Product Code Database
剣術 is an umbrella term for all ( ko-budō) schools of Japanese swordsmanship, in particular those that predate the Meiji Restoration. Some modern styles of kendo and iaido that were established in the 20th century also included modern forms of kenjutsu in their curriculum. Kenjutsu, which originated with the samurai class of feudal Japan, Martial Arts of the World: An Encyclopedia of History and Innovation, Volume 2, Martial Arts of the World: An Encyclopedia of History and Innovation, Thomas A. Green, Authors Thomas A. Green, Joseph R. Svinth, Editors Thomas A. Green, Joseph R. Svinth, Edition illustrated, Publisher ABC-CLIO, 2010, , P.599 means "methods, techniques, and the art of the Japanese sword". This is opposed to kendo, which means "the way of the sword" and uses a bamboo sword (shinai) and protective armour (bōgu).
The exact activities and conventions undertaken when practicing kenjutsu vary from school to school, where the word school here refers to the practice, methods, ethics, and metaphysics of a given tradition, yet commonly include practice of battlefield techniques without an opponent and techniques whereby two practitioners perform kata (featuring full contact strikes to the body in some styles and no body contact strikes permitted in others). Contact striking during kata is used for example in Itto Ryu. Although kata training has always been the mainstay, in later periods, schools incorporated sparring under a variety of conditions, from using solid wooden bokutō to the use of a bamboo sword ( shinai) and armor ( bōgu). In modern times sparring in Japanese martial art is more strongly associated with kendo and is mainly practiced by students or the police force. Although kendo is common in Japan, it is also practiced in other countries around the world.
While swords clearly played an important cultural and religious role in ancient Japan, in the Heian period the globally recognised curved Japanese sword (the katana) was developed and swords became important weapons and symbolic items. The oldest schools in existence today arose in the Muromachi period (1336 to 1573), known for long periods of inter-state warfare. Three major schools emerged during this period.
These schools form the ancestors for many descendent styles, for example, from Ittō ryū has branched Ono-ha Ittō ryū and Mizoguchi-ha Ittō-ryū (among many others).
On the island of Okinawa, the art of Udundi includes a unique method of both Kenjutsu and Iaijutsu. This is the only surviving sword system from Okinawa. It was the martial art of the noble Motobu family during the Ryukyu Kingdom.
In 1886 the Japanese Police gathered together kata from a variety of kenjutsu schools into a standardised set for training purposes. This process of standardization of martial training continued when, in 1895, a body for martial arts in Japan, the Dai Nippon Butoku Kai, was established. Work on standardizing kenjutsu kata continued for years, with several groups involved until in 1912 an edict was released by the Dai Nippon Butoku Kai. This edict highlighted a lack of unity in teaching and introduced a standard core teaching curriculum to which the individual kenjutsu schools would add their distinctive techniques. This core curriculum, and its ten kata evolved into the modern martial art of kendo. This point could be regarded as the end of the development of Kendo. Kata was provided for the unification of many schools to enable them to pass on the techniques and spirit of the Japanese sword.
Some schools practice with fukuro shinai (a bamboo sword covered with leather or cloth) under circumstances where the student lacks the ability to safely control a bokutō at full speed or as a general safety precaution. In fact, the fukuro shinai dates as far back as the 15th century.
The most famous exponent of nitōjutsu was Miyamoto Musashi (1584 – 1645), the founder of Hyōhō Niten Ichi-ryū, who advocates it in The Book of Five Rings. Nitōjutsu is not however unique to Hyoho Niten Ichi-ryū, nor was nitōjutsu the creation of Musashi. Both Tenshin Shōden Katori Shinto-ryū were founded in the early Muromachi period (ca. 1447), and Tatsumi-ryu founded Eishō period (1504–1521), contain extensive two-sword curricula while also preceding the establishment of Musashi's school. Serge Mol, 2003, Classical Weaponry of Japan: Special Weapons and Tactics of the Martial Arts Kodansha International Ltd, (pp.22-23)
|
|
