Originally Posted by
Ellis Amdur
Chris - re "back engineered," I think Ed was referring to HEMA. Some have done some pretty remarkable resurrections, but they have the problem that one "doesn't know what one doesn't know." I was crossing weapons with a HEMA teacher--we were discussing what to do when hand-guards get tied up, and I said/did, "why don't you guys do this?", Doing a move that was obvious to me. He was amazed (not by me, by the technique) because it fit so well. But it wasn't in their texts. There's a real possibility that it was part of long-sword technique in the West as well, but without a record and without a living record, they didn't know. OTOH, 95% of all the resurrected dagger work I've ever seen looks like Philipino stuff. There's an extant (unbroken lineage) stiletto system from Italy - looks nothing like East Asian stuff at all. Really fascinating, actually.
But then again, to your point and ruffled hakama, there definitely is back engineering in koryu as well, and in addition, innovation. I'm the obvious exponent of that, but lots of folks in the field think I'm a black sheep, at bes t (and non-Japanese, so I don't count). But I'm aware of lots of unconfessed examples. Of the top of my head, Tenjin Shinyo-ryu, Yagyu Shingan-ryu, Kashima Shinto-ryu, Kiraku-ryu, Anazawa-ryu, Masaki-ryu. There are lots more. In fact, it's likely that ALL extant jujutsu schools in Japan that take falls incorporated good ukemi from Kodokan judo, far better than what they had previously.
Ellis