From The Idler, September 1892
Note: The end note was
originally at the bottom of the first page.

Japanese Fighting

BY G. B. BURGIN.

ILLUSTRATIONS BY GEO. HUTCHINSON.

ROUGHLY speaking, Ju-Jitsu may be defined as the art
of fighting without weapons, or, sometimes, with small weapons, which was much
practised by the Samurai (the aristocratic classes), and less generally by the
common people, in. the time of the Tokugawas. There are various methods of gaining victory by Ju-Jitsu, such
as throwing heavily to the ground; choking up the throat; holding down on the
ground or pushing to the wall in such a way that an adversary cannot rise up or
move freely; twisting or bending arms, legs, or fingers, so that "an opponent
cannot bear the pain," &c. Atemi is the art of striking or kicking
some parts of the body in order to kill or injure opponents. Kuatsu,
which means to resuscitate, is the art of resuscitating those who have
apparently died through violence. The most important principle in throwing your
opponent was to disturb his centre of gravity, and then pull or push in such a
way that he could not stand. A series of rules was taught respecting the
different motions of the feet, arms, hands, the thigh, and back, which were
necessary in order to do this. "Choking up" the throat was done with the hands,
forearms, or by "twisting the collar of your opponent's coat round his throat."
For holding down or pushing, any part of the body might be employed. For
twisting and bending, the arms, hands, fingers, and legs were used. The art of
resuscitation was considered a secret, and all pupils had to take a solemn oath
not to reveal it. The simplest method of resuscitating a man who had been choked
was to embrace the patient from the back, and, placing those edges of the palms
of both hands which are opposite the thumb to the lower part of the abdomen, to
push it up towards the operator's own body with those edges. Another plan was to
place the patient on the ground and push up the abdomen. The other kinds of
Kuatsu, such as recovering those who had been killed by falling from great
heights, strangled, or drowned, &c., were more complicated. It was
apparently easier to choke than to resuscitate.

In the remote feudal times of Japan, Ju-Jitsu was one
of the military exercises by which the Samurai kept themselves "fit" for the
acquisition of anything to which they took a fancy. Since the abolition of the
Feudal System, however, the art fell into disuse, but has again, within the last
forty years, become popular in Japan among all classes as a method of physical
training. Of course, there are many and various schools which teach Ju-Jitsu ;
but the differences between them are scarcely worth going into. Generally
speaking, the principles of the art are—

.—Not to resist an opponent, but to gain victory by seeming to yield.

.—Not to lose one's presence of mind.

.—To keep one's temper.

.—To study the rules of respiration.

This code goes back as far as the year 1560. Later on, a master of this
interesting art arose in the person of Miura Yōshin, who, says the quaint
chronicle, believing that many diseases arose from not using mind and body
together, invented some fresh theories, of Ju-Jitsu. Together with his medical
pupils, he found out twenty-one ways of seizing an opponent, and afterwards
originated fifty-one additional methods of doing so. There was also another
disinterested worthy named Akiyama, who went over to China to study medicine,
and there discovered the art called Hakuda, which consisted in kicking and striking a man with fatal effect.
To counterbalance this, the learned Akiyama found out twenty-eight ways of
recovering persons from apparent death. His pupils, however, complained of the
monotony of only twenty-eight methods of resuscitating people, and left him in
disgust. Akiyama, therefore, "feeling much grieved on this account," journeyed
to Tenjin and discovered 303 different methods of the art. It grew to be a
truism in Japan that if Akiyama felt annoyed about anything, he promptly
invented more methods of scientifically putting people out of the way. This
idiosyncrasy was well known to his friends, who, whenever things became a little
dull, were accustomed to make slighting remarks on Akiyama's inefficiency as a
"death-dealer." Whereupon, Akiyama would retire to some remote region of Japan,
and there elaborate further artistic conceptions, such as the swinging throw,
for relieving people from the burden of their days. He was always careful to
explain that he bore no ill-will to the persons on whom he operated. The matter
was purely professional and in the interests of art. But his methods were
suddenly destined to undergo a complete revolution. One day, during a snowstorm,
he observed a willow tree whose branches were covered with snow. Unlike a pine
tree, which stood defiantly erect and broke before the storm, the willow yielded
to the weight of snow on its branches, but did not break under it. So Akiyama
named his school Yōshin-riu, the spirit of the willow-tree school.

Many stories are told of the skill of professors of
Ju-Jitsu. One day, Sekiguchi Jushin was crossing a bridge in his master's
courtyard. His lord, in order to test his skill, gradually pushed him nearer and
nearer the edge of the bridge until, just as he was about to overbalance,
Sekiguchi, slipping round, turrred to the other side and caught his master, who,
losing his balance, nearly fell into the water. Seizing hold of the prince,
Sekiguchi said, "You ought to take care, and not behave like a child." At which
stern rebuke "the prince felt very much ashamed, and blushed violently."
Sekiguchi afterwards showed the prince that when he caught hold of him he
(Sekiguchi) had stuck his kozuka (a small knife) through the prince's
sleeve just to prove that he could have stabbed him if necessary.

Tereda Goemon was another noted man in his day. The attendants of a certain
prince once ordered Tereda to kneel in the dust until the procession passed. He
refused to do this, whereupon five or six attempted to throw him down, but he
dashed them to the ground. Many other retainers then came about Tereda, crying,
"Kill, kill"; but he threw them all down, seized their jittei (short iron
rods), and ran over to the prince, saying, "I am a Samurai of high rank, and it
is contrary to the dignity of my prince that I should kneel down before so
insignificant a princeling as your honourable self. I'm sorry that I had to
overthrow your men, but it was necessary to do it in order to preserve my own
dignity. Here are the jittei, which I return to you." One day, Inugami
Gunbei, a celebrated teacher of the Kiu Shin school, met Onogawa Kisaburo, the
most famous wrestler of the time, in a teahouse. They drank sake together, and
Onogawa began to brag, whereupon Inugami said that even a great wrestler might
not be able to defeat an old man like himself. The angry wrestler proposed a
trial of strength. Onogawa took hold of Inugami, saying, "Can you escape?" "Of
course, if you do not hold me more tightly." Then Onogawa grasped him more
firmly, and repeated his question. He did this three times, and when Inugami
said, "Can you do no more?" Onogawa, relaxing his grip to take a firmer hold,
was in a moment pitched over "upon his honourable back" by Inugami. This he did
twice. Onogawa was "so much surprised" that he became Inugami's pupil. Inugami
also taught Onogawa how to overcome an enemy by falling down and tripping him
up.

Another story is told, about the time of the last
Revolution, of an old Ju-Jitsu teacher in Tokio. A rumour reached him that a man
appeared every night in a suburban road and mischievously but ingeniously threw
down every passer-by. Making up his mind to chastise this fellow, the old
teacher disguised himself and went out one night to the place. Suddenly, he was
seized by a man from behind and nearly thrown down. In a moment he sank his
body, got rid of the enemy's arms, and struck the pit of the man's stomach with
his elbow. Seeing his enemy fall, he returned quietly home, and left the
apparently dead body in the roadway. Next morning a pupil came to his presence,
and, with much sorrow and repentance, said, "I used to attack passers-by every
night in a suburb to test my own ability, and just to keep my hand in. Last
night, I was there as usual. Seeing a tottering old man come towards me, I
seized him from behind and tried to throw him, but he struck me in the pit of
the stomach, and the world grew dim to me with the darkness of death. After some
time I recovered my senses, rubbed the bitterness out of my stomach, and came
home in safety." Without revealing his identity, the old teacher solemnly
rebuked the frolicsome pupil, and ordered him not to molest people in future.

The modern school of Ju-Jitsu is now known as the Kōdōkan Jūdo. The
word "Jūdo" is really no novelty, and means the doctrine of culture by
the principle of yielding or pliancy. The Kano school adopts this word in
preference to "Ju-Jitsu," for it is not only a physical training, but a moral
and intellectual one, the old form, Ju-Jitsu, being solely studied for fighting
purposes. The modern Judo gives a theoretical explanation of the doctrine, at
the same time not omitting the practical part. In the Kano-Riu, the whole course is divided into two parts—the
grades and the under-grades. The ten grades graduate according to the degree of
training, while the under-grades are divided into A, B, and C. Freshmen enter
the C class of the under-grades and work their way up to B and A, whence they
are admitted into the first grade. They go on to the sixth grade, which is the
last step of the practical training. The higher grades above the sixth are for
mental culture. No man has yet attained the tenth grade, which requires ten
years of the most arduous application. Everyone is taught gratis, but all
students take an oath to obey the rules. The police of Tokio are also
compulsorily trained in this system.

"Jūdo" aims at physical, moral, and intellectual training. "It tends to train
young people in the habits and state conducive to the accomplishment of great
things and objects. It fosters respect and kindness; fidelity and sincerity are
the essential points which Judo students should particularly observe. We come by
daily training to know that irritability is one of the weakest points we have to
try to avoid in our life, as it facilitates our opponents to avail themselves."

* I am greatly indebted to Mr. T. Shidachi, LL.B., of Tokio, who very kindly
placed many interesting records at my disposal for the purposes of the above
article.