Historical Sociology of Japanese Martial Arts

Raúl Sánchez García is Lecturer in sociology of sport at the School of Sports Science, Universidad Europea Madrid, Spain and President of the Sociology of Sport working group within the Spanish Federation of Sociology (FES). He has practiced diverse combat sports and martial arts and holds a shōdan in Aikikai aikidō.

• 1. Introduction, Part I: Warriors, 2. Archery and Sumo as First Traces of Martial Arts, 3. The Emergence of Composite Martial Ryu during the Two Courts and the Warring States Periods, 4. Excursus: the Origins of Martial ryu, Part II: Retainers, 5. The Stabilization of Martial Ryu During Early Tokugawa, 6. The Transformation and Diffusion of Martial Arts During Mid and Late Tokugawa Periods, Part III: Martial Artists, 7. The Identification of Martial Arts with the Japanese We-identity during Meiji, 8. Taisho Democracy as a Transition Phase in the Development of Martial Arts, 9. The Militarization of the Japanese Population Through Martial Arts in Early Showa, 10. Excursus: the Birth of Modern Martial Artists, 11. Reformulation, Expansion and Hybridisation of Japanese Martial Arts, 12. Epilogue

"This book is one of the first to use Elias’s sociology so centrally in considering the social history of Japanese martial arts, and is perhaps unique in its vast historical scope and sweep … The experience of reading this book was deeply significant to me as a scholar, as it has led to the aforementioned epiphanies. I expect that the book will continue to be the kind of work that is valued by a wide and diverse audience in the future." - Tetsuya Nakajima, Ibaraki University, Japan, Martial Arts Studies"I would definitely recommend [this book] to anyone interested in the sociology of martial arts. This is a well thought out, and methodologically innovative presentation of the history of Japanese martial arts which will make good reading for both students and seasoned scholars."- Eugenia Rozenfeld, University of Haifa, Israel, The International Journal of the History of Sport