The increased immigration of westerners into Japan during the Meiji period caused Jiu-Jitsu masters, who were very secretive with regard to their techniques, to worry about the possibility of westerners, generally bigger and stronger than the Japanese, learning Jiu-Jitsu.

As they felt that it would be virtually impossible to hide the Jiu-Jitsu techniques from Westerners, the Japanese decided to break Jiu-Jitsu down into several styles with limited effectiveness in a real fight.

The arts of Karate, Judo and Aikido were developed from Jiu-Jitsu. These styles were transformed into sports in order to keep secret the most lethal and street effective techniques.