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Martial Arts Of The World - Webs

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734 Wrestling and Grappling: Japan<br />

<strong>The</strong> ninja philosophy, or Ninpô, can best be illustrated by the words<br />

of the former sôke. Takamatsu Toshitsugu stated, “<strong>The</strong> essence of all martial<br />

arts and military strategies is self-protection and the prevention of<br />

danger. Ninpô deals with the protection of not only the physical body, but<br />

the mind and spirit as well. <strong>The</strong> way of the ninja is the way of enduring,<br />

surviving, and prevailing over all that would destroy one. More than simply<br />

defeating or outwitting an enemy, Ninpô is the way of attaining that<br />

which we need to live happily, while making the world a better place”<br />

(Hatsumi 1981, 4).<br />

<strong>The</strong> Japanese grappling arts exert a continuing global influence, especially<br />

in the cognate forms derived from the earlier combat systems. Jûdô<br />

is an Olympic sport with an international following. In the area of popular<br />

culture, the films of American actor Steven Seagal have drawn attention to<br />

the more combative elements of aikidô. At the close of the twentieth century,<br />

submission fighting in various formats provided a popular no-holdsbarred<br />

arena for grapplers in both “pure” Japanese systems such as jûdô<br />

and jûjutsu and those non-Japanese arts heavily influenced by Japanese<br />

wrestling, such as Brazilian jiu-jitsu and Russian sambo.<br />

Glenn J. Morris<br />

See also Aikidô; Boxing, Chinese; Boxing, Chinese Shaolin Styles; Japanese<br />

<strong>Martial</strong> <strong>Arts</strong>, Chinese Influences on; Jûdô; Ninjutsu; Sambo; Samurai;<br />

Taijiquan (Tai Chi Ch’uan); Wrestling and Grappling: China<br />

References<br />

Cleary, Thomas. 1993. <strong>The</strong> Essential Tao. San Francisco: HarperCollins.<br />

Donohue, John J. 1997. “<strong>The</strong> Shape of Water: <strong>Martial</strong> <strong>Arts</strong> Styles as<br />

Technical Continuum.” Journal of Asian <strong>Martial</strong> <strong>Arts</strong> 6, no. 4: 90–101.<br />

Friday, Karl, with Seki Humitake. 1997. Legacies of the Sword: <strong>The</strong><br />

Kashima-Shinryû and Samurai <strong>Martial</strong> Culture. Honolulu: University of<br />

Hawai’i Press.<br />

Gilbey, John. 1986. Western Boxing and <strong>World</strong> Wrestling. Berkeley: North<br />

Atlantic Books.<br />

Hatsumi Masaaki. 1987. Bajinkan Newsletter 6: 4.<br />

———. 1981. Ninjutsu: History and Traditions. Burbank: Unique Publications.<br />

Huang, J. H. 1993. Sun Tzu: <strong>The</strong> Art of War. New York: Quill, William<br />

Morrow.<br />

Kudo, Kazuzo. 1967. Judo in Action: Grappling Techniques. Tokyo: Japan<br />

Publications Trading Company.<br />

LeBell, Gene. 1992. Grappling Master. Los Angeles: Pro-Action Publishing.<br />

McCarthy, Patrick. 1995. Bubishi: <strong>The</strong> Bible of Karate. Rutland, VT:<br />

Charles E. Tuttle.<br />

Morris, Glenn. 1998. <strong>Martial</strong> <strong>Arts</strong> Madness. Berkeley, CA: Frog<br />

Publications.<br />

———. 1993. Path Notes of an American Ninja Master. Berkeley, CA: Frog<br />

Publications.<br />

———. 1995. Shadow Strategies of an American Ninja Master. Berkeley, CA:<br />

Frog Publications.

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