tradition his discussions with three rônin(masterless samurai)
named Fukuno Hichiroemon, Isogai Jirozaemon, and Miura
Yojiemon had significant impact on the development of jûjutsu
and related Japanese martial arts.
1672 A Japanese swordsman called Nakagawa Shoshunjin advertises
himself as a master of ninjutsu, and even offers to teach people
to avoid detection by changing themselves into birds or rats.
Since Nakagawa studiously avoided matching swords with
duelists and only taught children, the truth of his claims is
unknown.
1674 According to an eighteenth-century tradition, five Shaolin
monks skilled “in the art of war and self-defense” establish the
first Chinese Triad, the Hong League, in Fujian province. What
these military skills involved is unknown, as the account of
them has changed over time. In 1925, for instance, they in-
cluded praying for rain and making a few magical passes with
a sword, while by 1960, they included superhuman prowess in
Chinese boxing.
About 1676 A Japanese man named Fujibayashi Yasuyoshi publishes ten
hand-bound volumes, known collectively as Bansenshukai(Ten
Thousand Rivers Collect in the Sea), that discussed ninja tech-
niques and mysteries in some detail.
1681 The London Protestant Mercuryprovides the first known de-
scription of an English bare-knuckled prizefight.
1688 Following a coup in Siam, women drilled in the use of muskets
replace the 600 European mercenaries and Christian samurai
who had served the previous government.
About 1690 Female wrestling acts become common in Japanese red-light
districts. Although Confucianist officials charged that such
acts were harmful to public morals, female wrestling re-
mained popular in Tokyo until the 1890s and in remote
areas such as southern Kyûshû and the Ryûkyûs until the
1920s.
About 1692 A man named Gong Xiangzhun introduces a form of Chinese
boxing to Okinawa; the Shôrin-ryûkata kusankucommemo-
rates his instruction.
1707 The French opera star Julie La Maupin dies at the age of 37; in
1834 novelist Théophile Gautier made her famous as Made-
moiselle de Maupin.In her time she was a noted fencer and
cross-dresser; her fencing masters included her father, Gaston
d’Aubigny, and a lover, a man named Sérannes.
1715 A Máistir pionnsa(Gaelic; fencing master) named Alexander
Doyle starts teaching Irish fencing in Germany, claiming it de-
velops obedience to orders, quickness of eye, agility, and physi-
cal fitness in young men thinking of military careers. (Because
British law prohibited Catholic Irish from owning swords, Irish
fencing masters normally trained using singlesticks instead of
swords.)
1716 The words of Yamamoto Tsunetomo, a provincial samurai
turned Buddhist monk, are collected, bound, and titled Ha-
gakure(Hidden Among the Leaves). Although obscure during
its own time, during the 1930s Hagakurebecame popular with812 Chronological History of the Martial Arts
1671
cont.