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-Jutsu
Law and Order in the Age of the Samurai
Overview
This 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 Budo
31 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
Daimyo
30 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 Resources
Cleary, 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 Resources
Katsu, 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
