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If you like a little bit of everything, maybe you should try

Ju-jitsu, said Lamar Fisher, 74.

"Ju-jitsu is the grandfather of martial arts," he said.

This Japanese unarmed combat system means "soft or flexible skills." As a soft art, the fundamental principle of the Ju-jitsu is to neutralize the force of the attacker. Contrary to the punching and kicking that other martial arts apply, Ju-jitsu fighters use its 313 basic techniques to control, "not necessarily to hurt somebody."

"Although we certainly have ways of hurting as well," said Jeff Leng, a black belt in Ju-jitsu for 21 years.

Leng teaches Ju-jitsu at Nibukikan Martial Arts Studio in Chico, which is part of a national organization, the American Judo and Ju-Jitsu Federation.

"The organization is all about helping people to become self-confident," he said. "We only train teachers, not fighters."

That is why Leng said he chose Ju-jitsu instead of the other martial arts.

"It fits my personality best," Leng said.

Fisher, the only 10th degree black belt in the nation and president of AJJF, said a person who doesn’t like to fight is the best type.

"It takes a better person to walk away than to fight somebody," he said. "I don’t have to prove anything to myself. I know what I can do."

Fisher started learning Ju-jitsu in 1948. Since then he has only used what he knows on people that "weren’t aware of it." But that doesn’t mean that he has fought anybody.

Fisher said understanding any martial art requires using the mind and body. And as he explained the mystery, he said, "You got to be involved with it to understand it."

 
Lamar Fisher, 74, was born and raised in Chico.  
He is the only 10th degree black belt in the nation. 
 
 In a Ju-Jitsu combat, male and female have 
 the same internal force.