Taijutsu, or hand-to-hand combat, is a fighting style that relies strictly on the abilities of the body. This close-quarters combat involves the use of different forms of martial arts. Taijustsu is important in Jujutsu Kaisen as it is used to easily defeat humans without needlessly using cursed energy or cursed techniques.
Sorcerers that use taijutsu in addition to their jujutsu are a tier above the ones that can’t, and when sorcerers can control and apply their cursed energy efficiently to their taijutsu, they can use that to exorcise cursed spirits without the use of a cursed technique. There are a variety of styles and techniques that can be used in different ways by sorcerers in battle, and here are some of the best to ever do it in the jujutsu world.
10 Kinji Hakari
Kinji is the restless gambler who Satoru Gojo believes has the potential to rival him in the future, alongside Yuta Okkotsu. Hakari is a third-year from Tokyo Jujutsu High that was suspended until Itadori Yuji and Megumi Fushiguro went to recruit him for the culling games.
Hakari is an elite hand-to-hand combatant whose cursed energy has a much rougher texture, which Itadori describes as getting hit with a serrated bat.
Hakari was able to overwhelm Charles Bernard using his martial arts despite the former’s hands in his pocket and the latter's ability to see the future. And in his fight against Kashimo, Hakari could go hand-to-hand with the reincarnated sorcerer with a combination of punches, kicks, and elbow throws.
9 Yuki Tsukumo
The oldest of the four special-grade sorcerers, Yuki is a master hand-to-hand combatant, mixing her years of experience with her overpowered cursed technique to overwhelm her opponents. Although Yuki doesn’t really involve herself with the higher-ups and is actively looking for a way to save humans from curses in general, when she is needed, she is a powerhouse.
When Kenjaku invaded the Tomb of the Star Corridor, Yuki supplements her martial arts with her innate cursed technique ‘Star Rage,” which she uses to easily break Kenjaku’s guard with a single punch that sent him flying, pressure him with a bunch of kicks and repeatedly keep him on the defensive throughout their hand to hand combatant exchange.
8 Yuta Okkotsu
The sorcerer second only to Satoru Gojo in the modern age, Yuta Okkotsu, is a prodigy. Yuta is an expert hand-to-hand combatant and a weapon specialist. Despite only being a sorcerer for less than a year, he was able to fight Geto one on one with the help of Rika.
And since then, Yuta has polished his martial arts, as seen in his fight in the culling games as he broke the four-way deadlock in the Sendai colony. He had to fight Uro, Ishigori, and Kurorushi alongside Rika in Sendai, using his martial arts and different weapons. With the immense amounts of cursed energy Yuta possesses with his martial arts, fans can see why he is only second to Gojo.
7 Itadori Yuji
The protagonist of Jujutsu Kaisen, Yuji Itadori, is a master hand-to-hand combatant. The fifteen-year-old first-year student can defeat semi-grade 1 cursed spirits like the grasshopper curse and go against special grade cursed spirits like Mahito and Hanami with just his physical abilities, cursed energy control, and his martial art style without a cursed technique.
Early on in the anime, Megumi stated Yuuji could go against all the students by himself and win, and we have seen enough evidence of this statement, as Yuuji could fight alongside Nanami and Todo at different points in the series. Despite not having a cursed technique, Yuuji can compete with just his martial arts and insane physical abilities.
6 Maki Zenin
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Maki Zenin is a testament to the power of determination and sheer will. Born into the extremely gifted Zenin clan, she has a Heavenly Restriction that takes away all her cursed energy in exchange for a body with heightened senses enough to detect curses and strong enough to resist them.
Maki is a skilled weapons user, capable of gracefully wielding a host of weapons and incorporating it into her fighting style. After the low level of cursed energy she possessed was removed, and she learned about freedom in her fight against Naoya, she became strong enough to rival Toji in fighting prowess.
5 Toji Fushiguro
Toji Fushiguro is also a former member of the Zenin clan with the same Heavenly Restriction. Toji devoted all his life to improving his physical prowess and was well renowned for being able to kill jujutsu sorcerers even though he had no cursed energy, earning him the name “Sorcerer Killer."
He is also skilled in the use of different weapons, carrying them inside a cursed spirit that sits on his shoulder and hands them to him at his behest. His insane speed and reflexes enabled him to go up against Gojo Satoru and Geto Suguru alone and successfully pushed them to the brink of death. Toji is one of the strongest people in the series, and his martial arts and physical abilities are the main reason why.
4 Kashimo
Hajime Kashimo is a jujutsu sorcerer from 400 years ago that was reincarnated by Kenjaku for the culling games. Kashimo was introduced in chapter 158, and he came back looking for someone that would provide him with a challenge. He came back looking for Sukuna.
Kashimo is an excellent fighter that uses only his martial arts and cursed energy trait to fight most sorcerers, saving his one-time use of his cursed technique for Sukuna. Kashimo could completely overwhelm Panda in a couple of seconds with just his pure striking ability. In his fight against Kinji Hakari, who had infinite cursed energy, Kashimo kept on fighting and had Hakari at death’s door a couple of times.
3 Kenjaku
Kenjaku is the mastermind of the culling games and a master hand-to-hand combatant, boasting over 1000 years of experience, so it’s no surprise he is on this list. Kenjaku is stated to have learned a lot over the 1000 years, so he is one of the smartest sorcerers in the entire story. Combining that with his martial arts, cursed energy, and cursed technique, Kenjaku is one of the strongest beings in the entire story.
Kenjaku is more of a tactician than a combatant. He is also an excellent fighter being able to completely overwhelm curse womb death painting Choso with just his martial arts before facing the special grade sorcerer, Yuki Tsukumo when he invaded the Tombs of the Star Corridor, where Master Tengen recedes.
2 Ryomen Sukuna
Ryoumen Sukuna, the king of curses, was crowned the best jujutsu sorcerer in the golden age of sorcery because he could go up against every sorcerer of that time and win. Even though he has a truly divine domain expansion and insanely strong cursed techniques, he is still a highly skilled hand-to-hand combatant that prefers to use martial arts before unleashing his jujutsu abilities.
Sukuna was able to overwhelm Megumi early in the anime and go against both Maki and Yuji together later on in the manga. He has also shown to be able to keep up with Gojo Satoru in martial arts, as the ongoing manga fight has no evidence that suggests that one is better than the other in taijutsu.
1 Gojo Satoru
The honored one, Satoru Gojo, is said to be the strongest sorcerer in the world of jujutsu. The remarkable cursed techniques Gojo wields take the spotlight, but he is also an expert taijutsu user along with his overwhelming cursed energy. He has instantaneous reflexes and an unmatched perception of the battlefield, and also an astute tactical mind that all come into play when he decides to beat down an opponent with his bare fists.
With his limitless, he does not even have to evade opponents as their attacks simply do not connect with him. Gojo was able to easily overpower Jogo in their famous early battle and overpower both Jogo and Hanami in close-range combat during the Shibuya incident arc.