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Martial arts
Martial arts are a special layer of the Japanese spiritual tradition. The Japanese consider themselves the nation of warriors, so martial arts (theoretical, practical and ritual) have always played a very important role and were viewed as a basis for survival (collective and individual).
As well as in other east Asian cultures, the Japanese military tradition reflects and embodies the ancient principles of the Dao and Confucian concepts formed in Ancient China (including the art of the "thirty two stratagems") which became the basis of the philosophy of war. In Japan ancient Chinese tractates on military tactics and strategy were highly valued and considered sources of wisdom.
Martial arts in Japan were called budo (budzyutu) and became one of the elements of bushido - the Way of the Warrior, an ancient tradition that is still actively developing today. Martial arts were viewed as practical skills (dzyutsu), as an art (do), as a way of bringing up children and as a sacred Shinto or Buddhist ritual. Thus, the sumo fighting, contests of archers and horsemen were a specific form of worshipping the gods (and at the same time an entertainment for the elite), and fighting with the use of different weapons was a form of spiritual Zen practice.
Some types of the traditional martial arts have developed into sports popular outside Japan. Among them are kyudo (archery), kendo, yaido, yarido and naginata-do - different types of fencing; judo, aikido, karate do - forms of sport close fight. What concerns sumo, it has turned into a favorite national sport.
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Models "Samurai armors".
Museum exposition. |
Martial arts of Japan.
Japan. The Japanese. Early 20th cent. |
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Military commander Takeda Shingen and his vassals.
Japan. The Japanese. 19th cent.
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Portrait of Ogata Dzyudziro in samurai costume.
Japan. The Japanese.
Godkhnkht F., mid-to-late 19th c.
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Warriors.
Japan. Tokio. The Japanese, late 19th-early 20th c.
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Portrait of samurai.
Japan. The Japanese, mid-to-late 19th c.
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Portrait of samurai.
Japan. The Japanese, mid-to-late 19th c.
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Samurai and his servant in private.
Japan. The Japanese, mid-to-late 19th c.
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A woman-warrior Tomoe Gozen.
Japan. The Japanese, by 1917
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A set of armor.
Japan. The Japanese, XVII-XVIII вв. (?)
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A set of armor.
Japan. The Japanese.
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