the Japanese sword of World War II was the last and only sword of the ma-
jor combatants designed specifically to be used in physical combat.
Carl L. McClafferty
See alsoJapan; Religion and Spiritual Development: Japan; Samurai;
Swordsmanship, Japanese
References
Art and the Sword: The Annual Bulletin of the Japanese Sword Society of
the United States.
The Japanese Sword: Iron Craftsmanship and the Warrior Spirit.1997.
Special Exhibition Publication. Tokyo: Tokyo National Museum.
Kapp, Leon, with Yoshindo Yoshihara and Hiroko Tateno. 1987.
The Craft of the Japanese Sword.Tokyo, New York: Kodansha
America.
Nagayama, Kokan. 1998. The Connoisseur’s Book of Japanese Swords.
Translated by Kenji Mishina. Tokyo, New York: Kodansha America.
Sato, Kanzan. 1995. The Japanese Sword: A Comprehensive Guide.
Translated by Joe Earle. Tokyo, New York: Kodansha America.Swordsmanship, European Medieval
The fighting implements and talents of medieval European peoples were
the products of vigorous, technically skillful, heterogeneous cultures. These
highly martial societies shared an impressive legacy from both the savage
dynamism of Germanic and Celtic warrior tribes and the ordered might of
the Roman war machine. This experience spans roughly 500 to 1500—a
thousand years of warrior cultures. The nature of medieval warfare
through the centuries was not static and fixed, but had diverse and evolv-
ing patterns. There is considerable difference between earlier medieval
fighting in the age of mail (with lighter leather and chain armors,
500–1300) and fighting in the later “age of plate” (1330–1530).
Medieval combat was by no means untutored or devoid of mastery—
far from it. The methods were not very subtle and the techniques were not
flashy or showy but focused solely on utility. Individuals from these years
seriously practiced and mastered the warrior craft. This age was primarily
the time of mail-clad warriors armed with ax, spear, long knife, and sword.
The feudal system pressed free men into military service; thus, the medieval
knight was by no means the sole practitioner of swordsmanship or user of
swords and shields. Foot soldiers, including spearmen and archers, had vir-
tually equal roles, and mounted knights were not as dominant over foot-
men and archers as is commonly believed.
The simple, powerful techniques of medieval swords were those that
the natural biomechanics of the human body allowed and for which the
tools were shrewdly designed. Their techniques and tactics were a matter
of physiology and psychology. There can be no doubt that although570 Swordsmanship, European Medieval