The significance of religion in the foundation of martial arts in Japan
Asian marital art is considered to be one of the primitive and oldest form of combat arts that has prevalence even in present times. It can be argued that this Asian art form had initiated its journey from China but gradually became famous in different regions around the world with its distinctive art forms. In this context, Allen tries to figure out the role of martial arts in Japan and how far it bestowed and still influence the Japanese culture. It can arguably be stated that religion played a significant role in order to make marital art as a part and parcel of the Japanese culture. As a matter of fact, the religion was the most crucial factor that solely responsible to expand the practise of martial arts from China to other regions of the Asia. From that point of view Allen also kept its focus on the religious implications that had a great impact on the role of the marital arts and its popularity. As a matter of fact, blending the practice with the use of religion also provided a significant impact on the foundation of martial arts and influenced the popular culture in Japan quite extensively. From that point of view the article mainly argued about the role of religion as a driven factor in the process of making the martial art a cultural practice in Japan. Based on this understanding, it can be concluded that Barry Allen pointed out a very significant factor behind the cultural underpinnings of martial arts in Japan. Although there are plenty of other factors responsible for the foundation of martial arts in Japan but religion not only instigated the practice but also facilitated it to bestow martial art into the Japanese culture. Therefore, it is considered to be an important factor in the history of Japanese culture and practice.
On the other hand Graves tried to evaluate the practice of martial art in Japanese culture from a very unique and opposite perspective. According to him it can be argued that there are a number determinants that were responsible for the development of marital art as a cultural phenomenon in Japan. However, the purpose of gaming and recreation personified as the important aspects that contributed the most in case of the making a common practice in the Japanese culture. It was further interlinked with the notion of beauty that helped the facilitate the process and proved that like other art forms the Japanese marital art was also identified as an unique art form that rejuvenated and symbolised the beauty of the Japanese culture.
In the discussion, Graves advocated that the primary purpose of practicing marital art was to boost the health and fitness and later on it was infused with the philosophy, science and religion that created a solid base for the development of martial art more sophisticatedly. However, the major motive remained the same and it linked with developing better health and soul. Furthermore, the book of Graves also highlighted the fact that beauty played a significant role in this context where the Japanese people were not only put emphasis on their health but were very concerned about the aesthetics. For an example, he mentioned the practise of Ninjutsu, a Japanese form of martial art that was traditionally practiced among the Japanese because of the beauty that it created.
The role of beauty and aesthetics in Japanese martial arts
Therefore, there is no argument that the Japanese martial art was an art form that generally demarked as a paradigm of art not a weapon of war. In response to this, it can be concluded that the book is highly relevant in order to understand the correlation between the Japanese culture and martial art.
The article of Nagy (2015) keenly prophase the role of the martial arts as a teacher or a guidance to inherit and preserve the Japanese culture, history and philosophy. It is coupled with the concept of globalisation and localisation of culture. This article mainly pointed out the implication of martial arts in Japanese culture through a series of references. For an example, Nagy (2015) gave the instance of the Japanese National Institute of Fitness and Sports (NIFI) that puts emphasises on the practice of marital art in order to create an educational practice of preserving the rich culture, tradition and heritage that was lingered with the martial arts. The purpose of such initiative is to strengthening the indigenous nature of the Japanese culture rather than circumscribed the tradition into the academic researches and journals. From that point of view it can be anticipated that the use martial art had a teaching practice and considered to be a guidebook for the life of most of the Japanese people. As a matter of fact, this teaching trend is not a new one rather it had a deep root in the tradition since the period of Tokugawa in 1603. In response to this the article of Nagy (2015) was more like a historical tour to the martial arts practice in Japan than connoted the use of marital art in Japan as an instrument of fitness, an historical or cultural implication is always there, the spiritual underpinnings and of course the impact on the Japanese culture. Nagy was an associate professor in the International Christian University, Japan. Henceforth, it is obvious for him to underline the insights of the Japanese culture more intensely.
Therefore, it can be concluded that the research conducted by Nagy (2015) opened up a series of concepts and ideas related to the marital art practice in Japan that is strongly coincided with the Japanese culture not only as a traditional tool or practice but also referred as a cultural backbone be teaching the people. Henceforth, the article is highly significant and has relevance in this discussion.
As far as different theories regarding the impact of martial art in the Japanese culture are concerned Cynarski et al. 2015 propounded a different theory based on blend of both psychology and physical exercises. In this context, it can be argued that Cynarski et al. 2015 put emphasis on the humanistic theory of Martial Arts. They never denied the fact that spirituality and religion influenced the martial art since its inception and that influence the popular culture of Japan significantly. However, the dynamic orientation of martial art must not circumscribe itself into the very understanding of spirituality or beauty or some cognate themes of physical training rather it was also relied on the psychological foundation that moved the Japanese people heavily. The article tried to elaborate the fact that it was a cultural exchange of maturing and socialisation that the authors were termed as ‘inculturation’ that assimilated a foreign culture with the Japanese popular culture. Moreover, from the perspective of social ideas it can also be seen that the martial art created a higher social strata or categorisation that was easily camouflaged into the traditional social system of Japan. Particularly the warrior or the elite paradigm envisaged a clear understanding of the social differentiation and made it popular in the country. From that perspective it is ostensibly clear that the psychological implication of marital art had surely some impression on the Japanese people and as a result of that they were interested to incorporate that practice into the traditional system. All the authors were popular in their respective subjects and were linked with their respective universities. Their profound knowledge in the martial art culture made the research more authentic.
Martial arts as a guide to inherit and preserve Japanese culture
The above discussion rightly pointed out psycho-physical factor that was dedicatedly injected the beneficial and positive factors of the martial art into the Japanese culture. Moreover, the humanistic attributes of the martial art was also depicted into the discussion that intertwined with the Japanese tradition intricately. Therefore, it can be concluded that there was a deep rooted influence of the martial art in Japanese culture and from that point of view this article is clearly relevant and important also.
This article is more related to the research of Alexander Bennett and tried to explore every aspects of his work. However, deliberately or unintentionally the author Boyd (2018) revealed the true meaning of martial art in the Japanese culture and its vitality that pushed the practice still exists. It was like a interpretation of the outside world on the practice of martial art and its implication and impacts on the Japanese culture. From an outsider’s perspective it seems like a martial art that the entire Japanese culture is familiar with but the concept is not so lucid or linear. There are several schools of martial art with their specific form of martial arts and it is not so easy to become an expert of martial art. It requires huge physical fitness, sharp in mind and patience. In addition to this, reviewing the book of Alexander Bennett also delivers an insight into the practice of martial art and clear out all the misconceptions and myths that circled around Japanese martial art from a long period of time. In fact, the book puts aa great deal of emphasis on the present day practice of martial art in Japan and the popular perception regarding this practice. From that point of view, it seems very important for the outside world to get acknowledged with the fathom of Japanese martial arts and its vitality in the Japanese culture. Moreover, the book is more of a personal diary or experience that helps the reader to find out the real picture through a non-Japanese interpretation. In fact, Oscar Boyd is a veteran journalist of Japan Times who is well known for dealing with the Japanese culture so that it seems to an authentic news article that share some lights on the martial art and Japanese culture.
Henceforth, it can be argued that the article is very relevant to highlight the relationship between the Japanese culture and marital art and shattered all the misconceptions and myths so that the readers can get a real essence of what Japanese martial art culture is. From that point of view, it can be concluded that the article is highly relevant and significant by not only reveals different aspects of the Japanese martial arts practice but also portrays an international viewpoint of the importance of martial art on Japanese culture.
References
Allen, Barry. Striking Beauty: A Philosophical Look at the Asian Martial Arts. Columbia University Press, 2015.
Boyd, Oscar. 2018. “An Insider’s Guide To Surviving The World Of Japanese Martial Arts The Japan Times”. The Japan Times. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2018/10/20/books/insiders-guide-surviving-world-japanese-martial-arts/#.W-r2RpMzbIV.
Cynarski, Wojciech J., Jong-Hoon Yu, Krzysztof Warchol, and Pavol Bartik. “Martial arts in psycho-physical culture.” Ido Movement for Culture. Journal of Martial Arts Anthropology15, no. 4 (2015): 3-38.
Graves, David C. “Martial Arts and the Artworld.” The Monist 99, no. 1 (2016): 13-25.
Nagy, Stephen Robert. “Japanese Martial Arts as Popular Culture: Teaching Opportunity and Challenge.” Asian Studies3, no. 1 (2015): 83-102.
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