Not that long ago, Japanese society was divided into a strict hierarchy of social classes that limited any upward mobility the further down the social ladder you were. At the top were the nobility, essentially the imperial family and its various offshoots; next were the samurai class, although their role was to serve the emperor, they held all the political and military power in the nation; thirdly, you have the merchant and monk classes, with the former being able to trade freely between the lower and upper classes alike, and the latter being either former nobility or samurai who decided (or were exiled) to live a life of celibacy and dedicate themselves to meditation, or those from the peasant class who wanted to pursue enlightenment or perhaps simply wanted a better life. Then there was the peasant class whose purpose was to provide food and tribute to the samurai and nobility or be conscripted as foot soldiers in times of war. Lastly, there were the untouchables, those who through either circumstance or their own doing were stripped of their status and considered outcast even among the peasant class.
From these disparate classes, there arose different ways and reasons for fighting and/or self-defense. The luxury or necessity of each social class created various styles depending on the situation. For example, the nobility and samurai had access to horses and superiorly crafted weapons such as bows and swords, and thus their martial arts focused on perfecting their usage. Meanwhile monks, and to lesser effect merchants, had no access to these weapons but had to defend themselves nonetheless against wild animals or bandits, so they trained in the use of staves or maces instead. Peasants were further restricted to only using their farming equipment, and those with the drive and/or means practiced with kamas, long sticks (bo or bong), or spears fashioned from bamboo poles. Those untouchables who survived would eventually form enclaves and clans, and some of these were eventually referred to as ninja; although their depiction in popular culture would take some liberties and greatly exaggerate their abilities, they would use various implements such as bladed claws, smoke bombs and other unorthodox weapons to accomplish whatever mission they are given.
Now what does this have to do with us in the modern day? I could only provide an abbreviated summary of Japanese history to explain how different classes developed different fighting styles, but I would encourage you to dig deeper and find out how these social differences affected martial arts and get into the mindset of the “why”. This would help us understand the application of each technique and give us context on how we can apply them today. No martial art style was created in a vacuum; they are a direct response to the needs of the situation. While I focused on Japanese history in this article, I’m sure other countries who utilized similar social castes have a similar result in martial arts dichotomy. I hope this article piques your interest in martial arts history and enrichens your journey.
