Lauded for its inextricable link with the quintessence of the “Japanese spirit,” any aspiring Gai-sam (gaijin samurai) must be prepared for setbacks and motivational stumbling blocks in their Budo journey. Being a foreigner (gaijin) in Japan can be confusing at the best of times. I was pretty naïve in those days, but I had a purity of heart and stubborn intent that brought me back to Japan just a year later, and here I have remained since. I left Japan after that year, but immediately felt a burning desire to go back on a personal quest of martial discovery. The more I learned, the more I realized that there was so much more to Kendo than meets the eye. I began to enjoy the intensity of the trainings along with the sense of post-practice elation as I biked home in one piece ready to fight another day. Still, as time went on, I started to see method to all this madness. He frightened the living daylights out of me. ![]() He lives in Kyoto and teaches the theory and techniques of martial arts at Kansai University in Osaka. Holding the rank of 7th Dan in Kendo and high grades in several other martial arts, he has dedicated his career to researching and practicing Japan’s traditional Budo culture. The author, Alex Bennett, has been living and studying the martial arts in Japan for 30 years. He was Darth Vader with an extra dollop of “dark side” essence for good He was certainly no Yoda, that’s for sure. Quitting was always on my mind, but the club’s sensei would hear nothing of it. I was little more than a tourist out to have a good time playing “Samurais and Ninjas.” The first few months were a blur of utter confusion, frustration, and dread of the thrashings meted out in the dojo seven days a week. That was the extent of my sincerity, which is to say, I wasn’t at all. “Okay, Star Wars it is!” I decided to take up the Way of the bamboo lightsaber. All that was on offer at my school was Judo or Kendo. It may come as a surprise, but karate was, and still is to a degree, very much a minority Budo in Japan. ![]() Had there been a Karate club in my new school, I would have been waxing on and waxing off, wearing white pyjamas, and still kicking balls. My host mother recommended that perhaps I should do “something more Japanese,” as I was in Japan after all… A few years before coming to Japan, the classic movie “Karate Kid” (see Cobra Kai) became immensely popular. Not enamoured by the idea of slidetackling my opponents on gravel, it was time to consider a new sport to play. Any lawns that may exist are exclusively for decoration purposes or golf. In most schools in Japan, the concept of grass fields is a fanciful dream. I had a particular passion for soccer, and it was my intention to continue kicking balls in Japan as well. Like many Kiwis my age, I was an avid practitioner of several different sports. With that goal in mind, I came to a Japanese high school on a year-long exchange in 1987. Japan was flexing its economic muscle at the time, and I figured that learning the language was a sure-fire way of landing a highfalutin job in the future. I began studying the Japanese language four years earlier at my high school in Christchurch, New Zealand. Y journey in the Japanese martial arts (Budo) started when I was seventeen. Martial Arts in Japan Today 068 The Nine Modern Budo Artsīudo Training in Japanese Schools Budo in Japan TodayĪ GUIDE FOR THE MODERN GAIJIN SAMURAI (GAI-SAM) Killing as an Art Form 044 The Development of Japanese Martial Arts Schools and the Aesthetic of Death Some Badass Samurai Swordsmen “Gentlemen” Samurai Women Warriors, Ninja and Ronin Formidable Samurai Weaponry, Armor and Fortifications ![]() Who Were the Samurai? 006 Introducing the Real Samurai JA PA N : T h e U l ti ma te Sa mu r a i Gu i d eĬore Concepts of Bushido 032 The Samurai Code Glorifying Honor, T UT T L E Publishing Tokyo Rutland, Vermont Singapore MARTIAL ARTS ANewLook at Japan’s FightingTraditions Alexander Bennett An Insider’s Guide to Japanese Martial Arts Cover 12.5.indd 2
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