bushido in martial arts

[darkluc3]

hi all, i have a very important question! for my school leaving exam i chose the topic "samurai and the increasing popularity of bushido". well, i wrote 15 pages for the teacher, 10 only about samurai- and now she seems to be concentrating just on bushido :) we just talked about the things she could ask me and i don't really know where to get the additional informations on this questions from (nor do i want to invent something...)
so if anyone knows where i can find something it would be great (your personal opinion would be interesting or maybe even better too :))

1) how is bushido seen/"used"/adopted in martial arts today ? (i mean for example the mentality etc... or things like the "do" of kendo- simply everything related to it :))

2) Why is the popularity of bushido increasing (you know, with all those films recently...)

3) "The Last Samurai"- is it authentic? how is it seen by japanese? (you know, many weren't happy about the first films about japan made by americans like shogun or rising sun... personally i didn't see these films, but i read that some japanese felt humiliated...)



of course i have my opinion too but i don't know if it's enough to talk 5 minutes about it during the exam... so it would be great if u could help :D

[hamish]

What, exactly, do you think Bushido means?

[Wout]

3) "The Last Samurai"- is it authentic? how is it seen by japanese? (you know, many weren't happy about the first films about japan made by americans like shogun or rising sun... personally i didn't see these films, but i read that some japanese felt humiliated...).

Hmm... what part do you want to know is authentic, the storyline (in general, if something comparable happened) the explenation of budo or about samurai maybe, the political setting???

2) Why is the popularity of bushido increasing (you know, with all those films recently...)

Is it and what do you mean by increasing popularity, as theme for popular culture, (primarly films) as object of study (like you are doing) as rationalistion for ppl for what they do (as in explanations like the one of Detarver as in the modern day warior is someone who... well I'm not gonna continue this sentence :) ). What I'm trying to say is this popularity is a modern day social phenomenon it's origin is modern-day-perception of bushido it's not nesseceraly bushido itself, admitted offcourse if it becomes an object of study it can be the same. You not only have to study what makes bushido become popular, but also what is it that becomes popular about bushido and why. Maybe a poor comparison but think about this, Che Guevara and Castro were once very popular and still are but less than before. How did this happen because basicly Che is someone who has been fighting all of his life and is certainly not the nicest of persons, and Castro well is a dictator (spare me the discussions about this, I know this is very simplified). But that is not how ppl see these two they see them as freedom fighters (which they were offcourse). What I'm trying to say is know what you research and know that even ideas vary in their meaning (don't believe what plato said :) ) be sure you are studying what you claim you are studying.

1) how is bushido seen/"used"/adopted in martial arts today ? (i mean for example the mentality etc... or things like the "do" of kendo- simply everything related to it :))

Well again what is bushido, it seems today there are as many versions of bushido as there are ppl talkin about it, some of which sound to incredible to believe. I would say don't believe anything especially not me when it is about bushido because I don't now anything about that, but I do know what questions are important when trying to research something about social phenomena.


BTW I hope I didn't dicourage you :D, at any rate I wish you good luck with your exam/paper.

[darkluc3]

What, exactly, do you think Bushido means?

from my work (nearly all copied from a book :D)
after the sengoku period the tokugawa regime saw an attempt to formalise bushido as a universal samurai code. Some of the notions of bushido derive from collected precepts and house laws of the sengoku daimyo. many have survived, and much of what they contain are fairly mundane rules about hygiene in castles. (...) Writings about bushido may be divided into two varieties: manuals of swordmanship, where the notion of bushido is based on practical art and skill, and more philosophical treatises, where the mental attitudes necessary for combat are given wider application.

etc.etc.etc.....

with bushido i mean the readiness of a samurai to die for his lord, you know, just those more "interesting" things. lets forget the kitchen rules ;D after all it's just my english teacher i'll be going to talk with, so it has not to be extremely professional...


Hmm... what part do you want to know is authentic

i mean if you think that the whole film is just a tipical hollywood film or if there is something more... for example the (old)japanese mentality, is it just shown like europeans or american people imagine it ?


Is it and what do you mean by increasing popularity, as theme for popular culture, (primarly films) as object of study (like you are doing) as rationalistion for ppl for what they do

ok, first of all its popularity is increasing in my head,as i got more and more interested in it after reading some books etc. :D
but there was a guy in our school who came and said that he is interested in bushido and that he wanted to start practising it (yes, he probably thought that bushido are the kill bill action scenes :)) and that he already ordered "bushido swords" (probably normal bokken ;)
i hope that you understand what i mean, there are a lot of people who are impressed by films, mangas... and as i saw many of those people recently, i thought that it's popularity is increasing- don't say it isn't please :D



1) how is bushido seen/"used"/adopted in martial arts today ?

i mean if you think that something of the original bushido spirit (again, i say bushido now, but i don't mean the castle hygiene rules etc. :)) is still left in the martial arts, for example in kendo. just look at the principles of kendo, personally i think that it is in some way related to the old samurai code...


hum, it's hard to talk about all these things in english, i hope you understand me :)

[not-I]

1) how is bushido seen/"used"/adopted in martial arts today ? (i mean for example the mentality etc... or things like the "do" of kendo- simply everything related to it :))

2) Why is the popularity of bushido increasing (you know, with all those films recently...)

3) "The Last Samurai"- is it authentic?

Hi Luc!

If you haven't already glanced at it, you might want to check out the "Bushido code and real-life samurai" thread in the lounge.

Despite its faults, i recommend the book by Inazo Nitobe that i mentioned there, as it looks at bushido as an ethical code focussing on virtues like justice, courage, benevolence, politeness, sincerity, honor, loyalty and self-control. Towards the end, he writes: "Bushido as an independent code of ethics may vanish, but its power will not perish from the earth; its schools of martial prowess or civic honour may be demolished, but its light and its glory will long survive their ruins."

Nitobe's book had a huge influence in the West and I thinkhis version of bushido, since it is so easily idealized and romaticized, is what inpired and continues to inspire the Western imagination in print, film, style, and even music videos. That, and the cool swordfights. :wink:

So, as Wout commented, the question you pose is firstly more about popular culture and collective imagination than about bushido as a historical phenomenon. Even the way we look at kendo, especially at the beginning, is influenced to some extent by our ideas about samurai. The way the "West" has interpreted the "East" through the last few centuries has warrented a whole academic study of what is called "Orientalism."

If you ask ten Japanese Studies academcs about bushido, you will get ten very dry and detailed aswers with partisan differences. If you ask ten martial artists, you will likely get ten different, though roughly similar, answers. If you ask ten non-martial artists about "the way of the warrior," you will definately get ten radically different answers.

Ok, so enough beating around the bush, here's my answer to your first question:

"Do" as in "bushido," "kendo," "kyudo," "shodo," etc. is a "Way." The kanji ideogram read in Chinese is "Dao," as in "Daoism," so it is a very slippery concept. As Lao Tse said, "The Dao that can be spoken of is not the true Dao." Japanese "Ways" were developed during peacetime, some of them heavily influenced by Zen Buddhism, as methods of spiritual self-cultivation. Bushido, orginally being a system of rules and protocol to preserve honor and class-consciousness became an ethical and spiritual Way.

I think (especially) in kendo, we have inherited both some of the protocol of bushido (rei, respect, obedience, etc.) as well as the spiritual aspect of it being a Way to self-cultivation, rather than just a sport. But of course, all this is filtered through the way we perceive these things in the first place. Which leads us to your second question...

The romaticized popular-culture-version of bushido is logicially the one that continues to increase in popularity. It is a cultural phenomenon that we seem very hungry for, especially in the West. But why? I think this has to do with the more serious issue of a spiritual crisis in our affluent postmodern societies. Basically, we have everything we need in terms of material well-being, our old values and religions have been made irrelevant by the influx of science and technology (what Max Weber called the "disenchantment of the world"), the fact that everything "new" today is "old" tomorrow, and almost always recycled, confuses us, and many of us are looking for something that is relatively new to us, but very old, hence "authentic," so we look to "the East." Mostly, it's just a superficial infatuation with "style." But sometimes, we go so far as to actually take up practicing some Eastern "Way," such as kendo. Why?

At the end of the day, the question is about you and the answer lies within. Why do you practice kendo? Why are you interested in bushido? Is kendo changing your life? Do you want it to? Why?

I don't know how much autobiography is allowed in your paper, but as an English teacher myself, i'm sure your teacher would find the answers to those last questions interesting. You're obviously going to get an "A" anyway. :)

As to The Last Samurai: The historical setting is authentic (beginning of the Meiji period and the conflict of modernity/industrialism vs. the "old ways"). According to a senior sempai (Dieter), the swordwork is fairly authentic, aside from the loud noises the swords make when leaving their saya. The costumes are authentic. But Tom Cruise and his character are obviously not authentic. But I recall our sensei, when commenting on the film over some beers, seemed to like the scene where Tom kept getting whacked and kept getting up. That scene was not very authentic either (i mean, bokken beatdown = broken bones and immobilization), but perhaps it embodies something of what might be meant by "bushido" in a deeper sense.

I hope this rambling post is somehow helpful to you. Brother kendoka, i'll loan you the Nitobe book if you're at training tomorrow. :smiley:.

[darkluc3]

@not-i: thanks, that was very helpful !!! that were exactly the answers i was looking for :)

but

but as an English teacher myself


after all it's just my english teacher i'll be going to talk with, so it has not to be extremely professional...


ermmm.... hehe :) i hope you don't know my teacher :D


But I recall our sensei, when commenting on the film over some beers, seemed to like the scene where Tom kept getting whacked and kept getting up

i just hope he's not going to try somethign like this with us :D


I hope this rambling post is somehow helpful to you. Brother kendoka, i'll loan you the Nitobe book if you're at training tomorrow. .

like i said, it really helped me. i'll come this evening, it would be great to take a look in that book !

thanks again and cya

[not-I]

Hi Luc,
Sorry, i didn't make it to Thu practice as i had to finish an urgent translation job. I had two books with me on Saturday, but as i had Iaido class after Kendo, i didn't get the chance to talk to you (if you were in fact there - it was hard to identify people in that weird substitute hall). We'll get it sorted eventually...



ermmm.... hehe :) i hope you don't know my teacher :D
Don't worry, i'm not a high school teacher. I mainly teach adults -- soldiers and nurses. But from occassional tutoring, i know a little bit about Austrian English teachers. It seems like a lot of them have sort of a thing about wanting to speak the Queen's English better than the Queen does, but end up saying things like "You have to stand up early in the morning." :robot:


i just hope he's not going to try somethign like this with us :D
Actually, if you watched some of the ji-geiko with sensei on Saturday, you might have seen the girl who got knocked on her ass and had her men removed -- still, she kept on fighting men-less. I was up next, and sensei tried to knock me down a couple times too, but i really wanted to keep my men, so i managed to stay on my feet. He settled with smacking my shinai accross the room and tsuking me to the wall. :ko:

I think the "bushido" lesson here is to never give up, to have the courage, determination, and fighting spirit to get up and keep on going, no matter how badly you're getting beat down.

Or, in more romantic terms, how about this quote from the Hagakure: "Even if a samurai's head were to be suddenly cut off, he should still be able to perform one more action with certainty. When one becomes like a revengeful ghost, and shows great determination, though his head is cut off, he should not die." :chinese:

[darkluc3]

saturday i came to the training, but i had to time to wait after it :(


Actually, if you watched some of the ji-geiko with sensei on Saturday, you might have seen the girl who got knocked on her ass and had her men removed -- still, she kept on fighting men-less. I was up next, and sensei tried to knock me down a couple times too, but i really wanted to keep my men, so i managed to stay on my feet. He settled with smacking my shinai accross the room and tsuking me to the wall.


lol that was really funny to look at :) and after loosing your shinai you ran very fast :D