SELECTED GLOSSARY

aigyō – friendly, approachable attitude

bu (i) – unit of length equivalent to approximately three millimetres

bu (ii) – from bushidō, bushi, budō; pertaining to the military

budō – from its context and positioning within the original scrolls, this term is generally translated as ‘way of the samurai’ in this book and not as ‘martial arts’

bugei – military arts

bugyō – commander or magistrate

buke – warrior families

bushi – alternative name for samurai

chi – the well-known Chinese concept of an energy that flows through the body and the universe can be expressed in many ways, but it is most commonly understood as ‘life-force’; although often considered a mystical, metaphysical, atmospheric energy, chi can also refer to practical, physical energy

chōtō – can mean either halberd or long sword; however, from analysis of context, the Natori texts appear to use chōtō to mean halberd or pole-arm rather than spear or long sword

chūgen – servants

chūgi – the concept of loyalty and justice

Five Elements (Gōgyō) – the foundation of all creation, namely: Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal and Water

gandō chōchin – light housed in a tapered and flat-ended tube and kept upright by means of a gimbal system; it was used much like a modern handheld torch to illuminate specific directions

genkan – entrance of a house

gunbai – esoteric side of warfare; see also gunbaisha

gunbaisha – person who understands the ‘esoteric and magical military ways’ of gunbai, such as divination and warfare rituals

gundō – the military way or path

gunjutsu – military skills, practical warfare methods

gunpō – ‘military ways’, the tactics of war

gunpōsha – person who understands the ‘military ways’ of gunpō

gunsha – samurai of normal level who understands military ways and is considered core military personnel

hakama – wide, flowing trousers worn by the samurai class

hara-kiri – to commit suicide through the ritual of seppuku; see seppuku

hei – soldier or weapon, or a military mindset

inshi – literally, ‘hidden warrior’; in this manual the term refers to a master-less samurai

ippei – independent soldier, i.e. a retained soldier of warrior status and trained in the arts of warfare, who is in the service of a specific lord

jō – unit of length equivalent to approximately three metres (or exactly ten shaku in the Japanese system)

kan – unit of currency and weight; one kan is equivalent to 3.75 kilograms

kashira – captain of men

katakiuchi – act of revenge

katana – long sword

kenka – spontaneous combat

ki – Japanese spelling of chi

kishōmon – written oath to the gods

ko-kyo – method of establishing lucky and unlucky directions

komono – servants, literally ‘small people’

Kōshū-Ryū – military school comprising teachings from retainers of the Takeda clan

kumade – rake-like hook

kyojitsu – concept of substantial and insubstantial

mononofu – alternative reading for samurai; see also bu

ōsō – concept in which the energy of each season is associated with a particular direction

rōnin – samurai without a master, one who is not employed or retained (the ideogram used here differs from the normal version)

sanjaku tenugui – section of cloth normally measuring approximately one metre by thirty centimetres

sasumata – U-shaped pole-arm used to capture people

seii-taishōgun – formal name of the shōgun

seppuku – ritual disembowelment with a knife, normally assisted by a kaishaku – second – who completes the ritual by decapitating the samurai who is performing seppuku

shaku – unit of length equivalent to approximately thirty centimetres

shinobi – secret agent, spy and commando-infiltrator; also known as a shinobi no mono and commonly known today as a ninja

shinobi-gaeshi – spiked defences to prevent shinobi infiltrators from entering a position

shinobi-guchi – secret or hidden entrance

shōbu – combat or confrontation

sukedachi – person who assists another during combat

sun – unit of length equivalent to approximately three centimetres

tachi – great sword; longer than a katana, a tachi is generally worn blade-edge down when in armour

taishō – the main leader or lord, translated in the text as lordcommander

Ten Celestial Stems (Jikkan) – a set of ten concepts born of Chinese thought, consisting of five pairs which directly relate to the Five Elements, e.g. Fire-larger, Fire-lesser, Water-larger, Water-lesser, etc.; the Ten Celestial Stems also form the basis of a ten-day cycle and are often used in conjunction with the Twelve Earthly Branches

tenugui – broad cloth normally around sixty to seventy centimetres long; see also sanjaku tenugui

tozoku – thieves and gangs of robbers

tsukubo – T-shaped pole-arm used for capturing

Twelve Earthly Branches (Junishi) – understood as equivalent to the signs of the zodiac; the hours, days, months, years and directions are all divided into twelve and allocated one branch, each of which is represented by an animal; starting in the north and moving in order they are: rat, ox, tiger, hare, dragon, snake, horse, ram, monkey, cockerel, dog and boar; often used in conjunction with the Ten Celestial Stems

uchihatashi – feud-fighting, normally where both parties understand that conflict will arise in the future; sometimes written declarations are made

wakatō – assistants; literally ‘youthful aid’, although the term can be applied to assistants of all ages – ‘old’ and ‘young’ are sometimes used to refer to ‘important’ and ‘unimportant’ retainers

wakizashi – short sword

Way/way (dō) – a path of life or a subject deeply studied; in the text we have capitalized the term when it refers to a spiritual or moral path and used lower case for a more practical set of techniques, e.g. ‘the way of tea’, ‘the way of the sword’, etc.

Zakō – master who passes on traditional wisdom through oral teachings, including poetry

zashiki – formal reception room in a Japanese house

A NOTE ON THE COMMENTATORS

Natori Masazumi’s main text remains the same across multiple versions. However, various different commentators have added oral traditions, notes and explanations in the margins of each respective transcription and are numbered accordingly. The main text should be considered the words of Natori himself and the commentaries should be understood to be adding to Natori’s original writings in an effort to record the school’s oral traditions.

The commentary labelled ‘commentator one’ contains oral traditions from the Tōkyō transcripts. The ‘commentator two’ material consists of oral traditions from the Koga transcripts, probably dating from around 1700.

It is apparent that commentator one predates commentator two: the syntax of the two commentaries shows that commentator two had access to, or was taught by, commentator one, or at the very least there appears to be a connection between the two. As a result, some of commentator two’s commentaries exactly replicate those of commentator one. These have been omitted from the text.