Martial Arts Of The World - Webs
Martial Arts Of The World - Webs Martial Arts Of The World - Webs
304 Koryû Bugei, Japanese student to move on to the next level of training. The principal criteria for promotion are aptitude (including, but not limited to, skills and knowledge mastered) and moral fitness to be allowed to share in the teachings of the school at a higher and deeper level, and to be trusted with more of its secrets. Koryû, in fact, tend to be far smaller, more closed, and more private organizations than those associated with the modern cognate martial arts. The membership of most numbers in the dozens or less. Many are, or were until a generation or two ago, restricted family traditions. Most are taught in only a single location, under the direct supervision of the headmaster and/or instructors (shihan) operating under him or her. Traditionally, koryû teachers have been extremely careful about admitting students to instruction and have usually demanded long commitments and considerable control over students’ behavior during their terms of apprenticeship. Many still follow elaborate procedures for screening new students, requiring letters of recommendation and even investigations into the backgrounds of applicants. Those who pass such screenings are initiated into their ryûha as though into a brotherhood or secret society. Some koryû hold entrance ceremonies ranging from the very simple to the very ornate. Most collect initiation gifts and fees. And nearly all require students to sign written pledges, or kishômon, in which they promise to abide by the school’s rules and keep its secrets. In the past—and sometimes even today—these pledges were often sealed with the students’ own blood, pressed onto the paper next to their signatures or ciphers. What most definitively distinguishes koryû bugei from modern cognate martial arts, however, is not the age or the organizational structure of the schools, but the holistic and cabalistic manner in which they view the educational process. The essence of the koryû bugei experience is one of socialization to the ryûha, the complete subordination of the individual to the system—a course that promises that those who stay with it long enough will emerge, paradoxically, with a more fully developed sense of individualism. This idea derives from basic Confucian principles of education that predate their application to bugei training in Japan by centuries. The process centers on wholehearted devotion to the mastery of detail. The koryû bugei are extraordinarily complex arts. At their most fundamental levels as methodologies of combat and war, they are largely collections of particulars, expressed in dozens of individual techniques and strategies, described in a profoundly unsystematized, sometimes opaque, and often overlapping argot of terms. Much of this apparent chaos is intentional, for—at least until modern times—martial art schools, as competitive organizations training warriors for deadly combat, deliberately sought to keep outsiders from grasping what they taught. And yet each ryûha does have an essence, a conceptual core around
which the details of the school’s arts revolve. This core becomes increasingly perceptible to initiates as they advance in their studies, particularly as they turn their attentions beyond the initiatory functions of the bugei as arts of war to their deeper purpose as arts of peace and self-realization. To adepts who have entered this realm, each one of their school’s terms and concepts reveals multiple levels of meaning—mechanical, psychological, moral, and so forth—understood not as sequential steps, but as interpenetrating spheres of activity. As the koryû conceptualize it, the value and the benefits imparted by the practice of the bugei lie in the combination of all the various elements involved. Koryû see this combination as having a special meaning and existence over and above the sum of the parts. Thus koryû bugei is a means to broad personal development that exists only in whole form: Studying a koryû necessarily involves a willingness to embrace the whole package in a particularly defined way. The arcane nature of the arts themselves, the lack of competitions and other sportive applications, the cabalistic atmosphere surrounding admission and the educational process, and the length and seriousness of the commitments expected from initiates limit the appeal of classical martial art for modern audiences in, as well as outside of, Japan. Moreover, the aversion of most headmasters to licensing branch instructors and academies severely restricts opportunities for training for those who might otherwise be attracted. Thus koryû bugei are, and will likely continue to be, a rather small part of the Japanese martial art world. Nonetheless, the koryû are, historically and conceptually, the core of this world, and remain a vital—and quintessential—part of it today. Karl Friday See also Budô, Bujutsu, and Bugei; Form/Xing/Kata/Pattern Practice; Japan; Samurai; Swordsmanship, Japanese References Draeger, Donn F. 1973. The Martial Arts and Ways of Japan. Vol. 1, Classical Bujutsu. New York: Weatherhill. ———. 1973. The Martial Arts and Ways of Japan. Vol. 2, Classical Budô. New York: Weatherhill. Friday, Karl. 1997. Legacies of the Sword: The Kashima-Shinryû and Samurai Martial Culture. Honolulu: University of Hawai’i Press. Hurst, G. Cameron, III. 1998. The Armed Martial Arts of Japan: Swordsmanship and Archery. New Haven: Yale University Press. Skoss, Diane, ed. 1995. Koryû Bujutsu: Classical Warrior Traditions of Japan. Berkeley Heights, NJ: Koryû Books. ———. 1998. Sword and Spirit: Classical Warrior Traditions of Japan. Berkeley Heights, NJ: Koryû Books. Koryû Bugei, Japanese 305
- Page 274 and 275: 254 Kendô leadership, ability in j
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- Page 278 and 279: 258 Kenpô Kempô grand master, the
- Page 280 and 281: 260 Ki/Qi See also Kajukenbo; Karat
- Page 282 and 283: 262 Ki/Qi jujitsu. Martial artists
- Page 284 and 285: 264 Knights crossbow, or harquebus.
- Page 286 and 287: 266 Knights tury, when the benefice
- Page 288 and 289: 268 Knights vided with support in t
- Page 290 and 291: 270 Knights adopt those hereditary
- Page 292 and 293: 272 Knights hope of being knighted
- Page 294 and 295: 274 Knights acquire dominions and f
- Page 296 and 297: 276 Knights which time the tourname
- Page 298 and 299: 278 Knights their own troop and fou
- Page 300 and 301: 280 Knights Germany were probably f
- Page 302 and 303: 282 Knights glect. Instead, many ne
- Page 304 and 305: 284 Knights From the beginning of t
- Page 306 and 307: 286 Kobudô, Okinawan Kobudô, Okin
- Page 308 and 309: 288 Kobudô, Okinawan Japanese Infl
- Page 310 and 311: 290 Kobudô, Okinawan various forms
- Page 312 and 313: Winners of an archery contest in Ko
- Page 314 and 315: 294 Korea fucianism so completely t
- Page 316 and 317: 296 Korea nese withdrawal. Moreover
- Page 318 and 319: 298 Korea KTA and changed the name
- Page 320 and 321: including Ming general Qi Jiguang
- Page 322 and 323: 302 Koryû Bugei, Japanese koryû b
- Page 326 and 327: 306 Krav Maga Krav Maga Krav maga (
- Page 328: Krav Maga practitioners are taught
- Page 331 and 332: powerless for a few seconds while t
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- Page 335: Two young women demonstrate Chinese
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- Page 344 and 345: 324 Masters of Defence naissance sp
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- Page 348 and 349: 328 Medicine, Traditional Chinese f
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- Page 354 and 355: 334 Medicine, Traditional Chinese
- Page 356 and 357: A sculpture of Buddha in seated med
- Page 358 and 359: 338 Middle East Maliszewski, Michae
- Page 360 and 361: 340 Middle East ture battles. The c
- Page 362 and 363: 342 Middle East The oil obviously m
- Page 364 and 365: 344 Mongolia to gain punching power
- Page 366 and 367: Two Inner Mongolian wrestlers await
- Page 368 and 369: 348 Mongolia range of up to 500 yar
- Page 370 and 371: 350 Muay Thai Sinor, Denis. 1990. T
- Page 372 and 373: 352 Muay Thai (Praditbatuga 2000).
which the details of the school’s arts revolve. This core becomes increasingly<br />
perceptible to initiates as they advance in their studies, particularly as<br />
they turn their attentions beyond the initiatory functions of the bugei as<br />
arts of war to their deeper purpose as arts of peace and self-realization. To<br />
adepts who have entered this realm, each one of their school’s terms and<br />
concepts reveals multiple levels of meaning—mechanical, psychological,<br />
moral, and so forth—understood not as sequential steps, but as interpenetrating<br />
spheres of activity. As the koryû conceptualize it, the value and the<br />
benefits imparted by the practice of the bugei lie in the combination of all<br />
the various elements involved. Koryû see this combination as having a special<br />
meaning and existence over and above the sum of the parts. Thus koryû<br />
bugei is a means to broad personal development that exists only in<br />
whole form: Studying a koryû necessarily involves a willingness to embrace<br />
the whole package in a particularly defined way.<br />
<strong>The</strong> arcane nature of the arts themselves, the lack of competitions and<br />
other sportive applications, the cabalistic atmosphere surrounding admission<br />
and the educational process, and the length and seriousness of the<br />
commitments expected from initiates limit the appeal of classical martial<br />
art for modern audiences in, as well as outside of, Japan. Moreover, the<br />
aversion of most headmasters to licensing branch instructors and academies<br />
severely restricts opportunities for training for those who might otherwise<br />
be attracted. Thus koryû bugei are, and will likely continue to be, a<br />
rather small part of the Japanese martial art world. Nonetheless, the koryû<br />
are, historically and conceptually, the core of this world, and remain a vital—and<br />
quintessential—part of it today.<br />
Karl Friday<br />
See also Budô, Bujutsu, and Bugei; Form/Xing/Kata/Pattern Practice; Japan;<br />
Samurai; Swordsmanship, Japanese<br />
References<br />
Draeger, Donn F. 1973. <strong>The</strong> <strong>Martial</strong> <strong>Arts</strong> and Ways of Japan. Vol. 1,<br />
Classical Bujutsu. New York: Weatherhill.<br />
———. 1973. <strong>The</strong> <strong>Martial</strong> <strong>Arts</strong> and Ways of Japan. Vol. 2, Classical Budô.<br />
New York: Weatherhill.<br />
Friday, Karl. 1997. Legacies of the Sword: <strong>The</strong> Kashima-Shinryû and<br />
Samurai <strong>Martial</strong> Culture. Honolulu: University of Hawai’i Press.<br />
Hurst, G. Cameron, III. 1998. <strong>The</strong> Armed <strong>Martial</strong> <strong>Arts</strong> of Japan:<br />
Swordsmanship and Archery. New Haven: Yale University Press.<br />
Skoss, Diane, ed. 1995. Koryû Bujutsu: Classical Warrior Traditions of<br />
Japan. Berkeley Heights, NJ: Koryû Books.<br />
———. 1998. Sword and Spirit: Classical Warrior Traditions of Japan.<br />
Berkeley Heights, NJ: Koryû Books.<br />
Koryû Bugei, Japanese 305