Thursday, 19 January 2012
The Intangible Warrior Culture of Japan: Bodily Practices, Mental Attitudes, and Values of the Two-sworded men from the Fifteenth to the Twenty-first Centuries
Anshin, Anatoliy, Humanities & Social Sciences, Australian Defence Force Academy, UNSW
2009
Description: This is the first work to consider the Japanese warriors from the “intangible culture” perspective. The critical analysis of this intangible culture is applied primarily to the hereditary warrior houses of the pre- Tokugawa ages and to those of the Tokugawa era (1600-1868). Particular attention is paid to the forms of organization and styles of curriculum in warrior training entities and schools of military arts. In addition, a swordsman, Yamaoka Tesshū (1836-1888), is used as a case study to show that in the Bakumatsu period, there were men who strove to resurrect pre-Tokugawa practices and values in response to what they saw as a warrior culture that no longer had any utility in real-life combat and, instead, had been degraded into a form of sport or empty display. The study of Tenshinshō-den Katori Shintō-ryū, the oldest school of military arts in Japan, along with a detailed analysis of the life and thought of Yamaoka (especially in terms of his hitherto unrecognized but pivotal role in the bloodless surrender of Edo castle during the Boshin war of 1868-69) allows us to see warriors committed to intense physical and mental training in the art of killing but whose primary goal was to preserve human life and avoid unnecessary violence (a concept known as “the life-giving sword”). By this, the thesis attempts to overturn the domination in Japanese history and popular culture of the image of “the bellicose warrior” represented by such figures as Miyamoto Musashi. It also looks closely at several groups of commoners such as Rōshigumi who in the 1860s were sanctioned by the Bakufu to wear weapons and participate in armed conflicts; the thesis argues that the co-existence of the two-sworded warriors and the two-sworded commoners late in the Tokugawa era is directly responsible for our distorted historical understanding of the bushi and its exaggerated link with violence. The thesis also explores the present-day use of what Japanese government, businesses, and educators claim to be the values and practices of the traditional bushi and demonstrates that these only continue to distort an understanding of the warrior’s intangible culture.
Supervisor: Lone, Stewart, Humanities & Social Sciences, Australian Defence Force Academy, UNSW,Wilson, Sandra, Murdoch University
Click here to download.
Tuesday, 17 January 2012
Bushidó or Bull? A Medieval Historian’s Perspective on the Imperial Army and the Japanese Warrior Tradition
By Karl F. Friday
This article originally appeared in The History Teacher, Volume 27, Number 3, May 1994, pages 339-349. Copyright © 1994 The History Teacher. Reprinted by permission. Photos courtesy Guy Power.
It would be difficult to find any facet of Japan’s cultural heritage that exercises as powerful a hold on the world’s popular imagination as the samurai. [EN1] For the most part, the image of the samurai and the tradition he represents is positive. Japanese warriors are the heroes of movies, TV shows, and novels, and the role models for hundreds of thousands of martial arts students around the globe. But for many among the generation that fought Japan in the Pacific War, for much of the political left in Japan, and especially for many of the peoples and governments that were occupied by Japan in the course of the war, the legacy of the samurai also has its sinister side.
The samurai tradition is often cited as the source of both the mind-set that launched Japan’s war against China, Southeast Asia and the United States and of the norms and values of the soldiers and officers who fought it. Both are said to have been conditioned by and derived from an ancient code of warrior behavior called bushidó – literally, the "Way of the Warrior." In the words of military historian Arthur Swinson:
Click here to continue reading (pdf)
This article originally appeared in The History Teacher, Volume 27, Number 3, May 1994, pages 339-349. Copyright © 1994 The History Teacher. Reprinted by permission. Photos courtesy Guy Power.
It would be difficult to find any facet of Japan’s cultural heritage that exercises as powerful a hold on the world’s popular imagination as the samurai. [EN1] For the most part, the image of the samurai and the tradition he represents is positive. Japanese warriors are the heroes of movies, TV shows, and novels, and the role models for hundreds of thousands of martial arts students around the globe. But for many among the generation that fought Japan in the Pacific War, for much of the political left in Japan, and especially for many of the peoples and governments that were occupied by Japan in the course of the war, the legacy of the samurai also has its sinister side.
The samurai tradition is often cited as the source of both the mind-set that launched Japan’s war against China, Southeast Asia and the United States and of the norms and values of the soldiers and officers who fought it. Both are said to have been conditioned by and derived from an ancient code of warrior behavior called bushidó – literally, the "Way of the Warrior." In the words of military historian Arthur Swinson:
Click here to continue reading (pdf)
The subtractive fight: the spirituality of the empty hands method as the north of the body philosophy in Karate-Do
Cristiano Roque Antunes Barreira; Marina Massimi
Universidade de São Paulo
ABSTRACT:
Karate is a fight practice that does not make use of weapons. It is based on old traditions and its main aim is to develop a sense of personality in the practitioner. Karate originated from unique spiritual and psychological dynamics, which are of utmost importance for the full understanding of this practice. The objective of this research is to analyze karate-do by means of its spirituality. This is because, together with the fundamental texts about the recent tradition of this fight, spirituality is considered to be the essence present in all dimensions of the artistic expression of karate. To this end, the historiographical methodology of phenomenological perspective was employed in this study. Karate-do has the spirituality of the empty hands method as the north of its body philosophy. Themes with blurred borders are analyzed from this spiritual point of view herein. This dynamics includes the subtractive fight, aiming at the fluid and intuitive understanding of reality.
Click here to continue reading (in Portuguese)
Saturday, 14 January 2012
Principios de los cinco sujetos principales de que se compone la filosofía y matemática de las armas, práctica y especulativa
A rare but interesting work: an introductory manual to Destreza which can be considered intermediate between Pacheco and Ettenhard. Perez de Mendoza is somewhat unorthodox, but basically belongs in the Pacheco school, especially in this book. Very interesting interpretations of the Vulgar tricks, different from those of Pacheco and Cruzado.
Click here for more info.
Click here for more info.
Art of the Japanese Sword
The Japanese sword … prized as much for its exceptional beauty as for it’s deadly cutting ability. It has endured for a thousand years as the pinnacle of Japanese culture. Now you can enter a world rarely seen by outsiders. To experience the true story of the Art of the Samurai Sword. A story told in the swordsmiths own words that separate the myth from the fact. Follow the swordsmiths dream of creating a masterpiece. From the quest to making an ancient steel to forging a blade equal to those of the Kamakura, a medieval period that produced the greatest swords in history. For the martial artist the Japanese sword is a precise cutting weapon and symbol of the Samurai. For the collector, it is an art form whose beauty is derived from its deadly function to cut. As our story of the Japanese sword unfolds, we bring together all the artists and craftsmen whose skills turn it into both a modern work of art and a window into the past.
Click here to continue reading
Friday, 13 January 2012
The Development and Psychology of Bushido and Budo
Paul D. Short
(for Hon 3391T, The Japanese Psyche, Dr. Fling, Southwest Texas State University)
November 6, 1995 (Revised and expanded December 12, 1995)
Misconceptions about the martial arts are overwhelming. Popular notions of Bushido (The Way of the samurai) and Budo (Japanese martial arts) are no exception. Although the samurai were not the only originators of martial arts in Japan, they were the most significant. By tracing the development of Bushido and Budo, a better understanding of the Japanese people can be reached--the centuries of military rule has had significant effects on the Japanese, especially with a warrior class as large and influential as Japan's(1). More important, by studying the development of Japanese martial arts, a better insight on the nature of conflict can be gained.
The nature of Japanese martial arts has changed drastically, especially during the Tokugawa, Meiji, and Modern (Post World War II) eras. Since World War II, the Japanese martial arts have spread, further complicating the perception of Bushido and Budo. However, westerners have taken a great interest in the martial arts, and Budo can no longer be considered confined to just the Japanese. The development of a particular martial art, Aikido, is used here to show the development of Budo and to demonstrate the psychology of a martial art. Aikido was chosen because the author is familiar with this style, and also because its founder is considered one of the last major disciples of the samurai arts. This does not imply that Aikido is the only modern Budo, nor does it imply that it is "better" than other styles. "Better" is a relative term, just as Bushido and Budo are.
Click here to continue reading
(for Hon 3391T, The Japanese Psyche, Dr. Fling, Southwest Texas State University)
November 6, 1995 (Revised and expanded December 12, 1995)
Misconceptions about the martial arts are overwhelming. Popular notions of Bushido (The Way of the samurai) and Budo (Japanese martial arts) are no exception. Although the samurai were not the only originators of martial arts in Japan, they were the most significant. By tracing the development of Bushido and Budo, a better understanding of the Japanese people can be reached--the centuries of military rule has had significant effects on the Japanese, especially with a warrior class as large and influential as Japan's(1). More important, by studying the development of Japanese martial arts, a better insight on the nature of conflict can be gained.
The nature of Japanese martial arts has changed drastically, especially during the Tokugawa, Meiji, and Modern (Post World War II) eras. Since World War II, the Japanese martial arts have spread, further complicating the perception of Bushido and Budo. However, westerners have taken a great interest in the martial arts, and Budo can no longer be considered confined to just the Japanese. The development of a particular martial art, Aikido, is used here to show the development of Budo and to demonstrate the psychology of a martial art. Aikido was chosen because the author is familiar with this style, and also because its founder is considered one of the last major disciples of the samurai arts. This does not imply that Aikido is the only modern Budo, nor does it imply that it is "better" than other styles. "Better" is a relative term, just as Bushido and Budo are.
Click here to continue reading
Thursday, 5 January 2012
Practicing Ethics: Harmony Ethics and Martial Arts
by Perseville Mendoza
It is undeniable that knowledge of various ethical theories, no matter how extensive, is insufficient when it comes to the question of actual ethical living. The former does not guarantee the observance of said theories, and admittedly, nowhere do these theories claim to have the capacity to do so. Thus, the problem of the existence of a chasm between theory and practice remains. The author believes that ethical living has to come from within an individual, imposed as it were, by the individual upon the self, in order to actualize an ethical society. However, the question of whether virtue can be taught also lingers in the background. The answer seems to lie in personal subjugation to a formal practice. This is possible through actual training in ethical living, and it is argued that an individual can be trained in actualizing virtuous action by way of training in budo or traditional martial arts. The main purpose of the presentation is to offer a perspective of the traditional martial arts as a practical and viable ethical alternative, based on the premise that training in martial arts is actually training in ethical living by the very nature of its practice, given specific recommendations.
It paves the way for an ethics of self-care comparable to that of the Greeks, as it develops in a martial artist a “disciplined”, hence ethical, self.
Click here to download (pdf)
The Evolution of Karate: From Secret Martial Art to Worldwide Cultural Sport
by Filip Swennen
This book is my attempt to answer certain questions. These questions started surfacing about more than a decade ago when I started training in karate. I commenced my training out of an interest in martial arts and a hunger to find an efficient self-defense system. I started asking questions to others and myself about many different aspects of karate. Many of these questions seem naïve in hindsight but others still keep me up at night. Why do we train kata? What do these movements mean in the kata? Why can`t I kick the leg? Why can`t I grab the person and try to throw him? (I trained judo a couple of years before I started karate.) Why can`t you hit the other person in competition? Why don`t we use helmets that protect the nose and the mouth in free sparring? (It would prevent all the unnecessary cuts, black eyes and bloodstains on your clothing.) Why are the blue belts from that club stronger/weaker compared to the blue belts from the other club?
I wasn`t satisfied by most answers given by more experienced karateka. Most answers were something in the nature of ` It is the traditional way of doing karate.` or `Because grandmaster X said so.` The explanations had all one thing in common, they lacked a satisfying logic for me.
I took a very interesting course on the history of Okinawa when I was an exchange student for one year at the Università degli studi di Venezia in Venice, Italy. I was baffled by how much Okinawa had changed during the course of history. I finally realized that karate, originating from this small island, must have been influenced by the history of the island itself. I started working for the following two years on what eventually would become my Master`s thesis for the KULeuven University: “The Creation Of The Myth Of `Traditional Japanese` Karate Under The Pressure Of Prewar Nationalism”.
I continued to train karate and followed several seminars of world known karate masters. They showed us throws, finger locks, vulnerable points of the human body,… all techniques that were unknown to most karateka. Each master had its own approach but all of them had one thing in common. They knew the history of karate.
This led me to the following question: `What changes happened over time to karate?` I received the Monbukagakusho scholarship from the Japanese government and was given the chance by Sensei Matsui Kantaro to conduct my research at the International Budo University in Japan. This book(let) is my temporary answer to the question I formulated above. It is an overview of some of the biggest changes that have occurred to karate. This work is only an overview and far from complete. Trying to cram all the information into one book would leave the reader, and the writer, confused and lost.
Click here to download (pdf).
This book is my attempt to answer certain questions. These questions started surfacing about more than a decade ago when I started training in karate. I commenced my training out of an interest in martial arts and a hunger to find an efficient self-defense system. I started asking questions to others and myself about many different aspects of karate. Many of these questions seem naïve in hindsight but others still keep me up at night. Why do we train kata? What do these movements mean in the kata? Why can`t I kick the leg? Why can`t I grab the person and try to throw him? (I trained judo a couple of years before I started karate.) Why can`t you hit the other person in competition? Why don`t we use helmets that protect the nose and the mouth in free sparring? (It would prevent all the unnecessary cuts, black eyes and bloodstains on your clothing.) Why are the blue belts from that club stronger/weaker compared to the blue belts from the other club?
I wasn`t satisfied by most answers given by more experienced karateka. Most answers were something in the nature of ` It is the traditional way of doing karate.` or `Because grandmaster X said so.` The explanations had all one thing in common, they lacked a satisfying logic for me.
I took a very interesting course on the history of Okinawa when I was an exchange student for one year at the Università degli studi di Venezia in Venice, Italy. I was baffled by how much Okinawa had changed during the course of history. I finally realized that karate, originating from this small island, must have been influenced by the history of the island itself. I started working for the following two years on what eventually would become my Master`s thesis for the KULeuven University: “The Creation Of The Myth Of `Traditional Japanese` Karate Under The Pressure Of Prewar Nationalism”.
I continued to train karate and followed several seminars of world known karate masters. They showed us throws, finger locks, vulnerable points of the human body,… all techniques that were unknown to most karateka. Each master had its own approach but all of them had one thing in common. They knew the history of karate.
This led me to the following question: `What changes happened over time to karate?` I received the Monbukagakusho scholarship from the Japanese government and was given the chance by Sensei Matsui Kantaro to conduct my research at the International Budo University in Japan. This book(let) is my temporary answer to the question I formulated above. It is an overview of some of the biggest changes that have occurred to karate. This work is only an overview and far from complete. Trying to cram all the information into one book would leave the reader, and the writer, confused and lost.
Click here to download (pdf).
Monday, 2 January 2012
The Socratic Art of Boxing
by Gordon Marino
“Know thyself” was the Socratic dictum, but Tyler Durden, the protagonist in the movie “Fight Club,” asks, "How much can you know about yourself if you've never been in a fight?" Although trainers of the bruising art wince at the notion that boxing equals fighting, there can be no doubt that boxing throws you up against yourself in revealing ways. Take a left hook to the body or a trip to the canvas, and you soon find out whether you are the kind of person who will ever get up.
For a decade, I have been teaching both boxing and philosophy. My academic colleagues have sometimes reacted to my involvement with the sweet science with intellectual jabs and condescension. A few years ago at a philosophy conference, I mentioned that I had to leave early to go back to the campus to work with three of my boxers from the Virginia Military Institute who were competing in the National Collegiate Boxing Association championships. Shocked to learn that there was such a college tournament, one professor scolded, "How can someone committed to developing minds be involved in a sport in which students beat one another's brains out?" I explained that the competitors wore protective headgear and used heavily padded 16-ounce gloves in competition as well as in practice, but she was having none of it. "Headgear or not," she replied, "your brain is still getting rattled. Worse yet, you're teaching violence."
I countered that if violence is defined as purposefully hurting another person, then I had seen enough of that in the philosophical arena to last a lifetime. At the university where I did my graduate studies, colloquia were nothing less than academic gunfights in which the goal was to fire off a question that would sink the lecturer low. I pointed out, "I've even seen philosophers have to restrain themselves from clapping at a comment that knocked a speaker off his pins and made him feel stupid." I followed up by arguing that getting and taking punches makes you feel safer in the world, and that people who do not feel easily threatened are generally less threatening. She wasn't buying any of it. Then I made the mistake of making myself an object lesson by noting that I had boxed for years and still seemed to be able to put my thoughts together. That earned me a smile and a pat on the wrist.
Click here to continue reading.
“Know thyself” was the Socratic dictum, but Tyler Durden, the protagonist in the movie “Fight Club,” asks, "How much can you know about yourself if you've never been in a fight?" Although trainers of the bruising art wince at the notion that boxing equals fighting, there can be no doubt that boxing throws you up against yourself in revealing ways. Take a left hook to the body or a trip to the canvas, and you soon find out whether you are the kind of person who will ever get up.
For a decade, I have been teaching both boxing and philosophy. My academic colleagues have sometimes reacted to my involvement with the sweet science with intellectual jabs and condescension. A few years ago at a philosophy conference, I mentioned that I had to leave early to go back to the campus to work with three of my boxers from the Virginia Military Institute who were competing in the National Collegiate Boxing Association championships. Shocked to learn that there was such a college tournament, one professor scolded, "How can someone committed to developing minds be involved in a sport in which students beat one another's brains out?" I explained that the competitors wore protective headgear and used heavily padded 16-ounce gloves in competition as well as in practice, but she was having none of it. "Headgear or not," she replied, "your brain is still getting rattled. Worse yet, you're teaching violence."
I countered that if violence is defined as purposefully hurting another person, then I had seen enough of that in the philosophical arena to last a lifetime. At the university where I did my graduate studies, colloquia were nothing less than academic gunfights in which the goal was to fire off a question that would sink the lecturer low. I pointed out, "I've even seen philosophers have to restrain themselves from clapping at a comment that knocked a speaker off his pins and made him feel stupid." I followed up by arguing that getting and taking punches makes you feel safer in the world, and that people who do not feel easily threatened are generally less threatening. She wasn't buying any of it. Then I made the mistake of making myself an object lesson by noting that I had boxed for years and still seemed to be able to put my thoughts together. That earned me a smile and a pat on the wrist.
Click here to continue reading.
Wednesday, 21 December 2011
Summary of the Isamu Takeshita's Diary
by Fumiaki Shishida
December 1. 1925.
Around 11 a.m., Mr Asano visited me at my house accompanying with Mr. Morihei Ueshiba and Mr. Yoichiro Inoue. They demonstrated katas of Daito-ryu Judo. It has been well studied,so it is fully worth practicing it. Promised to learn from tomorrow.
September 26, 1926
9 a.m., Master Ueshiba practiced Aiki-Jujutsu with Kubota for around two hours. Admirals Nomaguchi and Arima, Vice admiral Kawashima, Count Yanagisawa, Count Terashima, Rear admirals Kichisaburo Nomura, Kiyokawa and Takahashi, Vice admiral Moriyama, Mr. Hachiro Saionji [later Prince], superintendent Sakaguchi, Koshiro Oikawa, Nobutake Kondo, Commander Yano, Naval officer of the Crown Prince’s Palace, Kiyoshi Yamamoto, etc., visited their practice. The Aiki-Jujutsu left a great impression on them.
March 4, 1927.
I have almost finished making a fair copy of memorandum of Aiki-Jujutsu.
May 5, 1927
At 9 a.m., Mr. Kosaburo Gejo showed katas of Yagyu-ryu with his two disciples at the Morimura dojo. At 2 p.m., went to Duke Shimazu’s residence with master Ueshiba ….
February 17, 1928.
Practiced in the morning. From today, The Aioi-kai decided to call our Jujutsu Aioi-ryu-Aiki-Jujutsu. [Note: Takeshita decided Ueshiba’s independence from Daito-ryu Aiki-Jujutsu. That shows Takeshita’s involvement with Ueshiba’s martial art]
Click here to continue reading.
Note: Isamu Takeshita on Wikipedia
December 1. 1925.
Around 11 a.m., Mr Asano visited me at my house accompanying with Mr. Morihei Ueshiba and Mr. Yoichiro Inoue. They demonstrated katas of Daito-ryu Judo. It has been well studied,so it is fully worth practicing it. Promised to learn from tomorrow.
September 26, 1926
9 a.m., Master Ueshiba practiced Aiki-Jujutsu with Kubota for around two hours. Admirals Nomaguchi and Arima, Vice admiral Kawashima, Count Yanagisawa, Count Terashima, Rear admirals Kichisaburo Nomura, Kiyokawa and Takahashi, Vice admiral Moriyama, Mr. Hachiro Saionji [later Prince], superintendent Sakaguchi, Koshiro Oikawa, Nobutake Kondo, Commander Yano, Naval officer of the Crown Prince’s Palace, Kiyoshi Yamamoto, etc., visited their practice. The Aiki-Jujutsu left a great impression on them.
March 4, 1927.
I have almost finished making a fair copy of memorandum of Aiki-Jujutsu.
May 5, 1927
At 9 a.m., Mr. Kosaburo Gejo showed katas of Yagyu-ryu with his two disciples at the Morimura dojo. At 2 p.m., went to Duke Shimazu’s residence with master Ueshiba ….
February 17, 1928.
Practiced in the morning. From today, The Aioi-kai decided to call our Jujutsu Aioi-ryu-Aiki-Jujutsu. [Note: Takeshita decided Ueshiba’s independence from Daito-ryu Aiki-Jujutsu. That shows Takeshita’s involvement with Ueshiba’s martial art]
Click here to continue reading.
Note: Isamu Takeshita on Wikipedia
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