Japanese Fencing: Experiences, 1890s
As I believe that I was the first Occidental to make a study of Japanese swordsmanship, it may be of interest if I here describe my experiences in the fencing…
From: 1888 C.E. To: 1905 C.E.
Note: This article has been excerpted from a larger work in the public domain and shared here due to its historical value. It may contain outdated ideas and language that do not reflect TOTA’s opinions and beliefs.
From “Kenjutsu, or Japanese Fencing” in The Fighting Man of Japan by F. J. Norman, 1905.
As I believe that I was the first Occidental to make a study of Japanese swordsmanship, it may be of interest if I here describe my experiences in the fencing schools of Tokyo; and so to begin: the summer of 1888 found me established in Tokyo, and as the sedentary nature of my duties commenced to tell on my health, I decided to take up the study of Kenjutsu, or Japanese fencing. Getting into touch with the authorities at the Keishicho, or head police station of Tokyo, I soon secured an introduction to Umeza-wa-san, the fencing master of the Takanawa Police Station, and then quite one of the best swordsmen in Japan.
Never did a maitre d’armes take more interest and pride in a pupil than Umezawa did in me, and this was all the more commendable on his part, because the majority of the fencing masters in Tokyo looked upon his teaching me Japanese swordsmanship as a sort of renegade act. The first dozen lessons or so were given me on the little lawn in front of my house, but after a while I used to attend daily at the Takanawa fencing-room, and for a couple of months or so fenced with, or rather took instructions from, the best fencers attending there.
When he thought I was sufficiently advanced Umezawa set me to fence with some of the more indifferent and harder hitting swordsmen, but was always close at hand to give instructions and to correct faults. Writing as an old cavalry man, with plenty of experience of regimental drill grounds and gymnasiums, I can safely say that the Japanese system of teaching swordsmanship is far and away superior to the absurd sword-exercise system in vogue in the British army, and that for rough dismounted work the Japanese system of two-handed swordsmanship is much superior to any of the systems of Europe.
A first-class French or Italian duellist would, more than probably, beat a first-class Japanese swordsman, but only so if fighting on ground thoroughly suitable to his own peculiar style of sword-play. On rough ground, on a hill side, or on ground covered with impedimenta, the Japanese swordsman would more than likely have the advantage; or in other words, in positions where a rough-and-tumble fight is going on, and where men want to kill, and kill quickly, without attending too much to details of form over it.
As a weapon of offence and defence a katana is an infinitely superior one to the ridiculous, single-handed sword with its 36-inch blade, with which British infantry officers are armed, and with slight modifications in its make and use the katana could be rendered still more effective. In the first place, its blade is considerably shorter—from ten to fifteen inches—thus allowing for the majority of men greater freedom of movement; for nobody can deny that to a dismounted man a long scabbard is a horrible nuisance, and that to a shortishly-inclined man it is an absolute incumbrance. But though shorter in the blade the katana has a longer grip, and when one has learnt to use it aright it is truly wonderful what little length of reach is lost. This great length of grip permits of the use of both hands for the purpose of delivering a crushing blow or cut; and, moreover, after practising the Japanese style of fencing, a swordsman becomes quite ambidextrous.
How very disconcerting this last is to an opponent all swordsmen are fully aware, and when to this is added the fact that katana play is a closer play than that of the cut-and-thrust sword of the Occident, it must be admitted that it is an infinitely superior one to it for the one and great purpose of a fight to the death. It certainly is not so taking to the eye as—let us say—a French or Italian swordsman's play; but while there is less ostentatious art and ceremony about it, there certainly is just as much science, and it may also be added as much, if not more, deadly intent.
Among the many swordsmen who used to put in their daily attendance at the Takanawa fencing-room was one who very early attracted my attention. He was an elderly man, and in some respects a finer swordsman than Umezawa, who introduced him to me one day as his sensei or teacher. Onoda was his name, and though he was exceedingly tall for a Japanese he was quite the best built one I have come across. For a long time I could gather nothing more about him than that he did not like foreigners, and that it would be just as well if I did not thrust my acquaintanceship upon him. Later on I learnt that he was, or had been, the hereditary fencing master to the late Shogun or "generalissimo" of Japan.
All this, of course, helped to arouse my curiosity, but a grimmer or more forbidding-looking old man never lived than Onoda-sensei; and so what was my surprise when, some six months after I had begun learning kenjutsu, he came up to me one afternoon and, presenting his card, as shown on page 43, offered to take me on for a bout. Delighted at the thought, I was soon ready, but no sooner did the other fencers in the room see what was going to happen than they stopped fencing; and, making quite a ring round us, stood looking on with what I could not help thinking were quite troubled faces. They knew well that Onoda-san had highly disapproved of my being admitted to the fencing-room, and I am not sure but that some of them did not think my days were about to be numbered.
They were quite wrong, and Onoda-san and myself got on so well after this that, instead of keeping aloof from me any longer, he rather sought me out than otherwise for my company. In his way, he was a most peculiar old fellow, a sort of Buddhist puritan, and when he found out I had spent some years in India he was for ever asking me questions about it, its people and their religions, &c.
He did a thing one day I never knew another adult Japanese to do, (though I have known one or two of my very young friends among them do a similar thing), and that was to reprove a fellow-countryman of his for being rude to me and calling out after me in the streets. Being an old samurai, with an exceptionally fine presence and manner, he did this in a way that sent that erring individual literally grovelling in the dust of the road. With such a man as my friend and instructor, I soon was more than able to hold my own with the average good swordsmen of Tokyo, and remarkably useful I found the power of being able to do so, for it brought me into contact with a class of Japanese that few, if any other foreigners have ever had the chance of becoming acquainted with.
Norman, F. J. The Fighting Man of Japan. Archibald Constable & Co., 1905.
About TOTA
TOTA.world provides cultural information and sharing across the world to help you explore your Family’s Cultural History and create deep connections with the lives and cultures of your ancestors.
