The Founding of the Bushido Cultivation Research Group
Spring 2022: @East San Gabriel Valley Japanese Community Center (ESGVJCC)
The Bushido Cultivation Research Group (Bushido Tanren Kenkyuukai) was founded with the goal of putting into practice the training and research of Bushido – the Japanese spirit, which has been passed down from Japan’s classical era.
Techniques will be taken in from a variety of martial arts and those in the US will be enlightened by our findings.
To begin with, the thinking behind various schools of martial arts do not allow their teachings to be taught outside of their own schools. Throughout history, members of the practitioners’ own clans were forbidden from being shown techniques if they happened to study a different style of martial art. This has been the norm. This naturally went without saying. When using various techniques of classical martial arts during historical times, you would have been put into a disadvantageous situation when you absolutely needed to fight if the techniques were widely known.
However, in the modern era, knowing the techniques becomes meaningless when you use them to cause injuries to other people.
Even if you know martial techniques, the goal of knowing them is not to cause injuries to others. They are to play a behind the scenes role of promoting peace for the people so we can pursue happiness.
Therefore, the goal of our research group is harmonious coexistence with the practitioners of various martial arts.
Warriors who studied the 18 Arms of Wushu were said to be required to learn 18 types of weapons and techniques. They trained their bodies, they learned morals, and strove to create a peaceful and happy society.
In the Edo period, samurai primarily trained with the use of the sword. However, while samurai carried swords, they did not draw them. If a sword was drawn, it was as a last resort and a samurai risked his own life in doing so. Physical conflict was avoided as much as possible. Even so, they did not neglect their daily training. They cultivated their minds and bodies as their way of life.
Our school’s basic training has the fundamentals of martial arts: Footwork, body movement, and sword handling. In addition, we would like to take in ideas and learn from other martial arts such as Kendo, Kobudo, Iaido, Battou-do, and many more to list.
Masaji Saito, Founder
May 22, 2022