'In the Britain of the early 1900s, jujutsu was something fresh and original. Not only were many of its techniques new but the principles it introduced--of balance, leverage, and using an opponent's strength against him--threw a fresh light on combat methods. Jujutsu was also immediately seen to have an application for self-defence and many of the early books on the art were written as self-defence texts. We might almost say that this is where interest in self-defence as a subject in itself, begins. Previously, "the noble art of self-defence" referred to boxing. If attempts were made to adapt boxing for use in the street it was by the addition of a couple of basic throws such as the cross-buttock or back-heel.'

http://www.dragon-tsunami.org/Dtimes/Pages/articlee.htm