Where did Judo Come From?
Judo was refined and developed from jujitsu. The beginning of Japan’s jujitsu systems is considered to be the takenouchi-ryu martial art system founded in 1532 by Takenouchi Hisamori. For the next several hundred years the martial arts were studied and refined by Samurai who made a lifetime pursuit of some twenty or thirty martial arts. Of these arts only jujitsu was based on weaponless self defense. More than 700 different jujitsu systems existed by the mid-1800’s. The most popular of which were takenouchi-ryu, jikishin-ryu, kyushinryu, yoshin-ryu, mirua-ryu, sekiguchi-ryu, kito-ryu, and tenshin-shinyo-ryu. Kito-ryu and tenshin-shinyo-ryu were integral in Judo's development.
It was during this time that the political climate in Japan dissolved into chaos. When Commodore Perry visited Japan in the mid-1850's it permanently changed Japanese civilization by bringing them out of their long isolation. At the time of the Meiji Restoration, in 1868, Imperial Rule was restored and so began the decline of the Samurai class and along with it a rapid decline in all martial arts. While the government did not ban the martial arts, people were not encouraged to become practitioners because the individual was of secondary importance to the state. As the samurai class declined so did the practice of jujitsu and many established schools began to disappear.
The Meiji Restoration would be the death of the concept of Budo. If it was to survive it needed to adapt into a tool to cultivate the individual and create a better person. Budo therefore found its future in the form of physical education and sport.
It was during this time that the political climate in Japan dissolved into chaos. When Commodore Perry visited Japan in the mid-1850's it permanently changed Japanese civilization by bringing them out of their long isolation. At the time of the Meiji Restoration, in 1868, Imperial Rule was restored and so began the decline of the Samurai class and along with it a rapid decline in all martial arts. While the government did not ban the martial arts, people were not encouraged to become practitioners because the individual was of secondary importance to the state. As the samurai class declined so did the practice of jujitsu and many established schools began to disappear.
The Meiji Restoration would be the death of the concept of Budo. If it was to survive it needed to adapt into a tool to cultivate the individual and create a better person. Budo therefore found its future in the form of physical education and sport.
