hear instructors say that “kata” is the soul of karate looking like Lang Lang playing Liebestraum. But when you probe further you realize they have no idea what the moves of the katas actually mean. In fact most of the kata movements are throws, locks and grappling techniques disguised. They may look like punches, and they may be explained as blocks, but they are nothing of the sort.
Let me digress for a moment here. Before 1869 Martial arts training was done in total secrecy because surprise is a big element in winning a fight. The Gracie people (Jujutsu) were able to win challenge after challenge and remain invincible because their opponents have no idea what to expect, and their techniques were very unusual and surprising. But then they decide to go public on TV. And for a while they seemed invincible. But with videos of their fights it became child´s play to figure out how to neutralize them, and now they are history.
So, one important issue was how to keep the art secret and at the same time public. In the case of karate katas, they kept the correct motions since they wanted the student to ingrain the correct motions and not be riddled with bad habits that would have to be dismantled once he reached the higher levels. But they provided the
wrong explanations for the moves. So what was wristlock became a punch, what was a strike to a vital point became a block, what was a throw was “some weird movement we don´t really know what it is for, but it looks pretty and it has been handed down to us by tradition, so we do it, and please stop asking questions” - as a instructor once put to me. Then of course I showed him what it was all about and he was speechless.
Then you have the marketing prop of calling this and that martial art the “true traditional style”. Well, as you have gathered by now, Judo, Taekwondo, Karate, Aikido, have nothing traditional about them. They are modern versions (100 years old) – mostly ineffective in combat as they are presently taught – of some very efficient old forms of combat.
Again, in the case of karate, it is important to realize that Korean, Japanese and American forms of karate are heavily corrupted from lack of information.
Karate is derived from a mixture of diverse styles of kungfu and the indigenous Okinawan martial art of To-de. Okinawan styles of karate are incredibly effective and complete systems of combat – contrary to Japanese, and American forms, for instance. Goju Ryu – a style I particularly favour - has the most interesting katas of all styles (it is heavily influenced by White Crane kungfu) and does not even look like the karate one is used to watch (usually Shotokan – the most widespread style in the West), katas that cover in their applications all of the basic aikido techniques (a martial art with heavy Chinese influence, again from White Crane and Bagwa).
The Chinese martial arts are another universe altogether. Up to Bruce Lee, they were mostly the province of triad criminals and again practiced in utmost secrecy (one of the reasons traditional Chinese Martial artists so resented Bruce Lee opening them up – contrary to their Japanese counterparts, the Chinese Martial arts were never in peril of disappearing, so there was no real need to make them public).
So as you can see, this is a very complex subject, and the discussion, “Is this or that a martial art” is a bit moot.
Finally in regards to Jigoro Kano, he was first and foremost an educator. He was Ministry of education in Japan, and his pet project was to make Judo the official PE program in Japan – in which he largely succeeded. He had learned many styles of Ju-jutsu – a martial art (or system of fighting if you prefer) that was generally regarded as the province of criminals and ruffians. Even amongst Samurais, Ju-jutsu was the province of the lowest rank of soldiers: the foot soldiers. So Jigoro Kano started to simplify and organize a curriculum, that consisted of some 150 “techniques” (comprising throws, locks, strangles and grappling). He then proceeded to show the superiority of Judo over ju-jutsu by inviting challenges from any ju-jutsu styles who cared to test themselves against Judo. As history shows, he was very successful and remained invincible. However I might now point two facts: many styles (wishing to remain secret) never challenged Kano. Secondly it was not Kano doing the fighting but the guy chosen to become the “heir” of Judo: Shiro Saigo (1867 – 1922) who due to his untimely death never received the mantle. And the cheating is this. Shiro Saigo was not just a Judo expert. He was a fully trained Daito-ryu fighter, being the pet student of no other than Sokaku Takeda (google him for more details). Daito- ryu was one of the most sophisticated forms of combat ever devised, and Sokaku Takeda one of his most accomplished masters. It is the precursor to aikido (Ueshiba, founder of aikido was a life long student of Takeda). At the time when Judo had 150 techniques, Daito-ryu had over 2000. So Shiro Saigo was defeating Jujutsu opponents with Daito-ryu (or aiki-jutsu as it is known nowadays) techniques, not Judo, and Kano was reaping the merit and benefits.
OK I will stop now
, but I am always happy to talk about these things. However the more specific the question, the more useful the answer.
Best wishes,
Bernhard.
Topic: Question for Martial Artists (or those who work out)