Customer Reviews

Classical Budo (Martial Arts & Ways of Japan Series: Vol.)

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book is the second in a three book series by the late Donn F. Draeger. This volume continues its exploration into the development of the Japanese martial arts from a Jujitsu(Art)to using the term "DO" (meaning way).

This text covers the historical setting, the rational of developing combat systems, the methods used, and the formation of the Budo systems. Where the Jujitsu systems were designed strictly for practical military use, the Do (Judo, Kendo, Nagainata Do etc)systems emphasized character development. Sport systems also were developed from many of these original military combat systems. For example, Jujitsu, which focused on practical street and military combat, decreased in popularity by Judo, which is a sport.


In conclusion, if you are serious about the martial arts you will want to own the entire three book series by Draeger.

Rating: 5 Stars. Joseph J. Truncale (Author: Tanto-Jutsu Official Manual of Bushi Satori Ryu).

It is generally acknowledged that Donn Draeger was the leading English speaking expert in both practice and background knowledge. His nearly exhaustive and unique experience of Japanese martial arts, modern and ancient, is practically unparalleled. This text bears witness to Draeger's noted ability to lucidly express the Japanese mindset to Westerners.

This book is the companion volume to his text on bujustsu, emphasizing the "do" over the "jutsu". Put another way, the "do" suffix denotes a practice that has as its goal spiritual/philosophical enlightenment while the "jutsu" pertains to the art of combat. As peace come to reign in the 1600s (early Edo period), the need to retain large standing armies began to fade and those of the samurai class began to cultivate the less martial side of their arts.

The book is more or less broken into two parts. In the first half, Draeger succinctly summarizes the historical context of the classical budo, situated in the Tokugawa shogunate, with new social orders being created to maintain political stability alongside the redefining of older ranks. The roles of zen an neo-Confucianism are continually referenced in the development of "do"; "[It is] the elevation of the mind, the reaching out to what is beyond the present self, that is to be sought." A highly detailed discourse on the nature of martial training under the "do" system will resonate with most traditional martial artists even today, with the emphasis on the riddle of learning, a type of zen koan, that leads to satori, enlightenment.

In the second half the actual schools of "do" are explored, from archery to spear to sword, with many others as well. Here again Draeger's expertise shines through, as he was a personal exponent of many of these arts under some of the most famous of teachers. When it came to Japanese arts, Draeger didn't dabble. He was all or nothing.
If you have an interest in Japanese martial arts, this is a must have resource that you will return to many times.

Ich bin ein großer Freund des Herrn Draeger. Seine Bücher waren zu ihrer Zeit Vorreiter, aber auch heute noch sind sie absolut lesenswert. Nur die Details sind oft ein wenig zu sparsam gehalten. Es gibt inzwischen Werke, die tiefer in die Materie eintauchen und doch nicht überfrachtet sind.
Dennoch hat sich der Autor vier Sterne verdient.

I am a casual student of japanese martial history and practice a japanese martial art. This is the first book of Donn Draeger's I have read.

First impression is that the book is thinner than I expected and the cover/paper quality is less than good. The history of martial arts, budo etc is complicated and hard to organize. Draeger does a decent job outlining and tying together the histories and concepts that encompass budo, but it is a dense subject and it does tend to be dense writing. Some parts of the book seem to be a collection of historical facts and figures which are just grazed over leaving the amateur historian with no real grasp of the history. The useful part of the book in my opinion is in helping to understand what budo is, how it evolved and really what the term means. Another useful part for me was the description of how a martial student evolves, and the relationship between master and student. The sections actually about the different disciplines and martial arts seem to be grazed over.

MENS SANA IN CORPORE SANO, the romans used to say. So your body is strong thanks to your martial arts trainning? Good! Now it's time to improve your mind. Get it, read it, learn from it. Remember: knowledge is power.