[3] In the Imperial Japanese Army, melee combat training mainly consisted in use of bayonets, knives (or daggers), and swords.

In response to this, research began in 1955, and with the cooperation of Ryonosuke Mori (the highest ranked instructor of the Nippon Kempo Association at the time) and Kenji Tomiki, a hand-to-hand fighting curriculum was established in 1959.

The early Self-Defense Forces martial arts was chiefly based on Nippon Kempo,[6][2] but also composed of techniques from judo, sumo wrestling and aikido.

At the turn of the millennium, military and security agencies in each country have revised hand-to-hand combat systems on the assumption that firearms cannot always be used effectively in response to modern threats, such as terrorism and guerrilla warfare.

[7][8] There was also the growing possibility of JSDF personnel getting into close-quarters combat situations against terrorists or guerrilla fighters in the 2000s, following the escalation of Global War on Terrorism.

[9] Around 2000, the Ground Self-Defense Forces considered reviewing the entire martial arts curriculum, so that JSDF personnel can rely on its self-defence system to accomplish their mission and to defending themselves in a critical moment.

The study began in earnest when Tsutomu Mori, Ground Self-Defense Force's Chief of Staff of the time, instructed in the early establishment of a practical hand-to-hand fighting system.

The subjects of the new fighting training are all SDF personnel of two or fewer, and they have been introduced into the work assessment as skills suitable for their actual duties.

Techniques that have been previously mentioned in the army manuals, but have not been trained in the older style (age-uchi, ashikubigatame, sankakujime nado, etc.)