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©1923 |
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JIU-JITSU —— BY—— |
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WE know that you will find interest in
reading and demonstrating to your own satisfaction the effectiveness of Jiu-Jitsu,
in its mildest form, as a means of self-defense. This is the first time that all the secrets
of the Japanese national system of physical training and self-defense have
been given to Western people. Less than a generation ago, you could not have
obtained this knowledge at any price. So religiously have the principles of
Jiu-Jitsu been guarded that no foreigner has ever before received official
instruction from one who has taken the highest degree in the art. Jiu-Jitsu is the most wonderful system of
physical training the world has ever known. It is a science. It is muscle
dominated and directed in every detail by brain. The Japanese are the
hardiest race of people in the world to-day, and we attribute their wonderful
strength and power of endurance solely to the persistent practice of their
national system of physical development. Jiu-Jitsu develops every muscle and
strengthens every organ in the human body. It does not produce knotted
muscles, but develops the body harmoniously and uniformly. It affects those
minute muscles which are not reached by any other system. It strengthens the
heart action, scientifically renews and invigorates every tissue, and helps
every organ to perform its functions. The man or woman who devotes ten
minutes daily to the practice of Jiu-Jitsu will enjoy a degree of health and
strength that will make him or her thoroughly alive and fully conscious of
the possession of perfect manhood or womanhood. (The improvement of the
average American pupil in from thirty to sixty days is as follows:
Development of the chest, three to four inches; chest expansion, three to
five inches; upper arm, one to two inches; forearm, one-half to one inch;
thigh, two to three inches; and the entire body in proportion.) Jiu-Jitsu is also a natural and positive
cure for constipation, indigestion, and all forms of dyspepsia, insomnia,
pulmonary troubles, and lack of vitality. Its practice improves the appetite,
accelerates circulation, and aids assimilation. And to the increased vigor
and tone of the system the brain responds, and the mental capacity as well as
the physical is improved. The Japanese enjoy better health than any other
nationality. With them consumption is very rare, dyspepsia has no meaning,
and physical weakness is an affliction with which only the aged are beset.
Extreme leanness is regarded in much the same manner as Americans regard
physical deformity, and extreme corpulency is
unknown. There is a reason for all this and it is found in Jiu-Jitsu. As a means of self-defense, Jiu-Jitsu is as
potent at short range as the most deadly weapon that human ingenuity has
devised. A Japanese skilled in this art has no fear
of any form of personal attack. He will even defend himself unarmed against a
swordsman and emerge from the combat victorious. The science of Jiu-Jitsu
takes into account the vulnerable points in the human body. It comprehends
the laws of mechanics, thus enabling the weak to overthrow the strong. One
unskilled in the art is entirely at the mercy of the expert Jiu-Jitsuian, no matter how unequally matched in point of
size or strength the contestants may be. An opponent may be overcome and
remain unharmed if it be the will of the operator, or he may be seriously
disabled by a slight pressure exerted at a vulnerable point, or a sharp twist
of the arm, as to be rendered utterly helpless and unable to renew the
attack. The following illustrations give some idea
of the first lessons in Jiu-Jitsu, which represent Professor J. J. O'Brien,
who was for many years a resident of Professor O'Brien was the
teacher who instructed President Roosevelt, members of his Cabinet, and heads
of many of the Departments in |
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Illustrations to follow soon...