在公元1600年之前的三个世纪中,日本的社会一直处在动荡之中。从这个群岛国家的一端到另一端,各种各样的武功同时存在和演变着。公元1575年,织田信长和德川家康的联军用火器打败了高田家族的重骑兵,杀死了15,000多人。1588年,日本首相丰臣秀吉命令除了武士之外,所有的带刀剑者都要解除武装。1600年,德川家康击败了丰臣家族,开始了一个新的历史时代:江户(即今东京)时代(1603-1867)。从那时候起的250 In the three centuries before 1600, Japan’s society has been in turmoil. From one end of the archipelago to the other, a great variety of martial arts exist and evolve at the same time. In 1575 AD, Oda Nobunaga and Tokugawa Ieyasu’s coalition forces defeated the Takata family heavy cavalry with firearms and killed over 15,000 people. In 1588, Japanese Prime Minister Toyotomi Hideyoshi ordered all those with sword to be disarmed except warriors. In 1600, Tokugawa Ieyasu defeated the Toyotomi family and started a new historical era: the era of Edo (now Tokyo) (1603-1867). 250 since then