Budo Perspectives

by Alexander Bennett (editor)

Budō is one of Japan's most significant contributions to the world's athletic heritage. In fact, I consider budō to be Japan's most successful cultural export. Wherever you go in the world, even in the remotest towns of the farthest countries, there is a high probability that there will be a 'dōjō' of some sort in the community. In that dōjō you will find the local people barefooted, dressed in Japanese dō-gi, obeying commands in the Japanese language, bowing the Japanese way, and more often than not, there will be a Japanese flag or a picture of some great Japanese master from the past occupying a prominent part of the dōjō. Interestingly, probably not one of the members will have ever been to Japan, and contact with Japanese people will be limited. There will always be some idiosyncrasies in the way training is conducted stemming from the fact that it is not actually Japan, and there are many aspects which have to be adapted to suit that particular social milieu.

422 pages, Paperback

Published November 12, 2014

About the author

Alex Bennett was born in 1970 in Christchurch, New Zealand.

He graduated from the University of Canterbury in 1994. He received his Doctoral degree from Kyoto University in 2001, and another from the University of Canterbury in 2012.

After working at the International Research Center for Japanese Studies, and then Teikyo University's Department of Japanese Culture, he is currently employed as an Associate Professor at Kansai University's Division of International Affairs where he teaches Japanese history and society.
He lectures frequently on Japanese martial culture.

His recent publications include Naginata: the Definitive Guide, Budo Perspectives, and may other publications on Budo.

He’s also Editor-in-Chief of Kendo World, the world’s only English language journal dedicated to Kendo, the Vice President of the International Naginata Federation and Director of the Japanese Academy of Budo.