“Ju-” can be translated to mean “gentle, supple, flexible, pliable, or yielding.” “Jutsu” can be translated to mean “art” or “technique” and represents manipulating the opponent’s force against himself rather than confronting it with one’s own force. Jujutsu developed among the samurai of feudal Japan as a method for defeating an armed and armored opponent in which one uses no weapon, or only a short weapon. Because striking against an armored opponent proved ineffective, practitioners learned that 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.
We have two main goals at Willowtree: They are to preserve the Art of Aiki Jujitsu but firstly to provide students with tools that they can utilize for their own self defense. Techniques are clearly delineated into skills developing exercises and self defensive moves for either social situation or life preservation.
The same techniques can be varied in degrees of force to either restrain or disable one’s opponent depending on the conditions and situation.
We teach the key principles of Aiki Jujistu from a physical perspective . These are Awareness, Breathing, Distance, Balance, Focus, Blending, Striking and Distraction.
For a psychological approach to self defense we suggest reading this article by Dr. Mike Mandel called The psychology of Self-Defense.