In 1977 the late French journalist Michel Random (real name Stefano Balosine) published his movie Les Arts Martiaux au Japon [The martial arts of Japan], which he made with help from the late Donn F. Draeger. Although there is no judo in the film there is a plethora of other martial arts, and the movie is awesome just because of the footage of some great masters of the past which it contains.
There are some impressive imagines in it of female Jikishinkage-ryû naginata grandmaster Shimada (né Sonobe) Teruko. Also the kendô under the late Takano Kosei/Hiromasa, 10th dan, Meijin (1900-1987), are impressive, and so is the kyûdô under the late grandmaster Anzawa Heijirô who died in 1970.
There is ample footage in it of Otake Risuke, the well-known grandmaster of the Tenshin shôden Katori shintô-ryû, with whom Donn F. Draeger studied. Shimizu Takaji is also featured.
There are battô-jutsu demonstrations by the well-known late Nakamura Taizaburô-sensei, who I had the pleasure to meet in Kyôto a long time ago.
And there is also Higuchi Tahirô-sensei from the famous Maniwa nen-ryû. There are some non-obvious links to Kanô Jigorô there, that is to say that there is a famous tanka poem about water, which we know obsessed Kanô and frequently returns in relationship to Kitô-ryû, was very key to one of its head masters of the past.
There is also a lot of footage in there of other weapons arts, such as bôjutsu, and Okinawan weapons such as sai and tonfa; Kama and kusarigama are also not forgotten, and the film pretty much introduced these weapons to the West as until that point they had been almost completely unknown abroad.
Enjoy:
When Random's work was produced it was together with the work of Donn F. Draeger of a major influence on my decision to study iaijutsu and also kendô, and weapons arts.
There are some impressive imagines in it of female Jikishinkage-ryû naginata grandmaster Shimada (né Sonobe) Teruko. Also the kendô under the late Takano Kosei/Hiromasa, 10th dan, Meijin (1900-1987), are impressive, and so is the kyûdô under the late grandmaster Anzawa Heijirô who died in 1970.
There is ample footage in it of Otake Risuke, the well-known grandmaster of the Tenshin shôden Katori shintô-ryû, with whom Donn F. Draeger studied. Shimizu Takaji is also featured.
There are battô-jutsu demonstrations by the well-known late Nakamura Taizaburô-sensei, who I had the pleasure to meet in Kyôto a long time ago.
And there is also Higuchi Tahirô-sensei from the famous Maniwa nen-ryû. There are some non-obvious links to Kanô Jigorô there, that is to say that there is a famous tanka poem about water, which we know obsessed Kanô and frequently returns in relationship to Kitô-ryû, was very key to one of its head masters of the past.
There is also a lot of footage in there of other weapons arts, such as bôjutsu, and Okinawan weapons such as sai and tonfa; Kama and kusarigama are also not forgotten, and the film pretty much introduced these weapons to the West as until that point they had been almost completely unknown abroad.
Enjoy:
When Random's work was produced it was together with the work of Donn F. Draeger of a major influence on my decision to study iaijutsu and also kendô, and weapons arts.