The Feudal Age and the Samurai

At the onset of the feudal age, the Samurai were peasant-farmers who fought for their Lords as well as they could when the occasion arose. As conflict between landlords became more frequent, it became necessary to train armed groups to protect the respective boundaries. At this time, these armed groups were called Samurai or Bushi, but their status in society was not established until a military government (the Shogunate) encouraged austerity and the pursuit of martial arts and related disciplines for the Samurai. These studies were eventually codified and called Bushido -- the Way of the Samurai.

Early Development of the Martial Arts (Bugei): 1000 A.D.

As the feudal era advanced, the Samurai came to occupy the uppermost strata of Japanese society.  Their principal duty was to learn and practice many martial arts, the skills necessary to fulfil their allegiance to the feudal lord for whom they were expected to fight and die. A favourite saying among Bushi at that time was "Master eighteen martial arts".  Among the numerous arts, “Bujutsu”, which the Bushi were required to learn where: kenjutsu (sword techniques), bajutsu (horsemanship), kyujutsu (archery), and sojutsu (spear techniques); these constituted the principal combat arts. Additionally, it was necessary that the Bushi learn a secondary system of combat techniques to support their armed fighting methods. These unarmed techniques were referred to as Kumiuchi and involved a form of grappling which evolved from Sumo (combat wrestling). Throughout the feudal era, the distinction between armed and unarmed techniques became greater.