ART by Ola Lanteli
KAMPSPORT
Brazilian jiu-jitsu is a self-defence martial art and combat sport based on grappling, ground fighting, and submission holds. BJJ focuses on taking ones opponent down to the ground, gaining a dominant position, and using a number of techniques to force them into submission via joint locks or chokeholds.
Brazilian jiu-jitsu was first developed in 1925 by Brazilian brothers Carlos, Oswaldo, Gastão Jr., and Hélio Gracie, after Carlos was taught a hybrid of traditional Japanese Jujitsu and Kodokan judo by a travelling Japanese judoka, Mitsuyo Maeda, in 1917. Jiu-jitsu is a family of Japanese martial arts and a system of close combat that can be used in a defensive or offensive manner to kill or subdue one or more weaponless or armed and armored opponents. It was coined by Hisamori Tenenuchi when he officially established the first school of jiu-jitsu in Japan.
BJJ eventually came to be its own defined combat sport through the innovations, practices, and adaptation of Gracie jiu-jitsu and judo, and became an essential martial art for modern MMA.
Karate also karate-do is a martial art developed in Okinawa. It developed from the indigenous Ryukyuan martial arts under the influence of Chinese martial arts. While modern karate is primarily a striking art that uses punches and kicks, traditional karate also employs throwing and joint locking techniques.
Okinawa had been conquered by the Japanese Satsuma Domain and had become its vassal state since 1609, but was formally annexed to the Empire of Japan in 1879 as Okinawa Prefecture. The Ryukyuan who had been the bearers of karate lost their privileged position, and with it, karate was in danger of losing transmission. However, karate gradually regained popularity after 1905, when it began to be taught in schools in Okinawa. During the Taishō era (1912–1926), karate was introduced to mainland Japan by Gichin Funakoshi and Motobu Chōki. After World War II, Okinawa became (1945) an important United States military site and karate became popular among servicemen stationed there. The martial arts movies of the 1960s and 1970s served to greatly increase the popularity of martial arts around the world, and English-speakers began to use the word karate in a generic way to refer to all striking-based Asian martial arts.
Karate featured at the 2020 Summer Olympics after its inclusion at the Games was supported by the International Olympic Committee.
Aikido is a modern Japanese martial art now practiced in around 140 countries. It was originally developed by Morihei Ueshiba, as a synthesis of his martial studies, philosophy and religious beliefs. Ueshiba’s goal was to create an art that practitioners could use to defend themselves while also protecting their attackers from injury.Aikido is often translated as ”the way of unifying (with) life energy” or as ”the way of harmonious spirit”.According to the founder’s philosophy, the primary goal in the practice of aikido is to overcome oneself instead of cultivating violence or aggressiveness.
Its curriculum comprises various techniques, primarily throws and joint locks. It also includes a weapons system encompassing the bokken, tantō and jō. Aikido derives mainly from the martial art of Daitō-ryū Aiki-jūjutsu, but began to diverge from it in the late 1920s, partly due to Ueshiba’s involvement with the Ōmoto-kyō religion.
Sambo is relatively modern since its development began in the early 1920s by the Soviet NKVD and Red Army to improve hand-to-hand combat abilities of their servicemen.It was intended to merge the most effective techniques of other martial arts. The sport is similar in many ways to judo and jiu jitsu but also incorporates different types of wrestling and various self-defence systems.
Soviet martial arts expert Vasili Oshchepkov is credited as one of the founding fathers of SAMBO. Born into a family of exiles in 1893, Oshchepkov also played a key role in introducing judo into the Soviet Union. An intelligence officer during both Tsarist and Soviet periods, he was educated in Japan and later returned there to work in the 1920s. He studied at the Kodokan Judo Institute in Tokyo, founded by Jigoro Kano, and eventually became the first Russian to receive a second dan in the sport.
Sambo is an internationally practised combat sport,and a recognized style of amateur wrestling included by UWW in the World Wrestling Championships along with Graeco -Roman wrestling and freestyle wrestling.