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The debate of Jujutsu's origin has been going on for years and is dependent on your research sources. I have compiled information from numerous sources and consolidated it into the below information. If you have any information concerning Jujutsu that you feel should be added, please feel free to provide it in the feedback form. Jujutsu, or otherwise known as the "gentle or flexible art", is among the most effective and potentially destructive martial arts. It is the oldest of the martial arts, starting back over 2,500 years ago. The first recorded appearance of Jujutsu was in the period of 772 - 481 BC, during the Choon Chu era of China. In 230 BC, a Japanese wrestling sport of Chikura Kurabe was developed, and those techniques later served as the base of modern Jujutsu. In 23 BC, Morni-no-Sukune killed his opponent Tayimi-no-Keyaya using grappling and kicking techniques. Jujutsu's origin can be traced back to one of China's oldest martial arts, Chiao-Ti(a grappling system of self-defense). In AD 525, Boddhidharma, a Zen Buddhist monk, traveled from India to China and incorporated Yoga breathing techniques into Jujutsu. China has had a major influence on Japanese culture and martial arts development. It is also said that Jujutsu did not evolve from one source and that it instead had multiple roots and traveled through many Asian countries before its final development in Japan. Whether or not Jujutsu's origins were from China is not as important as the fact that it was the Japanese who refined it into a formidable martial art form. At one time Jujutsu was known as Kumi-Uchi(grappling techniques). These skills were utilized by the samarai warrior when he found himself in close-quarter combat situations. Perhaps deprived of his weapons or thrown from his horse, the warrior needed a method of freeing himself, incapacitating his enemy, and tying up his captives for ransom. Over the centuries various masters of Kumi-Uchi emerged and formed fighting schools. The empty-hand styles of Kumi-Uchi were referred to as "yawara" and later, in the eighteenth century, "Jujutsu". In its early form Jujutsu was primarily concerned with empty-hand combat in battle, belonging to the bujutsu(martial arts forms of Japanese combat). Not until much later, when peace reigned, did various more aesthetic forms of Jujutsu emerge, which were inclined more towards Budo(the martial ways). Jigoro Kano, the founder of modern Judo, and his successors continued the refinement of Jujutsu to the point where most of the lethal and crippling techniques of the art were eliminated and a sport emerged. There is an enormous gulf separating the death-dealing Jujutsu methods of early Japan, and the perceptions commonly held by most Westerners of the art. Jujutsu is a generic term that is commonly applied to all Japanese systems of hand-to-hand combat in which the practitioner is minimally armed. From the seventeenth century onward the term included such distinctly different systems as Kumi-Uchi, Kogusoku, Koshi-no-Mawari, and others. Jujutsu, however, was only one manner of waging hand-to-hand combat through the use of techniques that used the principle of "Ju" or flexibility. The samarai warrior considered Jujutsu to be a secondary system of combat, always attached to some major system involving the use of the sword. He did not insist that the techniques of Jujutsu be applied only to empty-hand fighting. With the demise of the samarai warrior class in Japan and the rise of the common man, Jujutsu became "the product of mans needs" in a civilized environment, with emphasis on self-defense against an armed or unarmed adversary. Most early Jujutsu schools were also associated with one or more weapon systems. Empty-hand methods therefore supplemented the weapon techniques virtually as a reserve or complimentary weapon. The earliest of these schools is said to have been Daito-Ryu Aiki-Jujutsu, founded by General Shinra Savuro Yoshimitsu during the Kamakura period(1185-1336). One source says the techniques of Jujutsu were being taught to samarai warriors around 1100 AD. Another source says the school was formed in 880 AD by Prince Teijin. The Daito is a 39 inch-long sword, carried by the samarai. The second oldest Ryu was the Take-no-Uchi-Ryu, founded in 1532 by Prince Toichiro(aka Hisamori) Takeuchi. He studied a number of different combat systems, from which he formed his own style, stressing immobilization techniques, as well as those of close combat with daggers. The adopted son of Japan's most famous swordsman, Miyamoto Jusashi(Arake Matemon), founded the famous Yagyu-Ryu. He also combined grappling with the use of weapons. Another source says this; that in 1532, Hisamori Tenenuchi formed the school of Jujutsu in Japan. The art continued to flourish during the Tokugawa era (1600's) and became part of samarai training. Jujutsu became a martial art of the aristocracy and only the rich and noble had access to it. It was passed down from father to son in the clans. The vital points of the body used by Jiu-Jitsu students in an attack or defensive situation are the same as those employed in Karate, Kung Fu, and other Asian martial arts. The Tenjin-Shinyo-Ryu School of Jujutsu founded by Iso Mataemon(aka Masatari Yanani) is particularly famous for its vital-point attacks (Atemi-Waza), immobilization methods(Torae) and strangleholds (Shime). The origins of Tenjin-Shinyo-Ryu Jujutsu are generally considered to have been a result of the fusion of both Yoshin Ryu and the Shin-no-Shindo Jujutsu. One source indicates that around 1800, Japan became somewhat united and there were many changes in the Japanese society. As a result of these changes, there was a reduction of samarai warriors to the status of the common citizen. In his new position the samarai could no longer carry his sword. He was forced to rely solely on empty-handed techniques as a means of defending himself. Jigoro Kano, founder of modern Judo, began his martial arts training by studying Tenjin-Shinyo-Ryu in 1877 and developed the art of Judo in 1882. Judo or "gentle way" was developed as a new way of teaching the art of Jujutsu and was adapted into a sport in order to increase its popularity and offer a safety by only using selected techniques taken from Jujutsu. In the 1920's, Morihei Ueshiba developed the art of Aiki-Jitsu, once again drawing on the techniques of Jujutsu and refining them into a more specialized and esoteric art. In 1942, he began to teach a fully developed form called Aikido. Jujutsu made its way into the west in the early 20th century. While there is no single style of Jujutsu that predominates in North America today, most practitioners seem to cover the same basic materials in their studies, although there is a number of variations in the emphasis, be that towards the impact, throwing or locking sides. There are two distinct types of Jujutsu; classical and modern. Classical Jujutsu is a very different phenomenon from todays modern variety of the art. What has been described as the history of Jujutsu is the classical Jujutsu. There are very few classical Jujutsu schools. They are primarily in Japan and very traditional in their methods of teaching. Modern Jujutsu on the other hand is almost exclusively a western phenomenon and is practiced by thousands throughout the U.S. and Europe. In common with classical Jujutsu there are many different styles of modern Jujutsu with their own philosophies and emphasis. Some dojos practice in the use of weapons while others market their systems as all encompassing, but unarmed fighting. Then again, some modern Jujutsu styles take methods and techniques from other martial arts such as Kali-Arnis, Muay Thai and boxing. It must be said that modern Jujutsu is not a contest of muscular skill and strength. The art relies excessively on balance, leverage and speed to affect the necessary movements, at which point, strength is applied. Because leverage is so important, Jujutsu tends to wipe out the differences in size, weight, height and reach between opponents, evening out the odds. Jujutsu as a martial art is equally accessible to men and women and is potentially far more devastating than its counterpart, Judo. While the actual number of techniques may be relatively small(50 - 60), the variations and flexibility within the system is limited only by the practitioners ability to understand and apply the techniques. For a very in-depth discussion on the history of Jujutsu, please go to the USMAA website.
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