Mythical Origin of Ju-Shin
During the early part of the Tokugawa era (1603-1868), there lived in Japan’s Saikaido province a respected samurai named Saik- ouhou Matsuyama. He had a beauti- ful daughter called Ju Shin, which means “gentle spirit.” At that time in history, women weren’t allowed to train in the martial arts. However, because Saikouhou was a doting father, he’d let his daughter sit on the edge of the tatami while he practiced his jujitsu.
Ju Shin would study his every movement from afar. Each day after he left, she’d slowly go through the motions of the techniques. Eventually, Saikouhou caught on, but because she’d translated his fight- ing moves into a flowing form that looked like a dance and because she kept her knowledge to herself, he allowed her to continue.
One day, as she’d done many times before, Ju Shin walked to a meadow to pick wildflowers. Two ronin spied on the girl and decided to take advantage of her. As they grabbed her, she executed a few of the techniques she’d practiced as part of her “dance.” Her slow, smooth form sped up, and she dispatched both attackers in seconds.
When Ju Shin got home, she told her father about the two attackers in the meadow. He ran there, found the men nursing their wounds and beheaded both with his katana.
Although Saikouhou was upset, he hugged his daughter and tried to comfort her, letting her know how proud he was of her reaction. He said he’d never dreamed that her dance-like movements would mani- fest into self-defense, much less into a system a girl could use effectively against men. He could think of no greater honor to bestow on Ju Shin than to classify all her slow, graceful movements as ju-shin in honor of her gentle spirit.