Though people today are more inclined to study the martial arts of Japan than such culturally expected forms as tea ceremony and flower arrangement, books on the subject rarely venture beyond the instructional. The academic level is usually low and errors of historical fact are common. Few practitioners have acquired the training necessary for serious scholarship, and few Japan scholars have chosen to practice the martial arts.
An exception is the author of this brilliant book. G. Cameron Hurst is professor of history and director of the Center for East Asian Studies at the University of Pennsylvania. He also studied Shito-ryu karate in Japan and practiced Shotokan at the Nihon Karate Kyokai. Author of such important scholarly texts as "Insei: Abdicated Sovereigns in the Politics of Late Heian Japan," he has at the same time received his tae kwon do black belt at the Kukiwon headquarters in Seoul.
In this work, the only comprehensive treatment of the subject in English, Hurst deals with the history of swordsmanship and archery (the two major forms of armed martial arts) and emphasizes their development as sports.