Book Review: Taiho-Jutsu and Secret Weapons of Jujutsu
Here are two books by the same author that I was very happy to add to my collection since they are very closely related to the martial arts I teach. Or, I should say, they cover the history and weaponry of many of the implements that were employed in the system of martial arts I was taught.
They are two of only a few books I’m aware of that cover these topics in English. Unlike many others these two focus more on the history and development of the various described weapons than on just usage.
Given the topic matter, I strongly recommend these two books to anyone interested in Taiho-Jutsu, the history of law enforcement during the age of the samurai, or weaponry such as the jutte (truncheon), tessen (iron fan), yawara (short wooden rod), hojo jutsu (tying arts), and more.
Secret Weapons of Jujutsu
By: Don Cunningham
ISBN: 0-97002808-0-7
Publisher: Budo Kai, Ltd.
Year: 2000
$22.00
“Secret Weapons of the Jujutsu is the first book to appear in English that offers a detailed introduction to exotic defensive weapons like the tessen and jutte as well as other hibuki, or 'concealed weapons.'"
This description, found on the inside cover of the book, is exactly why I purchased this book. After obtaining the book and reading it over twice, I was not disappointed. This book definitely lives up to its claim.
This book is not an in-depth look at any of the weapons described, but this book does offer some basic information. There is enough information to give some insight into to the various small arms described in the book, their history, and some actual techniques one can employ with them.
In Japan, there is a similar book to this text. To be honest, I was hoping that Mr. Cunningham’s book would have been more like its Japanese cousin. While this text is a good “introduction” on the topic, there are many more “secret weapons” he could have discussed--some of which are almost, if not totally, unknown in the west.
I don’t read Japanese so I couldn’t even start naming some of the odder-looking weapons pictured in the Japanese book on “secret weapons.” In addition I have never seen many of them demonstrated, and don’t even know if there are any teachers that still teach their usage.
Because I can’t read Japanese, and know this information is available, I was hoping Mr. Cunningham, who clearly has resources in Japan, would have mentioned at least some of these more unique and unfamiliar weapons.
In fact I would have preferred leaning more about those weapons than having techniques described, learning about various schools that teach unarmed martial arts, Tokugawa era police, and Japanese feudal social structure. Not to say this is not interesting, and informative, but they are not what the title proposes to cover.
While this book presents good basic material, and is worth reading, if one has to choose which of Mr. Cunningham’s texts to purchase I would suggest “Taiho-Jutsu.” The only reason for this opinion is that “Taiho-Jutsu” is more comprehensive, and covers almost the same information.
Taiho-Jutsu: Law and Order in the Age of the Samurai
By: Don Cunningham
ISBN: 0-8048-3336-5
Publisher: Tuttle Publishing
Year: 2004
$24.95
The part I really liked about this book, and its strong point, is the history regarding law enforcement in the age of the samurai. A topic rarely, if ever, written about in English texts.
In fact this book is the first text I found that really gives a thorough description of the various officers, machi-bugyo-sho (town magistrates) to the lowly hoyokiki (part-time police assistants), and their duties. Even given my background in a martial art that was most likely developed and propagated by a doshin, (officer), I didn’t realize how many different classes of police officer there had been.
The first sixty pages of this book cover topics such as defining social classes, kabukimono (street hooligans), Edo-period justice, penalties and punishments, and civil authority and policing.
While none of these topics are covered in depth, this book provides enough information to fully understand the topic, and gain some insight to the social and legal structure of Japan during this time period.
The rest of this book is divided into describing the various arresting implements used by the Japanese law enforcement (their history and design), and how these implements were used. Some of this is similar, if not identical, to the information listed in the previously reviewed book.
I liked the section on the various weapons utilized by Japan’s police force, and think the topic is covered quite well. There is just enough information presented. Mr. Cunningham has stuck to presenting only the details, which keeps each section concise.
The weakest part of the book, at least for me, is the section that shows how to use the jutte. While the material is presented well, and each diagram is explained sufficiently, I think having this section reduces the over all tone and quality of the book.
I think Mr. Cunningham should have saved that information for another book--a book intended just to teach the “how too.” After all, the initial part of this book is clearly meant to impart historical information, and that information is what is lacking in English texts.
In other words there are already texts that cover how to use the jutte in English, and the techniques described in Mr. Cunningham’s are nothing unique enough one can’t learn from another source--even a book that is not in translated into English. To be honest, most of the forms presented are fairly basic techniques.
Additionally, I think the jutte material in this book is essentially the same as Mr. Cunningham’s previous book. The big difference is that photos are used in book one, and illustrations are used in book two.
While I think how the jutte was used is important info, I would have preferred to see techniques for some of the other weapons presented in this book. I’m not sure how much exposure Mr. Cunningham has regarding the usage of the sodegarami (sleeve entangler), kusurigama (sickle with weighted chain), or yawara (short rod), but these weapons are less known, and seeing techniques related to them would have been more interesting.
Just like the historical information presented in the first part of the book, much of which is unknown in the west, few people have ever had the chance to witness demonstrations of the above listed weaponry in action. The jutte or the tessen, in comparison, are more widely practiced.
Overall I really like this book, and highly recommend to anyone interested in samurai history, samurai weaponry, or lesser know martial arts weaponry.
Mr. Don Cunningham has over thirty years of martial arts experience, studying both contemporary and ancient martial art systems. He holds advanced ranks in judo, jujutsu, and kendo. Besides the two books mentioned above, Mr. Cunningham has also written numerous articles for various martial art publications.
I have met Mr. Cunningham only once, when he attended the local San Francisco Token Kai (Sword Collectors’ convention), and on that day we had just a short conversation. Basically I just teased him a lot since he is always outbidding me on items listed on EBay.
However we did discuss his collection of jutte, and by the sound of things he must have an excellent collection.
They are two of only a few books I’m aware of that cover these topics in English. Unlike many others these two focus more on the history and development of the various described weapons than on just usage.
Given the topic matter, I strongly recommend these two books to anyone interested in Taiho-Jutsu, the history of law enforcement during the age of the samurai, or weaponry such as the jutte (truncheon), tessen (iron fan), yawara (short wooden rod), hojo jutsu (tying arts), and more.
Secret Weapons of Jujutsu
By: Don Cunningham
ISBN: 0-97002808-0-7
Publisher: Budo Kai, Ltd.
Year: 2000
$22.00
“Secret Weapons of the Jujutsu is the first book to appear in English that offers a detailed introduction to exotic defensive weapons like the tessen and jutte as well as other hibuki, or 'concealed weapons.'"
This description, found on the inside cover of the book, is exactly why I purchased this book. After obtaining the book and reading it over twice, I was not disappointed. This book definitely lives up to its claim.
This book is not an in-depth look at any of the weapons described, but this book does offer some basic information. There is enough information to give some insight into to the various small arms described in the book, their history, and some actual techniques one can employ with them.
In Japan, there is a similar book to this text. To be honest, I was hoping that Mr. Cunningham’s book would have been more like its Japanese cousin. While this text is a good “introduction” on the topic, there are many more “secret weapons” he could have discussed--some of which are almost, if not totally, unknown in the west.
I don’t read Japanese so I couldn’t even start naming some of the odder-looking weapons pictured in the Japanese book on “secret weapons.” In addition I have never seen many of them demonstrated, and don’t even know if there are any teachers that still teach their usage.
Because I can’t read Japanese, and know this information is available, I was hoping Mr. Cunningham, who clearly has resources in Japan, would have mentioned at least some of these more unique and unfamiliar weapons.
In fact I would have preferred leaning more about those weapons than having techniques described, learning about various schools that teach unarmed martial arts, Tokugawa era police, and Japanese feudal social structure. Not to say this is not interesting, and informative, but they are not what the title proposes to cover.
While this book presents good basic material, and is worth reading, if one has to choose which of Mr. Cunningham’s texts to purchase I would suggest “Taiho-Jutsu.” The only reason for this opinion is that “Taiho-Jutsu” is more comprehensive, and covers almost the same information.
Taiho-Jutsu: Law and Order in the Age of the Samurai
By: Don Cunningham
ISBN: 0-8048-3336-5
Publisher: Tuttle Publishing
Year: 2004
$24.95
The part I really liked about this book, and its strong point, is the history regarding law enforcement in the age of the samurai. A topic rarely, if ever, written about in English texts.
In fact this book is the first text I found that really gives a thorough description of the various officers, machi-bugyo-sho (town magistrates) to the lowly hoyokiki (part-time police assistants), and their duties. Even given my background in a martial art that was most likely developed and propagated by a doshin, (officer), I didn’t realize how many different classes of police officer there had been.
The first sixty pages of this book cover topics such as defining social classes, kabukimono (street hooligans), Edo-period justice, penalties and punishments, and civil authority and policing.
While none of these topics are covered in depth, this book provides enough information to fully understand the topic, and gain some insight to the social and legal structure of Japan during this time period.
The rest of this book is divided into describing the various arresting implements used by the Japanese law enforcement (their history and design), and how these implements were used. Some of this is similar, if not identical, to the information listed in the previously reviewed book.
I liked the section on the various weapons utilized by Japan’s police force, and think the topic is covered quite well. There is just enough information presented. Mr. Cunningham has stuck to presenting only the details, which keeps each section concise.
The weakest part of the book, at least for me, is the section that shows how to use the jutte. While the material is presented well, and each diagram is explained sufficiently, I think having this section reduces the over all tone and quality of the book.
I think Mr. Cunningham should have saved that information for another book--a book intended just to teach the “how too.” After all, the initial part of this book is clearly meant to impart historical information, and that information is what is lacking in English texts.
In other words there are already texts that cover how to use the jutte in English, and the techniques described in Mr. Cunningham’s are nothing unique enough one can’t learn from another source--even a book that is not in translated into English. To be honest, most of the forms presented are fairly basic techniques.
Additionally, I think the jutte material in this book is essentially the same as Mr. Cunningham’s previous book. The big difference is that photos are used in book one, and illustrations are used in book two.
While I think how the jutte was used is important info, I would have preferred to see techniques for some of the other weapons presented in this book. I’m not sure how much exposure Mr. Cunningham has regarding the usage of the sodegarami (sleeve entangler), kusurigama (sickle with weighted chain), or yawara (short rod), but these weapons are less known, and seeing techniques related to them would have been more interesting.
Just like the historical information presented in the first part of the book, much of which is unknown in the west, few people have ever had the chance to witness demonstrations of the above listed weaponry in action. The jutte or the tessen, in comparison, are more widely practiced.
Overall I really like this book, and highly recommend to anyone interested in samurai history, samurai weaponry, or lesser know martial arts weaponry.
* * *
Mr. Don Cunningham has over thirty years of martial arts experience, studying both contemporary and ancient martial art systems. He holds advanced ranks in judo, jujutsu, and kendo. Besides the two books mentioned above, Mr. Cunningham has also written numerous articles for various martial art publications.I have met Mr. Cunningham only once, when he attended the local San Francisco Token Kai (Sword Collectors’ convention), and on that day we had just a short conversation. Basically I just teased him a lot since he is always outbidding me on items listed on EBay.
However we did discuss his collection of jutte, and by the sound of things he must have an excellent collection.
Labels: Books
<< Home