Page:Brinkley - Japan - Volume 3.djvu/108

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JAPAN

moment" to it,—all these are branches of the science, but it has its root in making an enemy undo himself by his own strength. These principles may be seen strikingly illustrated in any of the schools in Tōkyō, where weak striplings not yet out of their teens easily gain the mastery over stalwart men. On the abolition of feudalism after the Restoration in 1867, ju-jutsu shared the decadence that befell everything patronised by the samurai of early eras. But it was subsequently revived by Professor K. Kano, an eminent educationist, and it is now taught gratuitously in two large institutions organised by him in Tōkyō, as well as at many of the chief seats of learning throughout the Empire. Every police-constable is required to go through a course, and the result of his instruction is that he can generally master the strongest malefactor without difficulty. Evidently to explain such a system in writing would require a special treatise with elaborate illustrations. It may be stated, however, that the novice passes through three preliminary classes, and then reaches the first of the ten stages into which the science proper is divided. Six of the stages are devoted to physical training and four to moral discipline, the time required to graduate in the whole course being ten years. Before matriculation every pupil must take an oath to obey the rules implicitly, and he learns not merely the art of overcoming an adversary, but also the science of resuscitating persons who have been temporarily

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