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Japanese Martial Arts

One aspect of pre-modern Japanese history, which is often overlooked by many, is the important role the traditional Japanese bujutsu (martial arts) played in influencing and guiding the course of Japanese history.

The origin of a military class in pre-modern Japan first occurred in the Heian period during the 10th century; its birth chiefly due to the decadency and gradual collapse of an aristocratic government. Because of general confusion and widespread violence, the bushi (warriors) in the provincial clans eventually took control of the government and the land. From this period on, until the Meiji Restoration in 1868, power to rule the country was achieved through military victories, which could only be accomplished by an efficient military arsenal in the hands of skilled warriors.

Originally, the Japanese borrowed many of their earlier weapons from the Asian continent during the pre-historic age, but through battlefield experience and continual improvement by the warriors, purely Japanese combative systems evolved, based on these weapons and styles of combat, which culminated in a powerful warrior arsenal. The number of these martial art systems gradually increased, totaling anywhere from thirty-four to possibly over fifty different combative forms.

At the same time, through long military experience and the many hardships of battle, there gradually arose an unwritten code of ethics, which was later to become known as bushido (Code of the Warrior). This code was based on loyalty between vassal and lord, and bravery, even to one's death, and was designed to sustain the warrior both morally and philosophically in their daily lives.

Since the mid-Tokugawa period (1600-1868), however, during a long period of relative peace, a more mature, aesthetic and spiritually oriented form of bujutsu, (martial arts), known as budo (martial ways) gradually started to develop. This change coincided with the relatively peaceful conditions that existed in Japan's feudal society at that time. The main difference between these two forms is that a bujutsu system is based on actual combat and specialized in one or more weapons or means of defense, while a budo system is primarily a spiritual discipline, attained through self-perfection, and specializes in only one weapon or means of defense, which limits its usefulness in combat. Today, the Japanese words bujutsu and budo are used interchangeably.

The Japanese warriors were able to attain, and maintain, a high level of skill in their respective combative styles by developing and using kata (pre-arranged forms) as a training method. It is the only way combative movements can be practiced without losing their combative qualities or by causing serious injury to a partner.
 
 
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