"Bujutsu" consists of two characters: 'Bu', which signifies "military or martial", and 'jutsu', "art, craft, method, technique or magic". "Bujutsu", the word, sums up all of the military arts of Japan. Bugei is another term which is used predominantly in connection with battlefield arts. Bujutsu could also indicate police techniques, including modern methods.

Bujutsu has technical and practical aspects. In Japanese history we can see three types of bujutsu:

minzoku-bujutsu ("national martial art")
ryugi-bujutsu ("martial art of [classical] schools")
shin-bujutsu ("new martial art").

Minzoku-bu-jutsu

Minzoku-bujutsu are martial arts which existed before the appearance of the first schools of martial arts, the majority of these were pre 14th century methods.

Minzoku-bujutsu could be considered to be the beginning of the development of martial arts. Tactics and methods were very primitive and poorly organized. By the end of the 13th century only one formal type of bujutsu had formed, sumai or sumo. Besides sumo, a two other methods began to develop. Some men gained relatively high levels of horseback archery (kisha) and wrestling in amour (kumiuchi, yoroi-gumi). Although these forms began to develop, they were still very primitive. Later, these and many other forms of highly cerfisticated and intelligent Military tactics were developed.

When we talk about Martial Arts of this time, it is important to understand a little bit about kembu; ritual dancing with swords.

Kembu was closely connected with the cult of sword use to the national Japanese Religion of Shinto. It is probable that besides the purest, ritual function of this practice, it would also have been used in a similar fashion to kata, to teach warriors methods of fencing. Later kembu was synthesized into a number of ryu.

But it is not right to underestimate the value of this period in the history of Japanese martial tradition. First, at this time the theoretical base of coming classical bujutsu was built. It was related, first of all, with active borrowing of the achievements of Chinese military ideas.

We tell about famous military treatises - "Sun-zi", "Wu-zi", "Liu tao", "Sima Fa", "San Liue", "Wei Liau-Zi", "Li Wei-gong Wendui" and others. Since 8th century they were good advisers for Japanese generals, and all later development of bujutsu based on the ideas of Chinese classics. In all classical bujutsu we can find various interpretations of Sun-zi's genius ideas about completeness and emptiness, about changes, about power.

Second, it was a time of forming the military estate, which became the main carrier of military tradition in the country.

Third, wars against Ains, battles between bushi, struggle against the Mongol's invasion were the natural selection of most effective methods of war from strategy and tactics to hand-to-hand combat.

Ryugi-bujutsu

In the first half of 14th century the first ryu, official academies of martial art, appeared in Japan. We don't know what school was the first, but most Japanese researchers think that it was Nen-ryu, founded by a Zen monk Jion and became a source for a number of large bujutsu ryuha.

Appearance of the martial arts schools in Japan at this period was conformed to the laws of nature. It was a period when bushi finally established their power in Japan, headed by Ashikaga family, who's representatives were lucky to frustrate the last attempt of the Emperor's court to restore the supremacy.

Establishing a shogun as a form of bushi ruling, furthered to grow of the prestige of military craft and realizing it as special martial art or even as sacred action.

Breaking of the country onto the various feudal kingdoms, which owners persistent - in evidence and in secret - fought against each other, also furthered the picking special territorially-family traditions out from the full ancient "national" military art, and changing them into independent schools, served to individual feudal houses.

Strong competition in all branches of military art in conditions of wars, where military supremacy was the main factor of surviving, demanded of bushi a high degree of mental and physical efforts on the development of their own skill.

Methods of martial arts was researched in detail, developed and tested on battlefields. It was a selection of the most effective martial methods, which were later grouped and transmitted to the next generations, from soke to soke.

Different conditions - time, place, outer influence or keeping local and family's traditions, rank of master or founder - of the origin of individual bujutsu ryuha followed by creation various different styles.

From the other side typical for all bujutsu of any subject was unity.

Methods of managing the big military detachment, sword-fencing, military espionage all were joined by the same ideas, principles, mental statements. It is not by chance that in medieval period military strategy and sword-fencing was called by one term "heiho" - "law of war".

At the 18th century there was about a hundred different bujutsu. Listed below are some of the more prominent areas of study.

• Military strategy and art of tactics ("gunpo" - "laws of war")
• heiho - military strategy
• senjo-jutsu - tactics, managing troops, maneuvering
• soren - preparing and training of the troops (movement, formation, setting up a camp and so on)
• gungaku - military art as science (theory of military art, studying of its principles and nature)
• Also there exist several small but important disciplines, canonized by some bujutsu. schools
• gumbai ("general's fan") - managing troops on the battlefield by general's fan
• gunkai, jinkai, gunra - using special shells for giving signals on the battlefield
• Naval war (suigun)
• sengunpo - tactics of naval battle
• sosenpo - preparing and training warship's crew
• suigaku - naval war as science
• Fortification (chikujo-jutsu)
• Building fortresses, castles, fortifications, founding suitable places for building by divination (fusui) and so on
• Military espionage and reconnaissance (ninjutsu)
• Full collection of methods of intelligence (tyoho, kantyo) and reconnaissance (sekko), methods of sabotage, assassination. Ninjutsu also include a number of additional but independent subjects: henso-jutsu (methods of changing clothes), onshi-jutsu (methods of disguise), shinobiiri (entering the enemy's camp), inton-jutsu (methods of confusing the pursuit) and so on
• Hand-to-hand combat without weapon
  • Such bujutsu are very hard to classify due to a big amount of items
  • Barehanded combat without clothes:
    It contains only one item - sumo wrestling.
  • Barehanded combat in amours:
    depending on class of amours it divides on kumiuchi (yoroi-kumiuchi, katchu-gumi) and kogusoku (koshi-no-mavari)
  • Barehanded combat in clothes:
    Jujutsu - proper Japanese methods of fighting:
    hobaku (methods of capturing the enemy alive, taking him prisoner);
    toride ("seizing hands" - police subsystem);
    aiki-jutsu (kind of jujutsu, based on using inner energy "ki").
    Tai-jutsu. Some researchers think that it is a term for methods of physical preparing, second - that it is simplified jujutsu, without strikes into vulnerable points and joint locks, popular among usual people, third think that it is special kinds of barehanded combat, used by ninja, fourth see on "tai-jutsu" as a synonym for "jujutsu".
    Chinese-like and pseudo-Chinese styles (kempo). Their distinguished feature was strike's predominance (no any word about karate).
    Famous Japanese researchers Vatatani Yuki and Yamada Tadashi distinguish yet another branch of barehanded combat. They call it "kiken-jutsu" - "dangerous arts". Kiken-jutsu contains koppo ("teaching about bones"; break-bones methods), goho ("fierce teaching", or kassatsu-jutsu - "art of life and death"; using small and secret weapon in addition to jujutsu and kempo methods) and kosshi-jutsu (genkotsu, shito-jutsu; methods of striking and pressing vulnerable points)
  • Hand-to-hand combat with using side-arms
• ken-jutsu (sword fencing), including fencing with short sword-kodachi (wakijashi) and fencing with two swords - long and short (ryoto);
  iai-jutsu (instantaneous unsheathing sword for defense or counterattack, (usually in sitting position), including batto-jutsu (instantaneous unsheathing sword for defense or counterattack in nonstandard situation, for example, during walking)
• naginata-jutsu (halberd fencing)
• so-jutsu (spear fighting)
• kama-jutsu (sickle fighting), including fighting by kusari-gama (sickle on the chain), jin-gama (big sickle-scythe) and nicho-gama (double sickles)
• kusari-jutsu (art of fighting by chain), including art of fighting by tama-gusari (chain with small weight on one end), fundo-gusari (chain with small weights on both ends) and gekigan (flail)
• bo-jutsu (pole fighting)
• jo-jutsu (stick fighting)
• tetsubo-jutsu (steel-club fighting)
• jutte-jutsu (fighting by metallic club with side piece)
• tessen-jutsu (fighting by combat fan)
• sodegarami-jutsu (fighting by long hook)
• sasumata-jutsu (fighting by military fork)
• tanto-jutsu (fighting by knife)
  • Using of throwing weapon:
    kyu-jutsu (archery), including kisha (or yabusame: throwing an arrow from the horseback during the gallop), hankyu (using small "half-bow") doki (using catapult's during storming the enemy's fortifications)
  • shuriken-jutsu (methods of throwing different blades, knifes, "stars", nails, needles and so on)
  • utine (throwing the special heavy arrows)
  • fuki-bari-jutsu (throwing the poisonous needles from the pipe)
  • fukumi-bari-jutsu (spitting the poisonous needles from the mouth)
  • toate-jutsu (defeating the enemy from the distance - throwing sand or special powder into the eyes, throwing the stones, blinding by mirrors and so on)
  • Using firearms and incendiary mixtures (ka-jutsu)
  • ho-jutsu (using firearms and artillery)
  • jun-ho-jutsu ("undeveloped ho-jutsu"; methods of shooting by arrows, bullets and rockets from the pipes filled by gunpowder)
• noroshi-jutsu (using signal light)
• enka (or emmaku; using smokescreen for masking troops)
• Auxiliary arts:
  suiei-jutsu (yuei-jutsu; methods of combat swimming in amours);
  suijohoko-jutsu (organisation and preparing the ferry, methods of producing and using things for crossing from the local materials);
  ba-jutsu (art of horseback riding), including suiba (crossing the rivers on horse back) and dakyu (kind of samurai's "sport" like modern polo, used for studying acrobatic methods possible on horse);
  kattyu-ryu (methods of fast and correct putting the amours on);
  tameshi (or suemono; methods of testing the sword by cutting up different things)
• sokuryo-jutsu (determine the distance and military topography)
• hojo-jutsu (methods of tie the enemy)
• hayagake-jutsu (methods of increasing speed during walking or running)
• karumi-jutsu (art of lightening own body for jumping or climbing up).
  Methods of moral-mental preparing (shinpo)
• taisoku ("abdomen breathing")
• naikan (inner contemplation, meditation)
• saimin-jutsu (art of hypnosis), including shunkan saimin-jutsu (methods of instantaneous hypnotizing the enemy)
• Teaching about "ki" energy and its using in military art (kiai-jutsu).

For providing the army with specialists of all kinds daimyo supported existed schools of necessary kinds and stimulated the creation the new schools with necessary specialisation. For example, in the middle of the 16th century due to orders of lords Takeda Shingen and Uesugi Kenshin there were canonised such schools of ninjutsu as Takeda-ryu, Ninko-ryu and Kaji-ryu.

Shinbu-jutsu

At 1868 Japan entered the new period of its history. After bourgeois revolution Meiji-isin 300-years ruling of Tokugava's shoguns failed, the period of samurai's domination finished. In 1871 edict claimed the disbandment of the samurai's detachments and abolition the privileges of samurai estate. Japan became open for world and began the process of modernisation, directed to decreasing lag from the West.

As a result bujutsuka found themselves in very hard situation. First, after disappearing samurai estate they lost their social base. Second, technical rearmament and military reforming in west manner made many bujutsu obsolete. In that time they didn't perceive even as museum's exhibits.

It was necessary to radically reform bujutsu., which could help at least for some of them to prolong its life. And the way out was found. In 1882 Jigoro Kano claimed about the creation of new system - judo.

At first time his school was considered as yet another school of jujutsu, but it turned out soon that this system had a number of principal differences from old schools.

By changing word "jutsu" for the word "do" - "way" - Kano threw away the previous aim - practical effectiveness, and claimed that the main purpose is moral-mental improving, reaching the ethic ideal. Ideas of Jigoro Kano were accepted, in the same way there were created kendo, kyudo and so on.

Besides budo, at the end of 19th and beginning of 20th century some new Japanese military arts appeared. We tell about juken-jutsu (bayonet combat), toshu-kakato (military system of hand-to-hand combat, created by Chiba Sanshu), taiho-jutsu (police system of seizing the criminals), keibo-soho (fighting by police club) and so on.