Bujitsu
by Christopher Caile
The term refers to specializations of the combat arts developed prior
to 1600 primarily practiced (crossed trained) by the military class (bushi
or samurai) for the battlefield to kill other professional warriors. Technique
were brutal, straight-forward and effective, tested and refined through
centuries of battlefield experience. Complementing the combat skills within
bujitsu were strict moral precepts and ethics of conduct - something known
today as bushido ("bushi," meaning warrior, "do," meaning way) or way
of the samurai, but at the time referred to as budo. This is an earlier
but different definition of the term (budo) as referring to "do" based
martial disciplines. See: Budo. See below for the definition of Bu and
Jitsu.
A pervading influence within bujitsu practice was Zen. Mediation (practiced
awareness without thought) helped the warrior focus and commit fully to
action without second thought, fear, emotional attachment, or thoughts
of the self - attributes reinforced by Zen precepts of non-attachment
and indifference to life. This produced a useful mind state and edge amongst
the frenzy and fear of combat Zen thus complemented the Samurai's stoic
and ascetic attitude, one of iron will backed by willingness to sacrifice.
Other authorities, however, suggest that an esoteric branch of Buddhism
(Shingon sect) was also an important influence on bujitsu practice. Shingon
employed incantations and mystical secret practices (use of symbols, ritual
purification, magic words, hand movements, finger configurations) to unify
the mind, calm the spirit, build ki (intrinsic energy of Chi in Chinese)
bolster determination (almost hypnotic faith) and create specific mental
states useful in battle.
After 1868 (post-feudal era) bujitsu changed emphasis. No longer having
a military rational, replaced by modern armaments, bujitsu began to be
practiced as a means of moral, ethical and spiritual education. Thus discipline
and education replaced technique as primary focus. As such bujitsu became
indistinguishable to most from Classical Budo, a situation that has created
confusion between terms and continues to do so today. Bujitsu is also
known koyru bujitsu (koyru meaning "old tradition.")
Bu: (Jap) Military or related to the military . A character often
compounded into others such as bugei, bujitsu and bushi. The character
for Bu is a composite of two others. The bottom inside left character
is foot suggesting advancing on foot, and the right upper larger character
is a prototype of a halberd (a type of lance) implying to cut, menace,
pierce or kill. When combined they can be interpreted as advancing on
foot with a weapon for potential use, thus referring to a warrior or by
extension things military. There is also an important secondary interpretation.
The first character meaning foot has also come to mean stop, based on
the idea of planting the foot. Taken in conjunction with the second character
of halberd, "bu" can be thus interpreted as a means to stop a weapon (conflict),
or to gain peace. This is consistent with the idea of practicing budo
to achieve both inner and outer peace.
Jitsu: (J) (also spelled Jutsu) Method, truth, art of technique.
A term used to classify by category those Japanese pre-1600 fighting disciplines,
as Kenjitsu (the art or technique of the sword), or sub-category or specialization
as iaijitsu (art or technique of sword drawing) whose principal focus
was the development and perfection of effective combat techniques used
to kill other professional warriors. Jitsu also implies the application
and strategy employed by these methods. The actual schools (Ryu)
or methods that taught these arts (under collective terms such as kenjitsu)
generally used names based on their founder, lineage, philosophy or method.
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