Teaching Traditional Japanese Martial Arts, History, and

Culture

Don Cunningham

Visiting Lecturer

North Central College

Monday, June 21, 2004

Instructor

Secret Weapons of Jujutsu

Taiho-JutsuLaw and Order in the Age of the Samurai

OverviewThis course traces the history of Japanese martial arts from their initial foundations during the warring states period (Sengoku Period) and feudal culture (Edo Period) to the threshold of modern times.

Providing insights into the history of both armed and unarmed martial arts, this course examines the historical and cultural backgrounds of martial arts development for a better understanding of current study and practices.

The course considers the weapons, techniques, strategies, and principles of combat as employed by the Japanese warriors from ancient times to the more modern sport and recreational versions practiced today.

Online Resources http://www.samurai-archives.com http://www.ospreysamurai.com/ http://gojapan.about.com/

http://gojapan.about.com/od/japanhistory/ http://gojapan.about.com/cs/samurai/

http://www.japan-guide.com http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2127.html http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e634.html

Online Resources http://www.japan-zone.com/index.shtml

http://www.japan-zone.com/omnibus/martial.shtml http://www.japan-zone.com/omnibus/history1.shtml http://www.japan-zone.com/omnibus/history2.shtml http://www.japan-zone.com/omnibus/history3.shtml

http://www.rekihaku.ac.jp/index_ne.html

Audio/Visual Resources

The Japanese Budo31 minutes, NTSC video or DVD, English Language, Color, 2002

The Nihon Budokan not just a building in Tokyo where they hold rock concerts. It's also one of the leading budo organizations in Japan. The Nihon Budokan serves to preserve and promote the practice of classical and modern budo in Japan and around the world. The Japanese Budo was made by the Budokan to serve as an introduction to nine modern budo for people around the world. In English, it presents straightforward introductions to kyudo, kendo, naginata, jukendo, judo, karatedo, aikido, sumo, and shorinji kempo. With top notch photography and excellent demonstrations by leading teachers, this video presents a clear picture of some of the most popular forms of budo today.

Audio/Visual Resources

Daimyo30 minutes, NTSC video, English Language, Color, 1988

Daimyo explores and illustrates the paradoxical ideal known in Japanese as bunbu-ryodo - "the dual way of the pen and the sword" - the unique interaction of martial tradition and civilian arts that was central to the shaping of daimyo culture. Filmed on location in Japan, the program provides a sensory experience of medieval daimyo life, focusing on cultural activities such as the tea ceremony, Noh theater, calligraphy, swordplay, and archery from horseback. The daimyo contribution to Japanese culture has continued to evolve over the centuries and is both far-reaching and lasting.

Audio/Visual Resources

Seven Samurai [Shichinin no samurai] 3 Hours 27 Minutes, NTSC video or DVD, Japanese with English subtitles, Black-and-White, 1954

Unanimously hailed as one of the greatest masterpieces in the history of the motion picture, Seven Samurai has inspired countless films modeled after its basic premise. Director Akira Kurosawa's 1954 masterwork is set in the 1600s when the residents of a small Japanese village are seeking protection against repeated attacks by a band of marauding thieves. Offering mere handfuls of rice as payment, they hire seven unemployed ronin (masterless samurai). These seven men eventually unite the villagers and fend off the bandits.

Bibliography ResourcesCleary, Thomas. Code of the Samurai [A translation

of Daidōji Yuzan's Budō Shoshinshu]. Boston: Tuttle Publishing, 1999. [ISBN 0-8048-3190-4]

Ratti, Oscar, and Adele Westbrook. Secrets of the Samurai: A Survey of the Martial Arts of Feudal Japan. Boston: Tuttle Publishing, 1991. [ISBN 0-8048-1684-0]

Sadler, A. L. The Code of the Samurai [A translation of Daidōji Yuzan's Budō Shoshinshu]. Tokyo: Charles E. Tuttle Company, 1988.

Bibliography ResourcesKatsu, Kokichi. Musai’s Story: The Autobiography

of a Tokugawa Samurai. Translated by Teruko Craig. Tucson, AZ: University of Arizona Press, 1988.

Yamamoto, Tsunetomo. Hagakure: The Book of the Samurai. Translated by William Scott Wilson. Tokyo: Kodansha International Ltd., 1979.

Cunningham, Don. Secret Weapons of Jujutsu. Boston: Tuttle Publishing, 2002. [ISBN 0-8048-3422-9]

Cunningham, Don. Taiho-Jutsu: Law and Order in the Age of the Samurai. Boston: Tuttle Publishing, 2004. [ISBN 0-8048-3536-5]

Class Outline Japanese martial arts The bushi (warriors) The heiman (commoners) The martial arts schools Armed combat Unarmed combat Control and power Strategy and applications Morality and evolution

Historical Timeline Sengoku period (1478-1603)

Oda Nobunaga Toyotomi Hideyoshi Tokugawa Ieyasu

Edo period (1603-1867) 250 years of relative peace and isolation Commodore Perry arrives in 1854

The Meiji Restoration (1868) Samurai class abolished Japan becomes ‘westernized’

Other Materials Class presentation slides Terminology puzzles and games