For centuries, Japan's martial arts, the famous bu-jutsu, have thrilled minds with their effectiveness, ferocity and indescribable aesthetics. This book is a fascinating story about the history, philosophy and mysteries of dozens of types and schools of martial arts of medieval and modern Japan. Japan created not only the martial arts themselves, but also the Great Legend around them. Is it true what the West knows about karate, aikido, judo, jujutsu, kendo? Is it true that modern judo and aikido came out of small religious schools that no one paid attention to for a long time? That karate was created quite recently and that it looks today completely different than what its creators intended? How was sumo - the “sport of giants” - connected with the mystical spiritual tradition, and what kind of martial arts did the samurai themselves practice? All this is in the new book of orientalist professor Alexei Maslov.