Last update 8 July 2010

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MISSION: The mission of American Jukenjutsu - The Bayonet Society is to study and preserve bayonet systems of combat and to provide a framework for training in the bayonet for classical fencers and martial artists.

 

FOCUS: American Jukenjutsu studies the use of the bayonet combined as a weapons system with the rifle or musket in the combat systems of Europe, the Americas, and Asia.  As the name suggests this study is conducted using a martial arts weapons approach with a focus on the use of the bayonet in combat and in bayonet fencing.  All bayonet fencing systems are open to study, and our curriculum and ranking system is compatible with the practice of the bayonet in a classical fencing or Asian martial arts school.

 

VISION: American Jukenjutsu - The Bayonet Society will provide a full range of services for bayonet students, including research, ranking, and competition. 

 

VALUES: We value the study of the bayonet as an embodiment of personal combat throughout 400 years of military history, requiring training, dedication, and personal courage for success.  We value the sharing of knowledge and research and the mastery of technique as the basis for the study of the bayonet.

 

BACKGROUND: The bayonet was in general military use in Europe in the 1660s and remains part of the rifle weapons system in most modern armies.  The systemization of combat with the bayonet reached a height in the period 1850 through 1914 in Europe and North America.  The European bayonet was incorporated in the modernizing armies of Japan and China in the late 1800s and early 1900s, making this weapon a unique example in the development of Asian martial arts.  Bayonet fencing as a form of competition was closely associated with classical fencing, and remained, at least in theory, a competitive sport into the 1930s in Europe.   The techniques and training for bayonet combat in World War II and subsequently were generally simplified, eliminating most of the complex techniques that could not be quickly taught to soldiers.  After World War II bayonet fencing emerged again in a sporting context in Japan as Jukendo.