The Art of Ju-Jitsu by E. J. Harrison and Yukio Tani

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ukio Tani (1881-1950) is the person widely considered to be the first real ju jitsu pioneer in Europe (England). There are a select few that doubt if Tani indeed had the skills as a teacher and fighter that many claim he had. On the other hand there are a lot of positive statements from wrestlers and others who fought against him. You can read more about it in the this article (opens in a new browser window).

Tani was, along with S. K. Uyenishi (read more about his book here) invited to England by the British engineer E. W. Barton-Wright . Barton-Wright is said to have been taught Tenshin Shinyo ryu ju jitsu by Yukio Tani. Other places (like in this book: "Mastering Jujitsu", by Renzo Gracie og John Danaher), it is claimed that Tani had many of his mat-techniques from Fusen ryu. This ju jitsu school is the basis for the newaza you'll find in Kodokan judo. Anyhow: Following a stint with Barton-Wright as his agent, Tani worked for William Bankier for a four to five year long period.

Ernest John Harrison (1873-1961) was a journalist and translator who spoke many languages. He was exposed to the art in Japan in 1897. Harrison was rumored to be something of a hot-head and a tough guy who backed down to no-one. W. E. Steers and E. J. Harrison was the first non-Japanese to be graded to shodan (first dan) in Kodokan judo.

And this is exactly what you will find in "The Art of Ju-Jitsu", Kodokan judo, that is. Various techniques are shown with a drawing, supplemented with lots of text. This book seems to be from the 1940's or 50's. There is no indication of this within the book.

The lower, red and black book, "Judo, the Art of Jujutsu", is identical to the above mentioned one, something that is written in the book: "(...) Formerly published as The Art of Ju-Jitsu". The only difference that I am able to spot is that there are a few actionshots form judo-fights in the newer book. To me it is fair that judo is presented to a larger extent -  after all the are no trace of ju jitsu here. Why they still have kept the jujutsu name on the cover of a judo book from 1960 beats me. Maybe someone more knowledgeable can shed some light on this?

There is even another version of this book where Tani is not being mentioned: "Easy-to-Learn Jiu Jitsu". Click here to have a look at it! E. J. Harrison also wrote the famous book: "The fighting Spirit of Japan". You can read more about this book here.

All these books can be found on Abebooks from time to time. And the prices will not scare you either! I highly recommend them, and that you do a search there.

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