Almost all (except Tenshin Shoden Katori Shinto Ryu?) of the Koryu were born in the Late Muromachi/Early Edo Periods, when everyone was nice to each other (on pain of death), and all actually developed in that Period.
None were developed to handle the battlefields of the Sengoku Jidai. Rather, they were developed from the skillset that existed at the end of the Warrring States Period, to train men who did not have any experience in war. Two different things, entirely.
The tranquility of the Period was what stimulated the codification of the Koryu as coherent ryu, in the first place.
The current practitioners are more guardians of a cultural treasure than fighters. They will tell you this themselves.
Form following function, the techniques contained within the jujutsu, say, Tatsumi-ryu*, will be quite effective. There will not be any surprises for someone familiar with Judo, though.
*- Individual Koryu are not single-aspect systems like Karate or Judo. They often contain every skillset a soldier or Samurai was supposed to possess. Tatsumi-ryu, for example, includes:
kenjutsu (odachi, kodachi, nito, fukuro shinai); iai (odachi); yawara; sojutsu; bojutsu (rokushaku bo, hanbo); shurikenjutsu; hojojutsu; shudan sentoho; monomi.
Also, each Koryu has it's own vocabulary, so terms do not neccessarily cross over.
Last edited by Wood Dragon; 08-06-2006 at 04:30 PM.
SevenStar: It's hilarious seeing people's reactions when they see a big, black dude with a sword walking toward them.
Masterkiller: Especially when they're at the ATM.
WTF? How did we go from the White Haired Devil strangling and beating guys to death in a teahouse, to Mr Miyagi and Jhoon Rhee?
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