Martial arts in the Center of Edinburgh

Beginners always welcome

History Of Jitsu

Jitsu History by Dave Walker, UK Director of The Jitsu Foundation.

A Brief History of Jitsu , by Rory.

Jujutsu - a history of Jitsu by Jigoro Kano (the founder of Judo).

Our style was founded by Riukiu Myura, a policeman and later Chief Unarmed Combat instructor at the Tokyo Police Academy. Myura studied various styles of jujitsu extensively, and also studied Kodokan Judo and Shorinji Kempo. He later combined his knowledge with his street-fighting experience from the police, and formed his own style. He named this style Shorinji Kempo Jiu Jitsu.

One of his students, Matthew Komp, took the style to Australia in the early 1950s, where he founded a school in Footscray, near Melbourne. In Australia, jujitsu was not a legal form of self-defence, so it was necessary for Komp's students to grade in judo. They wore their judo grades as belts and their jujitsu grades as a colour flash on their sleeves.

Komp taught Brian Graham, who emmigrated to Australia and later returned to England as a second Dan in judo as well as a fifth dan (Godan) in jujitsu. Brian Graham renamed the style Shorinji Kan Ju Jitsu and established the first Samurai Ju Jitsu club in Keighley, Yorkshire. One of Brian's first students, Peter Farrah, expanded the style, both literally and geographically, starting his first collegiate club at Plymouth Polytechnic (now the University of Plymouth). Peter Farrah's students moved and spread the style rapidly through Britain.

To cope with the administrative and organisational demands of the growing number of clubs, an association was formed called the National Samurai Ju Jitsu Association (NSJJA). The NSJJA organised and ran successful national competitions, courses and gradings.

In 1990 the growing demands from within the organisation for further expansion of Jitsu clubs internationally, and for courses to be made available to the commercial sector, required the reorganisation of the NSJJA. The strengths and resources were consolidated into separate divisions to service the competing interests of the organisation. The Jitsu Foundation was formed to coordinate the activities of:

• The Jitsu Association, promoting the art, coordinating the activities, and servicing the requirements of Jitsu Clubs
• Studio III, providing training courses, and promoting the ideals, philosophies and benefits of non-aversive behaviour management
• Research and Development, exploring the boundaries of Jitsu, and providing a fusion of skills drawn from Jitsu training and academic research.

The Jitsu Foundation was driven by its Directing Tertiary Peter Farrah, and much of its success can be attributed to his charismatic leadership and the hard work of the Tertiary Board. Sadly, Peter Farrah passed away in 1997, but the Foundation has continued to grow under the direction of Directing Tertiary Dave Walker, and now has over 90 clubs in the UK.

Success at home has also been matched by the growth of our clubs throughout the world. The first was Cyprus in 1989, started by Andy Wallace. Although the club continues to thrive, Andy Wallace lost his life in a fire in 1996. In 1993, Andy Dobie moved to Canada and opened clubs at Trent University, Peterborough, and in Ottawa. In 1995, Mike Mallen opened his club in Spartenburg, South Carolina, in the USA.

In 1997 Matthew Komp visited the UK and conferred the grade of sixth Dan and the title Shihan to Brian Graham.

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