Samurai Journey: CQB Armed Jujutsu

I have a deep and profound respect for all martial arts, both because of the pragmatic and primal cauldron in which most of them were born, as well as my own preferential connection to them as ways to grow and learn. However, as with most martial artists, while i may choose to employ various techniques based on the need of the moment, the specifics of the environment, the nature (and number) of attackers, or the presence of weapons, i find myself usually gravitating whenever i can to traditional Japanese Jujutsu. Jujutsu (literally "the art of flexibility") was developed for the battlefield by samurai warriors who would have lost their primary weapon in an armed encounter against a heavily armed (and usually armored) opponent. The goal, then, was not to "go all UFC" on the opponent, but to utilize a series of joint-breaks and throws to get the opponent away from you quickly and efficiently so that you could either a) escape, b) retrieve your weapon, or c) achieve the upper hand. It is, therefore, ideal for small females as well as burly men because it emphasizes utilizing an opponent's own motion and momentum against them rather than blinding series of punches and kicks, and i have found that while i can take a pretty good beating if you punch or kick me, i tend to scream like a wounded puppy if you apply the right kind of pressure to my wrist, elbows, back or joint.

For Peri, then, i was pleased to see that Pitchford Sensei helped her to grasp the basic concept of Jujutsu, but incorporated his expertise with weapons into the mix, helping her to see how use with a very short blade in one hand could be blended very nicely with "open hand" (i.e. a hand not wielding a weapon) tactics in another. As a samurai sought to be an honorable warrior, it did not mean, however, that he/she was looking to be easily taken advantage of in a lethal encounter, and so would most certainly have both used and kept a variety of weapons close at hand to ensure the maximum survival potential of both themselves and those they protected. After all, people use weapons to win in a combat encounter. The samurai would have been experts at doing so.