Dakentaijutsu and Jutaijutsu
By Pertti Ruha, Translated by Luke Crocker
The multi-directional movements and solid body skills they develop in kosshijutsu and koppojutsu can tactically used in two ways;
- Yawara 柔 soft
- Daken 打拳 striking with “ken”
Ken is a broad concept and I’ll come back for it later.
With “Daken” encounter, percussions and striking (tataki utsu or kōda; 叩打) on the opponent, while the man with “yawara” rotates, snares and twist the opponent’s articulations (or lack thereof).
The term “yawara” or “jū” comes from, in connection with Gyokko-Ryū, the previously mentioned book “Sanryaku” which states that “soft skills govern the hard” (jūyoku seigō; 柔能制剛).
There is a phrase that is well known in martial arts circles and they usually refer to it as a reference to soft techniques (jūjitsu) will always triumph over harsh methods.
But that’s only half the story, for in the paragraph after the Sanryaku attributed it to”
“That which is hard and soft are in a state of increasing knowledge! Anyone who can be strong and weak is in a state of increasing growth! If you are only soft and weak, you are on the decline. If you are only strong and fierce, one becomes inevitably destroyed.”
Sanryaku is describing here the battle of Tao, into harmony between hard and soft. The taijutsu is a direct expression of the Tao and includes both hard and soft parts, uses both weakness and strength in their tactics. In the oldest original documents we have called it jūtaijutsu (science of the supple body; 柔体術) also “Jūppō sesshō no Jutsu” (science of negotiation in ten directions; 十方折衝之術).
Daken Taijutsu (science of striking with the fists; 打拳体術) is also based on this Tao, but one of the former principals, probably Izumō Kanja Yoshiteru who lived in the 1300s, has developed the concept a step further by breaking it down into nine components which are baptized into kangi (defensive strike; 扞打), gogi (protection skills; 護技), hakugi (sweeping skills; 掃技), etc., that you build up to result in “Aite wo Kudaki oru“, ie “destroy the enemy”. A politically incorrect interpretation of this principle is that “crackdown on those who can not defend themselves.”
Three of our schools are focused on dakentaijutsu and jūtaijutsu; Takagi Yōshin-Ryū, Kukishinden-ryū and Shinden Fudō-Ryū.
Another name that appeared on Kukishinden-ryū dakentaijutsu is Kijin Chosui-ryū dakentaijutsu. Takagi Yōshin-Ryū now goes under the name jūtaijutsu but was called dakentaijutsu in the 1600s. According to legend Shinden Fudō-Ryū teaches that it has the same origin as Gyokko-Ryū, ie kosshijutsu.
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