taijutsu

Taijutsu is a term used in Japanese martial arts to refer to unarmed fighting techniques. The word combines tai, meaning body, and jutsu, meaning technique or art, and is often translated as "body techniques" or "unarmed fighting."

Taijutsu encompasses a broad range of close-quarters methods, including strikes (atemi), throws, pins, joint locks (kansetsu waza), chokes, and escapes. It emphasizes efficient body mechanics, balance, distance management, and the use of leverage and timing rather than brute strength. Training typically stresses adaptability to an opponent’s movements and fluid transitions between grappling and striking, rather than fixed forms alone.

In practice, taijutsu serves as the unarmed component of various traditional Japanese disciplines. In jujutsu schools it is the core technique repertoire; in ninjutsu it is central to practical combat; in aikido the term denotes the principles that govern unarmed responses, often taught together with weapons training.

Historically developed in the Edo period and earlier as the unarmed arm of battlefield and civilian defense within jujutsu traditions, taijutsu has since evolved in many schools and modern organizations. Some traditions classify taijutsu separately from weapons arts (kobudō or bukijutsu), while others integrate it as the primary training focus.

Related topics include jujutsu, ninjutsu, and aikido, all of which use taijutsu concepts to teach movement, balance, and control without reliance on weapons.