柔术是一种日本传统武术，中心精神是避免对方的攻击力量，并转化为制服敌人的技术。有许多不同的流派，各种流着重在不同的技巧（投、逆、绞、当 四大技法），现代的柔道和合气道均演变自柔术。

柔术据说是起源自古代战场上的厮杀，当时的战斗是穿着铠甲来进行的，最初是类似相扑的二人插手合抱的形式，后来随着技术发展，出现拧手腕、肘关节、倒身摔等。

柔术在古代有很多不同的名称，如打手、缚打、捕手术、小具足、拳术、和术、铠组讨、体术等等。其中的铠组讨即穿着甲胄对打，小具足指装备短刀对打。现代公认最早的柔术流派竹内流柔术早于天文元年（1532年）出现。至于柔术这个名称最早由关口新心流流祖关口柔心提出，出自《老子‧任信‧第78》「天下莫柔弱于水，而攻坚强者莫之能胜，以其无以易之。弱之胜强柔之胜刚，天下莫不知莫能行。」，大约在战国时代末年出现。

Jujutsu (/dʒuːˈdʒuːtsuː/ joo-JOOT-soo; Japanese:柔术, jūjutsu  listen ) is a Japanese martial art and a method of close combat for defeating an armed and armored opponent in which one uses no weapon or only a short weapon.

"Jū" can be translated to mean "gentle, soft, supple, flexible, pliable, or yielding." "Jutsu" can be translated to mean "art" or "technique" and represents manipulating the opponent's force against himself rather than confronting it with one's own force. Jujutsu developed to combat the samurai of feudal Japan as a method for defeating an armed and armored opponent in which one uses no weapon, or only a short weapon. Because striking against an armored opponent proved ineffective, practitioners learned that the most efficient methods for neutralizing an enemy took the form of pins, joint locks, and throws. These techniques were developed around the principle of using an attacker's energy against him, rather than directly opposing it.