Dear Fred,
Very interesting discussion that you have started. Don't have the resources
at hand as I am new to Japan and have not overcome the many (mostly
monetary) obstacles to internet access as yet. Therefore I am consigned to
a crowded (albeit free) internet cafe.
In any event, I believe that your instincts based on the information that
you have found -- or more rightly not found -- regarding samurai unarmed
combat training is on mark. You make an excellent judgement in using the
ashigaru as an example. Whenever we talk about warriors in Japan it
behooves us to make a distinction between the different social levels. The
everyday experience of the elite warriors (those holding court rank) and
those in the lower echelons could not have been more different.
>I would assume that any martial training with weapons was done on one's
>own, and not through a 'teacher' exept for perhaps the 'richest' or closest
>to the lord, who would receive sword training. Anyway, my point is that
>I've never seen ANYTHING regarding maritial arts training in the
>'scholarly' Japanese history books
This seems to have been true on the mass scale at least insofar as the
Sengoku period is concerned. Things during the Tokugawa era are a bit
different, however. In _Armed Martial Arts of Japan_, G. Cameron Hurst
notes that in the Tokugawa era we see the incorporation of separate schools
of combat. That is, we see "masters" hanging out a shingle advertising
that they were teaching, for example, naginata skills. This became
increasingly important as the warriors, separated from their historical
professions by the peace engendered under the Tokugawa regime, needed to
find a way to make a living. There were only so many opportunities to act
as police or other government sanctioned positions. A warrior who received
a certificate of transmission from a well-known sword (or other) master
could then hang out his own shingle and ply his trade as a teacher of that
school (or its offshoot). In Hurst's book is also a detailed treatment of
the development of the ryuha system, primarily in the early 17th century.
As in most eras of Japanese history, name and lineage were of vital
importance to martial arts practitioners, be they armed or unarmed, and as
such well-known masters were sought after. By way of example, in John
Rogers' partial translation of the _Honcho Bugei Shoden_ which appeared in
Monumenta Nipponica mention is made of one Ishido Chikurin who became the
founder of the Chikurin "ha" of the Heki-ryu lineage of Kyudo. He became
famous for having won a tooshiya "long-range shooting contest" at
Sanjusangendo and subsequently was employed as archery teacher to (if memory
serves) either Hideyoshi or Ieyasu. <-- I'll check on this when I get
home...
But I digress... As regards unarmed combat, I also am fairly curious as to
the percentages of samurai (of whichever social stratum) that practiced such
things (either doing the Sengoku or later through to 1800 or so). One place
to start a search may be to look into the concept of bugei juhappan. These
were said to be the 18 important skills of a warrior. I am not sure when
the term became current, but one place to look may be Karl Friday's _Legacy
of the Sword_ which is an outstanding look at a "complete" warrior system.
Rather than teaching, say, just iaido, their training encompasses many
different skills and, again if memory serves, unarmed skills.
Just a few thoughts.
Shannon
_________________________________________________________
----Original Message Follows----
From:
fredjnsn@...
Reply-To:
samuraihistory@yahoogroups.com
Indirectly on topic, but a question/comment nonetheless. . . In all
my years of reading and studying Japanese Samurai history, I have
NEVER come accross anything even remotely resembling 'a group of
samurai practicing karate together in a dojo' (quote is my own). I
have never seen any references to unarmed combat training, and don't
see much use for it anyway. The samurai studied weapons, which is
common sense, of course. I don't believe (and this is opinion) that
even 'powerful samurai families' employed 'martial artists' to teach
them unarmed combat. from my limited (6 years of martial arts
training about 10 years ago or so - and my studying of martial arts
history) is that unarmed combat originated in Okinawa, and at best
200 - 300 years ago. I'm sure that judo or jujitsu-like 'wrestling'
probably existed, but I doubt that Takeda Shingen or Oda Nobunaga
hired martial arts experts to train there armies in the way of
unarmed combat. I would hazzard to guess based on what I've read
(and thus on what I 'haven't' come accross) that mass training for
the armies wasn't too common - even weapons training. most ashigaru
probably went out and cut themselves a bamboo spear and just charged
into battle hoping for the best. I would assume that any martial
training with weapons was done on one's own, and not through
a 'teacher' exept for perhaps the 'richest' or closest to the lord,
who would receive sword training. Anyway, my point is that I've
never seen ANYTHING regarding maritial arts training in
the 'scholarly' Japanese history books. At best the subject comes up
in the VERY questionable 'martial arts history books'. If someone
has info on martial arts training from a 'reputable source' PLEASE
respond to this post. I am curious about this simply because it is
not something covered by Hall, Varley, Sansom, Berry, or the others.
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