Shissai, Chozan
(Editor/Translator: Reinhard Kammer)

London, Boston: Arkana, 118 pages (1978)
ISBN: 0-14019066X
14 Leicester Square, London WC2H 7PH, England; 9 P

Recommended

A very engaging translation of a thesis on the spiritual benefits of swordsmanship written in 1729 Tokugowa-era Japan (a time when the samurai were long on the road to becoming bureaucrats and civil servants as opposed to battle-hardened warriors). This work is not a "how-to" book, outlining techniques to master the art; rather, it is a philosophical treatise on how the study of swordsmanship enables the swordsman to reach a "great harmony with the laws of nature and the universe, from which source alone perfect swordsmanship is possible." Shissai is dogmatic (he disavows the contribution of Buddhism to swordsmanship as a true Tokugowa Confucian scholar should), but he introduces a plethora of ideas that make for very engaging reading. Reinhard Kammer provides two introductory chapters for additional perspective that help to clarify the work and the period in which it was written.

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Annotated by: Charles A. Buhs (October 1995)

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Martial Arts: Iaido | Kendo |

Topics: history | philosophy |