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Budo - "the way of the warrior" The word Budo consists of two words; bu (= warrior) and do (= way, path). Budo is gathering name for all the Martial Arts including Aikido, Judo, Ju-jutsu and Karate to name a few. The history of each Martial Arts differ form one to another, but here are a summary of the history of the oldest ones. The samurai through history From approximately 1100 AD Japan was ruled by a military regime - the shogunate - and the emperor was no more than a symbol, lacking both political and military significance. The Marshal of the Realm, shogun, was the true ruler. The countries administration was resting on military power. During the age of civil wars the province lord'd private armies, powerful temple monks and bandits was fighting each other all over the country, trying to become more powerful and conquer larger areas. During the 1400-1500 the province lords, daimyo, started to fortify their land by building mighty castles and fortifications. From within these fortresses they administrated. Around these fortifications craftsmen, merchants and others who was needed to make the daily life work out. This was the beginning of the growth of cities. Martial arts of the Orient Fighting is as old as man himself. This struggle to overcome another by means of combat, armed or unarmed, is perhaps the legacy handed down to us from our ancestors, the cave dwellers. Man has formulated scientific principles through the ages in his efforts to subdue enemies by fair means or foul. This quest for domination sowed the seeds for a fighting art. The term "martial arts" simply means arts concerned with the waging of war. Many of the martial arts we know today where developed form ancient war skills. In time, man's search for a deeper meaning to life, led to the development of a higher level of fighting. Ultimately, the old martial ways were used to cultivate man's understanding of himself. This paradox of beginning a lethal skill and along the way transcending the violent aims of that skill to become a human being with superior qualities in both mind and body, is perhaps best summed up by the Chinese proverb, "He who overcomes others is strong. He who overcomes himself is mighty". The martial arts of the Orient are shrouded in mystery and tradition. Each country seems to have developed its own fighting skills and through trial and error, honed them to perfection. Although many of these fighting arts differ tremendously from one another, there is one constant throughout - that is the almost pathological urge for anonymity. It is because of this brotherhood of secrecy that many of the martial arts we know today have only come to light within the last 50 years or so. Many martial arts of the east have their roots buried deeply in religion. Taoism and Buddhism and their many offshoots have all played important roles in the development of fighting systems. The servants of these religious disciplines, the monks and priests, were for the most part responsible for spreading the various fighting skills all over Asia. |
