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Ju Jitsu is the early Japanese empty handed self defense. It was developed over 1,000 years ago for the Samurai class for protection in the event they were caught without a weapon. There are many styles that developed over the centuries, and they tend to use the same expedient utilized in Karate in terms of destructive techniques (see Karate section in striking page).
Ju Jitsu emphasizes grappling, much like wrestling, and teaches self defense in ground fighting as well as standing. They will also focus on throws, strikes, blocks, etc. As the different styles vary to such a great degree, understanding the history and lineage of the art is more important than a newer art where the founder's vision is well defined.
Judo was the modernization of Ju Jitsu performed by Kano Sensei early in the 20th century. The basic idea of Judo is to take the balance of the attacker. If he pushes, you pull, etc. Ultimately, the objective is to throw the opponent. If a solid throw is not performed, both wind up on the ground and an attempt is made to force the opponent to submit through grappling. While competition is the primary form of training, some katas are also taught. It may be difficult to imagine how such focused training can result in genuine self defense skills, but the conditioning in Judo is actually easily applied against strikes when one finds themselves faced with that situation in real life.
Some schools teach a mixture of Judo and Aikido called either Tomiki Aikido (after it's founder) or Shodokan. Actually, they use the techniques of Aikido with the training methods of Judo (competition). This is an example of a mixture discussed in the lower section of the home page.
Aikido is the newest of the Japanese inventions, developed by Ueshiba Sensei as a transformation of Daito Ryu Ju Jitsu. Aikido does not employ an expedient with regard to destructive techniques, but emphasizes the building of character early on as in traditional Tai Chi. Aikido never developed into a competitive sport, but remained as a traditional art. While competition certainly has strengths as a training method, the restrictions placed on practitioners during competition are not realistic for self defense and can lead to a false sense of security. In addition, many people seek to win and dominate others, which violates the idea of building character. While competition is certainly a valid method with important strengths, the founder of Aikido indicated his art should not employ it for these reasons. Finally, while throws and pins are emphasized, the idea is not to take the attacker's balance as in Judo, but lead them with circular movement.
Training begins with repetitive practice of individual techniques, as no katas are utilized in this art. Circular movements are used to evade an attack and control the attacker, ultimately ending with a throw or pin. Gradually, variety is introduced into the process, ending with a multiple (4 or 5) person attack against any form of attack utilizing any technique. Defense against weapons are also emphasized, sometimes in multiple attacks as well.
Mixed martial arts (MMA) is an excellent modern invention where people cross train in several arts and then compete in a very limited rules setting. The process is best described as "hard core." Some of the most prevalent arts utilized are Brazilian Ju Jitsu, Muay Thai boxing, Ninjitsu and wrestling. In most situations, grappling arts tend to dominate the competitions, and so this form is in the throwing section.
While this approach has great potential, many people tend to rely overly on the "realism" of the competitions as pointing definitively to the most effective techniques or martial arts. Based upon the tendency of one technique to be successful, many practitioners reason scientifically that those are the techniques one should focus on in their training. However, the rules do not allow competition in darkness, on slippery surfaces, defense against sneak attacks, multiple attacks or weapons attacks. Finally, competing with an intention to kill an attacker is precluded. Thus, the differences between this training method and realistic situations is still large, leading one to develop a false sense of security based upon success in competition. One must be very careful to avoid this pitfall.
Ultimately, the cause of effective self defense cannot be found in the choice of technique via scientific testing as discussed above, and so one must approach training in a different manner. Finally, while this method is a good means of testing one's art, but it is probably far too dangerous for the typical "weekend warrior."
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