[santorio]

Ok....hello everyone, here are some of my conjectures on what I have read and learned from various martial artists and historians, most of the primary information comes from "Secrets of the Samurai" by Oscar Ratti and Adele Westbrook, and my interpretation of that book. Please, feel free to correct any misinterpretation I might have. Thanks!

Most samurai practiced a variety of arts, but were usually proficient in one or two depending on the ryu (or school) where they were taught. (There is a list of schools (very few, comparitively) at the bottom of this post.) Here is a list of major arts the samurai would have been taught.

Archery-
kyujutsu (Standing Archery)
shagei (I believe, archery from the back of a horse)

Spearsmanship-
sojutsu
yarijutsu (The art of the Yari (normal spear))
naginatajutsu (The art of the Naginata (bladed spear))
sodegaramijutsu
sasumatajutsu

Swordsmanship-
tojutsu (I believe, and older form of swordsmanship)
kenjutsu (The art of the sword when in combat)
iaijutsu (The art of Drawing the sword)
tantojutsu (The art of the knife)

Horsemanship-
bajutsu-
jobajutsu- (No idea)
suibajutsu-

Swimming-
suieijutsu
oyogijutsu
katchu gozen oyogi

There were also many minor arts including

The art of the war fan
tessenjutsu

Art of the staff
jojutsu
tetsubojutsu

Art of the jitte (swordbreakers)
juttejutsu

And then you have the unarmed arts:
Aikijutsu
Jujutsu
kempo
karate
kogusoku
kumiuchi
Shikaku
sumo

and the list goes on. So, as you can see, asking which arts the Samurai would have trained in is a very difficult question, because each Samurai was different. There are an infinite amount of possiblities of combinations of arts.

Here is a list of several schools and their specialties.

Aisu-kage- Swordsmanship
Araki- Chained weapons
Daito- close combat
Hakutsu- Close combat
Hasegawa- swordsmanship
Hioki- archery
Hoki- swordsmanship (the school my style of iaido is derived from, they also did some jujitsu if my memory serves me correctly)
Isshin- chained weapons
Kukishin- staff

Ok, the list goes on for many, many more, but that gives you some idea. Now keep in mind, these were their specializations, each school would have taught the basics in all areas of fighting (ranged, armed, unarmed). Now, Samurai also might have trained at multiple schools to gain proficiency in more things. But, keep in mind, the samurai didn't say "I want to be a sword master" and then seek out a sword school. It had more to do with who their parents were and what schools were available (monetarily, politically, socially, and geographically).

Now, we haven't even touched on the arts of society (tea ceremony, sake pouring, calligraphy, haiku, ect....) but I don't know much about those, nor do I have a book on them. But I hope this has answered your question a little bit.

Finally, the answer you are looking for, to be a "modern samurai" one should probably be trained in a spear art, a sword art (or several), a form of unarmed combat, and a form of archery. Also, if one could find it, a societal art would be nice...but that's a lot to ask.

Ok, again, these are all my ideas, this is an internet forum, I am merely sharing information I have learned, and as always that information could be flawed. I hope not, as I have tried to be as accurate as possible, but take it with a grain of salt. I do not have a doctorate in Japanese Archeology. Please feel free to ask more questions or critique my thoughts! I hope you enjoyed this post!

Sincerely,

Again, all this information was from "Secrets of the Samurai" I am merely forwarding it to you.