The purpose of this study is to examine the researches on atemi-waza by Kano Jigoro, the founder of judo, and his pupils to clarify the development of the theory of judo as a martial art during the prewar Showa era. The main points are summarized as follows:

According to Kano, atemi-waza should be practiced in the shobuho (the martial arts system of judo) kata as part of the judo system. It was a dangerous technique which had the potential to kill or wound an opponent, but as judo is a martial art, it was also an essential technique. Kano created the “Seiryoku-Zenyo-Kokumin-Taiiku” (Maximum- Efficiency National Physical Education) in which there is solo practice that, starting from shizentai (natural posture), teaches atemi-waza that use the hands and feet. Through this kata, Kano’s aim was for practitioners to achieve all of the shobuho, taiikuho (the physical education system of judo) and shushinho (the intellectual and moral system of judo).

Seiryoku-Zenyo-Kokumin-Taiiku became a model method for practitioners to learn atemi-waza, and it was a kata method adopted in judo which had become a compulsory subject in school physical education in 1931. Based on this kata, other new atemi-waza kata were devised into which research was carried out regarding their physical education aspects. Concerning its martial art aspects, research was more developed in times of war. Nango Jiro , the second Kodokan president, also studied and trained in atemi-waza and established an in-house atemi-waza research committee at the Kodokan in 1942, and conducted systematic research into it.

Tomiki Kenji, who trained in judo and aikijujutsu, conceived judo as a comprehensive combat art that integrated both kendo and judo principles. In the thesis “The systematic study of techniques while maintaining distance in judo” (1942), Tomiki regarded atemi-waza as the opening technique of an attack which could change into a throwing technique or joint-locking technique. Tomiki thought that atemi-waza using the hand blade from hanmi (oblique stance) was important. He transformed Kano’s dangerous atemi-waza into another which was based on the principle of throwing techniques in judo. The purpose of that atemi-waza was to touch and topple the opponent by using the hand blade.

Regarding the development of the theory of judo as a martial art, on the assumption that atemi-waza was an essential technique, there were two research directions: the pursuit of killing techniques and the technical uniqueness of judo.

The aim of this study was to consider the transition period and reasons for the name change from “kyujutsu” to “kyudo” in school kyudo clubs and publications, when the word “kyudo” appeared, and what was thought to be the differences between it and “kyujutsu”.

Firstly, the transition period from “kyujutsu club” to “kyudo club” in school kyudo clubs’ names was analyzed. Starting with the renaming at Daihachi Senior High School in 1911, the transition started to gather momentum in 1919, and by 1932, the transition was almost fully underway. However, the transition to “kyudo club” was never fully completed, and from studying the transition periods at respective schools, it was difficult to determine any uniform policy or specific trends. On the other hand, with respect to publications of that period, it was possible to confirm the attempt to transition from “kyujutsu” to “kyudo” from Gendai no Kyudo published in 1918, but not locate any use of the term “kyujutsu” after the publication of Yumi (1933). By juxtaposing the renaming of kyudo clubs in schools with the transition period of publications, the transition from “kyujutsu” to “kyudo” roughly took place in the 15-year period from 1918 to 1933.

Next, it was found that the reason behind the transition from “kyujutsu” to “kyudo” was to place an emphasis on the art’s spiritual aspects. However, there were differences in the opinions of kyudo archers regarding the specific details of such spiritual aspects, as well as their importance relative to physical and technical aspects. As such, it was found that a variety of differences had emerged in terms of the practitioners’ conception of kyudo, as well as their ideal training methods and means of assessment.

The transition period from “kyujutsu” to “kyudo”, and the reasons behind it, differ from those of the transitions from “bujutsu” to “budo”, as well as from “jujutsu” and “kenjutsu (gekiken)” to “judo” and “kendo” as presented in the From Jutsu to Do research. What sets kyudo apart includes the fact that some kyujutsu clubs remained and the term “kyudo” was not necessarily always enforced, as well as the suggestion by some that kyujutsu is essentially a part of kyudo.

The purpose of this study was to reveal whether the best male kendo players (experts) have an efficient movement pattern when striking with oji-waza (techniques utilizing the opponent’s strike to initiate one’s own attack) in the same way as shikake-waza (techniques attacking of one’s own accord).

University kendo players (22 males) participated in this study. Participants were classified into two groups (regular and sub-regular) according to their achievement in a team competition (dantaisen). In this study, kote-suriage-men, which is one of the oji-waza techniques utilized against kote, was evaluated. All striking movements were recorded with a digital video camera. To examine the body and shinai movements, we analyzed 14 kinematic parameters of upper limb, lower limb, shinai and 4 time phases.

The results in this study showed that there were significant differences between the two groups in 3 kinematic parameters. In addition, we classified the kinematic movements into two patterns, which are large and small movement patterns. When compared with the results in a previous study, those whose value was closer to the characteristics of male experts were scored black, and those that were not were scored white. There was a significant difference in the rate of black between the regular and sub-regular groups (63.1 ± 11.2% and 36.4 ± 10.6%, respectively).

The findings of this study indicate that the regular group of males had an efficient movement pattern when striking kote-suriage-men in oji-waza in the same way as shikake-waza.

In kendo, it is necessary to not only acquire personal skills for striking stationary opponents, but also interpersonal skills for striking moving opponents. The aim of this study was to analyze waist and left lower extremity movements in the tobikomi-waza strikes (personal skills) and debana-waza strikes (interpersonal skills) of male college kendo players of differing skill levels, in order to discover the changes in movements related to these skill levels, and to determine the differences between the two types of movements.

The subjects were 10 players of a high competition level (expert group) and 10 players at middle competition level (intermediate group). We incorporated two tasks (1. tobikomi-waza; 2. debana-waza) in order to compare the personal and interpersonal skills. The tasks were recorded with a motion capture system, and kinematic data from the left lower extremity movements (hip, knee, and ankle joint angles) as well the waist (forward distance, vertical movement, and velocity) were calculated for each group. Each set of kinematic data was normalized to 100% and subsequently divided into first and second phases before analysis. The following conclusions were reached:

1． In the second phase, the expert group demonstrated greater skill in extending the left hip joint further than the intermediate group in both tasks. In addition, in debana-men, they also exhibited the ability to extend the left ankle joint further than the intermediate group.

2．The expert group moved a longer distance in both tasks, which may be related to the substantial extension of the left hip joint. Additionally, the extended and rapid waist movements observed in the second half of debana-men were related to the movement of the left hip joint, knee, and ankle joint extensions.

3．Tobikomi-men showed a longer distance moving forward, a higher movement velocity, and a longer action time than debana-men. In tobikomi-men, the left hip and ankle joints were in a deeper angle from the beginning to the first phase, and extended greatly in the second phase, so that the waist and left lower extremity movements were relatively large and long. For debana-men, the hip and ankle joints were in a shallower angle from the beginning to the first phase, and extended slightly in the second phase, so that the waist and left lower extremity movements were relatively short and small.

The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of “the principle of Ju”-traditional tactical thinking-on the acquisition of life skills of university student judo players.

The survey was conducted from September to November 2018 for 353 university student judo players (male: 223, female: 130; mean age: 19.92 ± 1.22 years; mean years of experience: 12.80 ± 2.70). In the survey, the “Established Scale of the Basic Principle of Ju” (ESBPJ: Ariyama et al., 2016) was employed, which can evaluate the degree of establishment of the principle of Ju from two aspects: “the use of yin and yang (in to yo no tsukaiwake)” and “movement to detach breathing (kisoku wo hazusu ugoki)”. In addition, the Appraisal Scale of Required Life Skills for College Student Athletes (Shimamoto et al., 2013) was implemented. This scale evaluates the life skills required by athletes using 10 dimensions (setting goals, communicating, stress management, maintaining physical health and well-being, always making one’s best effort, maintaining etiquette and manners, taking responsibility for one’s own behavior, thinking carefully, being humble, and appreciating others). In the analysis, the ESBPJ was reconstructed for university student judo players. Using the reconstructed scale, t-test and correlation analyses were conducted for each level of degree of establishment of the principle of Ju.

First, the ESBPJ was reconstructed for university student judo players based on three conditions. Next, from the t-test analysis, the scores regarding “thinking carefully” and “being humble” were significantly higher in the group with a high Basic Principle of Ju (BPJ). As a result of the correlation analysis, the group with a low BPJ showed a negative relationship with tactical thinking and the underlying skills to improve competition life. Similarly, a positive relationship was shown with goal setting. The group with a high BPJ showed a positive relationship with “maintaining etiquette and manners”. From the above, the relationship between BPJ and life skills was hardly shown in both groups. Therefore, it has been suggested that the movements and techniques reflecting the proverb “softness overcomes hardness (ju yoku go wo seisu)” used by judo players who play competitive sports may not have been converted into the skills necessary to enhance competition life.

The purpose of this study was to reveal a change in consciousness (Survey1) and expectations (Survey2) among first grade junior high school students by gender from before and after kendo classes, and to consider issues surrounding the first stages of kendo classes.

The survey method was a questionnaire which the authors prepared and it was conducted from November 2018 to March 2019. The subjects were 327 first grade junior high school students who attend one of 3 junior high schools which conduct kendo classes. The subjects answered the questionnaire both before and after the kendo class with answers on a four-point scale. Absentees and students that forgot to fill out the answer sheets were excluded, so the in the final analysis there were 274 (118male; 156 female) subjects. The analyses were in the form of a t-test in Survey 1 and Wilcoxon-test in Survey 2.

The results of Survey 1 showed positive changes for both males and females in areas such as “if you learn kendo, you become polite” and “you can acquire kendo skills quickly”. In addition, it revealed that males experienced positive changes regarding skill, and for females positive changes in areas such as willpower (kiryoku) and kendo’s teachings. Survey 2 suggested that males had a decline in expectation in acquiring the skills of offence and defense, and females had a decline in expectation in following traditional behaviors.

In conclusion, this study suggests that in order to increase the positive consciousness of kendo, address the issues of devising learning processes and teaching tools, and preventing a decline in the expectations of kendo classes, it is necessary to devise teaching materials and instruction methods and that teachers acquire technical knowledge of kendo.

Budo (martial arts) has been a compulsory subject in physical education classes at junior high schools since 2012. The purpose of this study is to investigate the structure of the image of kendo among junior high school girls with no experience of kendo, with the aim of improving the image of kendo among female students through conducting kendo classes. Female junior high school students (n = 196) with no experience of kendo participated in this study, which was conducted from April to July 2015. The class content was designed to treat kendo as a communication tool, aiming to achieve the goals set by the curriculum guidelines, through familiarizing students with kendo and with being conscious of “hitting and being hit by the opponent” using a bokuto (wooden sword). Results indicated that the image of kendo classes had a two-factor structure, which was composed of an “Appeared Image” and a “Relaxed Image”. Moreover, the female students’ “Relaxed Image” increased after the class.