Martial Arts World News Magazine - Volume 22 | Special Edition
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Martial Arts World News Magazine - Volume 22 | Special Edition

The #1 Business Resource for the Martial Arts Industry The #1 Business Resource for the Martial Arts Industry

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THE WAY OF THE SAMURAI Combative Weapons (Part 1) by Shihan Dana Abbot The Japanese Art of Chanbara Promises Safe Sparring for All Martial Artists If you want to walk anywhere in the world without risking injury to your feet, you have two options. You can carpet the surface of the earth and walk barefoot, or you can put shoes on your feet and walk on whatever surface lies in front of you. Obviously, the first option is nonsensical while the second is quite practical. Why is it, then, that when martial artists engage in weapons sparring, they insist on covering every square inch of every legal target on their body so it can be struck with an unpadded weapon? Why not simply cover the hard surfaces of the weapon and leave the body unprotected and unencumbered? The latter philosophy lies at the heart of the Japanese art known as chanbara. More than 200,000 practitioners in 35 countries now regularly don a helmet, pick up a padded sword and have at it. They are building their self-confidence and staying fit, and all their frustrations fade as they unleash full-power blasts nonstop. They are keeping the samurai spirit alive. Recent History Thirty years ago, Tanabe Tetsundo and a few of the top swordsmen in Japan got together. Although they were a traditional bunch, they admitted that their society was changing rapidly and what people learned 100 years ago might not appeal to a 20th-century Japanese teenager. The masters ended up creating a school of thought called goshindo (self-defense way), which was later nicknamed “chanbara”. A loose translation means swashbuckling or full-contact weapons sparring. All Japanese know this term and apply it in their vocabulary, as Americans would say cowboys and Indians. For example: Their version of a Western Movie would be a Chanbara Eiga. All Japanese children have played chanbara by picking up a stick and pretending they were a famous samurai. Tanabe’s aim was to take a sport that had been reserved for the upper class easy and make it affordable for the masses. With a little innovation and some help from science and technology, he designed a system in which the weapons were padded and the combatants were not, thus allowing them to move with total freedom. The only equipment required for participation was a helmet and a padded weapon. The sport swept across Japan like wildfire; it was even recognized by the Department of Education there. Part of the reason for that success is chanbara’s lack of restrictions. It teaches that there’s no incorrect way to fight. One combatant may practice kendo while his opponent uses techniques from European fencing. Both can train with the same weapons and compete under the same rules—with no fear of injuring the other person. In the United States, chanbara has become an affordable alternative to kendo, which never really got off the ground mostly because of the high cost of the requisite protective gear. More and more American students are finding it easy, enjoyable and inexpensive to learn how to wield the weapons of war without all the bloodletting. SHIHAN DANA ABBOTT Is a 7th degree black belt in Kenjutsu, starting his 14-year education in Tokyo. He has published five books and designed a US Patent. Abbott has also conducted seminars in over 30 countries and obtained his black belt at the Hombu dojo in Yokohama. He currently offers online classes on LearntheSword.com, his unique swordsmanship academy. 68 MARTIAL ARTS WORLD NEWS VOLUME 22 | SPECIAL EDITION Photograph by IJdema

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