GuP BD1 Booklet

The theory that Senshadou directly originated in Japan from mounted naginatadou, and in Europe from jousting tournaments is influential. There is also an opposing theory that it originates from competitions which occurred in ancient Greece and Rome between horse pulled, two-wheeled sensha such as chariots and quadriga. It is said that female riders participated in these races, as a light body was advantageous and, while other ancient olympic events were normally held in the nude, clothing was permitted.

Of particular interest is Cynisca, the daughter of the Spartan king Archidamus II, who became a champion of these ancient olympic sensha races (though as the owner of the horse, not as the rider), and in a single act increased the participation of females. Later, female gladiators existed in Rome who would hold exhibition races while wearing dazzling costumes. The suggestiveness of things like the costumes flipping up in the wind or being torn during crashes made these races extremely popular. Even after the collapse of the western Roman empire, sensha races remained even more popular than gladiatorial battles in the eastern Roman empire, but gradually, due steep jumps in the operation expenses of sensha teams and the increasing difficulty of maintaining the nation during its decline, with the eastern Roman empire's downfall sensha races also disappeared. Because of the fact that sensha races didn't spread into other countries afterward, the mainstream opinion is that they weren't the direct origin of Senshadou.

Throughout the western world, in any given period, the ability to use the tools of combat developed from training, and so contests using them, like those with Sensha mentioned above, were carried out as a matter of course. Examples include kendou for kenjutsu, kyuudou and archery for kyuujutsu, judo for jujitsu, wrestling and boxing for unarmed combat, and even shougi and chess, contests which mimic what were originally combat formations.

It seems that jousting matches have been held since around the 12th century in Europe, the same time as when the knight social class came into existence. As the knights were absorbed into the courtly culture, they changed from simple warriors who existed for the sake of achieving deeds of combat, into persons who valued things like decorum and loyalty, but especially devotion directed toward a lady. Then, in England, Philippa of Hainault, who was King Edward the third's queen, acted as a member of the Order of Garter. This event was copied by various other countries, and female knights successively came into existence. These female knights seem to have also participated in jousting matches, but due to their inferior physical strength compared to males, special armor appears to have been made for female use in order to prevent injuries. In the end, female knights began fighting in armored two-wheeled coaches pushed from behind by horses, and this is said to be the origin of Senshadou in western countries. In Japan on the other hand, the advent of female naginatadou was brought about during the Edo period by the popularity of legends set in the Heian period featuring brave heroines, such as the legend of the beautiful female samurai Hangaku Gozen, or the legend of Tomoe Gozen, Minamoto no Yoshinaka's beloved concubine who served heroically along side him in the suppression of Taira, as well as legends set in the Sengoku era, such as those of Tachibana Ginchiyo, or Myourin'ni who sieged Tsurusaki castle. Naginatadou became set as something essential to practice, particularly for wives ofsamurai and females serving noble families. This serves as the basis of Senshadou in Japan.

After the advent of modern weapons using machinery, guns were used in various shooting competitions while cars, planes and ships were used in various races. Also, planes, who underwent rapid development and mass production in WWI were sold off as surplus post war, leading to people who make their living through aerobatics. Similarly, tanks were invented in WWI and mass produced. They also developed rapidly though not quite as fast as planes, and the old vehicles were sold as tractor substitutes to civilians.

On the other hand, WWI, in which these modern weapons were comitted, turned out to be a tragic war in which casualties massively exceeded those in previous wars. Worried women, centered around mothers and wives used media to push a large campaign denouncing tank combat and machine-gun shooting as "ungentlemanly", unchivalrous and barbaric. Conversely, airplanes, with their duels and episodes in which planes running out of ammunition or suffering defects were allowed to escape, was greatly promoted as being "full of chivalry", and when combined with the elegance of aerobatics, was beautified. In this way, an atmosphere that perceives male tankers as despicable and "uncool" was formed. Furthermore, while car racing was popular in Europe, racing with the head sticking out messes up the hair and dirties the face, along with the danger of serious casualties have kept almost all females from participating. At that point, females that use disposed of tanks for racing started to appear. Though tanks have the disadvantage of being hot and stinky, it was popular among progressive women because the armor makes it safe. The advent of 1-2 man tankettes further increased its popularity among women due to their compactness and ease of operation, and lots of tankette matches were held. In this way, tankette matches fused with armored chariot matches and Senshado was born in Europe.

Tanks were also imported into Japan, but were unpopular with men who respect Bushido, and thus priority was given to equipping female cavalry units. Later, this fused with mounted-naginatado and became Japan's senshado.

For a time, there was a period when classes (original: 層) who didn't understand chivalry and bushido used many tanks in war, but for the most part Senshado continued with tanks being considered "something of the women". However, recently popularity has decreased somewhat with the advent of attack helicopters.