Sōjutsu
Sōjutsu ( Japanese 槍 術 , lance technique (s) ' ) is the Japanese art of fencing with yari (lances), which originated during the Sengoku period when the yari replaced the naginata (sword lance , glaive ) as a pole weapon on the battlefield. As a weapon of war, the Yari were used efficiently in the association of Ashigaru (light infantry) ( Yaribusuma , dt. " Lance wall "). However, this handling of the yari as a team weapon is not called Sōjutsu. Sōjutsu is rather the use of the yari as a highly complex individual fencing weapon that can not only be stabbed and which has become the preferred weapon of higher-ranking representatives of the warrior nobility.
Because Sōjutsu was not taught to the broad masses of warriors and the Yari completely lost its importance as a weapon in the mostly peaceful two and a half centuries of the Edo period , most of the Sōjutsu schools that once existed have died out.
Today there are styles that have specialized in the yari, the Hozoin-ryū in the tradition of the Hozoin-ryū Takadaha, the Owari Kan-ryū, the Saburi-ryū and the Fuden-ryū. The first three of these schools each specialized in the use of a certain type of yari, which was certainly one of the reasons for their survival.
The Hozoin-ryū uses a Jumonji Kamayari (cross-shaped sickle lance), Owari Kan-ryū uses a Kudayari (a straight lance that is passed through a metal tube and stabbed), and Saburi-ryū uses a Kagiyari (a lance that extends below the blade with a hook-shaped cross-guard is provided on one side).
In addition, Sōjutsu is still taught in some integrated, usually sword-centered systems such as the Tenshin Shoden Katori Shinto-ryū, the Tatsumi-ryū or the Maniwa Nen-ryū, although it is reserved for advanced students.