Historian Spotlight - Karl Friday

Karl Friday is one of the few historians out there who has a real "hands on" experience with the subject material that he writes about. He has lived in Japan and trained with the famed Kashima Shinryu.

I admit I had never read a Friday book until recently. Friday was kind enough to help me through my graduate school application process. I figured I owed it to the guy to read at least one of his books. The first book I purchased was Legacies of the Sword: The Kashima-Shinryu and Samurai

This work was extremely well done and it immediately vaulted Friday to the top of my favorite historians list. (Yes, I am nerdy enough to have a favorite historians thread.)

Since then, I have read several other Friday works and his spot among the top of my aforementioned list is secure.

For more info on Friday, check out his faculty page at the University of Georgia

Karl Friday

Book Review: Samurai, Warfare and the State in Early Medieval Japan

Samurai, Warfare and the State in Early Medieval Japan in Dr. Karl Friday's contribution to the "Warfare and History" series created by Jeremy Black. I've only read a few other titles in this series, but Friday's is easily my favorite.

This work provides a stunning amount of information on the advancements in weapon technology in Japan's medieval period. A feat that is even more amazing considering the length of the book. (It's only 236 pages including an extensive notes and index section.) Friday spends a great deal of time discussing the Later Three Years War. I particularly liked this feature as I am not very familiar with this particular conflict, and it was very interesting to see the weapons and strategies used at this time.

Friday also discusses the gokenin in great deal. These men carried a great deal of responsibility in Pre-Sengoku Japan. They served the Shogunate during the Kamakura period and served all types of roles from bodyguard to warrior to administrator. These men were some of the most important people in Japan's history and Friday paints them in the appropriate light.

Friday also delves into the difference between tactics and strategy in military affairs. This is something that is usually sorely needed in any academic study of a military field. One of my favorite sub-fields within this area was Friday's discussion of mounted tactics used by the soldiers at this time. There were terrific diagrams used to show how mounted Samurai would maneuver their horse to position themselves perfectly for an attack or defense, depending on their situation.

Outside of the diagrams used for defining mounted fighting tactics, Friday uses chart and tables tremendously in this work. There were several graphic comparisons between the different weapons that were in use at the time. In fact, outside of a typical weapons manual, this work may have the most detailed information on the different tools used for warfare during this period. The tables on both military and governmental organization were also well done and very helpful.

Armor construction is one of the more confusing aspects of Samurai warfare. Fortunately, Friday does his best to describe a few of the techniques used for armor construction within becoming too reliant on jargon. His section on this are was extremely informative and is a source that I will certainly turn too for future reference on the subject.

5.0/5.0

I don't give too many books a perfect rating. I can usually find something wrong or irritating with any work. However, Samurai, Warfare and the State in Early Medieval Japan is one of my favorite works in any subject. I really can't recommend this book high enough.

Tsukahara Bokuden

Most any fanboy nowadays can recite the life story of Miyamoto Musashi to you. You know, the one where he traveled across the country mercilessly killing anyone dumb enough to get in his way. Then he marries the princess and slays all the demons and becomes an immortal and blah blah blah.

The story of Tsukahara Bokuden, on the other hand, is not quite as famous among the Western audience. Like Musashi, he fought in many duels over his life and came away the victor in all of them. Bokuden is credited with founding the Kashima Shinto-ryu, as well as creating a technique called, Mutekatsu-ryu. (Winning without hands.)

Bokuden is documented to have fought in over 30 battles. Including these 30 battles, he is supposed to have fought a little over 200 individuals, having never been bested. He was also trained by one of the founding fathers of the Kashima Shinryu. Plus he personally trained 2 Ashikaga Shoguns as well as the man Takeda Shingen himself.

From Karl Friday's Legacy of the Sword:

In his (Bokuden) travels throughout Japan, leading an entourage at times numbering more than 800, he is said to have fought at least nineteen duels with live blades and participated in some thirty-seven battles, during all of which he bested more than 212 opponents.

Then there's this legend:

Bokuden came across a young, brash warrior who was bragging that he could take the older Bokuden. He agreed to fight the youngin', and when he was asked which style he used, he replied, "The Style without hands/sword" (depending on how you translate).

This confused the young warrior, so he agreed to fight the old man on a nearby island. Bokuden quietly rowed out to the island and the young swordsman quickly jumped off the boat and onto the island. No sooner than he touched the ground, Bokuden began to row back to shore. As he was rowing away he yelled back to the man, "This is my no hands/sword school."

This might sound a little familiar. It was completely jacked by Bruce Lee for one of his Hollywood films.



This is a woodblock print of a fictional training session between Bokuden and Musashi. Bokuden is doing the training, which may show you how he is revered outside of the West.