Japanese Spochan Expanding Worldwide

TANABE Tetsundo,
INTERNATIONAL SPORTS CHANBARA ASSOCIATION

Through movies such as "THE LAST SAMURAI" starring Tom CRUISE and "SEVEN SAMURAI" directed by KUROSAWA Akira, "samurai" has been spreading worldwide along with geisha as an image of Japan. The samurai disappeared more than 100 years ago, but the samurai martial arts have revived as a sport chanbara (abbreviated to spochan) and is currently expanding rapidly worldwide.

Chanbara was originally a sword fighting game in which children imitated samurai warriors and fought with sticks instead of swords. Nowadays, this game is rarely seen in Japan, but most Japanese over 60 years old will have played the game when they were children. Chanbara was once commonly played by Japanese children, however, Spochan took over the essence of the game.

The main characteristic of spochan is that one can practice it more easily than kendo. The match is fought using a tool called an "air-soft sword" which is made from a sponge with a hollow core containing compressed air. The swords vary in length from short to long. A sword of one meter in length is most commonly used. Matches are decided by "sudden-death" or best of three games, and fought with swords of the same length. The match is over when a player successfully hits their opponent first.

The real pleasure of using the air-soft sword is the "paching" sound heard when a sword hits the opponent. The inexpressibly exhilarating sound echoes around the hall and yet, the one who is hit feels almost no pain at all as the core of the swords contain nothing but air. As both players use the same weapon, matches are fair. Players wear protective masks, but they can choose their costumes - some players just wear t-shirts.

Spochan was launched by Mr. TANABE Tetsundo, director of International Sports Chanbara Association in 1971 as an art of self-defense and a method to protect oneself. Mr. Tanabe enjoyed chanbara as a child, but his real motivation was stoked when he was a director of his older brother's security company and started to train their employees in the art of kendo.

After a while, children near the exercise hall started joining the martial arts school and Mr. Tanabe began creating enjoyable chanbara lessons for them. Then, he hosted competitions, which gradually became larger until they evolved into the Japan Championship that began to be held later. So far, they have hosted 31 Japan Championships, and chanbara is becoming more popular every year in Japan as well as overseas. At present, championship competitions are held in Asia, the U.S.A. and Europe.

People worldwide can fight fairly and equally
Association membership has since increased to the present total of 320,000 (March 2006) and the world championship has been held annually now for 18 years. "Various sword-fighting arts are practiced around the world including kendo in Japan and fencing in western countries. Spochan fighters can compete fairly since players have the same swords. Now fighters with different sword skills can compete against each other," says Mr. Tanabe about the sport's allure.

Matches can be fought using a number of variations: "Taisen" which is fought one against one, "ransen" which is fought between an unequal number of people such as one against three, and "Kassen" which is a battle fought between groups such as 30 against 30. In cases where there are differences in height or strength between players, compensations are made such as offering longer swords to shorter people. It is possible that three or four children with longer swords can win even against the world champion.

Spochan enthusiasts range from children to elderly people who enjoyed chanbara when they were young. Female enthusiasts comprise roughly 40 percent. The secret of the sport's popularity lies in the fact that participants can learn self-defense arts at the same time as they exercise. Furthermore, being a woman is not a handicap in a spochan match as they can fight on an equal footing with men. Handicapped people are also able to participate.

Most martial arts require many drills and training in order to improve, many of which become a burden. In contrast, spochan is a sport that you can enjoy from the very beginning. However, related to Bushido (samurai spirit) and the essence of chivalry, spochan respects fair play. "I fundamentally don't think judges are necessary in spochan," says Mr. Tanabe. "It is ideal that players make judgments by themselves, honestly admitting defeat when appropriate."

It is largely due to Mr. Tanabe's passion, good ideas and achievements in the sport that have allowed spochan to expand as it has. Mr. Tanabe is the founder of spochan and the inventor of the air-soft sword. He is also eager to expand the organization and introduce an instructor system. Those interested will be eligible to create a branch of the organization if they finish a 2~3 hours seminar. At present 4,560 instructors are registered.

"Spochan is expanding very rapidly now. In comparison with the popularity of many Olympic events, I believe spochan will have to become an Olympic event," Mr. Tanabe says with a smile about the future of spochan. It seems his aims are not merely a dream, and that it looks promising that spochan, as another Japanese martial art besides judo, could well be accepted as an Olympic event.

International Sports Chanbara Association
TEL: 045-664-7198
URL: www.internationalsportschanbara.net/

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