Martial Arts Justu vs. Do

When people talk about martial arts they'll mention names like kendo, iaido and kenjutsu and iaijutsu, but what's the difference? The difference lies in the end of the name. Do refers to "the way" or "the path". It's still martial arts, that it is, but in the sense that people are doing it for spiritual reasons. Justu, on the other hand, is completely different. In this sense, it means something along the lines of "this is the art of me killing you". That word bothers alot of people but its life. It was created by Samurai who fought everyday and needed ways to take out their opponent. The do forms are more of a softened version of the old styles, to fit into todays world.

 

When you talk about 'Jutsu' and 'Do', does that also go around the styles that use swords like Battojutsu or something else?

 

If you read my examples above, I mentioned kendo, iaido, kenjutsu and iaijutsu, which are sword styles, but this also applies to judo/jujutsu, aikido/aikijutsu, etc. Yes, battoujutsu is included into this but it's more commonly known as iaijutsu.

 

jutsu means "techniques"
do means "the way"

sooo strictly speaking, iaijutsu is the techniques of iai, and kendo is the way of the sword, however a more complete explination is simply that Kendo and Iaido are modern forms of Kenjutsu and Iaijutsu both which were and still are, killing forms.

iaido and kendo are both leaning more towards sports and such rather than killing techniques. Much more appropriatly named The way of the sword or the way of iai.

 

Precisely! So depending on your reason for practicing a style of martial arts, the person may want to check if it's a justu school or a do school. Those who wish to participate and competitions and win medals and such would be more likely to take on the do version while those choosing to learn the arts of the ancient warriors would be more likely to choose the jutsu version.

 

more or less, however, finding an school that teach Iaijutsu or Kenjutsu is EXTREMELY rare...

they're non existant here in the US and very rare in Japan itself. However Kendo schools exist all over the place, and if you wish to train in Kendo or Iaido i suggest you check out the US Kendo Federation or the US Iaido Federation or check out the various schools around the country but beware of liers and such as they are common everywhere. Check a schools credentials and try to find if they are listed among the schools in the US Kendo federation