"This unique history of Japanese armed martial arts - the only comprehensive treatment of the subject in English - focuses on traditions of swordsmanship and archery from ancient times to the present. G. Cameron Hurst III provides an overview of martial arts in Japanese history and culture, then closely examines the transformation of these fighting skills into sports. He discusses the influence of the Western athletic tradition on the armed martial arts as well as the ways the martial arts have remained distinctly Japanese."--Jacket.

Ch. 1.Martial Arts and Japanese Culture pt. I. Swordsmanship. Ch. 2. The Early Tradition. Ch. 3. From Self Protection to Self Perfection in the Early and Mid Tokugawa. Ch. 4. The Sporting Element in the Late Tokugawa pt. II. Archery. Ch. 5. The Way of the Bow and Arrow. Ch. 6. The Quest for Records in the Tokugawa pt. III. Armed Martial Arts Today. Ch. 7. Swordsmanship and Archery: The Modern Transformation. Ch. 8. The Martial and Other Japanese Arts.