Japanese Spears: Polearms and Their Use in Old Japan

Book info: Japanese Spears: Polearms and Their Use in Old Japan (Hardcover, 320 pages) – Brill, 2004. Language: English.

This is the first book in English to provide a fully illustrated guide to the use of polearms – ranging from the earliest halberds and spears reaching Japan from the Asian mainland to the sophisticated naginata, nagamaki and various forms of yari used by the Japanese samurai through the medieval period. While the sword remains the best known of Japanese weapons, it was the halberd (naginata) and then the yari that dominated the battlefields up to the early seventeenth century, and thereafter the yari became an important status symbol to many warrior families. Additionally, the authors focus on the actual method of use of these weapons, hitherto an almost unknown aspect in the West. Editorial Reviews About the Author Roald Knutsen was born in Hertfordshire of Anglo-Norwegian parents and educated at The Perse School, Cambridge, and Watford Grammar School. After studying Art and Design he served as a regular in the Intelligence Corps and followed with a successful career in graphic design, choreographing complex medieval combat sequences for a computer film project in England and the USA, and writing. For the past half-century he has practised traditional Kenjutsu, Kendo, Iai-jutsu, and So-jutsu under a succession of famous Japanese masters, having menkyo-kaiden (senior master’s licence), in one of the oldest transmissions of Iai-jutsu, and the rank of 6th dan Renshi in Kendo. He has researched and written extensively about the Japanese warrior traditions and aspects of Japanese history. His is also the author of Japanese Polearms (1963), Rediscovering Budo (2004), and Japanese Spears (2004), which he co-authored with his wife Patricia Knutsen.