From Kobudō to Senshadō

古武道から戦車道まで

Kobudō with matchlock rifles

In Japan, Kobudō (古武道) refers to all ancient martial arts that existed before the Meiji Restoration. This includes schools that cultivate the use of traditional firearms.
The Morishige-ryū Hōjutsu (森重流砲術, Morishige School of Shooting) demonstrates the use of the arquebus in this short excerpt from the 47th Nihon Kobudō Enbukai 2024.
This school originated shortly before 1800, a time when firearms were already generally banned in Japan. It is a typical example of how traditions are preserved even when their actual use no longer exists.
The school appears to pursue two main goals: 1. Preserving the knowledge of how to use these weapons, and 2. Cultivating the physical and mental posture necessary for using these weapons.

Aikidō with Bokken

Aikido is a modern budo (現代武道, gendai budo, contemporary budo). Like judo and kendo, it originated after the Meiji Restoration. Most aikidoka understand dō (道) as an intensive path of training.
Bokken or real swords no longer play a role in everyday life. Therefore, studying the art of the sword has no practical use.
However, in aikido, we can train mind and body with these exercises. The form may be anachronistic, but the purpose is entirely relevant today.

Girls und Panzer

Girls und Panzer (ガールズ&パンツァー Gāruzu ando Pantsā) is a Japanese anime series. It is about a competition between girls' schools that practice tank combat as a sport. It was directed by Tsutomu Mizushima, written by Reiko Yoshida, and produced by Kiyoshi Sugiyama.
The series takes place in a universe where tanks from World War II are used for sporting competitions and enormous carrier ships, known as Academy Ships, house mobile naval communities. One of the most popular activities for female students is "Sensha-dō," meaning "The Way of the Tank," the art of tank driving, which is considered a traditional martial art in this universe.

Senshadō

Sensha-dō (戦車道) is also known as Tankery, Tankwondo, or Panzerkraft.
The rules and regulations of Sensha-dō are established by the Japanese Sensha-dō Association and are extensive. They govern a wide range of topics, from the number of tanks allowed in competition to compensation for property damage. The association is also responsible for the safety of the participants and must, among other things, provide the teams with ammunition specially treated for reduced penetration upon impact with a tank. It must also ensure that the tanks used in competition comply with the association's regulations and are lined internally with special materials that offer additional protection to the occupants. To determine whether a projectile would have destroyed a tank, each projectile is equipped with an internal microchip. Upon impact with a tank, the projectile transmits data to a black box located inside the tank. This black box calculates various factors such as distance, trajectory, projectile caliber, velocity, armor thickness, etc., to determine whether the shot would have penetrated a tank. This system functions similarly to the real technology used by many armed forces around the world for training purposes.

Girls und Panzer 2015

The trailer for the film "Girls und Panzer: Der Film".
The original anime series consists of 12 episodes and aired on Japanese private television from 2012 to 2013. "Der Film" was released in 2015. Further films followed, titled "Girls und Panzer: Das Finale," from Part 1 (2017) to Part 4 (2024). Part 5 will be released in Japanese cinemas in October 2026.

Transscript

Tankery, a part of our culture with a long history, enjoyed by girls from many nations all throughout the world.
A strong but delicate art that aims to make girls and women alike more polite graceful modest and gallant, both on and off the battlefield.
To learn tankery is to armor the heart of a maiden. A soul that embraces and burns with femininity, intense and strong like a tank's iron, cute and pretty like the clattering of its track and finally passionate and precise like its main cannon.
If you train in tankery you will become a better, wife a better mother, a better student, and a better worker.
You will become healthier, kinder, stronger, and men from all over the world will fall at your feet.
This is your chance, train your body, train your mind, embrace tankery and blossom as a woman on the field of battle.
Join Miho Nishizumi and the other girls of the Ōarai Girls Academy as they learn about life, love and the art of tank combat. In Girls und Panzer.
Coming soon to Sendai film works.

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