Taijutsu

Taijutsu is a method of using the body for self defence. Before there was Aikido, Judo, Karate etc, many believe there was the Japanese art of Taijutsu. Actually, Taijutsu is the collective name for any martial art that relies on body dynamics. In some lines of aikido the word taijutsu denotes all aikido work without weapons.

Taijutsu is a martial art which may include strikes, kicks, joint locks, throws and many of the techniques found in the above mentioned (Aikido, Judo, Karate, etc), it depends on the particular ryuha. While most of its aspects appear external, the dedicated student will find many internal aspects as well.

Taijutsu is commonly associated with the schools that supposedly teach Ninjutsu, although there are many ryuha with no relation to Ninjutsu that have Taijutsu in their curriculum. Asayama Ichiden ryu[?] is just one example, there are far too many to list them all. Taijutsu was used by Bushi/Samurai, some Ninja also used their own version of Taijutsu.

Currently, most Taijutsu schools operate under the X-kan dojo. There are, however, a few which teach lesser known stylings of Taijutsu.

• Taijutsu (Unarmed self-protection)
  • Junan Taiso[?] (Body Conditioning)
  • Taihenjutsu[?] (Body movement)
    • Ukemi[?] (Breakfalls)
    • Kaiten[?] (Rolling)
    • Tobi[?] (Leaping)
  • Dakentaijutsu[?] (Striking Methods)
    • Koppojutsu[?] (Bone attacks)
    • Koshijutsu[?] (Muscle attcks)
  • Jutaijutsu[?] (Grappling methods)
    • Nage[?] (Throws)
    • Hajutsu[?] (Escapes)
    • Gyakuwaza[?] (Locks and controls)
    • Shimewaza[?] (Chokes)

A Taijutsu ryuha may contain anywhere between just one category to all categories of the list above and more.

External links

• The Bujinkan (http://www.bujinkan.com)
• The Genbukan (http://www.genbukan.org)
• The Temple of the Full Autumn Moon (http://www.tfam.com) which teaches a lesser known styling of Taijutsu/Ninjitsu along with Tai Chi and Ba Gua.