old style’, modern meaning: an ethnographic exploration of the value of a traditional martial art...
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Paper presented at the: European Association of Japanese Studies conference at the University of Ljubljana, Slovenia, 26 – 30 August 2014. More information about my work can be found at: http://lucubrat.wordpress.com. Please note: several photographs in this presentation have been deliberately edited or formatted to be of lower quality for publication on the web.TRANSCRIPT
‘Old style’, modern meaning:
An ethnographic exploration of the value of a
traditional martial art in contemporary Japan.
Anna Seabourne, University of Manchester
European Association of Japanese Studies
University of Ljubljana, 26 – 30 August 2014
古流 ‘old style’ koryū
bujutsu• Recognised as koryū by other koryū
• Pre-Meiji Restoration
• Secretive
• Few members
• Lineage
• System is passed from teacher to student
• Traditional training methods
• Do not compete
• Formal curriculum of techniques
Few
members
Lineage
kata geiko
Curriculum
makimono
• Founded in 1532
• Comprehensive system
• Known for kogusoku and bo
• Forerunner of Judo
Does it have meaning?
[I have learnt…] the importance of doing and being myself.
(Fujiwara, 20s, student, F)
[It] has become a part of me, and if I don’t train, I get frustrated. It’s like eating.
(Maeda, 50s, senior management, M)
It’s part of life, like breathing.
(Ishida, 50s, banker, M)
Spiral curriculum - kihon形kataforms
基本kihonbasics
演武embu
performance
口伝kuden
oral teachings
beginner
assistantteacher
dōjō head
kihon
Spiral curriculum - kata形kataforms
基本kihonbasics
演武embu
performance
口伝kuden
oral teachings
beginner
assistantteacher
dōjō head
kata
Spiral curriculum - embu形kataforms
基本kihonbasics
演武embu
performance
口伝kuden
oral teachings
beginner
assistantteacher
dōjō head
enbu
enbu
Spiral curriculum - kuden形kataforms
基本kihonbasics
演武embu
performance
口伝kuden
oral teachings
beginner
assistantteacher
dōjō head
kuden
Calendar - brief
Understanding the body
Individual
• Exercise
• Basic movement
• ‘body work’ through kata
• Posture, balance, coordination
• Awareness of own aging
• Ukemi
Other people
• Understanding how people move
• Reading posture
• Awareness of aging as process
• Physical contact
Environment
• Ability to deal with different conditions
• Weapons, space
• Enbu as a test
Perhaps the most important
thing is communication through
the body. Waza and kata are
living things. They can not just
be taught by words. This is a
wonderful thing. (Ishida, 40s, banker, M)
Understanding the mind, kokoro
Individual
• ‘Being myself’
• Overcoming adversity
• Self-worth
• Learning to think, learning to learn
Other people
• Communication skills
• Teacher-student relationship
Environment
• Awareness
• Strategy
• Management
In terms of life, jinsei, it’s more than doing work, it’s the “know how”, things I’ve learnt from Kancho, from senpai. …hikidashi, I have my own drawer in which I keep various things, to which I have added. For example, when it comes being put on the spot to sing, doing enbu, it [prepares you] for giving a speech. Being able to rely on this at any point.
The five ways of learning, seven ways of teaching narai no gokajō, is very useful. It’s about how to relate to humans, how to enjoy things, to do things straight away. It has been extremely useful and has taught me lots of things.
(Uetake, late 40s, civil servant, M)
‘Know how’
Five principles of learning
1. gratitude for being taught
2. prompt action
3. devising your purpose
4. comparison with other things
5. teaching
Work
Tachi-machi
So what?
School of Arts, Languages
c.uk
@lucubrat
http://lucubrat.wordpress.com
Thank you...
School of Arts, Languages and Cultures