From what I have read Judo was based on Jui Jitsu. So I was wondering how different they were? Anyone done either of them? Would love to hear what you have to say about them, cheers.

Judo was originally derived using techniques from two or three different Ju-jitsu systems. So it will obviously bear some similarity to those particular systems, but it might not look much like some other Ju-jitsu style. There are many different Ju-jitsu styles to choose from, with a huge range of technical differences between them.

That said, there are common threads through most Ju-jitsu styles that you'll see in the West. So you'd probably find that what you learn in Judo is roughly a subset of the techniques you'll find in most Ju-jitsu clubs.

Mike

Kodokan Judo was founded by Kano Jigoro in 1882 after Kano was awarded Menkyo Kaiden (full teaching licences) in Tenjin Shinyo-ryu jujutsu and Kito-ryu jujutsu. Jujutsu practice at that time in 1800's Japan with randori (sparring) was rather dangerous at times, with very few safety parameters. Many of the techniques were designed for combat, therefore instead of joint locks, you had joint destruction techniques, throws where the enemy would land on his head and break his neck and so on and striking techniques. (Basically what a lot of Karate kata bunkai are like, grappling-wise.)

Kano Jigoro, who was an educator wanted to devise a similar spiritual, mental & physical training vehicle, but with safer training parameters. Kano also introduced a new grading system in budo, the Dan-I system (Kyu & Dan grades which were later adopted by many Okinawan budo systems) Prior to the dan-i system, classical Japanese budo systems used licences of proficiency called menkyo. Depending on the system there were as many as two to nine levels throughout the entire system, which meant that you spent a considerable amount of time on one level (A good number of years to say the least.)

Today, Kodokan Judo is mainly a recognized Olympic sport. Judo is a system of grappling, consisting of throwing techniques, joint locking techniques and strangulation techniques. There are officially, 67 throwing techniques & 29 grappling techniques (Joint locks & strangulations). Originally, there were many more techniques in Judo mainly in the grappling area such as, headlocks, necklocks, spinelocks and wristlocks and leglocks. Most of these are now disallowed in regular judo practice and are very rarely taught in Japan. There are also about 14 kata (Mainland Japanese budo is very different from Okinawan/Ryukyu budo - Kata are skill sets of seperate techniques done with a training partner, rather than a sequence of techniques strung together done solo.)

Koryu jujutsu, depending on the ryu, focus mainly on kata (however a good number of remaining schools still do randori) to preserve the techniques in the fighting tradition of the ryu. None of the techniques have a sporting application, they either teach basic principles of body mechanics in relation to grappling, throwing or striking or teach principles of combative application. A lot of koryu jujutsu techniques are based on scenario training, where the student is placed in situations where he is grabbed, being struck, being kicked, being attacked with weapons or being attacked by multiple enemies.Due to the historical link of the Samurai with classical jujutsu, depending on the system, it will have a number of integrated techniques where jujutsu and weaponry are used, almost interchangeably. Some koryu jujutsu ryuha will teach in addition to jujutsu; Kenjutsu, iai, bojutsu, shurikenjutsu and other weapons disciplines.

Tenjin Shinyo-ryu jujutsu, studied by Kano Jigoro comprised of 124 jujutsu techniques. In essence, it taught very few weapons techniques eventhough it contained weapons defences. Training in this ryu comprised of six levels; Tehodoki, Shodan, chudan, nagesute, Shiai ura and gokui jodan.

1. Tehodoki are 12 basic seated techniques where the trainee learns to apply various principles of locking joints, breaking the enemy's balance, escaping from various grabs and striking (including vital points).

2. In the shodan section, Basic versions of combat techniques are taught in various situations. The Shodan is split up into two sets; Idori and tachi-ai. There are ten techniques in each set. In these sets, the trainee as both defender and attacker learns striking, joint locking, strangulation and a number of throwing techniques.

3. In the chudan section, the techniques learned in the shodan are extrapolated on and are made more combative in nature, employing more restraining techniques and chokeholds. There are also a number of new techniques introduced, such as spinelocks and renkoho (arrest techniques) Again, the section is split up into two sets, idori and tachi-ai. In this section, there are 14 techniques to each set.

4. Nagesute are 20 very combative, very destructive techniques from various attacks where the student learns to use throwing techniques in a way where it is hard for the enemy to breakfall or escape. For this set, training partners should have at least 5 years training, since the velocity of the throws are rather fierce. All techniques are done at full speed with commitment.

5. Shiai-Ura are 24 grappling techniques where a number of the previously learned techniques in the system are applied by the enemy and reversed by the student. Escaped to certain chokes, jointlocks, pins and restraints are taught and applied in training.

6. Gokui Jodan is the culmination of training in Tenjin Shinyo-ryu combative technique. The teaching format goes back to idori and tachi-ai sets where each set is comprised of 10 techniques. In this section, advanced principles are taught and applied to techniques previously learned and certain new combative techniques are taught.

There are other koryu jujutsu ryu that have completely different teaching methods and techniques. No one ryuha are the same, unless directly related via lineage.