Kendo World Special Edition SE8

THERE would appear to be little doubt that the two main causes contributing toward the fighting and sea-faring instincts of the Japanese are--first of all, the strong strain of Malay blood that runs in their veins; and secondly, the favourable climatic conditions under which they have been bred and brought up. The Malay strain has given them evidently the necessary fire, bravery and dash for the calling of warriors; to the second or climatic cause they owe those physical qualifications without which the advantage of race is often of so little avail. As regards the peculiar discipline and loyalty for which the Japanese have now become so famous, these traits would appear to be the outcome of their Mongolian blood and teachings ; for if there is one thing for…

LEAVING out of consideration the little knowledge the Japanese picked up of navigation from their early Portuguese, Dutch, and English visitors during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, it was not until the early part of the late eighteen-sixties that a small naval mission was despatched by the Shogun’s government to Holland, and it was the members of this mission, assisted by some Dutch officers and men, who brought the “Kaiyo-maru,” already mentioned, to Japan. In 1867 the same Shogun’s government applied for and obtained the services of a number of British officers and men as naval instructors. Unfortunately, however, this mission, under the leadership of Commander Tracey, R.N., had to be withdrawn by the British authorities because of the revolution which broke out a few months after its arrival in…

IN few countries has the sword had so much attention and honour paid it as in Japan; for regarded as being of divine origin, it has been worshipped as such. In the interests of veracity it must further be admitted that few swordsmen in other lands have, from a European standpoint, so defiled their blades as those of Japan. For instance, it was quite a common occurrence, even so lately as the seventies of the last century, for a samurai, or gentleman soldier of old Japan, to pay a small fee to the public executioner for the privilege of being allowed to test his blade upon the carcase of a criminal, and even at times upon the living body of one. And some Japanese swordsmen, with the same object in…

FEW people are so keen about wrestling as the Japanese, who have for centuries past practised two distinct kindssumo and jujutsu. As regards the difference existing between the two, it is worth noting that this is something more than a mere difference of style as between two schools of the same art. For while the votaries of sumo rely as much upon their personal strength and weight of body as upon any knowledge they may possess of scientific grips and falls, those of jujutsu aim solely at overthrowing an opponent by highly reasoned-out yieldings of self, or as a Japanese would put it, “ by yielding to strength.” And then again, while the sumotori are essentially professional wrestlers, recruited mainly from the lower strata of Japanese society, among the devotees…

JUJITSU has suffered from its exploitation by a literature of a somewhat low type. There has been spread abroad a false idea of its nature and of the reasons which justify and make valuable its introduction among the games and sports of England. It has become desirable, therefore, that a Ju-Jitsu book with some claims to common sense should be obtainable, and the School is therefore preparing a carefully written and carefully illustrated elementary work on the subject. This will be no collection of cut-and-dried recipes, the perusal of which will enable sedentary persons to encounter and overcome large and violent men armed with knives. It will endeavour to outline Ju-Jitsu, the game. It will be the daily teaching of the School put on paper. It will be a book that,…

By Alex Bennett Francis James Norman (1855-1926) was a Western pioneer of the modern Japanese martial arts who was one of the first to introduce kenjutsu (kendo) to audiences outside Japan. Apart from writing about the martial culture of Japan, his actual skill in kenjutsu earned him considerable respect from Japanese. Upon a chance discovery of his 1905 book The Fighting Man of Japan: The Training and Exercises of the Samurai (Archibald Constable & Co. London, 1905), I was curious to find out more about the man and his career. A rare and valuable little volume, it remained almost completely unknown for an entire century. The author became a virtual recluse after the book’s publication, even though it is one of the first comprehensive English language treatises on kenjutsu and other…