Japanese martial arts
[2] Bugei refers to the adaptation or refinement of those tactics and techniques to facilitate systematic instruction and dissemination within a formal learning environment.
A complete samurai should be skilled at least in the use of the sword (kenjutsu), the bow and arrow (kyujutsu), the spear (sojutsu, yarijutsu), the halberd (naginatajutsu) and subsequently the use of firearms (houjutsu).
[10] The martial arts developed or originating in Japan are extraordinarily diverse, with vast differences in training tools, methods, and philosophy across innumerable schools and styles.
That said, Japanese martial arts may generally be divided into koryū and gendai budō based on whether they existed prior to or after the Meiji Restoration (1868), respectively.
[11] In modern usage, bujutsu (武術), meaning military art/science, is typified by its practical application of technique to real-world or battlefield situations.
Beginning in 728 AD, the Emperor Shōmu (聖武天皇, 701–756) began holding official sumo matches at the annual harvest festivals.
Today, sumo retains much of its traditional trappings, including a referee dressed as a Shintō priest, and a ritual where the competitors clap hands, stomp their feet, and throw salt in the ring prior to each match.
This is not to imply that jujutsu does not teach or employ strikes, but rather that the art's aim is the ability to use an attacker's force against him or her, and counter-attack where they are weakest or least defended.
Various methods of jujutsu have been incorporated or synthesized into judo and aikido, as well as being exported throughout the world and transformed into sport wrestling systems, adopted in whole or part by schools of karate or other unrelated martial arts, still practiced as they were centuries ago, or all of the above.
According to legend, curved swords made strong by the famous folding process were first forged by the smith Amakuni Yasutsuna (天國 安綱, c. 700 AD).
In 1600 AD, Tokugawa Ieyasu (徳川 家康, 1543–1616) gained total control of all of Japan, and the country entered a period of prolonged peace that would last until the Meiji Restoration.
During this period, the techniques to use the sword underwent a transition from a primarily utilitarian art for killing, to one encompassing a philosophy of personal development and spiritual perfection.
Battōjutsu training technically incorporates kata, but generally consist of only a few moves, focusing on stepping up to an enemy, drawing, performing one or more cuts, and sheathing the weapon.
[citation needed] Iaijutsu (居合術:いあいじゅつ), approximately "the art/science of mental presence and immediate reaction", is also the Japanese art of drawing the sword.
Naginatajutsu (長刀術:なぎなたじゅつ) is the Japanese art of wielding the naginata, a weapon resembling the medieval European glaive or guisarme.
Shinobi no jutsu (aka Ninjutsu) was developed by groups of people mainly from Iga, Mie and Kōka, Shiga of Japan who became noted for their skills as infiltrators, scouts, secret agents, and spies.
The training of these shinobi (忍; ninja) involves espionage, sabotage, disguise, escape, concealment, assassination, archery, medicine, explosives, poisons, and more.
Examples of these include marine skills such as swimming and river-fording (suijutsu; 水術), equestrianism (bajutsu; 馬術), arson and demolition (kajutsu).
Gendai budō (現代武道:げんだいぶどう), literally meaning "modern martial way",[citation needed] usually applies to arts founded after the beginning of the Meiji Restoration in 1868.
Kendo really began to take shape with the introduction of bamboo swords, called shinai (竹刀),[citation needed] and the set of lightweight wooden armour, called bōgu (防具), by Naganuma Sirōzaemon Kunisato (長沼 四郎左衛門 国郷, 1688–1767), which allowed for the practice of strikes at full speed and power without risk of injury to the competitors.
Morihei Ueshiba developed aikido mainly from Daitō-ryū aiki-jūjutsu incorporating training movements such as those for the yari (槍; spear), jō (杖; a short quarterstaff), and perhaps also jūken (銃剣; bayonet).
Many styles of karate practiced today incorporate the forms (kata) originally developed by Funakoshi and his teachers and many different weapons traditionally concealed as farm implements by the peasants of Okinawa.
Shorinji Kempo (少林寺拳法, shōrinji-kenpō) is a post-World War II system of self-defense and self-improvement training (行: gyo or discipline) known as the modified version of Shaolin Kung Fu.
There are two primary technique categories such as gōhō (剛法; strikes, kicks and blocks) and jūhō (柔法; pins, joint locks and dodges).
Aiki is epitomized by the notion of joining physically and mentally with the opponent for the express purpose of avoiding a direct clash of force.
Some popularly repeated quotes implicating this concept include: The ultimate aim of Karate lies not in victory or defeat, but in the perfection of the character of its participants.
Literally "the way of the warrior", those dedicated to Bushido have exemplary skill with a sword or bow, and can withstand great pain and discomfort.
Implicit in these concepts is their separate but equal and interrelated nature, in keeping with their philosophical relationship to the Chinese principles of yin and yang (Jp.
In the classical form of combat between masters, each would stand almost entirely motionless until the slightest opening was spotted; only then would they launch as devastating an attack as they could muster, with the goal of incapacitating their opponent with a single blow.
To fully take the early initiative, the attack launched must be with total commitment and lacking in any hesitation, and virtually ignoring the possibility of a counter-attack by the opponent.
