History Of Traditional Japanese Martial Arts
History of traditional Japanese martial arts is as old as Japan itself. However, the actual records of the martial arts of Japan show that Japanese martial arts gained prominence during late medieval period, when warring tribes were fighting for supremacy. During this period, the tribes had professional soldiers, who were well-versed in martial arts. These soldiers were known as samurai. |
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During the medieval period, traditional martial arts in Japan was not organized properly and a person wanting to learn these skills had to find all possible means to learn and excel in being a samurai. It was also a great honor for the person, his family and his teacher, if he became a samurai. The various schools training samurai did not concentrate on a curriculum. Rather the art and skill was passed down from the teacher to his student. The teacher tried to teach the student all the skills required to survive in a battlefield. It is from this period that all the other martial arts in Japan stemmed.
In the Edo period, there was no war and Japan had relative peace. During this period, the trained samurai became respectable workers, but they could be identified with the swords they carried. However, this did not put an end to the teaching of martial arts. Rather, each clan would ensure that the kids of the clan received some basic education in fighting. However, as there were no wars, the teachings became dull and boring. So, in order to get some enthusiasm back into the learning, the schools began concentrating on spiritual development, enhanced sparring between students and teaching the students to become perfect. Some of the soldiers in the army still learned to be professional samurai, as they needed the skill to survive in the army. Even rogues and thugs learned to be samurai fighters, so that they could escape the law. Such people passed on their skills to their offsprings. It was in the Edo era that martial arts changed from a skill-based fighting technique to an art.
In the latter half of the 19th century, Japan witnessed the Meiji Restoration and the fighting class of the samurai was completely abolished. The army concentrated on recruiting peasants and teaching them to fight with modern weapons. During this period, the professional samurai ended up joining the police force or becoming officers in the Japanese army. As clans began to perish and die away, fewer students were willing to enroll into dojos to learn the art of being a samurai. So, the schools had to do something drastic to increase enrollment. They decided to teach new martial arts to students and these included judo, kendo and karate. As a result, these new martial arts gained popularity and very soon students from all social classes were learning them. The popularity increased so much that children in all schools were taught judo and kendo. However, not all schools gave in to temptation. Some kept the traditional way alive and concentrated on imparting training the way it was done during the Edo era.
As Japan started equipping its military with modern weapons, the teachings of the samurai were misused in brainwashing soldiers. However, this concept was rejected by many people, who practiced martial arts, but they did not have the means or courage to go against the Japanese government. Some of them tried not to let the government manipulate the way they taught the marital arts; some did not object; while there were still others who decided to leave Japan for good rather than let the government dictate the way martial arts was taught.
During the Second World War, martial arts did not help the Japanese army. Many martial arts specialist perished in battles and bombing and as a result, the art died with them. There were others who lost their children and therefore, there was no one to uphold the family tradition. Basically, the martial arts specialists were unhappy with the way the government and military had misused the teachings of samurai and betrayed them.
After the end of the Second World War, the United States in-charge of reconstructing Japan banned all forms of martial arts in the country to make Japan a pacifist nation. Many teachers either retired or disappeared. However, in due course, the ban became less stringent, and people once again began practicing the skill. But, this time, martial arts was used as a sport or for spiritual reasons rather than military art. However, the older traditional martial arts stayed as they were, while the remaining concentrated on spiritualism and turning into sports.
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