Bulletin 7

Bulletin 7 January 2003

Welcome to the seventh edition of the 'Bulletin' In this edition we publish part one of an article on origins of Judo and the links with Japanese politics and society—’Making Way’

As usual we need members to help with articles and contributions in the form of news, photographs, reminiscences or historical material.

News - The Society has held a number of events in past months including a kata session which we hope will be part of an ongoing series of courses—and we will hold a Kagami Biraki film show on 11th January 2003 at the Budokwai.

The website is now reachable on KanoSociety.com as well as .org so connection should be easier. We look forward to seeing you all in 2003 and wish you all success and happiness in the new year. Diana Birch

Making Way: War, Philosophy and Sport in Japanese Judo

Kevin Gray Carr Amherst College

In the midst of the battle, the two figures meet. Stained with mud and blood, they cast off their broken swords and collide in a last, desperate effort at survival. Their armoured limbs clash violently and snake around each other to get a tight grip. There is a pause, and before he can think, one of the warriors feels the tearing burn of his enemy’s dagger under his chest guard. With a yell the larger one hurls the other to the ground with a dull thud. The fallen warrior’s eyes quiver shut as his foe rushes on.

The crowd is a dazzling nova of flashbulbs. With their once-clean white uniforms hanging limply about their sweaty bodies, the contestants show clear signs of tiring. The clock ticks past 10 minutes, but it is no time to be faint of heart, for both had scored half points and the championship is on the line. Back and forth they feint until - an opening! In a flash, the match is over with a clean reverse hip throw. Quickly, they bow and leave the mat - one to enjoy a riotous victory party, the other to nurse wounded pride and plan the next encounter.

These two vignettes may seem as far apart as they can get. Though they both depict the melee of two people, each involves substantially different approaches to the same basic techniques. Within less than a century, jüdô has gone from being identified with the first of the above pictures in the nineteenth century to being married to the second by the mid-twentieth century.

One might rightly question the importance of studying Judo in a sociological context. Martial arts in general are often ignored as unimportant cultural phenomena and they are usually relegated by mainstream researchers to the position of curious esoterica. As William Paul puts it: … in the larger academic community there seems to be a tendency among some scholars to dismiss Bu Sutsu [martial arts] as a curious antiquity which has had a vague and unsavoury relationship to organized violence.

Jûdô (lit. “the way of pliancy”) is a difficult term to define, and the following discussion of its development is the best definition I can offer, suffice it to say, it is a native Japanese fighting form that incorporates primarily throws, pins, joint techniques, and sometimes strikes. Thus, there is an unfortunate dearth of good scholarship in the field of martial arts. Even so, it may seem that Judo garners far more attention than it deserves. For Japan is a modern society, and the number of Japanese Judo practitioners who are members of an Judo organization is less than for baseball, volleyball, basketball, and even ping-pong? Nevertheless, we cannot be too hasty in dismissing the examination of this cultural phenomenon Not only is Jûdô especially conspicuous in Japan, it is also the only Japanese sport to be practiced internationally on any appreciable scale.In the last century, it has metamorphosed from a relatively small-scale, rather esoteric “martial art” to a large-scale, modern, Westernized, and international sport. The rapidly changing magnitude, orientation, and interpretation of Jûdô can provide us with a fascinating topic for historical study and research, for the movement reflects the development of changing cultural attitudes and concerns.

This paper attempts to show that the idealization of bushi (warriors) is a recent construct. When the modern forms of martial arts were developed, the military history of Japan was going through a profound spiritual revision. That is, it was claimed that the bushi followed a do, or spiritual path, that intimately linked their fighting spirit with Zen Buddhism. This historical revisionism has affected the philosophical development bushido, in Japan and, perhaps even more so, in the West.

In order to examine this rewriting of history and reality, I shall trace the process by which the killing art of jüjutsu was modernized in the late nineteenth century by Dr. Jigorô Kanô. Since that time, Judo has gone through a circular development. When the bushi used the art in its early forms, it was the quintessence of competition (life and death) and pragmatism (there are no rules in war). After Kano revived the art as Judo, he gave it a distinctly philosophical and moral bent, that was mostly concerned with proper form and execution. Finally, in the present day, Judo as the modern sport is again marked by extremely difficult competition and an emphasis on pragmatism (of course the stakes now are much lower - only prestige and money). Yet these are not inviable divisions. Judo retains a number of pre-modern elements, like the emphasis on prearranged forms (called kata) and its adherence to old Japanese concepts of courtesy and etiquette; and the modern sport Judo person does still make reference to the early philosophy of the martial arts.

It should be noted that this essay concentrates on Japanese Judo from the late Edo period (1603 - 1868) to the mid twentieth century. This has been done so as to focus on the period in which the most profound changes were being wrought in the concept of the art. Moreover, the paper glosses over the organizational development of Judo, in order to accord more space to its philosophical development.

The term Judo (“the Way of pliancy”) is actually a linguistic modification of an earlier term jüjutsu (“the technique of pliancy”). The two arts are on the same continuum, with Jujutsu being the historical precursor to Judo. Yet jüjutsu itself is an exceedingly broad appellation, denoting a great range of dissimilar techniques and styles. Draeger and Smith “define” it thus: Jujutsu can, therefore, be defined as various armed and unarmed fighting systems that can be applied against armed or unarmed enemies.” Obviously, this is not a terribly helpful definition, for it seems to include all of the martial arts. Despite this problem of denotation, we can trace the lineage of modern Judo with some precision by limiting our definition of jujutsu primarily to empty-hand fighting systems which use a minimum of direct strikes that were developed mostly after 1600.

Perhaps from the dawn of human society, fighting and wrestling have been a significant part of every culture Japan is no exception. From the start, we find mention of this sort of combat in the early chronicles. In the Kojiki, an early Japanese history, the commoner Takeminakata-no-kami fought the divine wrestler Takemikazuchi-no-kami for control of the land. Takemikazuchi won the islands for the sun goddess and her descendants (the people of Japan).Later, the Nikon Shoki, another history of Japan, chronicled an epic wrestling bout on a beach during the reign of emperor Suijin (249 - 280 c.e.) The combat concluded when one of the wrestlers, Nominosuke, threw his opponent, Taimano Kehaya, to the ground and kicked him to death. This sort of brutal contest characterized what was to be called jujutsu up until fairly late into the Edo period (1600 - 1868). Ironically, the time of the “classical warrior” (up to the late sixteenth century) is commonly idealized as a time when the warriors followed a pure do—that is, a path of pure and direct spirituality that was said to be an essential part of being a warrior. This do was to regulate every aspect of the warrior’s life and make him a spiritually rich, contributing member of society. Nonetheless, old “war tales” (Gunki monogatari) give us the distinct feeling that this “Warrior’s Way” was most often observed in the breach. Numerous stories of disloyalty, treachery, and cowardice have been passed down. This alone should make us question the bizarre assertion that the early Japanese warrior was some sort of physically, morally, and spiritually superior being because he followed the tenets of the warrior’s do.

The precursors of jüjutsu in medieval times (c.1 185—c.l600) were many. It was not until the last century that the multitudinous forms of the martial arts were brought together under immense umbrellas like “karate” or ‘Judo.” One of the most important of these premodern forms was sumai (lit. “to struggle”). The combat techniques that were developed under the rubric of sumai were the predecessors of all Japanese empty-hand martial arts. One of these lines evolved into the style today called yoroi kutni-uchi (“grappling in armour”). This style involved techniques by which two warriors clad in full armour could do battle if they somehow lost their weapons. As empty-hand strikes would have been ineffective against someone so protected, the system used a variety of throws and holds which Would allow one to use a special dagger to kill one’s opponent. Of course, to the bushi who never let his sword leave his side, jujutsu was the very last resort; thus, it was relegated to a relatively minor position in the overall canon of techniques.

It is important to answer the question as to whether or not the concept of the Way was present at this early time. In the Kamakura era (1185 - 1333) some warriors spoke of “the way of horse and bow”. This incorporated Shinto and Confucianist thought and stressed bravery in battle and loyalty to one’s lord. However, the awareness and practice of this “Way” was confined to a rather minuscule portion of the nation. It is very important to note that even the most dedicated bushi expected to be well-rewarded for their services to their liege. In the following periods, the Muromachi (1392 -1573) and Azuchi-Momoyama (1573 - 1600), loyalty became a “nominal virtue. As the society became more and more chaotic and unstable self-interest seemed to win far more victories for the warriors than self-abnegating loyalty. While one should recognize that there actually were small pockets of people who honestly pursued the ideal of a frugal and deeply spiritual life, the fact remains that the majority of warriors never thought consciously of the Way. While some may argue that their practice was simply unstated but present (“beyond words” like Zen), it seems far more probable that the vast majority of the bushi did not care about satori (Zen enlightenment) - they wanted survival.

The ruling family (the Tokugawa) were able to create a government which lasted unchallenged through 14 generations of their line. It was not until Perry “opened” Japan in 1853 that the nation saw any significant, widespread strife again. The basically civilian government officials tried to completely control the populace and yoke them to the status quo. The social classes were separated more rigidly, and there was a strong emphasis on the past. Additionally, tight legislative and police control mitigated against the sort of fighting that was so common during the time of the “classical warrior.” Therefore, the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries saw a significant rise in the number of schools specializing in empty-hands forms, and a concurrent decline of the older, battle-oriented fighting arts. During this time of relative tranquillity, the bushi remained as the privileged class, yet they maintained this exalted position through birthright, not through fighting skill: Some of the jüjutsu schools became abstract and exaggerated. In time it was this type of jüjutsu that came to be most well known. The warrior class, which had developed and nurtured combat jujutsu, slipped gradually into oblivion.”

As a “class of armed idlers,” the obsolescent soldiers were of profound concern to the government. In the mid-seventeenth century, groups of masterless samurai, called ronin, were constantly causing civil disturbances such as brawls and riots. Without the warfare of earlier time to occupy them, even bushi who were serving a lord turned to the dissipation of drink and fighting. To combat this tendency, the government encouraged the men of this class to become bureaucrats, instead of bushi.’ This emasculation of the warrior class was further accomplished by keeping the fighters busy with a lot of pomp and ceremony, which allowed them nonetheless to bask in their forebears’ past martial glory.’ The state’s Neo-Confucianism discouraged excessive martial ardour, and pushed more worship of tradition itself’. Tea ceremony, poetry, dancing, and painting came to occupy more time than martial training. Thus, with declining skill in the weapons arts, jüjutsu, once a minor martial technique, became the measure of ability for the anachronistic fighting class, Herein, the bushi were placed in an “ethical straightjacket” where they were prevented from living up to their martial tradition, yet they were compelled to revel in the glory of this past.

Concomitant with the decline of the bushi was the rise of the merchant classes. Though these entrepreneurs were faced with very stiff taxation, they were accorded a lot more freedom to enjoy their wealth and free time (within societal limits). Thus, many of this group became interested in the martial arts. They intermingled with unemployed bushi and developed a great many styles (mostly types of jujutsu) that completely lacked any sort of martial experience. As one nineteenth-century observer noted, “The wealthy farmers have forgotten their rank.

They . . . wear swords [and] practice the military arts. This was the start of a group of martial arts significantly divorced from their original, practical, battlefield conception.

The early schools of jujutsu, like Takenouchi ryu were a very eclectic group. There were at least 179 different schools recorded and they went by a multitude of names—kogusoku, koshi-no-mawari, tajutsu, wajutsu, torite, kenpó, hakuda, shubaku, yawaro—and dealt with a great variety of small weapons and empty-hands techniques. The schools of the Edo period made substantial modifications to the earlier, purely pragmatic martial arts traditions. While exclusively empty-hand forms were primarily a product of the subsequent era. these Edo schools tended more and more towards specialization that is, to non-combat-tested, empty-hands techniques. Moreover, most schools only stressed one or two major methods (striking, throwing, choking, joint locks, etc.). The need for technical achievements lessened as the peaceful times wore on, and beauty of motion as achieved by minimum use of strength became more and more prized. This radical aesthetics was developed to absurdity in some schools, which went so far as to claim that physical strength was a detriment jujutsu. This is not to say that the matches among the various practitioners were not dangerous. Even at the end of this period, the bouts could still be quite brutal: In those days the contests were extremely rough and not infrequently cost the participants their lives. Whenever I sallied forth to take part in any of those affairs, I invariably bade farewell to my parents, since I had no assurance that I should ever return alive.

Because the jujutsu schools became increasingly the domain of ne’er-do-wells and thugs, they eventually lost popularity with general public in late Edo times “reckless application of jüjutsu on innocent people made rowdyism and jujutsu synonymous. Thus, by the time Dr. Jigorô Kanô came on to the scene in the 1 860s, he had to overcome great obstacles to the acceptance of his art as a way of moral development. As stated earlier, the Japanese concept of the do was important in the development of modern Judo. Influenced by Taoist and Confucian conceptions of the Tao or “Way [of Heaven]”, the Japanese moulded the idea to fit native religious and political requirements. For some later practitioners of the art, do, became an all-encompassing concept which made the heart of the martial arts beat. DO was seen as a road or path to follow as a means of self-cultivation and perfection in this life.

Closely connected to this new formulation was Zen Buddhism. A sort of “plastic Zen” developed warriors, in an attempt to justify their obsolescent place in the society took several small parts from the broader Zen concept and applied them to their own art.To these “Zen arts,” perfection of self was more important than perfection of technique. As it was said that the “mind” of the martial arts was one in the same with the Zen mind, the “Zen warrior” was to become self-reliant, self-denying, and single-minded. This mythic fighter would have no attachment to life or death (seishin-o-choetsu) “transcending life and death” he could calmly accept ever-presence of death in his profession. With stoic composure and trust in fate, this warrior would practice the “artless art,” which transcended technique.

These ideas caught the fancy of a great many contemporary practitioners who stressed principles of the “Way” rather than the product of the techniques. Few of the original formulators of this theory would have guessed how very pervasive these ideas would become. A cursory survey of the current literature on the “Way of the martial arts” will provide innumerable examples of this tendency: The mastery of any martial art is extremely difficult to achieve and master status cannot be reached unless the student is trained to the Zen doctrine level of enlightenment.

Concepts of Zen and Bushido [the Way of the Warrior] are at the core of values in both Japanese society and Judo participation.” Herein, we can see a very important shift of priorities classical martial arts stressed (in order) combat, discipline, and morals; the new martial ways stressed morals, discipline, and aesthetic form.Though some of the classical forms persist to the present day. they are hardly noticeable next to the gargantuan edifice of the do forms. This assertion that the martial arts are closely connected to inner Zen doctrine cannot go unchallenged. While it is true that the Kamakura government allied itself to the new Zen faith, it was primarily as a way to gain much needed cultural legitimacy. The idea of the Zen-influenced do is largely a twentieth-century construct, in fact, the first explicit formulation of these theories did not occur until the mid-eighteenth century. Moreover, many of those who claimed to follow these lofty aspirations were hardly scrupulous in living up to them. As Ratti and Westbrook put it: Whenever the doctrine of bujutsu attempts to claim the lofty beliefs of the Oriental doctrines of enlightenment as the inspirational motivations underlying the practice of the martial arts, it must be observed that to proclaim one’s adherence to these values in theory and to live up to them in practice are two entirety different things.

Today, this trend continues as the market is glutted with the “Zen and the Art of’ books. As a buzzword, advertisers realize that the exotic mysticism of Zen sells, and researchers like Csikzentmihalyi and Maslow find that Zen and the do concept are useful paradigms around which to centre their psychological discussions. Yet these manifestations have little to do with the actual practice of Zen. Perhaps the most logical statement comes from Tu Wei Ming, a prominent scholar of Chinese and Japanese Buddhism: “without practicing zazen or doing koan for the sake of satori, the practitioner of ‘Zen arts’ ceases to be a student of Zen.”At best, we term martial art “Zen-influenced,” but they are clearly not Zen itself.

Despite the contrary historical facts, there has been a definite trend to rewrite the martial past of Japan. This tendency was most marked in the Edo period (when the government welcomed the idealization of the warriors way) and in the time of the early contact of Japan with the Occident. The bushi was not only idealized as the model warrior but as the model person, spiritually and morally. T. Shindachi, in one of the first lectures on judo, in the West (at the Japan Society of London in 1892), reflects this tendency: Historically considered, it is quite obvious that Ju-jitsu, and other military exercises, had wonderful influence in the maintenance of the old chivalric spirit. It is remarkable how well-maintained was social morality through the period of the feudal system in Japan. when there was no established religion fit for the purpose. Whether the good lecturer had simply forgotten completely the long and bloody history of the martial arts in his country we cannot say, but the comment does point up the tendency to rewrite the past, in what may be seen as a defence of Japan’s cultural forms to the West.

Making Way—War, Philosophy and Sport in Japanese Judo - Continues in the next issue.

Bulletin 7 part 2

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