The Fighting Man of Japan

F. J. Norman was a British officer who served in the 11th and 14th Hussars, cavalry regiments in the British Army. In the 1880’s he traveled to Japan, where he was introduced to the Japanese martial arts. Beginning in 1888, he began instruction in kenjutsu, being one of the first Westerners to do so. He later took up jujitsu and became interested in sumo. He taught for three years at the Imperial Naval College at Etajima.In 1905 Norman wrote "The Fighting Man of Japan." Its topic is broad, namely the Japanese fighting man: his temperament, his history, and perhaps most importantly, his tools and skills. Norman writes from a sympathetic perspective, as one fighting man admiring another. The first 30 chapters of this 77 page book are devoted to Japanese military activity and training. He includes an ample section on training of Japanese army and navy officers. In the second section, Norman discusses kenjutsu and the Japanese culture of the sword. In the third section he looks at “Japanese Wrestling,” jujutsu and sumo.E. J. Harrison in his 1913 book, "The Fighting Spirit of Japan" says this of Harrison: “Perhaps the only foreigner who ever took up kenjutsu seriously is Mr. F.J. Norman, late of the Indian Army, a cavalry officer, and expert in both rapier and sabre play. Norman was for some years engaged as a teacher at the Etajima Naval College, and while there devoted his attention to the Japanese style to such good purpose that he speedily won an enviable reputation among the Japanese, and engaged in many a hardfought encounter. Some few other foreigners have practised, and doubtless do practice kenjutsu for the sake of exercise, but I am not aware that any one of them has won distinction in Japanese eyes.”This book contains not just an eye-witness account of Japan in the late 1800s, it also contains unique photographs of Japanese fighting men and martial artists. It is an invaluable window on Japanese fighting arts of the time for both historians and martial artists alike.In this Alcuin Classics edition of Norman's 1905 public domain book, all the illustrations have been optimized for viewing on an e-reader. The text has been carefully scanned, edited and converted to e-reader format. The original page numbers have been preserved for reference purposes. Read more