Synopses & Reviews
Evolved amid the incessant warfare of medieval Japan, bujutsu, or "martial arts," provided the warrior with the technical and psychological training that prepared him to use his weapons in actual combat. Classical Bujutsu emphasizes the intensely practical nature of these martial arts. The author describes sixteen major forms of bujutsu, employing a variety of weapons and techniques.
Synopsis
Donn Draeger describes the forms of bujutsu, or martial arts for combat, and the historical and political context in which they flourished and evolved. He introduces the reader to numerous weapons systems, including bojutsu, jojutsu, iaijutsu, kyujutsu, and many others, which used such weapons as staffs, swords, halberds, spears, sickles, and bow and arrow. The author includes fascinating art from classical sources and archival photos of modern martial artists in action.
About the Author
Donn F. Draeger was a U.S. Marine Corps officer and a historian of martial arts disciplines, in which he held a variety of expert ranks and teaching licenses. He was technical director of the magazine Martial Arts International and author of many books on the fighting arts of Asia. He died in 1982.