Beyond the romantic notions of Japanese martial arts as some kind of path to enlightenment or self-realization, they still have lots of practical applications. Japanese cops are one group of people who still incorporate martial arts into their everyday work.

Japanese police work in a very different environment with a different set of tools and expectations than, say, American cops. While an American police officer using their gun is uncommon, it’s even more rare with Japanese police.

Using a gun in Japan, even if you’re a police officer, carries with it incredible consequences (the paperwork is the real killer), so it’s no surprise that the police have a wide arsenal of less lethal methods of subduing criminals.

In that arsenal is a martial art known as 逮捕術, or taiho-jutsu, which literally translates into “arrest technique.” It’s used by police, Imperial guard, the Japanese Self-Defense Force, Kamen Riders, Sailor Scouts, and pretty much every law enforcement and military agency in Japan.

May or may not use taiho jutsu

Japanese law enforcement has used martial arts for a long, long time, but the modern taiho jutsu didn’t start to take shape until after WWII, around 1947. Post-war Japan was more or less entirely ruled by the occupying United States forces, which placed some restrictions on the way that Japanese police operated, including limiting their use of physical force and traditional martial arts.

At first, this caused problems; the country was in ruins and unrest, and limiting police meant that they had a hard time keeping order.

Fortunately, Japanese police officers turned lemons into lemonade and took the opportunity to basically build a new martial art from scratch.

Fact: all criminals wear hockey masks

If you know about Krav Maga, the martial art developed by Israeli police and military, then you have a pretty good idea of what taiho jutsu is all about. Both were developed for military and law enforcement, and both are built out of other martial arts.

Taiho jutsu, unlike Krav Maga, had the benefit of being created in a place with a strong martial arts tradition. When the Tokyo police bureau was in the process of creating taiho jutsu, it gathered masters from lots of different martial arts including judo and kendo, along with experts in armed combat too.

The martial art that was created in the postwar era was existed ever since, with minor revisions along the way. It incorporates lots of ways of disarming people with hand-to-hand combat, in addition to using police batons and, heaven forbid, guns.

When Japanese police aren’t laying down the law against would-be criminals, they practice and show off their skills in exhibition matches between officers. Not only is it nice to work out aggression against co-workers in a sancation environment, but these exhibitions have the added bonus of providing officers with the incentive to train harder to beat their peers.

Of course, taiho jutsu looks a lot different on the street than it does in an exhibition where all participants are wearing protective gear and have the same training, but these sorts of exhibition matches are still impressive. You get to see it all in action without knocking over a Family Mart.

Not all police officers learn exactly the same thing; some parts of the country emphasize particular styles, whether it’s judo, kendo, or aikido. But one thing’s for sure: if you decide to break the law (like dancing past a certain time of night), you might learn pretty quickly what kind of martial arts your arresting officer knows.

Bonus Animated GIFs/Wallpapers

Here are some animated GIFs and desktop backgrounds for your enjoyment courtesy of our talented artist Aya.

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What Is Kendo?

Let’s start by talking about what kendo is. Kendo/剣道 (aka “way of the sword”) is actually a fairly new martial art, in terms of how old martial arts get. It came from what was originally known as kenjutsu, which was developed in the Kamakura period (1185-1333) when samurai started showing up in bigger numbers. Because real swords were too fun to practice with, bogu (armor) and shinai (bamboo swords) were developed by the 1700s (fewer dead people, I guess). From here, we start to see modern kendo emerge.

I don’t want to talk too much about what kendo is since I want to jump into the meat of this article, but watch this documentary for a lot more info. It’s actually pretty interesting, and I think a good introduction for people who have never seen kendo before.

Okay. Got your kendo-learning fix? Let’s find out what makes kendo so interesting to me.

My Experience With Kendo

I’ve only been doing kendo for ~10 years now, and considering all the people in their 70s and 80s who have been doing kendo for their entire lives… my ten years is just a drop in the proverbial bucket. So, you’ll have to take everything I say with an “I’m-a-total-newb” grain of salt here. My thoughts on kendo philosophy ten years from now may be totally different. And it’s just like, my opinion, man.

I also have a little bit of experience in other martial arts as well… another ten years in jujitsu, as well as a few more doing judo, giving me some ability to make some comparisons. Don’t confuse anything I say with “this martial art is better than that martial art,” though. Those conversations are really dumb. I will however talk about why kendo is something that fits really well with me, personally. It’s had a huge effect on how I think about life, the universe, and everything (aka 42).

Simplicity Of Kendo

The thing that draws me to kendo the most is the simplicity of it. When kenjutsu was being developed (where kendo came from) Zen Buddhism was the big influencer in town. Kendo seems to draw a lot of influence from this (as kenjutsu did), and I think this is perhaps one of the reasons I’m drawn to it. I think this is why there are so many aspects of kendo that have to do with the simplicity of it. Here’s how I see it:

Very Few Techniques

In my experience with other martial arts, the main focus always seemed to be on learning more and more techniques. Maybe I was just going to the wrong dojos (perhaps this is American style?). I’m not sure. If you learn 100 techniques with a certain skill level, you get this colored belt. If you learn 200 techniques, you get some other belt. In kendo, you essentially get to do four techniques. That’s it, and the last one (tsuki) isn’t even something someone can try for a number of years.

They are: men (head), kote (wrist), dou (body), and tsuki (throat).

There are variations on these techniques, of course. For example, you could hit the other side of the dou… or you hit the kote as they’re hitting your men… things like that. But, when you boil it down, it’s still only four techniques… and this turns out to be plenty. Considering how hard it is to master any one of these, four seems to be enough for me.

Real Life Application: Don’t try to do everything. Just doing a few things well is difficult enough.

No Way To Tell Rank

Another thing that I love about kendo is that everyone pretty much looks the same. There is rank, for sure, but if you line a bunch of people up, there’s no way to tell what someone’s rank is without them telling you (or by guessing based on how used their equipment looks, but that doesn’t always mean anything).

I like this because it puts more focus on your actions and behavior. You can tell people apart by how good their kendo is, not by what rank they are.

Real Life Application: Don’t tell the world what your status is. If you’re going to let people know, do it with your actions.

Shaving

When I think about some other martial arts, all I can think about is how complicated they get. The higher your rank, the more complicated all your techniques get. Purple belt? That means you get to spin twice before kicking the target. It’s all about adding, adding, adding.

It took me a while to realize this, but in kendo I think it’s all about how much you can take away. I want to say that kyuudo and aikido are similar in this regard. When a beginner starts kendo, their swing is very complicated. They use all kinds of different muscles and make a lot of unnecessary movements. As you get better, you actually simplify your swing. You figure out how to turn off certain muscles. You make your movements more consistent. You don’t swing through your targets as much. It’s a lot like golf in terms of the consistency you need. You don’t want to swing your golf club differently every time. You want it to be like clockwork. Same goes for kendo.

The more you simplify in kendo, the better your kendo gets. One way to teach someone how to swing properly is to make them swing so many times that they have almost no strength left. When this happens, their body’s only choice is to do the simplest swing possible. This usually ends up being a correct swing, because the simplest swing is the easiest swing.

Real Life Application: Sometimes complicating things isn’t the way to go. Even though it seems like a flashier, more complicated move would make you better at kendo, it’s really the opposite that makes someone great. Simplicity is harder, sure, but taking the easy path is never the best path, ammirght?

Ridiculous Difficulty

Despite being such a “simple” martial art, simplicity isn’t an easy thing to achieve. In fact, simplicity is one of the hardest things in the world to do right. Because of this, I think, kendo is crazy difficult. Even when you’re “good” at kendo, you still have a long ways to go. Always. People who have been doing kendo for thirty years are still thinking about all the things they need to improve on and change.

Beginner Fo’Life!

The dude in this video is such a boss. And what he says is so true, too. Fifty years learning the basics seems about right, too. It depends on what dojo you end up going to, but a lot of places make you do a lot of work before even letting you touch a shinai (that’s the bamboo sword). Then, you have to swing without a partner for even longer. This is part “can you make it?” and part “get a good basics foundation.”

It’s interesting seeing people who grew up doing kendo in Japan versus doing kendo in America because of the discrepancy in fundamentals practice. The Japanese kenshi (people who do kendo) are almost always way better. Why? It’s because they spent years and years working on basics, whereas us Americans tend to be a bit more impatient. Eventually, this catches up to you and you and you can no longer catch up with everyone else.

Real Life Application: Don’t skimp on your basics. They will carry you through everything in life.

Mind Games

As you practice your basics (your body), you start noticing the mind games that begin developing. If your mind breaks, your body breaks as well and you die. If you can’t predict what your opponent is going to do, you die. If you can’t keep focus, you die. So much of kendo is about your mental abilities. When your body can do the basics of kendo pretty well, this becomes the thing that differentiates people who are “okay” and people who are actually good.

The “mind game” aspect is definitely one of my favorite things about kendo, though. Once you start noticing this, every single drill, match, and exercise begins to rotate around this concept too. Everything is an opportunity to make your mind stronger. In fact, a strong mind means that you’re able to push your body further, which makes your body stronger too. If you don’t have mind, you can never develop body.

Every practice you have to reach the point where you think “I can’t do this anymore.” Once you do, you have to keep doing it. That’s 100% mind, right there. When you push yourself like this, everything gets stronger. If you don’t push yourself, you’ll always stay the same, or at least progress at a much slower rate. Can I last a few more seconds? Can I stay focused longer than my opponent? Can I break my opponent’s will before he/she breaks mine? This is why short Japanese girls beat me up all the time. I have bigger and more manly muscles (maybe), but they’re sharp as tacks. Mind > Body, though both work together quite well.

Real Life Application: You have to train your brain as much as you train your body. Do you have trouble focusing? Push yourself to focus just a little bit more every time. Eventually, you too will have the focus of a short Japanese girl. All it takes is practice. Sure, it’ll be uncomfortable, but that’s the whole point, right?

8th Degree Test

Do you know what the hardest test in Japan is? Is it becoming a lawyer? Pshhhh. That’s EZPZ. No, it’s the kendo 8th dan test, which has a less than 1% pass rate.

The above documentary is one of my favorite videos to watch – it’s about the people who are trying to achieve this rank. But, it’s more than that, too. It’s so inspirational to see all these people trying again and again to pass the test. Why keep taking the test even though they keep failing? Because kendo is life, and failure is a part of that.

Real Life Application: Sometimes you fail. In fact, most times you fail. But, you have to keep trying and trying to achieve those dreams.

Living Kendo

Kendo’s definitely a way of life, I think. That’s why so many people do kendo until they die. Once you go kendo, it’ll never end-oh?

Not About The Money

A lot of martial arts dojos enjoy making lots of moneys (I guess to fill their mats?). In general, practicing kendo is very cheap. There are exceptions, I’m sure, but most of the time you just pay some dues for the facility you’re practicing in (for me, that’s $20/month) and then buy your own equipment (which lasts a long time, usually). The sensei don’t get paid for their time and they teach kendo because they love kendo.

When you go up for promotion, it’s also very cheap. If you’re going for 3rd degree (3dan) or below, which is most people, it’s around $35. If you’re going for a higher rank than that, it’s $50. Compare that to many belt-factory schools which make you pay hundreds if not thousands of dollars for a constant stream of promotions. Purple double stripe rainbow blue power belt? That’ll be $360, please…

I think the whole money issue gives kendo a very different feeling – at least that’s my experience. People are there because they care. Sometimes that means they care about improving their kendo. Other times it’s that they care about improving your kendo. Often times it’s both. Whatever it is, it’s a great environment to practice in because everyone wants to be there.

Real Life Application: You shouldn’t do everything for money. Focus on improving yourself, and surround yourself with like-minded people.

Perfection When Perfection Is Impossible

What is perfection? I have no idea. Will I ever be able to do perfect kendo? Definitely not. So, why do I keep doing kendo? I have no idea. For some reason, though, the thought that my kendo will never be perfect is awesome. It means there’s always something to improve on. Mostly, it means I’ll never be bored. When you finish a video game, you’re done. When you finish eating your dinner, you’re also done. When you finish kendo… you’re probably just dead (or you quit). Probably not the most pleasant sounding thing in the world, but to me that’s a bit comforting. If you don’t make it a part of your life, then what’s the point of doing it, right? That impossible to reach perfection makes that possible.

Real Life Application: If you’re passionate about what you do, you’ll never be able to make it perfect. You can either let that drive you insane, or you can let that drive you for your entire life. This is what people call “purpose.” If you get one, you’ll feel a lot happier.

Is Kendo For You?

Actually, no, probably not. I’ve seen a lot of beginner classes come and go at multiple dojos, and one thing is always consistent… almost everyone quits. If one person sticks it out for more than a year, then you’re lucky. I think a lot of this is because of the reasons stated above. it’s too simple, it’s too mentally draining, and it’s not what people expect. It takes so much focus and time. It just comes down to how much you’re willing to put in. Hey, it’s understandable – time is finite, and you have to use it in the way you think is right.

That being said, you should still try it. If you want to experience Japanese culture, kendo is a great way to do that. If it’s not for you it isn’t for you. I really do hope it is, though – I would love to practice with you sometime :)

So, do you do kendo? If so, what do you think? Do you do another type of martial art? What has that taught you about life?

P.S. Header art custom made by Aya Francisco. Thanks Aya!

NINJA!

Even people who know nothing else about Japanese history know about ninja, their clothes, shuriken, and their sneakiness. Ninja have infiltrated popular culture like a well-guarded castle.

But in the hundreds of years since ninja were around, their image has been muddled. So what were ninja actually like, and are there any ninja today?

Old-School Ninja

Ninja were, at the most basic level, spies and assassins in Japan hundreds of years ago. That much is undisputed.

But over the years, ninja have become so sensationalized and romanticized in folklore and media that sometimes it’s hard to get a clear grasp on what ninja were actually like.

Ninja climbing a rope, or playing vertical tug-of-war?

Even years ago during the Meiji era, people in Japan were telling tales about mythic characters like Hattori Hanzo and exaggerating the legacy of the ninja.

Given the legend of ninja in Japan, it’s no surprise that the western perception of ninja is so skewed.

Note: ninja don’t traditionally drink canned beverages.

And today? There are ninja movies, theme parks, anime (rhymes with “are moo toe”) and video games. People have basically run wild with ninja lore and gotten pretty far from the truth. But there are also people who are trying to get it right.

There’s been an attempt to return to the traditional martial arts of the ninja (ninjutsu), instead of the campy, goofy ninja that you see today.

Bujinkan

The most famous modern-day ninjutsu school is probably Bujinkan. Founded in the 70s, Bujinkan is supposedly based on techniques gleaned from ancient scrolls. These scrolls are claimed to contain many crazy, mythical ninja techniques like killing people by yelling at them or hitting them in just the right spot.

The founder of Bujinkan also claims to be of ninja lineage. Pretty legit, right?

Well actually, nobody has actually seen these scrolls; and the last of the ninja died out long, long ago, so there’s no way that the founder of Bujinkan can be a ninja descendent.

But you’ve got to take some things on faith, you know?

Bujinkan practitioners kicking ass, taking names.

Skepticism aside, the actual practice of Bujinkan is pretty serious. It largely focuses on disabling an attacker, with a little weapon training thrown in for zest.

Bujinkan incorporates nine different styles of martial arts into one, giving you multiple ways of crushing your opponents.

And  unlike many martial arts, there aren’t any Bujinkan competitions because Bujinkan techniques are meant to break limbs or kill you. Not really something you want to mess around with.

Beside Bujinkan, there are other people and organizations that are trying to revive ninjutsu, most of them are offshoots of Bujinkan, or at least tied to the founder of Bujinkan in some way.

Unfortunately, a fair number of modern ninjutsu schools seem to be based around Steven Seagal wannabes selling Westerners DVD sets on how to become ninja.

But probably the most interesting and authentic instance of modern-day ninjutsu I’ve seen has been – weirdly enough – in Iran.

Iranian Lady Ninja

Over 3,500 women in Iran train in ninjutsu  today, tossing shuriken at each other, doing flips, and generally being sneaky.

Iranian state media has jumped on this phenomenon and produced an over-the-top news piece about it, complete with dramatic music and camera angles.

But with all of these new-school ninja schools, will ninjutsu ever return to its glory days? Probably not. Espionage nowadays is much more about high-tech intelligence than sneaking around and dressing in black. But ninja will always be iconic figures in Japanese history and in martial arts.

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Who was this guy?!

Oyama’s Early Life

Oyama, for the bull-killing karate master that he was, had pretty humble beginnings. He was actually born in Korea with a Korean name (Yeong-eui Choi) during the Japanese occupation. He moved to China when he was young and began to learn martial arts from a worker from the farm on which he lived.

And here’s where another incredible martial arts story comes along. Legend has it that the Chinese worker that got Oyama started on the road to karate bad-assery gave the young master a seed. The worker told Oyama to plant the seed and to jump over it 100 times every day. Even as the seed grew into a big tree, Oyama kept at it.

Once he reached adulthood, Oyama decided that he wanted to become a pilot for the Japanese army and adopted his Japanese name, Masutatsu Oyama. (Years later, Oyama would become a full Japanese citizen.) After completing his pilot training, Oyama wanted to become a kamikaze pilot, writing letters in his own blood to high-ranking officers pleading to give him the chance.

After the war, Oyama’s martial arts training kicked into high gear. He learned all there was to know about karate from the top dojos in the country, earning more black belts and honors than you could shake a stick at.

He made several retreats into the mountains on his own to train, presumably by standing under freezing waterfalls, punching rocks, and fighting bears. He came down from the mountains and won the National Martial Arts Championship.

And after all that, he decided to start his own martial arts school and show everybody how it’s done.

The Harvard of Kicking Ass

Oyama founded his own karate school that taught a style known as Kyokushin karate. Kyokushin means “the search for ultimate truth.” It’s a full-contact martial art that includes sparring without any protective gear and an intense training regimen that included getting beat up by Oyama pretty much on a regular basis.

“Falconnnn punch!”

Well, if not Oyama himself, then about 100 of his students. You see, Oyama developed a brutal test of skill called the 100-man kumite, an event that pits you against 100 different opponents, usually over the course of three days. It’s no wonder that Kyokushin has such a reputation for being such a tough style.

Kyokushin in the Movies

Kyokushin karate made a cameo in the James Bond movie You Only Live Twice, and is quite possibly the only accurately Japanese thing depicted in the movie. At the time the movie was made, there was no better endorsement for Kyokushin than Sean Connery using the style on the big screen.

What time did Sean Connery go to watch the match at Wimbleton? Ten-ish.

Connery hasn’t been the only actor to study at the feet of the master. Japanese actor Sonny Chiba not only knows Kyokushin and has a black belt in the martial art, but studied with Oyama himself and even played Oyama in a few movies.

Oyama died at the age of 70, of all things, lung cancer. You might expect that somebody whose living was based off of intense physical training and fighting bulls, Oyama might have died some other way; but maybe it isn’t surprising that the only thing that could take him down was disease.

Today, his legacy is carried on by the more than 12 million people who practice Kyokushin all over the world. Oyama’s life has been immortalized in lots of movies and even a manga series. Sure, some of Oyama’s life has probably been exaggerated and embullished embellished; but it’s still no exaggeration that Mas Oyama was an accomplished martial artist and all-around legend.

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Brazil is not only the home to awesome things like bossa nova and Pelé, but the biggest Japanese population outside of Japan is – believe it or not – in Brazil. About 1,500,000 ethnic Japanese people live in Brazil, and have been there for over a hundred years.

But why Brazil, of all places? How did so many Japanese find themselves 10,000 miles away from their homeland?

Why?

It seems like practically every post I write I talk about the Meiji Restoration; and for good reason.

The Meiji Restoration is a Big Effin’ Deal when it comes to modern Japanese history. In the late 1800s, the entire Japanese government was restructured, and many of the social systems in Japan (such as feudalism) were changed or outright dismantled.

The structural reforms of the Meiji Restoration had put Japan in a pretty tenuous situation. The overwhelming change that had swept through the country had displaced a lot of people’s ways of life, forcing them to live in squalor or look elsewhere for opportunity.

The historically Japanese neighborhood of Liberdade in Sao Paulo, Brazil

Some found that opportunity in Brazil, where an increasing demand for coffee and the abolition of slavery meant that there was a big need for laborers. From about 1908 onward, many Japanese immigrated to Brazil to help harvest coffee crops.

Few Japanese went to Brazil with the intention of staying there for good, but planned on returning back to Japan later. Unfortunately for those immigrants, they weren’t able to make as much money in Brazil as they had hoped or were promised. Without the money, these Japanese immigrants were basically stranded in a land far from home.

Soon, the Japanese had established a community within Brazil, and more and more Japanese immigrants made their way over to Brazil. Over time, lots of Japanese settled into the city of São Paulo.

Discrimination

Lots of Brazilian Japanese have tried to repatriate back to Japan over the years, but have found it difficult, to say the least.

Brazilian Japanese living in Japan are called dekasegi, which means “working away from home.” This is kind of offensive to Brazilian Japanese, since lots of them still view Japan, not Brazil as their true home.

To add insult to injury, the Japanese government has actually offered to pay people to leave Japan if they are originally from another country in order to free up the job market for native Japanese. Yikes. Nothing says you’re not wanted like your own government paying you to get the hell out of Dodge.

But maybe I’m being too grim about the situation of Brazilian Japanese. Not everything is bad for Japanese who immigrated to Brazil.

Since the Japanese arrived in Brazil they’ve made an impact on Brazilian culture, including introducing one of the most popular martial arts out there today: Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu

At the turn of the 20th century, a Japanese man named Mitsuyo Maeda was an accomplished judo fighter at a time when judo was just starting to get noticed by Western audiences. He traveled around the world in the early 1900s to show off his impressive skills (and beat up some Westerners).

After Maeda visited Europe and the North America, he ended up in Brazil. Maeda became incredibly popular there, and eventually settled down in the country and opened up his own judo school.

“Crap, do I have something on my shirt?”

One of his students was a boy by the name of Carlos Gracie. Carlos was a quick learner and soon, he began teaching what he had learned from Maeda to his brothers. The Gracies began practicing martial arts on their own, refined their technique, opened their own school, and eventually created what’s now known as Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.

The Gracies now are a kind of martial arts dynasty. Not only did the family basically create Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, but the lots of members of the family have become accomplished fighters in their own right. It’s staggering to look at the “Gracie family” Wikipedia page and see what kind of legacy the Gracie family has left.

And, as I’m sure some of you out there know, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu has been extremely influential on mixed martial arts (MMA) fighting, an increasingly popular sport.

To me at least, it’s strange and interesting to trace such a long trail of causation and links. Is it an oversimplification to say that the burly tough guys of MMA organizations like UFC are the direct result of a bunch of Japanese laborers picking coffee beans? Absolutely.

Still, there is a connection there, no matter how convoluted and indirect. Again, strange and interesting.

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