Martial Arts Of The World - Webs

Demura, Fumio. 1971. Shitô Ryû Karate. Los Angeles: Ohara.
Egami, Shigeru. 1980. The Heart of Karate-dô. New York: Kodansha.
McCarthy, Patrick. 1996. Bubishi: The Bible of Karate. Rutland, VT: Tuttle.
Nagamine, S. 1991. The Essence of Okinawan Karate-dô: Shôrin-ryû.
Rutland, VT: Tuttle.
Nakayama, M. 1981. Dynamic Karate: Instruction by the Master. New
York: Kodansha.
Toguchi, S. 1982. Okinawan Gôjû-ryû: The Fundamentals of Shorei-kan
Karate. Burbank, CA: Ohara.
Kata
See Form/Xing/Kata/Pattern Practice
Kendô
Kendô, the Japanese martial art of fencing, is a form of physical culture
that developed from combat swordsmanship techniques of Japanese warriors.
When these techniques lost practical value, they were still practiced
for educational, health, spiritual, and sporting purposes and ultimately developed
into modern kendô. There is a plethora of terms for swordsmanship:
tachihaki, tachihiuchi, heihô (hyôhô), kenjutsu, and gekken among
them. But since the mid-1920s, kendô has been used almost exclusively.
There is also another modern martial art derived from traditional swordsmanship,
iaidô, a noncombative form that involves both physical and mental
discipline.
Premodern History
Japan’s earliest chronicles, from the eighth century A.D., contain many references
to use of the sword and other bladed weapons. Indeed, the sword
was one of the three sacred treasures that the sun goddess Amaterasu gave
to the grandson whom she sent down to rule over the Japanese islands. The
techniques of forging swords came from the continent via the Korean
peninsula, and the earliest swords of bronze date from the fourth century
A.D. These early swords were double-edged broad swords like those common
in China, and they were less useful as weapons than as symbols of authority
for the powerful. Soon technology improved, and swords became
effective weapons. It was not until the rise of the warrior class in the tenth
century, however, that the peculiar curved sword commonly associated
with the samurai—the tachi—came into wide usage. For most of the premodern
era, Japanese warriors practiced comprehensive martial techniques,
requiring familiarity with several weapons. Even then, the sword
was an auxiliary weapon for most samurai, whose reputations were generally
established through feats of prowess with the bow and arrow.
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