Martial Arts Of The World - Webs
Martial Arts Of The World - Webs Martial Arts Of The World - Webs
568 Sword, Japanese of the combined plates folded five times yielding a sword with 4,194,304 laminates. Such a sword could be made wider and with a longer point than before, and with all this mixing of soft iron and hard steel, the sword did not require the strengthening “meat” of niku and could be made very sharp. Lessons learned during these invasions completely changed the structured battle formations of the Japanese, along with their weapons. Henceforth, massed foot soldiers wielding sharp swords took the field, supplanting the mounted bushi with his yumi (bow) and nagamaki (a type of halberd used primarily by mounted troops, consisting of a tachi mounted on a pole slightly longer than the tachi itself). The invasions also sapped the life from the shogunate, paving the way for the return of imperial rule, and so the Kamakura period was brought to a close. But before its closure the emperor was betrayed, and again the imperial family was set up as puppets to the regency of the Ashikaga clan. Emperor Godaigo escaped to Nara and set up a northern court that opposed the southern puppet court. The new methods of combat learned from the invasions were put to the test and further developed during the next fifty-five years of contention. In the new Muromachi period feuding provincial daimyo (warlords) led tens of thousands of foot soldiers (ashigaru) into altercations. The situation became so terrible that a name was placed upon this era, confirming it as the Age of the Country at War (Sengoku jidai). Combat techniques developed of one man on foot against another, both armed with swords that by now had about a 33- to 44-inch cutting edge. This period witnessed the introduction of the katana (long sword) and wakazashi (short or “companion” sword). These new blades tended to have the general Kamakura shape, but without the elegance of the former period—the only difference was the introduction of sakizori (curvature greatest in the upper third of a blade) into the shape. This sori was to facilitate a draw by a man on foot. Naturally, sword production all over Japan increased, and at the forefront was a new school of sword construction created by the fusion of Bizen and Soshû styles known as the Mino tradition. Another important development concerning, and deeply affecting, the samurai was the introduction of Zen Buddhism. Zen differed from the Pure Land and Pure Mind sects in that it emphasized self-reliance. The ultimate goal of Zen was the attainment of enlightenment—Zen Buddhists desired to enter reality, not simply to come into contact with it. According to the teachings of Zen, a really good warrior must free his mind of all thoughts of death while in combat. Although Zen is Buddhism and therefore ostensibly opposed to the shedding of blood, Zen masters quickly became the leading elaborators of Japan’s cult of the sword.
Zen masters, however, did not themselves teach the physical details of fencing; instead they laid their stress on correct moral attitude. When the swordsman unfetters his mind in combat he will not watch his enemy’s blade, as such an action would be fatal in itself, causing his reflexes to be slow. Instead he must make his mind fluid and free of all stops; then his sword will become fully alive and give him the victory. In short, Zen provided an ideological framework ideally suited to the emerging samurai. During the year 1574, Oda Nobunaga, a minor daimyo in central Japan, marched to the capital, ostensibly as the champion of a rival claimant to the title of shôgun, and proceeded to establish himself as an “advisor” to a virtually puppet shôgun. This was the beginning of the Azuchi-Momoyama period, and mass warfare was employed with the goal of unifying Japan. His two successors, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, of peasant birth, elevated to a general through his ability, and Tokugawa Ieyasu, a daimyo of medium wealth and power in western Japan (whose claims to descent from the Minamoto clan have been discredited by modern historians), fulfilled his dream—but only after fielding hundreds of thousands of sword- and matchlock-wielding foot soldiers against their enemies. Eventually, all opposition (including the remnants of the Toyotomi clan) was decimated by the Tokugawa, and peace descended upon the land. During the peaceful times known variously as the Edo or Tokugawa period, massed battle between provincial lords ended, and the time of wandering swordsmen was ushered in. These itinerant stalwarts would journey from province to province, seeking to improve their knowledge by challenging the local master. Sword blades shrunk to about 26 1/2 inches with a shallow tori-zori (greatest curve in the center) in order to facilitate a quick draw, and the art of iaijutsu came into being. Swordsmanship had developed all the way from being a technique utilized as a secondary measure on the battlefield into the primary method of combat. The shape along with the length of the sword changed to accommodate the changed function. The Japanese sword evolved from the delicate tachi with its blade of 28 or more inches in the Heian period to the wide, bold blades of 34 or more inches in the Yoshino-Nambokucho period, and eventually arrived at a standard length of about 26 1/2 inches during the late Muromachi period, a standard maintained well into the Edo, Gendaitô, and Shinsakutô periods. Combat techniques ran the gamut from mounted individual combat, to massed melees of infantry battles, and back into individual combat on foot sans armor and horse. Combat training finally made a transition into “fencing,” in which practitioners, using bamboo and hardwood “blades,” honed their skills against others, while reserving the honorable heirlooms for cutting pseudo-bodies manufactured of rice-straw. Finally, Sword, Japanese 569
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- Page 549 and 550: Mass, Jeffrey P. 1989. Lordship and
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- Page 581 and 582: Ryan, N. J. 1976. A History of Mala
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Zen masters, however, did not themselves teach the physical details of<br />
fencing; instead they laid their stress on correct moral attitude. When the<br />
swordsman unfetters his mind in combat he will not watch his enemy’s<br />
blade, as such an action would be fatal in itself, causing his reflexes to be<br />
slow. Instead he must make his mind fluid and free of all stops; then his<br />
sword will become fully alive and give him the victory. In short, Zen provided<br />
an ideological framework ideally suited to the emerging samurai.<br />
During the year 1574, Oda Nobunaga, a minor daimyo in central<br />
Japan, marched to the capital, ostensibly as the champion of a rival<br />
claimant to the title of shôgun, and proceeded to establish himself as an<br />
“advisor” to a virtually puppet shôgun. This was the beginning of the<br />
Azuchi-Momoyama period, and mass warfare was employed with the goal<br />
of unifying Japan. His two successors, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, of peasant<br />
birth, elevated to a general through his ability, and Tokugawa Ieyasu, a<br />
daimyo of medium wealth and power in western Japan (whose claims to<br />
descent from the Minamoto clan have been discredited by modern historians),<br />
fulfilled his dream—but only after fielding hundreds of thousands of<br />
sword- and matchlock-wielding foot soldiers against their enemies. Eventually,<br />
all opposition (including the remnants of the Toyotomi clan) was<br />
decimated by the Tokugawa, and peace descended upon the land.<br />
During the peaceful times known variously as the Edo or Tokugawa<br />
period, massed battle between provincial lords ended, and the time of wandering<br />
swordsmen was ushered in. <strong>The</strong>se itinerant stalwarts would journey<br />
from province to province, seeking to improve their knowledge by challenging<br />
the local master. Sword blades shrunk to about 26 1/2 inches with<br />
a shallow tori-zori (greatest curve in the center) in order to facilitate a<br />
quick draw, and the art of iaijutsu came into being.<br />
Swordsmanship had developed all the way from being a technique utilized<br />
as a secondary measure on the battlefield into the primary method of<br />
combat. <strong>The</strong> shape along with the length of the sword changed to accommodate<br />
the changed function.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Japanese sword evolved from the delicate tachi with its blade of<br />
28 or more inches in the Heian period to the wide, bold blades of 34 or<br />
more inches in the Yoshino-Nambokucho period, and eventually arrived at<br />
a standard length of about 26 1/2 inches during the late Muromachi period,<br />
a standard maintained well into the Edo, Gendaitô, and Shinsakutô<br />
periods. Combat techniques ran the gamut from mounted individual combat,<br />
to massed melees of infantry battles, and back into individual combat<br />
on foot sans armor and horse. Combat training finally made a transition<br />
into “fencing,” in which practitioners, using bamboo and hardwood<br />
“blades,” honed their skills against others, while reserving the honorable<br />
heirlooms for cutting pseudo-bodies manufactured of rice-straw. Finally,<br />
Sword, Japanese 569