The Federation commenced as a coalition of three countries' associations. In 1977, delegates form Germany, Italy and Sweden founded the European Ju-Jitsu Federation. As the number of member Nations increased, in and out of Europe, in 1987 the Federation changed its name to International Ju-Jitsu Federation and the original European nucleus of the Federation became the first Continental Union of the IJJF. Following a series of changes of its Statutes and a change to its membership structure, in 1998, the IJJF decided to change its name to the Ju-Jitsu International Federation. In the early 1990s the IJJF became a provisional member of the General Association of International Sport Federations, member of International World Games Association and affiliated to the Sport for All Federation. During the 1998 GAISF Congress the JJIF obtained full membership status. Ju-Jitsu under JJIF rules has been an event at the World Games since the 1997 World Games in Lahti, Finland.
Traditional Jujutsu and Sport Ju-Jitsu
Different schools have been teaching traditional Jujutsu in Japan since the 15th century. The JJIF is not a governing body for any of these schools of traditional Japanese jujutsu—the JJIF does not exercise authority over traditional Japanese Jujutsu Koryu styles, which are often instead headed by leaders who claim leadership from unbroken lineages of transmissions from different Japanese ryū, some of them hundreds of years old. Rather, the JJIF was founded as an international federation solely for governing Sport Ju-Jitsu, a competitive sport derived from traditional jujutsu.
Rules of Sport Ju-Jitsu
JJIF currently regulates three different types of competitions at the international level: the Duo system', Fighting system and Ne Waza.
Duo
The former is a discipline in which a pair of Jutsukas from the same team show possible self-defence techniques against a series of 12 attacks, randomly called by the mat referee from the 20 codified attacks to cover the following typologies: grip attack, embrace attack, hit attack and armed attack. The Duo system has three competition categories: male, female or mixed, and the athletes are judged for their speed, accuracy, control and realism. It is arguably the most spectacular form of Ju-jitsu competition and it requires great technical preparation, synchronicity and elevated athletic qualities.
Fighting
With a different approach, the Fighting System is articulated in a one-on-one competition between athletes. The system is divided in several categories according to weight and sex . The actual competition is divided in three phases : Part I sees the jutsukas involved in distance combat. Once a grab has been made the Fight enters Part II and hits are no longer allowed. The jutsukas try to bring one another down with various throwing techniques. Also – despite being uncommon – submission techniques as controlled strangulations and locks are allowed in part II. Once down on the tatamis the match enters its Part III. Here points are given for immobilisation techniques, controlled strangulations or levers on body joints that bring the opponent to yield. The winner is the Jutsuka who has accumulated most points during the fight. Automatic victory is assigned to the Jutsuka who gets an "Ippon" in all three Parts. This type of competition requires timing, agility, strength and endurance.
Ne-Waza
Ne-Waza is one of the main Jujitsu bases. The fight of two opponents starts standing. Punches and kicks are not allowed. After starting the fight the referee interrupts only in critical moments, so normally the main part of the fight takes place on the ground. It is the goal to win by submission with a lock on the joints or strangulation. During the time of 6 minutes it is possible to gain points for throws, take-downs, controlling positions and actions to gain an advantage in the fight. The Ne-Waza Ju-Jitsu is extremely tactical and sometimes described as the chess game of martial arts. This ruleset is similar to Brazilian jiu-jitsu rules. The contest duration is 4 minutes for cadets, 6 minutes for juniors and seniors and 5 minutes for competitors from 36 years onwards.
The JJIF is a member of GAISF and IWGA, and both organizations are in close cooperation with the International Olympic Committee. The organisation is striving to establish Sports Ju-Jitsu as an Olympic event in the future.
