Heritage

All Nihon jujutsu have cultural indicators which help give a sense of the traditional character of a school, and include:

• An atmosphere of courtesy and respect, a context intended to help cultivate the appropriate kokoro, or "heart".
• The type of gi or training suit worn, which is usually plain white, often with a dark hakama (the most colourful uniform might be plain black or the traditional blue of quilted keikogi; you are not likely to see stars and stripes or camouflage uniforms).
• Lack of ostentatious display, with an attempt to achieve or express the sense of rustic simplicity (expressed in such concepts as sabi and wabi in Japanese) common in many of Japan's traditional arts.
• The use of the traditional (e.g., Shoden, Chuden, Okuden, and Menkyo Kaiden levels) ranking system, perhaps as a parallel track to the more contemporary and increasingly common dani (Kyu / Dan) ranking.
• There is the lack of tournament trophies, long-term contracts, tags and emblems, rows of badges or any other superficial distractions.