Seminar teaches true meaning of budo

Photos by Daily Yomiuri Photographer Makoto Miyazaki

Of all the aspects of Japanese culture that fascinate people abroad, budo, or martial arts, has always been at the forefront.

According to a brochure handed out at the International Seminar of Budo Culture, held earlier this month in Katsuura, Chiba Prefecture, 50 million foreigners participate in some form of martial art and they are helping Japanese culture become better known abroad.

But despite this popularity overseas, Japanese budo masters began to ask themselves: Is the essence of budo, which places just as much emphasis on character development and respect for tradition as on techniques to defeat opponents, really understood by foreign practitioners?

The budo seminar was organized by masters of various types of martial art to address their concern that too much attention has been paid to winning competitions.

They hoped it would give those who have little understanding of budo traditions an insight into the spiritual and historical aspects of martial arts.

The four-day seminar was open only to those who have obtained shodan or a higher level of recognition in a martial art. Nearly 100 men and women from 28 countries--all living in Japan--took part in the event.

The participants spent 8! hours over the four days in lectures and discussions about how budo evolved into today's forms and why discipline was so important, as well as budo's role in helping to develop people's personalities.

"Highlighting the appeal of budo as a competitive sport may be a quick way to gain global popularity, but what people from other countries are really searching for may well be the cultural quality of budo," said International Budo University Prof. Mamoru Tanaka, who coordinated a discussion session at the seminar.

Besides the lectures, practical lessons were taught by experts in kendo, judo, karate, kyudo, aikido, naginata, jukendo, sumo and shorinji-kempo. The participants also were encouraged to learn a new martial art.

The aim was to show the participants the common essence behind different types of budo and to help them acquire a deeper understanding of Japanese culture.

Grace Owen, a British 3rd-dan in aikido, said she decided to start learning kyudo after the seminar. "I think I can also improve my skills in aikido by learning something different," she said.

The most unusual feature of the event, which came on the last day of the seminar, was a demonstration of shuriken-jutsu--a blade-throwing technique--that was known to very few people even during feudal times.

Satoshi Saito, the 5th successor to Negishi-ryu Shuriken-jutsu, demonstrated how to throw the blades in a quick and simple motion often seen in ninja movies.

When it was the participants' turn to try, only a few succeeded in hitting a hanging tatami mat several meters away.

"I think people could sense the depth of culture behind ancient martial arts by trying to emulate these difficult skills," Saito said.