The Bugei Jûhappan 武芸十八般, the Eighteen Martial Arts
have heretofore been a common but strangely unexplored factor in
Japanese martial arts history. This book changes that completely.
In numerous Japanese Edo Era (1603-1868), also known as the
Tokugawa Era, Meiji (1868-1911), Taisho (1912-1924), and early
Show era (1924-1945) historical, martial arts and bushido related texts
there are frequent casual references to the 'Eighteen Martial Arts' that
the well-rounded samurai should master. Most often, there is simply
the term, or sometimes a quick list of the names of the weapons or
techniques included, or simply the name and the admonition that the
true samurai should know these martial techniques.
But, there appears to be no evidence that any single Samurai ever
mastered, or even attempted to master, the entire collection of the
eighteen. Certainly in the tradition of the modern ninja schools
(which in today's incarnation are actually a collection of a number of
ancient martial arts schools), training occurs with a wide range of
handheld weapons, but usually does not include arts such as
swimming, archery, or horsemanship. The classic, ancient schools
(Koryu) of Jujutsu typically used an array of weapons, and today's
practitioners are expected to master a wide range, depending on the
school. The oldest extant school, the Takeuchi Ryu, taught by the
descendants of former Samurai rural farmers since 1532 uses
weapons ranging from full battle spear, Naginata (halberd), Bo
(long staff), Jo (middle staff), Hanbo (cudgel), Katana (Japanese
longsword), Kodachi (short sword), a long knife (originally conceived
as a broken long sword), Hananejiri (fist width short stick), and even
household utensils such as pot lids and serving trays. But no extant
school claims to teach each and every art.
Historically, the martial arts are simply listed, and just the names
of the weapons or, in some examples, weaponless
techniques such as swimming and Ninpo (covert movement,
infiltration, and reconnaissance techniques). But there are actually
several lists, varying substantially according to writer and era. The
core arts of swordsmanship, spearmanship, and archery appear in
nearly every list but while some of the weapons listed were
commonly known in Japan in the Edo era, other weapon names
come from an earlier age, and are evidently Chinese in origin, name,
and use