Martial Arts Of The World - Webs

702 Women in the Martial Arts: Japan
boo strips were attached to the end of a wooden shaft, in imitation of
kendô shinai. This weapon replica is light and whippy, allowing movements
impossible with a real naginata. As rules developed and point targets
were agreed upon, the techniques useful for victory in competition began
to differ from those used by the old ryû, each of which had been developed
for different terrain, varied combative situations, and a welter of sociopolitical
objectives. Naginata practice began to develop into something new—
a competitive sport.
Not all teachers were opposed to this universalistic trend, given its
congruence to the strong centralization of state power at this time. During
World War II, some naginata teachers, notably Sakakida Yaeko, in conjunction
with the Ministry of Education, created the Mombushô Seitei kata
(standard forms of the Ministry of Education). Sakakida had been (and remains)
a student of Tendo-ryû and was an avid participant in matches pitting
naginata against kendô. She states that she found that the different
styles of the old ryû were not suitable to teach to large groups of schoolgirls
on an intermittent basis. Given the conditions in which she had to
teach, she felt that it was too difficult for the girls to learn the sword side
of the kata, so she began to emphasize solo practice with the naginata. In
addition, she was concerned that they might study one style in primary
school and another in secondary school, thus being required to relearn
everything each time they switched schools.
As a result of these difficulties, she and several associates created totally
new kata that focused on naginata versus naginata. The Mombushô
forms, made for the express purpose of training schoolgirls and adopted
for use in 1943, were the result. Something, however, seemed to be lost in
the process. Geared for children rather than warriors, these forms are, as a
result, simplistic and somewhat lacking in character. The singularity that
made the old ryû strong was sacrificed in favor of a generic mean.
Teachers and students of the classical ryû received basic but scanty instruction
in the new kata and were assigned “territories” made up of several
grammar schools. As part of their preparation, the teachers were instructed
in how to give pep talks to the girls. These talks included warnings
about the barbarism of invading armies and the need for girls to protect
themselves and their families. Yet the protection was not intended for the
sake of the integrity of the girls themselves, but for the sake of being “mirrors
of the Emperor’s virtue.”
Nitta Suzuyo, nineteenth-generation lineal successor to the Toda ha
Buko-ryû, subsequently recalled teaching these forms to girls aged 12 to 17
years. She stated that, although still a young woman herself, she was dispatched
to teach because her teacher, Kobayashi Seiko, had no desire to
teach the Mombushô kata, preferring to continue to teach her traditional