Difference between revisions of "Kenjutsu"

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(Updated footnotes, removed -do v. -jutsu debate)
 
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* ''Translation: Sword Art/Technique''
 
* ''Translation: Sword Art/Technique''
  
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Kenjutsu, is the art or techniques of using a sword.  In many ryuha that focus on drawing the sword, this is used to describe a method of using the sword after it has been drawn from the sheath.
  
Kenjutsu, when boiled down to its most basic level, is a method of Japanese sword practice wherein the practicioner studies the techniques of using the sword after it has been drawn from the sheath.
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==History==
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While it could be said that ''kenjutsu'' has been around as long as the sword, by the 10th century we see evidence that there may be identifiable styles, or at least that the style of an individual swordsman might be identified as different from that of another.<ref>Friday 1997 p 2--An anecdote from a translation of "How the Former Governor of Mutsu, Tachibana Norimitsu, Cut Down Some Men".</ref>  By the [[Japanese Eras|Edo Period]], kenjutsu techniques were handed down through schools, or ryuha, which were often regulated by the shogunate and local lords.  In addition, during the [[Japanese Eras|Edo Period]] and the periods just prior, techniques began to focus more on unarmored combat.
  
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==Difference between ''kenjutsu'' and ''battojutsu''==
  
=Difference between "Do" and "Jutsu"=
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People often distinguish between ''kenjutsu'' and ''[[battojutsu]]'' (or ''[[iaijutsu]]'').  In some martial tradtitions, the difference between ''kenjutsu'' and ''battojutsu'' has to do with whether or not the sword is drawn or not.  In those cases, ''kenjutsu'' techniques deal exclusively with the sword being already drawn from the ''saya'', or scabbard, while ''battojutsu'' techniques are concerned with drawing the sword and attacking from the saya.  More technically, ''battojutsu'' (literally 'sword drawing', 抜刀術) techniques are a subset of ''kenjutsu'' (剣術) techniques.
  
Generally a "''-do''" suffixed art, having only come about within the last century and a half, lends itself toward more of a philosophical/meditative curriculum.  Conversely "''-jutsu''" suffixed arts tend to focus more on the technique and its combative application.
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==References==
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*Friday, Karl (1997), ''Legacies of the Sword: The Kashima-Shinryu and Samurai Martial Culture'', University of Hawai'i Press, Honolulu, HI.
  
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==Footnotes==
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<references/>
  
=Difference between ''kenjutsu'' and ''battojutsu''=
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[[Category:Bujutsu]]
 
 
The most basic difference between ''kenjutsu'' and ''[[battojutsu]]'' lies in the sowrds relationship to the ''saya.''  ''Kenjutsu'' techniques deal exclusively with the sword being already drawn from the ''saya'' as the combative situation would have dictated during the war times of the [[Sengoku period]] and earlier.  ''Battojutsu,'' having only come about at the very end of the Sengoku and the beginning of the [[Edo period]] deals with the sword from a sheathed position and contains the [[battojutsu]] techniques for simultaneous drawing and cutting, techniques which lend themselves toward unanticipated small-scale encounters such as would happen during the "peaceful" times of the Edo period.
 
 
 
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Latest revision as of 22:47, 27 May 2007

  • Kanji: 剣術
  • Translation: Sword Art/Technique

Kenjutsu, is the art or techniques of using a sword. In many ryuha that focus on drawing the sword, this is used to describe a method of using the sword after it has been drawn from the sheath.

History

While it could be said that kenjutsu has been around as long as the sword, by the 10th century we see evidence that there may be identifiable styles, or at least that the style of an individual swordsman might be identified as different from that of another.[1] By the Edo Period, kenjutsu techniques were handed down through schools, or ryuha, which were often regulated by the shogunate and local lords. In addition, during the Edo Period and the periods just prior, techniques began to focus more on unarmored combat.

Difference between kenjutsu and battojutsu

People often distinguish between kenjutsu and battojutsu (or iaijutsu). In some martial tradtitions, the difference between kenjutsu and battojutsu has to do with whether or not the sword is drawn or not. In those cases, kenjutsu techniques deal exclusively with the sword being already drawn from the saya, or scabbard, while battojutsu techniques are concerned with drawing the sword and attacking from the saya. More technically, battojutsu (literally 'sword drawing', 抜刀術) techniques are a subset of kenjutsu (剣術) techniques.

References

  • Friday, Karl (1997), Legacies of the Sword: The Kashima-Shinryu and Samurai Martial Culture, University of Hawai'i Press, Honolulu, HI.

Footnotes

  1. Friday 1997 p 2--An anecdote from a translation of "How the Former Governor of Mutsu, Tachibana Norimitsu, Cut Down Some Men".