Japanese military hand to hand combat

[Karatefighter]

I wonder what kind of martial arts did the japanese military use during WWII ?

I know that the japanese were not only suicidal warriors in the air towards the naval battleships.

The japanese soldiers were so fast that they were frightening suicidal hand to hand assassins on the Pacific islands when it came down to no rifles, no more grenades and broken bayonets from hand to hand fighting that was so violent that nobody in their right minds would fight the japanese, yet the US Marines took them on. That was very crazy and scary huh ?

My granddaddy said that sometimes the japanese preferred hand to hand fights to the death even if they had full clips of ammo, a round in the chamber and bayonets, grenades on their belts. They truly were warriors that really loved to fight. The US Marines really enjoyed fighting the japanese soldiers.

My granddaddy said thath he would give anything to go back and fight like that with the japanese. He really appreciated the japanese being warriors and fighters.

What did the japanese military train with for speed, power and balance ?

What was their body conditioning program like ?

What kind of improvements did the japanese military make to the martial arts during WWII ?

Are there books that discuss the japanese military hardcore martial arts training during WWII ?

What is modern day japanese military martial arts training like today ?

[bushido_man96]

I'd imagine that most of the hand-to-hand training of the Japanese military isn't too much removed from what other countries do today. Most of the training is going to cover weapons usage, formations, scenarios, etc. What they did duing WWII, I wouldn't know.

[joesteph]

When WWII ended, the Japanese constitution forbade a regular military; it's since been changed, but Japan remains more interested in its economy than war.

This doesn't mean that the Japanese military isn't properly trained and equipped; it simply isn't large. A school requirement (likely high school) for males in Japan is the study of JuJitsu. A soldier in the Japanese armed forces will be trained in what's required for combat, but he must still be particularly formidable hand-to-hand, with all that JJ background.

[bushido_man96]

Yeah, I'd say that sounds about right. JJ was the combat art of Japan; Karate has been cited as a civilian self-defense system.

[Karatefighter]

This seems to be a very interesting book.

http://www.jiu-jitsu.net/jjhistory_book.shtml

[NightOwl]

The Japanese during WWII didn't have any particularly unique training- it was based off judo, kendo, and bayonet drills as far as unarmed and 'cold weapon' training went. The Japanese government mass produced swords during the war so training kendo made some sense (although the WWII swords themselves weren't that high of quality).

Kendo and judo are still incorporated into modern police/military training, and I've heard that they have their own MCNAP like system. Yoshinkai Aikido is famously trained by the riot police in very demanding training, however this supposedly has more to do with old political ties between the Yoshinkai and the police force, as well as wanting to promote a 'budo spirit'; then actually training for use on the job. For that they use batons, riot shields, and the many other tools of the trade.

For an overview of exercise in Japan Japanese Sports: a History by Allen Guttmann and Lee Thompson is quite good.

[Karatefighter]

Any more good books on this topic that you guys can recommend ?

[NightOwl]

When WWII ended, the Japanese constitution forbade a regular military; it's since been changed, but Japan remains more interested in its economy than war.

This doesn't mean that the Japanese military isn't properly trained and equipped; it simply isn't large. A school requirement (likely high school) for males in Japan is the study of JuJitsu. A soldier in the Japanese armed forces will be trained in what's required for combat, but he must still be particularly formidable hand-to-hand, with all that JJ background.

Officially they have a 'self defense force', of which their Navy is the most important IMO. As for hand to hand combat, the US military currently also uses jujutsu (particularly BJJ) in their current training, and if anecdotal stories from Japanese soldiers are to believed, the US training regimen is tougher in a purely psychical sense.

Either way though, I wouldn't put too much into what a military unit trains. Unarmed combat is one of the very last resorts in a war, and as such it takes a backseat in training. The recent Ben Saunders vs Brandon Wolff fight at the UFC 'Fight for the Troops' event had a Navy SEAL in it (Wolff) and he got beat pretty bad (although Wolff teaches H2H himself using an MMA curriculum according to this articlehttp:// http://www.sportsnet.ca/mma/2008/12/09/wolff_troops/ ). If you are looking for the top training for modern weaponry and warfare though (and who I'd bet on in a real combat situation), you've got no better or tougher . Just in a very different field of expertise.

[KarateEd]

After the Meiji restoration in 1868 Japan began the move into the industrial age. They mimicked the industrialized west in many ways. I'm sort of shooting from the hip here, but I would say that their military training was similar to that in the west. Therefore, their primary focus in combat training (outside of shooting) would have been bayonet usage (as Night Owl mentioned), grenade throwing, and the like. An interesting book that gives a glimpse into this era of Japan (though it doesn't focus on military training or MA) is The Autobiography of Yukichi Fukuzawa.

My $0.02 worth.

[joesteph]

What is modern day japanese military martial arts training like today ?

Karatefighter, would this video be of interest to you? It refers to the Japan Self-Defense Force's training.