In this collection of lively, detailed essays, Dave Lowry, one of the most well-known and respected swordsmen in the United States, illuminates the history and meaning behind the rituals, training costumes, objects, and relationships that have such profound significance in Japanese martial arts. Lesley Jackson investigates.
I had a feeling I was going to enjoy this book by someone who is both interesting and knowledgeable but with a sense of humorous proportion when he says of himself in the first page of his introduction, “Does this guy, literally speaking, ever shut up?” I wasn’t entirely sure if he was being self-effacing or immodest but after reading his latest book I’m inclined to go with the former adjective as Mr Lowry genuinely has a lot of fascinating and detailed information to impart about his vast body of knowledge of the world of Japanese martial arts.
This text is concerned with the more traditional background, etiquette and nuances that are regularly practised around the world’s dojos, as well as in its native Japan. People around the globe who regularly don their uniform, bow in a particular (sometimes peculiar) way and address their teacher or fellow students in a certain manner may wonder not only why they do this but how the practice originated. Lowry paints an imaginative and detailed portrait of all the little nooks and crannies of the dojo as well as the uniform, weapons, teacher, student and the dojo calendar. He also includes a good insight into the Japanese culture that is attached to Budo practise and the historic background that often explains this.
One particular aspect that I found surprising was the lack of mystery that surrounded a lot of the practises and that, as is often the way with western culture, certain things developed due to historic accident or practicality rather than a mysterious or secret event that we often like to associate with Oriental martial arts. For example, Lowry gives us an absorbing background into the history of the various uniforms that are worn, which naturally relates to the story of fabric in Japan. Personally, I am grateful to their discovery of cotton as I really didn’t fancy the idea of an itchy hemp uniform! Also the social-historic background is often given which puts the Japanese culture into perspective such as attaching, “a deeper meaning beneath the superficial,” which Lowry attempts to unravel for us.
Mr Lowry presents himself as a very traditional martial artist who is concerned with the time-honoured practises of Japanese Budo where in the dojo you can, “confront the realities of daily living...and learn to deal with them.” However, he can at times appear a little arbitrary when he speaks of some peoples’ motivations for starting training as having, “injured souls …with holes in their personalities.” Everyone brings a certain amount of baggage with them when they enter the dojo and the perfectly rounded and emotional balanced person who is also physically fit probably doesn’t exist; but it is how they develop and train when they get there that is important.
Nevertheless, this is a fascinating insight into the details of Japanese Budo that is written in a lively manner with sufficient detail to quench the thirst of any practitioner of a Japanese martial art.
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