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

armour Armour (Commonwealth English) or armor (American English; see American and British English spelling differences#-our, -or, spelling differences) is a covering used to protect an object, individual, or vehicle from physical injury or damage, e ...

blade A blade is the Sharpness (cutting), sharp, cutting portion of a tool, weapon, or machine, specifically designed to puncture, chop, slice, or scrape surfaces or materials. Blades are typically made from materials that are harder than those they a ...

firearm A firearm is any type of gun that uses an explosive charge and is designed to be readily carried and operated by an individual. The term is legally defined further in different countries (see legal definitions). The first firearms originate ...

s, and techniques related to

combat Combat (French language, French for ''fight'') is a purposeful violent Conflict (process), conflict between multiple combatants with the intent to harm the opposition. Combat may be armed (using weapons) or unarmed (Hand-to-hand combat, not usin ...

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, and vaulting. This broad description includes the ...

. The ''

kanji are logographic Chinese characters, adapted from Chinese family of scripts, Chinese script, 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 and are ...

'' and are other ways of writing it. The general

umbrella term Hypernymy and hyponymy are the wikt:Wiktionary:Semantic relations, semantic relations between a generic term (''hypernym'') and a more specific term (''hyponym''). The hypernym is also called a ''supertype'', ''umbrella term'', or ''blanket term ...

is also used to describe these ancient arts.

Definition and features

''Kobudō'' (古武道) can be translated as 古 (old) 武 (martial)

道道 may refer to: * Dao (political), an administrative division in China, Japan, or Korea **Provinces of Korea, the primary administrative division of Korea since the mid Goryeo dynasty in the early 11th century ***Administrative divisions of North ...

(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 Imperial House of Japan, imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji. Althoug ...

of the 19th century. Since the

Muromachi period The , also known as the , is a division of Japanese history running from approximately 1336 to 1573. The period marks the governance of the Muromachi or Ashikaga shogunate ( or ), which was officially established in 1338 by the first Muromachi ...

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 an ...

, ''

jūjutsu Jujutsu ( , or ), also known as jiu-jitsu and ju-jitsu (both ), is a Japanese martial art and a system of close combat that can be used in a defensive or offensive manner to kill or subdue one or more weaponless or armed and armored opponent ...

'',

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

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

artillery Artillery consists of ranged weapons that launch Ammunition, munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during sieges, and l ...

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

Gendai budō , or are both terms referring to modern Japanese martial arts, which were established after the Meiji Restoration (1866–1869). Kobudō or koryū are the opposite of these terms referring to ancient martial arts established before the Meiji ...

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

Meiji era The was an Japanese era name, era of History of Japan, 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 feu ...

.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 humanistic ideals through physical and mental training, focusing on sports-related competitions and constructing technical systems (e.g., ''

jūdō is an unarmed modern Japanese martial art, combat sport, 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 Nippo ...

'' 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). It began as samurai warriors' customary swordsmanship exerc ...

'') that encourage team work, socially healthy values, and prosperity. The old historical martial arts intention was not fundamentally concerned with an outcome of winning a match as a Sports match. Training was for the sake of it and was often about life or death. Dangerous techniques that are excluded from modern martial arts include various hidden weapons, medicinal and poisoning methods, and magic. Old martial arts are linked to

Zen Zen (; from Chinese: ''Chán''; in Korean: ''Sŏn'', and Vietnamese: ''Thiền'') is a Mahayana Buddhist tradition that developed in China during the Tang dynasty by blending Indian Mahayana Buddhism, particularly Yogacara and Madhyamaka phil ...

and

Buddhism Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

. 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 , 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 ...

. 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 () 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 slashing, swinging, and stabbing with the ...

'' * ''

Jujutsu Jujutsu ( , or ), also known as jiu-jitsu and ju-jitsu (both ), is a Japanese martial art and a system of close combat that can be used in a defensive or offensive manner to kill or subdue one or more weaponless or armed and armored opponent ...

'' * ''

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 the non-lethal disarmament and ...

'' * ''

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 o ...

'' * ''

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 ...

'' * ''

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

'' * ''

Ōzutsu Ozutsu (means "big pipe" literally) may refer to: *'' Ōzutsu''（大筒）, a 16th-century Japanese term referring to Japanese artillery *Ōzutsu Man'emon (1869–1918), sumo wrestler, the 18th Yokozuna *Ōzutsu Takeshi Ōzutsu Takeshi (born 1 ...

'' (大筒)

hand cannon The hand cannon ( or ), 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 mechanically simple form of metal barrel firearms. Unlike match ...

* ''

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 fr ...

'' * ''

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

'' * ''

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 ...

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