British Federation of Ju-Jitsu Butokukai
Technical principles
In ju-jitsu, physical strength is not used, natural forces are employed instead: inertia and gravity, one’s own force and that of the adversary, in combining them rationally. In this way, it can be used effectively against much stronger opponents.
Rational use is also made of the muscular force of the adversary and of his pressure points as well as one’s own internal energy, concentrated in the ‘hara’ (a point in the body close to its centre of gravity).
For Butokukai ju-jitsu, a good technique must have the following properties, without omitting a single one:
- You must be able to apply it against opponents up to five times stronger than you, without injuring them seriously
- When performing the technique, you must not expose, even for an instant, any one of your pressure points
- The technique must be very hard to counter
- If it should fail, you must be able instantly to follow through with another, ‘good’ technique, that is to say one with all of the properties of a good technique
- You must be able to use it in one moment, that of the opponent’s attack, or in two stages at most
- You must be able to apply it immediately without warm-up, as you do not have the time to warm up in the case of sudden attack
- It must be usable at almost any age
- It must be ‘polyvalent’, that is to say applicable in highly varied combat situations
- It must be practised with a particular mind-set: ‘the mind of the Bushi should be like the surface of a still lake, so as to reflect reality faithfully’