A look at Japanese Unarmed Fighting

Introduction

Asian martial arts have captivated the minds and imaginations of the West for centuries; the exotic weapons of China and Malaysia, the ferocity and honour of the Samurai, the esoteric mysticism of the Shaolin monk, and the demon powers of the Ninja. These have found their way into the fantasy and fiction of the Western world.

Even today’s sports are influenced heavily by Asian martial arts. Judo and Taekwondo have been Olympic Sports for some time, and Karate and Wushu are being considered. Let us not forget the current obsession of Mixed Martial Arts (MMA). One of the chief components of MMA is Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, which is derived from the Judo of Kano Jigoro, a student of several schools of Jujutsu, and teacher of Nihonden Kito-ryu Judo. This brings us to the topic of this class, the history of Japanese Unarmed Martial Arts, and an exploration of two Kata from schools found in the SCA’s time period.

Definitions

Shogunates and their associated time periods

1. Kamakura jidai - Minamoto Bakufu - 1185 - 1333
2. Muromachi Jidai - Ashikaga Bakufu - 1333 - 1568
3. Edo Jidai - Tokugawa Bakufu - 1604 - 1868

Martial Concepts

1. Ryuha - School of Thought - Ryu is a term also used.
2. Soke - Headmaster of a school
3. Sensei - Teacher
4. Menkyo - Teaching license
5. Menkyo Kaiden - Certificate of complete transmission
6. Densho - Written Aides-memoire

Evolution of the Arts

Early Period

Chikara Kurabe

The first mention of Japanese martial traditions is found in the Nihon Shoki, which describes a wrestling-like competition known as chikara kurabe. According to the Nihon Shoki, in the 7th year of the rule of emperor Suinin [23 BC], there was a contest of strength between Nomi no Sukune and Taima no Kuyehaya:

“7th year, Autumn, 7th month, 7th day… The two men stood opposite to one another. Each raised his foot and kicked at the other,[27] when Nomi no Sukune broke with a kick the ribs of Kuyehaya and also kicked and broke his loins and thus killed him. Therefore the land of Talma [sic] no Kuyehaya was seized, and was all given to Nomi no Sukune.” (Aston, 11)

Sumai no Sechie

The next major landmark in the history of budo is a ritual found in the Shinto faith called Shinji-Zumo. This ritual wrestling match was said to predict the rice harvest. It was performed in front of the ruling emperor or empress. By the Nara Jidai, Shinji-Zumo was an annual court event. During the Heian Jidai it became a court entertainment called Sumai no Sechie. By the time the samurai came to power in the Kamakura Jidai, Sumo had become a sport favoured by the samurai as a training tool, and for entertainment (Shapiro, 13-15).

Kamakura and Muromachi Jidai

Japanese martial tradition has many legendary figures who learned their martial skills from supernatural beings. For example, there is a legend surrounding the renowned hero of the Heian period Minamoto Yoshitsune, who learned swordsmanship from the white haired king of the Tengu,¹ Sojobo (de Visser, 47-48). An example which is more tied to the kusarigama is a legend about the founding of the Isshin-ryu which teaches kusarigamajutsu. It is said that Isshin-ryu was developed by the founder of Nen-ryu Kenjutsu,² Nen Ami Jion, sometime in the late 14th century, after a vision of a divine being holding a sickle and a weight (Krieger, 400). There is also a tradition of different branches of Ryuha having slightly different versions of the same lineage. A good example of this is the Kukishin Ryu.

The lineage story taught in the Kukishin Ryu starts in 1318 when a student of Shinden Fujiwara Muso-ryu, named Yakushimaru Ryushin, saved the life of Emperor Go-daigo (Organization for Preserving Kuki Shinden). There is a story passed along through a Japanese martial arts researcher named Manaka Unsui, which traces the lineage back farther than that. His research shows:

“Around the year 1000 (the exact date cannot be made out), Nawa Shinzaburo Motonaga revived the Tosui Ryu and became its first Soke…In about the year 1336 Yakushimaru Kurando Takamoto, who had studied under the Kishin Tosui Ryu, was given the surname Kuki (which means “nine demons”) after saving the life of Emperor Go-daigo, and he went his own independent way to create the Tosui Kukishin Ryu.” (Mitchell)

The differences are subtle, but significant.

Edo Jidai

The Edo period was a time of relative peace. The first change in the martial arts of the Edo period is the modification of techniques to be effective in street clothes; this was called suhada bujutsu [Kanji: 素肌 武術, Meaning: Bare Warrior Art]. The next and more major change was a social one. With the cementing of the Tokugawa Shogunate, samurai became bureaucrats, and maintaining social order became an important feature of a samurai’s duty. As such, the unarmed fighting techniques of the Edo period were centred around the restraint of the aggressor. Another change found in the Edo period was the diversification of unarmed combat. Generic Jujutsu splits into Dakentaijutsu, Koshijutsu, Koppojutsu, and others. Each different name focuses on some specific aspect of unarmed combat.

Gendai Budo - Modern Martial arts

In 1869 Emperor Meiji brought about the end of the samurai class. The dismantling of the samurai class brought an end to many ryuha. Those ryuha which survived changed again. They became the sports that we know today. Judo, as we know it today, was developed by a student of the older Jujutsu schools. The schools of armed combat changed in marked ways too. As a rule, they became tools for personal development. Even with these changes, it took the Japanese effort to reestablish the nationalistic warrior ethos prior to World War II to bring these martial traditions back into the forefront of the Japanese mind.

Techniques

Do Gaeshi

Kata as it appears in the Densho

“Uke and Tori, are both in Seiza. Uke comes up on the right foot, with a Jodan Tsuki (Kiai). Tori comes up on his left foot forwards, and takes Uke’s right wrist in a open handed right grab. Tori then steps forward with the with the left foot, so his knee presses Uke’s right knee. The left hand comes over the top of Uke’s right arm to grab the left side of Uke’s collar, and Shime waza. Tori pulls the left hand back, pulling Uke onto his back. Tori then bars the back of Uke’s right elbow onto his left knee, and pulling the right hand, and pulling the left collar grab bring Uke over onto his stomach. O-Gyaku”

This is the second technique in the Takagi Yoshin Ryu densho. The key principle which drives this kata is the interception of the attack from an angle which is close to but not in line with the line of the attack. The soke of the Ryuha I study speaks about“… writing life on one side of a piece of paper, death on the other side, and the distance between those two words, life/death, is called kami hitoe, 紙一重.”(Renner, “要 – Kaname.”) This allows you to respond to the attack, before your opponent has an opportunity to realize that he hasn’t hit you. This kata gives an example of how to do that.

Kata as we will do it

As there are many considerations for the safety of all participating, we are going to modify the kata while still holding true to the above mentioned key principle. Below I describe in the same style as the densho the form we will be working with.

“Uke and Tori, are both in Seiza. Uke comes up on the right foot, and grabs Tori’s left lapel. Tori comes up on his left foot forwards, and takes Uke’s right wrist in a open handed right grab. Tori then steps forward with the with the left foot, so his knee presses Uke’s right knee. Tori turns and eases Uke to their back.”

Seion

Kata as it appears in the Densho

“Uke holds Tori in Kumi Uchi. Tori hold the collar, and the elbow. The right thumb, presses into the nerve in the side of the neck, and the thumb of the left hand, presses into the nerve in the elbow. Tori shifts the left foot to the left, and places the right foot, against the hip. Pressing the nerves, pushing out the foot, and turning Anti clockwise Tori throws Uke onto his back.”

This is the first technique in the Kukishinden ryu densho. It is a straightforward technique which works on a few simple principles. The first of these is unbalancing your opponent with opposing push and pull forces on their upper body. The second, which we will not be applying, is the use of pain compliance. Third, is using rotation, as in the previous kata, to bring the opponent to the ground.

Kata as we will do it

Again as in the previous technique we will be modifying this kata to make it less risky for all people to perform. The most major modification is that this variation will be performed as before: from seiza.

“Uke and Tori are in Seiza. Uke holds the collar of Tori with left hand. Tori lightly holds Uke’s sleeve. Uke strikes towards Tori’s face. Tori moves right leg back to create distance and raises left hand to block the strike. Tori turns right pulling down on Uke’s sleeve, and pushing on Uke’s shoulder.”

Sources

講道館監修, Kodokan (ed.) - The Japanese book “嘉納治五郎大系・第12巻” (Kano Jigoro Taikei (Jigoro Kano’s Writings), vol. 12, Tokyo: Honnotomosha)

Aston, W.G. Nihongi: Chronicles of Japan from the Earliest Times, Book VI. The Japan Society, London, 1896. Text

Ō, Yasumaro, and Basil Hall Chamberlain. The Kojiki. 1919. The Internet Sacred Text Archive. Http://www.sacred-texts.com/. Web.

Mitchell, Adam. E-mail interview. 1 June 2016.

Organization for Preserving Kuki Shinden (2007). “Bojutsu Devoted to Mother”. History of Ryu-ha, part 1. www.shinjin.co.jp. Retrieved 2007-04-30.

Kure, Mitsuo. Samurai: An Illustrated History. Boston: Tuttle Pub., 2002. Print.

Renner, Rob. “要 – Kaname.” Bujinkan Zeropoint Dojo. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Jan. 2017. Rob Renner is Bujinkan Budo Taijutsu shihan.

Shapiro, David. Sumo: A Pocket Guide. Rutland, VT: C.E. Tuttle, 1995 Print.

Skoss, Meik. “Jujutsu and Taijutsu: Some Background Information on Warrior Close Combat Systems” Aikido Journal #103, Vol. 22. 1995. Print.

Footnotes

1. Tengu are Supernatural Beings believed to be harbingers of war, which later became associated with mountain warrior ascetics, yamabushi, and their faith of Shugendo, “the path to spiritual power through discipline.” ↩

2. One of the oldest schools of Japanese Swordsmanship ↩