Thank you. Hello and welcome to the History of Japan podcast, episode 194, Fist of Legend, part one.

This week, it's time to start in on what might actually be the most commonly requested topic by volume that

we've ever gotten.

I initially struggled with how to approach it for two reasons.

First, the sources that are out there are not particularly great, which means that any

in-depth look involves a lot of guesswork on my part.

Second, it's one of the stories I always thought would be best served with one long

arc rather than the series of small one-offs.

As an aside, that decision about how big to make a series is always a bit of a balancing

act, and it's one I find myself struggling with sometimes.

However, one of the things I've been finding increasingly essential to making the

longer arcs work is a clear focus question that defines what we'll be looking at. With that in mind,

here's what I'd like us to work together on answering. How have the various traditions that represent

the traditional Japanese martial arts

navigated the transition of Japan from a feudal warrior state into a modern nation?

That's right, for all of you who've asked for episodes on Aikido or judo or karate or anything else, it's time.

I've decided to do all of these topics in a single series because I think in the end,

each of these traditions confronts fundamentally a very similar question.

What's the point of studying these techniques in a world where a guy with a pistol and a few

hours of training has pretty even odds of being able to take you down in a fight?

How different instructors have answered that question, what's even the point anymore, has

had a dramatic impact on how these traditions evolved into their modern forms.

...