Rise of Koryu Jujitsu - Jujitsu, Muay Thia and MMA Training

With the gradual decline of battlefield combat in Japan after 1601, the emphasis in combat instruction changed from battlefield art to personal protection in a civilian setting. It became more and more a means for an individual to defend himself in the face of attack in daily life. Thus, the nature of jujitsu changed in response to changing social conditions. It was the last period of open feudal warfare in Japan that gave rise to what generally considered the first jujitsu ryu, as opposed to bugei ryu, which was concerned only with military combat.

The Takenouchi ryu was founded in 1552. Although it certainly taught many military weapon skills, it also taught a large array of empty-hand combat skills that were derived from yoroi-kumichi grappling arts. (grappling in armor). Takenouchi ryu began a shift in emphasis toward hand-to-hand skills that grew stronger in the peaceful Edo period. Succession was passed on only to family member, and within two generations, the emphasis was almost entirely on nonmilitary technique. This shift was due to the wish of the school's founder, Takenouchi
Hisamori. He declared that his sons should divorce themselves from allegiance to any powerful warlords. This decision was the result of his own bad experiences with the warlords, and this declaration meant that school taught people from all social castes, most of whom were not allowed weapons and were not of the military classes. Thus, the emphasis naturally had to fall on civilian self-defense.

The Takenouchi ryu had a tremendous influence on may ryu in Japan. As the long-term peace of the Edo period wound on the military arts withered, it became the standard model for the koru jujitsu schools. IT was in this time that traditional jujitsu, arose as an independent predominantly weaponless system of self-defense in everyday situations. Whereas the roots of the earlier bugei/bujutsu arts are set in the aristocratic warrior caste, the roots of koryu jujitsu are much more plebeian. Most of the demand for a weaponless fighting art came from the commoners, who were forbidden from carrying weapons. This "common people's yayara" became popular in the Edo period with manuals that demonstrated techniques written and released for the public. The idea was to give civilians the techniques written and released for the public. The idea was to give civilians the techniques to defend themselves from the kinds of situations that they  might find themselves in during the course of daily living. Old documents show the existence of at least 170 koryu jujitsu schools by the mid-Edo period, demonstrating well the degree of popularity they enjoyed as they came to replace the classical military arts.

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