Samurai Display at Snowshill Manor

13 June – Popular Cotswolds attraction Snowshill Manor will once again be the setting for an unusual event this summer, when martial arts group Nine Circles Kobudo puts on a display of traditional Japanese martial arts.

While Snowshill Manor is well known for its manor house and beautiful arts and crafts-style gardens, what you might not know is that it’s also home to one of the nation’s most important collections of samurai armour – thanks to former resident Charles Paget Wade and his eccentric lifetime’s collection of over 22,000 objects.

The National Trust property in fact boasts an impressive 26 suits, arranged theatrically according to the wishes of their original owner, who wanted to give the impression of a company of warriors meeting in the gloom with their weapons and banners.

So it’s only fitting that, on Saturday 13 June 2009, Snowshill Manor’s gardens will welcome members of Gloucestershire-based marital arts group Nine Circles Kobudo – dressed in traditional costume and performing an expert demonstration of ancient samurai martial arts.

A number of displays are scheduled to take place between 12pm and 4pm in Snowshill’s terraced hillside garden, featuring a range of moves and techniques which feature in the Japanese form kobudo.

‘People are fascinated by and astonished at the agility, swordmanship and structure of the combat,’ said Snowshill’s visitor services manager, Dominic Hamilton. ‘It is so rare to see these martial arts in this country, we expect the event to be very popular.’

Event: Nine Circles Kobudo Martial Arts Display
Venue: Snowshill Manor
Date: Saturday 13 June 2009
Times: A number of displays will take place between 12pm and 4pm, while Snowshill Manor is open from 11am.
Tickets: Normal admission fees apply. Visit nationaltrust.org.uk or call (01386) 852410 for more information.

SoGlos.com
31 May 2009