Japanese Martial Arts Guide

There are a great variety of Japanese Marshal Arts:

Sumo
Sumo is an ancient Japanese sport and the unofficial national sport of Japan. Sumo is first mentioned in Japanese writing over two thousand years ago. Sumo was once played at Shinto shrines and many Shrines still have Sumo rings today. The referee of a Sumo match normally dresses as a Shinto priest.

While the traditions and training regiment of Sumo may be quite complex, the rules are quite simple. more ...

Aikido (合気道) is often translated as "the Way of unified spirit." It was developed in the 1920's by Morihei Ueshiba. One of Aikido's guiding principles is that self defense should be possible without hurting your attacker. Aikido techniques redirect the force of the attacker rather than opposing it. This involves various throws and joint locks that have been derived from Jujitsu.

Iaido is a Japanese marshal art that teaches sword form (kata). A typical form consists of the draw and cut, a finishing cut, cleaning blood from the blade and returning it to the scabbard.

Various swords may be used in Iaido depending on the skill and training of the practitioner. There are wooden swords, unsharpened metal swords and sharpened metal swords. Iaido focuses on sword handling and not upon strategy or sparring technique. more ...