is a Japanese form of military

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

History

Although its origins are closely related to those of mounted archery (''

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 Kamak ...

''), bajutsu is considered a distinct and separate martial art, and there are a number of traditional schools, such as the Ogasawara, Otsubo, and Hachijo. The art originated in the 7th century AD during the reign of

Emperor Tenji , known first as and later as until his accession, was the 38th emperor of Japan who reigned from 668 to 671. He was the son of Emperor Jomei and Empress Kōgyoku (Empress Saimei), and his children included Empress Jitō, Empress Genmei, an ...

but was popularised in the 12th century as large-scale mounted warfare became more common. However, the comparative scarcity of horses in Japan meant that bajutsu was always an elite art, restricted to high-ranking

samurai The samurai () were members of the warrior class in Japan. They were originally provincial warriors who came from wealthy landowning families who could afford to train their men to be mounted archers. In the 8th century AD, the imperial court d ...

.Lowry, d; ''The Karate Way: Discovering the Spirit of Practice'' Shambhala Publications, 2009 p55 In spite of this, many contemporary historians ignored the numbers of foot-soldiers in battles and referred to the size of armies by the number of horsemen alone. Friday, Karl; ''Samurai, warfare and the state in early medieval Japan'' Psychology Press, 2004 p96-101 The comparative peace of the

Tokugawa era The , also known as the , is the period between 1600 or 1603 and 1868 in the history of Japan, when the country was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and some 300 regional ''daimyo'', or feudal lords. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengok ...

from 1600 onwards led to a decline in the military practice of bajutsu, and it became relegated to a more ceremonial role, indeed, the practice of horsemanship was actively discouraged during the reign of

Tokugawa Tsunayoshi was the fifth ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa dynasty of Japan. He was the younger brother of Tokugawa Ietsuna, as well as the son of Tokugawa Iemitsu, the grandson of Tokugawa Hidetada, and the great-grandson of Tokugawa Ieyasu.Nussbaum, Louis- ...

. By the beginning of the 20th century there were more than 20 schools of bajutsu and the Japan Bajutsu Federation was formed in Tokyo in 1946 to promote it as a modern sport.

Techniques

As well as requiring proficiency in riding and mounted sword-fighting, the art also included teachings on the care and upkeep of horses. Horses were trained to ignore sudden shocks, and to press forward in the charge, veering off at the last second to allow the rider to kick with his battering-ram-like

stirrups A stirrup is a light frame or ring that holds the foot of a rider, attached to the saddle by a strap, often called a ''stirrup leather''. Stirrups are usually paired and are used to aid in mounting and as a support while using a riding animal ( ...

. These stirrups (''shitanaga abumi'') were designed to enable the rider to stand and shoot easily from the

saddle A saddle is a supportive structure for a rider of an animal, fastened to an animal's back by a girth. The most common type is equestrian. However, specialized saddles have been created for oxen, camels and other animals. It is not know ...

. Cavalry charges were made possible by the development of

spear A spear is a polearm consisting of a shaft, usually of wood, with a pointed head. The head may be simply the sharpened end of the shaft itself, as is the case with Fire hardening, fire hardened spears, or it may be made of a more durable materia ...

techniques from horseback in the late 14th century, supplanting the mounted archery styles that had previously dominated.Turnbull, Stephen; ''War in Japan 1467-1615''Osprey Publishing, 2002 p16 Such charges were used to great effect by the

Takeda clan The was a Japanese samurai clan active from the late Heian period until the late 16th century. The clan was historically based in Kai Province in present-day Yamanashi Prefecture. The clan reached its greatest influence under the rule of Taked ...

, who introduced the tactic during the mid- to late- sixteenth century, but after the

Battle of Nagashino The was a famous battle in History of Japan, Japanese history, fought in 1575 at Nagashino Castle, Nagashino in Mikawa Province (present-day Nagashino, Shinshiro, Aichi Prefecture). The allied forces of Oda Nobunaga and Tokugawa Ieyasu (38,000) ...

, were used only in conjunction with infantry manoeuvres.

History

Techniques

References

See also