Secrets of the Samurai. Oscar Ratti

Secrets of the Samurai

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Please note that the publisher and author(s) of this instructional book are NOT RESPONSIBLE in any manner whatsoever for any injury that may result from practicing the techniques and/or following the instructions given within. Martial arts training can be dangerous—both to you and to others—if not practiced safely. If you’re in doubt as to how to proceed or whether your practice is safe, consult with a trained martial arts teacher before beginning. Since the physical activities described herein may be too strenuous in nature for some readers, it is also essential that a physician be consulted prior to training.

Published by Tuttle Publishing, an imprint of Periplus Editions (HK) Ltd.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without prior written permission from the publisher.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Ratti, Oscar.

Secrets of the samurai : the martial arts of feudal

Japan / by Oscar Ratti and Adele Westbrook.

399 p. : ill. ; 27 cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-4-8053-0960-5 (hardcover)

1. Martial arts--Japan. I. Westbrook, Adele. II. Title.

GV1100.77.A2.R37 2009

796.815--dc22

2009014305

ISBN 978-4-8053-1405-0

ISBN 978-1-4629-1900-0 (ebook)

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TO THOSE RARE MASTERS OF BUJUTSU

who revered the arts of the warrior—

but who revered human life even more;

and

TO THOSE SCHOLARS

without whose reflections

and painstaking recollections

this book would not have been possible

If we open ourselves up to the divine Life Force in its physical and spiritual manifestations we are all right, as individuals and as societies of individuals. If, on the contrary, we turn our backs on the God-made universe and insist on living in the home-made, verbal universe of fancies and ideals, imagining that we can improve on nature and make God in our own image, then we ruin our private lives, physically and spiritually, and create societies such as we live in today. Our habit of doing most of our living in a home-made world of words, fancies, and illusions is so deeply ingrained that it requires hard work with special techniques to “get back to where we have always been”—that is to say, to the given reality of Nature and Grace, to things as they really are, in themselves, and quoad nos , in relation to our egos.

Aldous Huxley

The Selected Letters of Aldous Huxley

James Sexton, editor

Ivan R. Dee. 2008

TABLE OF CONTENTS

FOREWORD

PORTFOLIO OF DRAWINGS

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

PREFACE

INTRODUCTION : The Martial Ethos

Definition of Bujutsu and Its Specializations

The Qualification “Martial” (Bu) and the Exponents of Bujutsu