is a collective term for Japanese traditional techniques for the use of

armour Armour (British English) or armor (American English; see spelling differences) is a covering used to protect an object, individual, or vehicle from physical injury or damage, especially direct contact weapons or projectiles during combat, or fr ...

blade A blade is the portion of a tool, weapon, or machine with an edge that is designed to puncture, chop, slice or scrape surfaces or materials. Blades are typically made from materials that are harder than those they are to be used on. Historic ...

firearm A firearm is any type of gun designed to be readily carried and used by an individual. The term is legally defined further in different countries (see Legal definitions). The first firearms originated in 10th-century China, when bamboo tubes ...

s, and techniques related to

combat Combat ( French for ''fight'') is a purposeful violent conflict meant to physically harm or kill the opposition. Combat may be armed (using weapons) or unarmed ( not using weapons). Combat is sometimes resorted to as a method of self-defense, or ...

and

horse riding Equestrianism (from Latin , , , 'horseman', 'horse'), commonly known as horse riding (Commonwealth English) or horseback riding (American English), includes the disciplines of riding, Driving (horse), driving, and Equestrian vaulting, vaulting ...

. The ''

kanji are the logographic Chinese characters taken from the Chinese family of scripts, Chinese script and used in the writing of Japanese language, Japanese. They were made a major part of the Japanese writing system during the time of Old Japanese ...

'' 古流武術 (old-school martial arts) and 古武術 (old martial arts) are other ways of writing it. The general

umbrella term In linguistics, semantics, general semantics, and ontologies, hyponymy () is a semantic relation between a hyponym denoting a subtype and a hypernym or hyperonym (sometimes called umbrella term or blanket term) denoting a supertype. In other wor ...

is also used to describe these ancient arts.

Definition and features

''Kobudō'' (古武道) can be translated as 古 (old) 武 (martial) 道 (way) "old martial art"; the term appeared in the first half of the seventeenth century. ''Kobudō'' marks the beginning of the Tokugawa period (1603–1868) also called the Edo period, when total power was consolidated by the ruling Tokugawa clan. The term often refers to martial arts established before the

Meiji Restoration The , referred to at the time as the , and also known as the Meiji Renovation, Revolution, Regeneration, Reform, or Renewal, was a political event that restored practical imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji. Although there were ...

of the 19th century. Since the

Muromachi period The is a division of Japanese history running from approximately 1336 to 1573. The period marks the governance of the Muromachi or Ashikaga shogunate (''Muromachi bakufu'' or ''Ashikaga bakufu''), which was officially established in 1338 by t ...

swordsmanship Swordsmanship or sword fighting refers to the skills and techniques used in combat and training with any type of sword. The term is modern, and as such was mainly used to refer to smallsword fencing, but by extension it can also be applied to a ...

, ''

jūjutsu Jujutsu ( ; ja, link=no, 柔術 , ), also known as jiu-jitsu and ju-jitsu, is a family of Japanese martial arts and a system of close combat (unarmed or with a minor weapon) that can be used in a defensive or offensive manner to kill or subdu ...

'',

martial arts Martial arts are codified systems and traditions of combat practiced for a number of reasons such as self-defense; military and law enforcement applications; combat sport, competition; physical, mental, and spiritual development; entertainment; a ...

archery Archery is the sport, practice, or skill of using a bow to shoot arrows.Paterson ''Encyclopaedia of Archery'' p. 17 The word comes from the Latin ''arcus'', meaning bow. Historically, archery has been used for hunting and combat. In m ...

artillery Artillery is a class of heavy military ranged weapons that launch munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during siege ...

, etc. have been technicalized and systematized as various schools. The term ''Kobudō'' (古武道, ancient martial arts) contrasts with ''

Gendai budō , or Draeger, Donn F. (1974) Modern Bujutsu & Budo - The Martial Arts and Ways of Japan. New York/Tokyo: Weatherhill. Page 57. are both terms referring to modern Japanese martial arts, which were established after the Meiji Restoration (1866–1 ...

'' ("modern martial arts") or '' shinbudō'' ("new martial arts") which refer to schools developed since the

Meiji era The is an era of Japanese history that extended from October 23, 1868 to July 30, 1912. The Meiji era was the first half of the Empire of Japan, when the Japanese people moved from being an isolated feudal society at risk of colonization b ...

.Draeger, Donn F. (1974) ''Modern Bujutsu and Budo''. New York: Weatherhill. Page 57. Fumon Tanaka (2003) ''Samurai Fighting Arts: The Spirit and the Practice''.
Tokyo: Kodansha International Ltd. Page 22. Whereas modern martial arts are designed to develop human skills and physical and mental training from the physical point of view, focusing on sports-related competitions and constructing technical systems (e.g., ''

jūdō is an unarmed modern Japanese martial art, Olympic sport (since 1964), and the most prominent form of jacket wrestling competed internationally.『日本大百科全書』電子版【柔道】(CD-ROM version of Encyclopedia Nipponica, "Judo"). ...

'' and ''

kendō is a modern Japanese martial art, descended from kenjutsu (one of the old Japanese martial arts, swordsmanship), that uses bamboo swords (shinai) as well as protective armor (bōgu). Today, it is widely practiced within Japan and has spread t ...

''), old martial arts are fundamentally not intended with an outcome of a winning match. Training was for the sake of it. Dangerous techniques that are excluded from modern martial arts include various hidden weapons, medicinal methods, and magic. Old martial arts are linked to

Zen Zen ( zh, t=禪, p=Chán; ja, text= 禅, translit=zen; ko, text=선, translit=Seon; vi, text=Thiền) is a school of Mahayana Buddhism that originated in China during the Tang dynasty, known as the Chan School (''Chánzong'' 禪宗), and ...

and

Buddhism Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and gra ...

. It may also include irrational movements whose original meaning have been lost even to those who are masters of the school, or movements added for aesthetic reasons during the peaceful

Edo period The or is the period between 1603 and 1867 in the history of Japan, when Japan was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and the country's 300 regional '' daimyo''. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengoku period, the Edo period was characteriz ...

. The system of ''kobudō'' is considered in following priorities order: 1) morals, 2) discipline 3) aesthetic form.Donn F. Draeger, 1973. ''Classical Budo''. . Page 36Armstrong, Hunter B. (1995) ''The Koryu Bujutsu Experience'' in Koryu Bujutsu - Classical Warrior Traditions of Japan. New Jersey: Koryu Books. Page 20.

Okinawan ''kobudō''

''Kobudō'' can also be used to refer to

Okinawan kobudō , literally "old martial way of Okinawa", is the weapon systems of Okinawan martial arts. Etymology and definition Okinawan Kobudō is a Japanese term that can be translated as "''old martial way of Okinawa''". It is a generic term coined in th ...

where it describes collectively all Okinawan combative systems. These are entirely different and basically unrelated systems. The use of the term ''kobudō'' should not be limited, as it popularly is, to the describing of the ancient weapons systems of Okinawa.Armstrong, Hunter B. (1995) ''The Koryu Bujutsu Experience'' in Koryu Bujutsu - Classical Warrior Traditions of Japan. New Jersey: Koryu Books. Pages 19-20.

Examples of taught skills

* ''

Bōjutsu , translated from Japanese as "staff technique", is the martial art of stick fighting using a bō, which is the Japanese word for staff. Staffs have been in use for thousands of years in Asian martial arts like Silambam. Some techniques involve s ...

'' * ''

Jujutsu Jujutsu ( ; ja, link=no, 柔術 , ), also known as jiu-jitsu and ju-jitsu, is a family of Japanese martial arts and a system of close combat (unarmed or with a minor weapon) that can be used in a defensive or offensive manner to kill or subdu ...

'' * ''

Jittejutsu is the Japanese martial art of using the Japanese weapon ''jitte'' (also known as ''jutte'' in English-language sources). Jittejutsu was evolved mainly for the law enforcement officers of the Edo period to enable non-lethal disarmament and appr ...

'' * ''

Kenjutsu is an umbrella term for all ('' ko-budō'') schools of Japanese swordsmanship, in particular those that predate the Meiji Restoration. Some modern styles of kendo and iaido that were established in the 20th century also included modern forms of ...

'' * ''

Kyūjutsu ("art of archery") is the traditional Japanese martial art of wielding a bow (yumi) as practiced by the samurai class of feudal Japan. Although the samurai are perhaps best known for their swordsmanship with a katana (''kenjutsu''), kyūjutsu wa ...

'' * ''

Naginatajutsu is the Japanese martial art of wielding the . The naginata is a weapon resembling the medieval European glaive and the Chinese guan dao. Most naginatajutsu practiced today is in a modernized form, a ''gendai budō'', in which competitions als ...

'' * '' Ōzutsu'' (大筒)

hand cannon The hand cannon (Chinese: 手銃 ''shŏuchòng'', or 火銃 ''huŏchòng''), also known as the gonne or handgonne, is the first true firearm and the successor of the fire lance. It is the oldest type of small arms as well as the most mecha ...

* ''

Sōjutsu , meaning "art of the spear", is the Japanese martial art of fighting with a . Origins Although the spear had a profound role in early Japanese mythology, where the islands of Japan themselves were said to be created by salt water dripping fro ...

'' * ''

Tantojutsu Tantōjutsu (短刀術) is a Japanese term for a variety of traditional Japanese knife fighting systems that used the tantō (短刀), a knife or dagger. Historically, many women used a version of the tantō, called the kaiken, for self-defense, ...

'' * ''

Yabusame is a type of mounted archery in traditional Japanese archery. An archer on a running horse shoots three special "turnip-headed" arrows successively at three wooden targets. This style of archery has its origins at the beginning of the Kama ...

Sources

* Draeger, Donn F. ''Classical Bujitsu'' (Martial Arts and Ways of Japan). Weatherhill, 1973, 2007. * Hall, David A. ''Encyclopedia of Japanese Martial Arts''. Kodansha USA, 2012. * Skoss, Diane, Editor. ''Koryu Bujutsu: Classical Warrior Traditions of Japan''. Koryubooks, 1997. * Skoss, Diane, Editor. ''Sword and Spirit: Classical Warrior Traditions of Japan'', Volume 2. Koryubooks, 1999. * Skoss, Diane, Editor. ''Keiko Shokon: Classical Warrior Traditions of Japan'', Volume 3. Koryubooks, 2002.

References

External links

Nihon Kobudō Kyokai
Official Kobudō website (in Japanese)
What is Koryu?

Koryu.com
in English. Provides articles and links to books.
KoryuWeb
in French and English. {{Authority control Japanese martial arts Japanese martial arts terminology

Definition and features

Okinawan ''kobudō''

Examples of taught skills

See also

Sources

References

External links