A Brief Social History of Japanese Martial Arts
I've been pretty frustrated by most histories of Japanese martial arts that I've seen. There are two main concerns I have: They often only look at the development and lineage of styles and schools rather than the interplay between martial arts and society. They are rarely written by historians, but instead by martial artists who bring in the biases and dogma that the arts they practice give them.
Rather than following the descent of styles, I'm interested in what caused feudal job skills to evolve into the often stylized and spiritual disciplines we know today. Most histories avoid the questions that I think are most important. I especially feel that writers gloss over the warping of the martial arts during early 20th Century militarism, and the reactionary changes that happened to arts in the post-war period. There seems to be a central dogma among martial artists that styles remain unchanged from their conception over the centuries as long as their lineages are unbroken.
Of course, I'm no historian myself. I am not referencing primary sources and I have my own set of biases. I might be misinterpreting facts, or even have some facts wrong. My theses will certainly change in the future as I learn and understand more.
I wanted to write up this sketch of history to help organize my own thoughts and to lay a foundation for other essays. At the least, I hope it causes some readers to think about things a little differently. I will be happy to discuss any polite disagreements; I may even revise this if you convince me I'm wrong.
I'm dividing this history in to four periods punctuated by three major
historical pivots:
Late Medieval (Muromachi / Sengoku Period)
Final Pacification of Japan and End of Medieval Warfare (1615)
Pre-Modern (Edo Period)
Abolishment of the Samurai and Modernization of Society (1868)
Early Modern (Meiji through WWII)
Defeat of Japan in WWII and Occupation by United States (1945)
[Post-]Modern (1945-Present)
Late Medieval (Muromachi / Sengoku Period)
Martial arts in Japan extend back before the dawn of history, of course. However, records of the arts dissolve into legend before about 500 years ago. The late medieval "Warring States" Period (~1467-1603) is where the clear trail starts.
In this time, samurai were professional soldiers; martial arts were their primary career skills. Styles and schools were less organized and more to the point than in the Edo Period. A martial artist learned whatever and where ever he could to find what worked best for him. The individual and his clan were more important than they would be in later Japanese culture; a samurai's skill brought honor to himself and to his house more so than to his martial school or his lord.
Schools were centered not around tradition and curriculum but around the personal teachings of talented fighters--"sword saints" as it were. Good martial artists survived and passed on their techniques. The need for battlefield effectiveness kept the arts honest.
This was the last period when martial arts were truly alive. Most current Japanese martial arts trace their lineage and inspiration back to this period.
Pre-Modern (Edo Period)
During the Edo period (1603-1868), a quarter millennium of peace reigned and the Tokugawa Shogunate reformed Japan into an autocracy with a feudal patina. The last medieval battle was in 1603; the generations of samurai after this were "warriors" who never knew war. Most samurai became white collar workers who carried swords as identifiers of rank rather than tools of trade.
But still, the martial arts were part of a samurai's education. Each clan would send their kids to the local dojo to learn the basics of fighting. However, for most of the 2 million or so samurai men, the martial arts were not central to their lives. Without battle, the practice of arts became rote and lifeless over the centuries. Authorities tried to fight this trend. They formalized concepts of bushido--the way of the warrior--to inspire the men to embrace their warrior culture. Many schools changed their curriculums to put energy back into practice: introducing more self-perfection, spiritual discipline or increased sparring to get students to engage. Many schools also focused more on dueling techniques, like quick sword draws, rather than armored battlefield techniques to stay relevant.
On the other hand, a minority of samurai still trained to a professional level. Those in martial occupations--military commander, castle guards, police (doshin and yoriki), ronin working as bodyguards or thugs, etc.--still needed some form of the arts as life skills. Some families kept pride in military prowess as part of their identity and heritage, training their children from a young age and practicing throughout their lives. Of course, the families who ran martial arts schools put a special emphasis on retaining and refining their arts.
In this time, many samurai had the benefit of leisure time; serious martial artists were able to refine their arts to a level of subtlety and elegance that was not practical in the medieval period. The Edo Period was when martial arts flowered from skills to arts.
Early Modern (Meiji through WWII)
When the Meiji Restoration came in the late 19th Century, the samurai class was abolished and society embraced Western-style modernization. Military power was no long embodied in the trained elite with medieval weapons. Massed peasant conscripts with modern guns became the true martial force. While some former samurai became police or officers in the military, for most martial arts were now anachronisms.
Styles died as the feudal clan structure disappeared and fewer students wanted to learn. In many cases, schools disappeared as they folded their skills into new (gendai) arts like kendo and judo, preserving the martial arts but loosing their individuality. These new arts, along with imports like karate, became part of the national culture and drew practitioners from all classes of society. Eventually, kendo and judo were taught to all school children.
Some schools, now called the Koryu, were strong enough in students and stubborn enough in tradition to maintain their integrity. They kept training as they had in the Edo Period. In other cases, individual families kept their heritage alive and kept forcing their children to learn.
As Japan militarized, martial arts and the precepts of samurai bushido were co-opted to brainwash soldiers. Many influential martial artists joined ultra-right-wing groups like the "Black Dragon Society." Officers during the "Rape of Nanking" proved their martial spirit by competing to see who could behead the most Chinese with swords. The spirit of bushido was going to drive Japan to glorious victory over all of Asia with no mercy.
There were also many martial artists who were disgusted by this neo-bushido, although it was difficult to go against the government. Jigoro Kano, for example, fought to keep the government from bending his judo to their means. Some just kept their heads down and stayed out of politics. Some fled the country.
[Post-]Modern (1945-Present)
But then the tide of World War II turned against Japan. Martial artists died in battles or in bombing raids, taking their styles to the grave. Many saw their children die on the field, leaving them no inheritors. Some were sick of violence and hung up their swords in the name of peace. Others retired in disgust, feeling betrayed and humiliated by defeat. The perverted bushido of militarization had failed.
Soon the American led reconstruction government banned all martial arts as part of their attempt to pacify Japan. The remaining teachers retired or went underground. As the ban was eased, many arts adapted so that they could continue to practice; they presented themselves as sports or spiritual practices rather than military arts. Some of these changes stuck in the long term, others did not.
Between the government discouraging martial aspects, some teachers trying to purge the stain of pre-war excesses, and the increasing distance between modern culture and samurai culture, many arts became noticeably softer, more spiritual, or sportier. In other cases, many older arts have stubbornly stuck to their traditions and tried to change as little as possible.
The social changes wreaked by World War II and its aftermath are still working themselves out--both in martial arts and culture as a whole. People are starting to look to the past again now and want to recover what was lost; it is an open question as to what they can find.
Appendix: Japanese Martial arts in the West:
There have been three main vectors of martial arts being introduced to the West:
Japanese martial artists came to the United States as either economic or political migrants during the pre-war period and subsequent reconstruction. Many of these teachers only taught their families or other members the Japanese community for the first generation, others taught publicly. As the older path, some of these arts have adapted quite a bit to Western ways. Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is a prime example, as are many of the arts that have come through Hawaii.
American soldiers, other Western workers, and their families stationed in Japan during the post-war period studied martial arts while overseas and continued to practice and teach when they returned to the West. This is how Japanese martial arts first became common in America, especially arts like Karate, Judo and Aikido.
In more recent decades, Westerners have traveled to Japan specifically to study Japanese culture and martial arts. Often these students are seeking deeper or more "pure" knowledge of arts they already study. In other cases, they are seeking out Koryu or other arts unavailable to them at home. This generation of teachers seems to be on the rise now.
Another vector worth mentioning is Japanese who have come to the West over the years specifically to teach and evangelize martial arts. There have been fewer of these, but some have been quite influential.
About the only general history of Japanese martial arts I've read that I can recommend is Armed Martial Arts of Japan by G. Cameron Hurst III. Many martial artists have written negative reviews to a degree that I think is encouraging. It shows that Hurst, whether his theories are right or wrong, is cutting through the dogma.
For the history of a specific art from an insider's perspective, Legacies of the Sword by Karl Friday is worth reading.
Most other books I've read suffer from contain little insight beyond lists of styles and lineages and/or are written by amateur historians with too little objectivity.
Rather than following the descent of styles, I'm interested in what caused feudal job skills to evolve into the often stylized and spiritual disciplines we know today. Most histories avoid the questions that I think are most important. I especially feel that writers gloss over the warping of the martial arts during early 20th Century militarism, and the reactionary changes that happened to arts in the post-war period. There seems to be a central dogma among martial artists that styles remain unchanged from their conception over the centuries as long as their lineages are unbroken.
Of course, I'm no historian myself. I am not referencing primary sources and I have my own set of biases. I might be misinterpreting facts, or even have some facts wrong. My theses will certainly change in the future as I learn and understand more.
I wanted to write up this sketch of history to help organize my own thoughts and to lay a foundation for other essays. At the least, I hope it causes some readers to think about things a little differently. I will be happy to discuss any polite disagreements; I may even revise this if you convince me I'm wrong.
* * *
I'm dividing this history in to four periods punctuated by three major
historical pivots:
Late Medieval (Muromachi / Sengoku Period)
Final Pacification of Japan and End of Medieval Warfare (1615)
Pre-Modern (Edo Period)
Abolishment of the Samurai and Modernization of Society (1868)
Early Modern (Meiji through WWII)
Defeat of Japan in WWII and Occupation by United States (1945)
[Post-]Modern (1945-Present)
* * *
Late Medieval (Muromachi / Sengoku Period)
Martial arts in Japan extend back before the dawn of history, of course. However, records of the arts dissolve into legend before about 500 years ago. The late medieval "Warring States" Period (~1467-1603) is where the clear trail starts.
In this time, samurai were professional soldiers; martial arts were their primary career skills. Styles and schools were less organized and more to the point than in the Edo Period. A martial artist learned whatever and where ever he could to find what worked best for him. The individual and his clan were more important than they would be in later Japanese culture; a samurai's skill brought honor to himself and to his house more so than to his martial school or his lord.
Schools were centered not around tradition and curriculum but around the personal teachings of talented fighters--"sword saints" as it were. Good martial artists survived and passed on their techniques. The need for battlefield effectiveness kept the arts honest.
This was the last period when martial arts were truly alive. Most current Japanese martial arts trace their lineage and inspiration back to this period.
* * *
Pre-Modern (Edo Period)
During the Edo period (1603-1868), a quarter millennium of peace reigned and the Tokugawa Shogunate reformed Japan into an autocracy with a feudal patina. The last medieval battle was in 1603; the generations of samurai after this were "warriors" who never knew war. Most samurai became white collar workers who carried swords as identifiers of rank rather than tools of trade.
But still, the martial arts were part of a samurai's education. Each clan would send their kids to the local dojo to learn the basics of fighting. However, for most of the 2 million or so samurai men, the martial arts were not central to their lives. Without battle, the practice of arts became rote and lifeless over the centuries. Authorities tried to fight this trend. They formalized concepts of bushido--the way of the warrior--to inspire the men to embrace their warrior culture. Many schools changed their curriculums to put energy back into practice: introducing more self-perfection, spiritual discipline or increased sparring to get students to engage. Many schools also focused more on dueling techniques, like quick sword draws, rather than armored battlefield techniques to stay relevant.
On the other hand, a minority of samurai still trained to a professional level. Those in martial occupations--military commander, castle guards, police (doshin and yoriki), ronin working as bodyguards or thugs, etc.--still needed some form of the arts as life skills. Some families kept pride in military prowess as part of their identity and heritage, training their children from a young age and practicing throughout their lives. Of course, the families who ran martial arts schools put a special emphasis on retaining and refining their arts.
In this time, many samurai had the benefit of leisure time; serious martial artists were able to refine their arts to a level of subtlety and elegance that was not practical in the medieval period. The Edo Period was when martial arts flowered from skills to arts.
* * *
Early Modern (Meiji through WWII)
When the Meiji Restoration came in the late 19th Century, the samurai class was abolished and society embraced Western-style modernization. Military power was no long embodied in the trained elite with medieval weapons. Massed peasant conscripts with modern guns became the true martial force. While some former samurai became police or officers in the military, for most martial arts were now anachronisms.
Styles died as the feudal clan structure disappeared and fewer students wanted to learn. In many cases, schools disappeared as they folded their skills into new (gendai) arts like kendo and judo, preserving the martial arts but loosing their individuality. These new arts, along with imports like karate, became part of the national culture and drew practitioners from all classes of society. Eventually, kendo and judo were taught to all school children.
Some schools, now called the Koryu, were strong enough in students and stubborn enough in tradition to maintain their integrity. They kept training as they had in the Edo Period. In other cases, individual families kept their heritage alive and kept forcing their children to learn.
As Japan militarized, martial arts and the precepts of samurai bushido were co-opted to brainwash soldiers. Many influential martial artists joined ultra-right-wing groups like the "Black Dragon Society." Officers during the "Rape of Nanking" proved their martial spirit by competing to see who could behead the most Chinese with swords. The spirit of bushido was going to drive Japan to glorious victory over all of Asia with no mercy.
There were also many martial artists who were disgusted by this neo-bushido, although it was difficult to go against the government. Jigoro Kano, for example, fought to keep the government from bending his judo to their means. Some just kept their heads down and stayed out of politics. Some fled the country.
* * *
[Post-]Modern (1945-Present)
But then the tide of World War II turned against Japan. Martial artists died in battles or in bombing raids, taking their styles to the grave. Many saw their children die on the field, leaving them no inheritors. Some were sick of violence and hung up their swords in the name of peace. Others retired in disgust, feeling betrayed and humiliated by defeat. The perverted bushido of militarization had failed.
Soon the American led reconstruction government banned all martial arts as part of their attempt to pacify Japan. The remaining teachers retired or went underground. As the ban was eased, many arts adapted so that they could continue to practice; they presented themselves as sports or spiritual practices rather than military arts. Some of these changes stuck in the long term, others did not.
Between the government discouraging martial aspects, some teachers trying to purge the stain of pre-war excesses, and the increasing distance between modern culture and samurai culture, many arts became noticeably softer, more spiritual, or sportier. In other cases, many older arts have stubbornly stuck to their traditions and tried to change as little as possible.
The social changes wreaked by World War II and its aftermath are still working themselves out--both in martial arts and culture as a whole. People are starting to look to the past again now and want to recover what was lost; it is an open question as to what they can find.
* * *
Appendix: Japanese Martial arts in the West:
There have been three main vectors of martial arts being introduced to the West:
Japanese martial artists came to the United States as either economic or political migrants during the pre-war period and subsequent reconstruction. Many of these teachers only taught their families or other members the Japanese community for the first generation, others taught publicly. As the older path, some of these arts have adapted quite a bit to Western ways. Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is a prime example, as are many of the arts that have come through Hawaii.
American soldiers, other Western workers, and their families stationed in Japan during the post-war period studied martial arts while overseas and continued to practice and teach when they returned to the West. This is how Japanese martial arts first became common in America, especially arts like Karate, Judo and Aikido.
In more recent decades, Westerners have traveled to Japan specifically to study Japanese culture and martial arts. Often these students are seeking deeper or more "pure" knowledge of arts they already study. In other cases, they are seeking out Koryu or other arts unavailable to them at home. This generation of teachers seems to be on the rise now.
Another vector worth mentioning is Japanese who have come to the West over the years specifically to teach and evangelize martial arts. There have been fewer of these, but some have been quite influential.
* * *
About the only general history of Japanese martial arts I've read that I can recommend is Armed Martial Arts of Japan by G. Cameron Hurst III. Many martial artists have written negative reviews to a degree that I think is encouraging. It shows that Hurst, whether his theories are right or wrong, is cutting through the dogma.
For the history of a specific art from an insider's perspective, Legacies of the Sword by Karl Friday is worth reading.
Most other books I've read suffer from contain little insight beyond lists of styles and lineages and/or are written by amateur historians with too little objectivity.
Labels: Essays, The Martial Arts
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