Do you know Japan's martial arts? In this article, we will look at the most popular Japanese martial arts, a set of disciplines with centuries of history that are still practiced in Japan and around the world today.
Historically, Japanese martial arts were used for defense and attack in wartime. In modern times, they are practiced for their educational, cultural, physical, moral, aesthetic and spiritual value instead. Most Japanese martial arts are seen as sports in Japan, with a strong emphasis on disciplining the mind alongside the body.
To make this long read easier to follow, you will get a short overview of Budo and Bujutsu first, and then we will go through the main styles one by one.
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Budo and Bujutsu: the martial arts of Japan
Most Japanese martial arts take their name from the weapon or skill used in combat. They often end in dō [道], which means "way" or "path", or in jutsu [術], which means "art", "technique" or "method". A small but useful note: although we write do here, the more accurate romanization of 道 is dō [どう].
Styles that end in dō are grouped under the term budō [武道], literally "martial way". The focus is on developing body and mind, even though the word itself has its roots in war. Styles that end in jutsu are grouped under bujutsu [武術], literally "martial science" or "martial craft". In everyday use the two terms are often used almost interchangeably.
The fine difference: bujutsu emphasizes the practical, physical side of combat — how to defeat an opponent. Budō places the weight on the inner path, on maturing as a person through training. A single technique that takes someone down does not automatically carry the full weight of a martial art with its own rules, lineage and tradition.
Some Japanese martial arts also end in ryū [流], which means "school", "style" or "lineage". These schools usually bundle their own teaching methods, technical lines and philosophical foundations.
Judō [柔道]: the way of gentleness
Judō aims to strengthen body and mind as a whole while building practical self-defense. At its core, the technique uses the opponent's strength and balance against them, which is where the name "way of gentleness" comes from.
Modern Judō grew out of the older jūjutsu and was put together as a pedagogical method in the late 19th century by Kanō Jigorō. Today Judō is an Olympic discipline and one of the most widely practiced martial arts on the planet.
Kendō and Kenjutsu [剣道]: the way of the sword
Kendō is built on the techniques of Japanese swordsmanship. Practitioners train with a bamboo sword, the shinai, and wear protective armor. Uniforms are almost always a deep indigo, and the loud shout (kiai) at the moment of a strike is a fixed part of training, because it shows fighting spirit and focus.
Kendō is one of the martial arts most often offered in Japanese public schools, and estimates suggest that around 1.66 million people in Japan practice it at some level. The discipline is considered especially rich in culture and is closely tied to samurai traditions. Kenjutsu can be loosely translated as "the art of the sword" and usually refers to the older, pre-modern sword schools.
Iaidō [居合道]: the art of drawing the sword
Iaidō is the Japanese martial art of drawing the sword and delivering the first cut. It works through fixed kata sequences in which the practitioner responds to realistic attack situations. Other common names for it are iaijutsu (居合術) and battōjutsu (抜刀術).
Kyūdō [弓道]: the way of the bow
Kyūdō is the Japanese art of archery, practiced with the extremely long, asymmetrical bow known as the yumi. With more than 2,000 years of history, it is one of the oldest martial arts Japan has.
The bow is very powerful and not easy to handle. In Japan, Kyūdō is usually taught only from around age 15, because maturity and physical strength are essential for clean technique. Today it is above all a meditative discipline, in which breathing, posture and inner focus come together.
Yabusame [流鏑馬]: target archery on horseback
Yabusame is also a target-shooting art, but performed from a galloping horse. It is related to Kyūdō, but much harder to learn, and only a handful of academies still teach it today.
Being accepted as a student is often considered a real honor. If you want to learn Yabusame, it makes sense to start with Kyūdō first. Riding with almost no hands on a galloping horse requires the kind of stable balance that Kyūdō helps you build.
Aikidō [合気道]: the way of harmony
Aikidō is designed to free the practitioner from an attacker's assault without confronting it head on. Instead of opposing the attacker's force, the defender redirects, guides and dissolves it into throws and joint techniques. Aikidō was founded in the 20th century by Morihei Ueshiba, who combined classical sword and staff techniques with a modern, peaceful philosophy.
Karate(dō) [空手道]: the art of the empty hand
Karate is a martial art from the Ryūkyū Islands, especially Okinawa. It focuses on attacks with hands and feet — kicks, strikes, blocks and kata forms. In the 1950s and 1960s, Japanese karate films turned it into a worldwide pop culture phenomenon, reinforced by the success of American martial arts movies.
That wave created global demand for classes. Current estimates put the number of karate practitioners worldwide at over 50 million, organized in large federations such as the WKF and the JKF, alongside many national bodies.
Sumō [相撲]: the art of pushing
Sumō is a full-contact wrestling sport and, at the same time, one of the oldest modern martial arts Japan has. Its roots lie in rituals and dances performed at Shintō shrines, and many of its ceremonies still echo those religious origins.
Before a bout, the rikishi step into the ring (dohyō), throw salt, clap their hands and stamp their feet — rituals that connect directly to Shintō. Professional sumōtori are required to follow a traditional lifestyle, living and training together in training stables called heya.
Ninjutsu [忍術]: the art of the ninja
Ninjutsu grew out of the need to train spies and scouts in medieval Japan. It bundles techniques for espionage, disguise, survival and unconventional combat. Famous schools such as Togakure-ryū and the Bujinkan carry these lineages forward to this day.
Koryū [古流]: martial arts from the Edo period
Koryū is a collective term for Japanese martial arts that originated before the Meiji Restoration of 1868. After the samurai class was dismantled, many of these schools lost relevance, because their techniques had been designed for feudal warfare and initially looked outdated next to Western military methods.
Today, Koryū lineages are kept alive in museums, small schools and dedicated associations. They differ clearly from modern budō disciplines, because they are often tied to specific battlefield situations, rituals and old teaching systems.
Other Japanese martial arts
Beyond the styles covered above, Japan has many more martial arts. A quick look at a few of the lesser-known names:
Bujutsu in its broad sense covers arts in which farmers and samurai used everyday or agricultural tools as weapons. Sōjutsu is the school of spear combat with the Japanese spear yari. Kobudō refers to old weapon arts with roots in samurai tradition.
Bajutsu is the equestrian martial art, while bōjutsu, jōdō and jōjutsu train combat with the short staff jō. Hakkō-ryū (also romanized as Hakkoryu) uses rope and staff, among other things, to immobilize attackers. The jiu-jitsu known in the West is called jūjutsu in Japanese, and kenpō is the Japanese word used to refer to kung fu styles of Chinese origin.
List of Japanese martial arts
The list below gathers a selection of well-known and less common Japanese martial arts and styles:
- Aikidō [合気道]
- Araki-ryū [荒木流]
- Bajutsu [馬術]
- Battōjutsu [抜刀術]
- Bujinkan [武神館]
- Bōjutsu [棒術]
- Chitō-ryū [千唐流]
- Daitō-ryū Aiki-Jujutsu [大東流]
- Genbukan
- Genseiryū [玄制流]
- Goshin Jujutsu [護身柔術]
- Gōjū-ryū [剛柔流]
- Hakkō-ryū [八光流]
- Hojōjutsu [捕縄術]
- Hōjutsu [砲術]
- Iaidō [居合道] / Iaijutsu [居合術]
- Isshin-ryū
- Jinenkan
- Jōdō / Jōjutsu [杖道/杖術]
- Judō [柔道]
- Jūjutsu [柔術]
- Juttejutsu [十手術]
- Jūkendō [銃剣道]
- Karatē [空手] – the art of the empty hand
- Kempo [拳法]
- Kendō [剣道]
- Kenjutsu [剣術]
- Kenpo Kai [拳法會]
- Kobudō [古武道]
- Kosho Shorei Ryū Kempo
- Kusarigamajutsu [鎖鎌術]
- Kyokushin
- Kyūdō [弓道] / Kyūjutsu [弓術]
- Kūdō [空道]
- Maniwa Nen-ryū [馬庭念流]
- Naginata-dō [薙刀道] / Naginatajutsu [薙刀術]
- Nakamura-ryū
- Nanbudō
- Ninjutsu [忍術]
- Ninpō [忍法]
- Okinawan Kobudō [沖縄古武道]
- Seishinkai
- Shidōkan
- Shindō Yoshin-ryū
- Shindō Jinen-ryū [神道自然流]
- Shinkendō
- Shintaidō [新体道]
- Shitō-ryū [糸東流]
- Shooto [修斗]
- Shorinji Kempo [少林寺拳法]
- Shorinji-ryū
- Shōtōkan
- Shukōkai
- Shurikenjutsu
- Shōrin-ryū [少林流]
- Shōrinji Kempō [少林寺拳法]
- Shōtōkan-ryū [松濤館流]
- Shūdōkan
- Shūkōkai
- Sōjutsu [槍術]
- Suijutsu [水術]
- Sumō [相撲]
- Sōsuishi-ryū [双水執流]
- Taido [躰道]
- Taiho-Jutsu
- Taijutsu [体術]
- Takeda-ryū Nakamura-ha
- Takenouchi-ryū [竹内流]
- Tantojutsu [短刀術]
- Tegumi [手組]
- Tessenjutsu [鉄扇術]
- Togakure-ryū
- Toyama-ryū
- Uechi-ryū [上地流]
- Wadō-ryū [和道流]
- Yabusame [流鏑馬]
- Yagyū Shingan-ryū [柳生心眼流]
- Yōseikan-ryū [養正館流]
To wrap up, here is a video that gives a good overview of some of the martial arts covered in this guide:
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