Top Japanese Martial Arts Videos

Jujutsu   [techniques]

jujutsu, means the "art or science of softness", is a Japanese martial art consisting primarily of grappling techniques. Jujutsu evolved among the samurai of feudal Japan as a method for dispatching an armed and armored opponent in situations where the use of weapons was impractical or forbidden. Due to the difficulty of dispatching an armored opponent with striking techniques, the most efficient methods for neutralizing an enemy took the form of pins, joint locks, and throws. These techniques were developed around the principle of using an attacker's energy against him, rather than directly opposing it, and came to be known as jujutsu.
There are many variations of the art which leads to a diversity of approaches. Jujutsu schools (ryū) may utilize all forms of grappling techniques to some degree (i.e. throwing, trapping, joint locking, holds, gouging, biting, disengagements, striking, and kicking). In addition to jujutsu, many schools taught the use of weapons.
Today, jujutsu is still practiced both as it was hundreds of years ago, but also in modified forms for sport practice. The Olympic sport and martial art of judo was developed from several traditional styles of jujutsu by Kano Jigoro in the late 19th century. Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu ("Jiu-Jitsu" is a common informal romanization of "jujutsu") was developed after Mitsuyo Maeda taught judo in Brazil, but at that time was still referring to it as "Kano's jujutsu".

Kyokushin Karate   [techniques]

Kyokushin kaikan is a style of stand-up, full contact karate, founded in 1964 by Masutatsu Oyama who was born under the name Choi Yong-I. Kyokushinkai is Japanese for "the society of the ultimate truth." Kyokushin is rooted in a philosophy of self-improvement, discipline and hard training. Its full contact style has had international appeal (practitioners have over the last 40+ years numbered more than 12 million).
Kyokushin has influenced many of the "full-contact" schools of karate, emphasizing realistic combat, physical toughness, and practicality in its training curriculum. Many other martial arts organizations have "spun-off" from Kyokushin over the years, with some adding additional techniques, such as grappling, but continuing with the same philosophy of realistic and practical training methods.

Ninjutsu   [techniques]

Ninjitsu is an ancient body of spiritual and martial arts teachings designed for feudal Japanese spies and assassins. Practitioners, famously called Ninjas, developed the art in remote and mountainous areas of Japan to combat the Samurai landlords that rose to power about a millennia ago.

Shorinji Kempo   [techniques]

Shorinji Kempo was adapted from Chinese Kempo and is widely practiced in Japan. Shorinji Kempo combines religion, meditation and martial arts. It teaches a variety of techniques with striking and kicking as well as some Aikido style throws, locks and holds. Some Shorinji Kempo schools also teach a variety of healing methods.

Aiki-jujutsu   [techniques]

Aiki-jujutsu is a form of jujutsu which emphasizes "an early neutralization of an attack." Like other forms of jujutsu, it emphasizes throwing techniques and joint manipulations to effectively control, subdue or injure an attacker. It emphasizes using the timing of an attack to either blend or neutralize its effectiveness and use the force of the attacker's movement against them. Daito-ryu is characterized by the ample use of atemi, or the striking of vital areas, in order to set up their jointlocking or throwing tactics. Some of the art's striking methods employ the swinging of the outstretched arms to create power and to hit with the fists at deceptive angles as can be observed in techniques such as the atemi which sets up gyaku ude-dori or 'reverse elbow lock'. Tokimune regarded one of the unique characteristics of the art to be its preference for controlling a downed attacker's joints with one's knee in order to leave one's hands free to access one's weapons or to deal with the threat of other oncoming attackers.