Flawless Deception: why the samurai schools are dying
Book Details
Author(s)Phil Trent
ISBN / ASINB014OMZ0EA
ISBN-13978B014OMZ0E5
Sales Rank1,777,996
MarketplaceUnited States 🇺🇸
Description
During medieval Japan’s approximately two centuries of civil unrest and war some samurai founded small martial schools, the primary purpose of which was to develop the battlefield prowess of their members.
Against all the odds a number of these schools have survived, yet despite the huge interest in them they are in great danger of becoming so transformed that will soon have no more resemblance to their original form than Sir. Elton John does to the knights of Agincourt.
The reason for this is both fascinating and complicated; however much of the cause can be attributed to these school’s uniqueness—both in terms of their overall complexity and their methodology.
These factors necessitate that a student commit to a minimum of ten very intense, very arduous years of study in order to obtain even the beginnings of any real understanding.
But these schools are overwhelmingly depicted both online and in print in such a way that they give little indication of the type of commitment that is required.
Consequently, not only are the schools not appealing to those that would revel in the training, they are actually attracting people that are not especially suited to it.
The huge problem with this phenomenon is that it must almost inevitably lead to either the initiation or exacerbation of a movement by the schools away from their traditional practices, which in turn then progressively—and probably irreversibly—reduces their tremendous value.
Based on the author’s thirty-seven years of study of the samurai martial arts, Flawless Deception is an unprecedented and controversial attempt to explain why these samurai schools are in this situation and why it is so important to try and preserve their original goals and character.
In the process the book covers many topics, including:
A reassessment of the prowess and nature of the pre-1600 samurai.
A detailed description of the physical and mental challenges of the medieval battlefield and the regimen needed to prepare for them.
An argument for how these schools were able to add an extraordinary level of combat realism to their training.
Against all the odds a number of these schools have survived, yet despite the huge interest in them they are in great danger of becoming so transformed that will soon have no more resemblance to their original form than Sir. Elton John does to the knights of Agincourt.
The reason for this is both fascinating and complicated; however much of the cause can be attributed to these school’s uniqueness—both in terms of their overall complexity and their methodology.
These factors necessitate that a student commit to a minimum of ten very intense, very arduous years of study in order to obtain even the beginnings of any real understanding.
But these schools are overwhelmingly depicted both online and in print in such a way that they give little indication of the type of commitment that is required.
Consequently, not only are the schools not appealing to those that would revel in the training, they are actually attracting people that are not especially suited to it.
The huge problem with this phenomenon is that it must almost inevitably lead to either the initiation or exacerbation of a movement by the schools away from their traditional practices, which in turn then progressively—and probably irreversibly—reduces their tremendous value.
Based on the author’s thirty-seven years of study of the samurai martial arts, Flawless Deception is an unprecedented and controversial attempt to explain why these samurai schools are in this situation and why it is so important to try and preserve their original goals and character.
In the process the book covers many topics, including:
A reassessment of the prowess and nature of the pre-1600 samurai.
A detailed description of the physical and mental challenges of the medieval battlefield and the regimen needed to prepare for them.
An argument for how these schools were able to add an extraordinary level of combat realism to their training.
