Bradford Jiu Jitsu and Aikido Club

What is Jiu Jitsu?

Jiu Jitsu is primarily a practical self-defence martial art that focuses on the use of locks, throws, strikes and holding techniques to deal with real life situations. Originating from ancient Japanese techniques used by the Samurai when forced to fight without their weapons, Jiu Jitsu teaches you to overcome stronger, larger, more powerful opponents, even armed ones. It is a progressive martial art that offers a means of personal and physical development, as well as an effective system of self-defence.

With over 3000 active members and several hundred instructors – including specialists in modern sport forms, traditional forms, weapons training, first Aid and Shiatsu, The Jiu Jitsu Foundation is the largest single-style Jiu Jitsu organisation in Britain – practising the modern and unique Shorinji Kan system of Jiu Jitsu.

How It Works

Based on the principal of using an aggressor’s energy to their own disadvantage, Jiu Jitsu skills can be used by men, women and children to counter aggressive situations ranging from unwanted harassment to armed physical assault.

The core of the art comprises a system of throws, joint locks and strikes. Many of the techniques do not require much physical strength to be efficient

Is it Hard?

Our instructors were novices once, and we understand that starting a martial art can be daunting. Don’t worry if you are not at the peak of fitness before you join. Regular training can help to improve strength, fitness, flexibility, co-ordination and posture. Moreover, most people find over time that Jiu Jitsu improves their self-esteem and self-confidence.

Is it for me?

Jitsu training is also great fun and a fantastic way to meet new friends. The Jiu Jitsu Foundation is an organisation with over a hundred clubs in the UK. We offer a vibrant social life out of club training too, with events organised throughout the year. The best way to find out more is to come along and join in. Remember, your first session is free.

What’s Ju Jutsu?

Jiu Jitsu, Ju Jitsu, Ju Jutsu, Jitsu are all different names for the same thing. The Japanese Jiu Jitsu style we practice is Shorinjikan Jiu Jitsu, and is often referred to simply as Jitsu. For more information about Japanese Martial Arts

What is Aikido

Aikido is Japanese martial art was designed to be effective against multiple opponents, focusing on self-preservation over victory. Still, it should be clear that learning and training Aikido makes you, first and foremost, good at Aikido (all martial arts make you good at the art) and only provides you with self-defence benefits as a secondary outcome after enough training.

Many Aikido techniques can be applied to control opponents; however, this kind of application requires pressure testing and exercises, which are not part of most dojo training regimens.

Our club is associated with TIAE, Takemusu Iwama Aikido Europe.

While our style has no form of competition, it does not mean we do not attempt to ensure our techniques would work on a resisting opponent. Other styles of Aikido may take a more collaborative approach to training or be very physical with some sports competitions; we seek a middle ground.

As practitioners, we accept that fights are rarely ordered in one-on-one situations and that de-escalations and escapes are often technically and legally preferable to any right to use “reasonable force”.

Some martial artists claim that learning martial arts will lead to rapid, transferable skills for self-defence, but we are not sure it is true.

Aikido can help you keep calm under pressure and not needlessly reach conflict when it could be avoided. Self-confidence in a conflict can go a long way to prevent a fight, and all martial arts will do a lot to develop its practitioners’ inner strength. Unfortunately, overconfidence can be as dangerous as underconfidence, particularly in young adults.

If you are interested in self-defence, your first action should be learning about violence, how to avoid it, and de-escalation techniques before learning how to fight.

All martial arts provide an advantage against an untrained opponent but will not always be enough to overcome enormous differences in physical capabilities, particularly against another trained fighter. Aikido teaches weapons, allowing weaker opponents to gain an advantage over an unarmed opponent. Learning about the dangers and use of knives, swords, and sticks may help one take better advantage of the surrounding environment for improvised weapons and use them better than without preparation, but without guarantee of personal safety.

If you are serious about learning how to fight, you should experience as many fighting systems as possible, including Aikido, to be ready for whatever could come your way. Our sensei have cross-trained in other martial arts, including striking arts, but decided that Aikido was “their thing”. They saw how it could be effective while allowing them to continue to improve and train for many years without injuries.

Hopefully, you will give us a chance to demonstrate why we believe anyone could gain something from training Aikido.