With the widespread interest in tameshigiri (test-cutting), I thought I'd announce the publication of the first book on tameshigiri by Toshishiro Obata-kaiso, the founder and headmaster of shinkendo and a renowned expert on tameshigiri. This is the second book on shinkendo, and is entirely about test-cutting.

The title is called Shinkendo Tameshigiri: Samurai Swordsmanship & Test-Cutting, and covers the history of tameshigiri, its different types (including Obata-kaiso's sword-testing experience), and its role and technique in shinkendo practice.

More information on this release is available in the official press release (http://www.shinkendo.com/images/tameshigiri_press.pdf), on the shinkendo website's instructional materials page (http://www.shinkendo.com/product.html), and in the shinkendo forums (http://www.shinkendo.com/bbs/showthread.php?s=&threadid=284).

For more information about Obata-kaiso and shinkendo, there's a lot written on the shinkendo website (http://www.shinkendo.com).

Thank you for the lease on bandwidth; this is a publication I thought the sword community would be particularly interested in, especially since tameshigiri is a frequent topic of discussion in this and other forums.

Shitsureishimashita,
Nicholas Lauridsen

Thanks Nicholas!

Keep us updated on things that might be useful to the sword community.

Have you had a chance to review the material yourself?

Paul

Thanks for the encouragement, Paul!

I am a bit biased (I was allowed to participate somewhat in the preparation), but I believe it was the intent of those involved to set very high standards for the publication. A lot of time was taken to get things "just right," and we are all quite pleased with the result.

I can say it's quite diverse in presentation, with lots of photos and diagrams, but the meat of the book is the text. Some of the most intriguing parts to me were outside the scope of shinkendo and swordsmanship training, like sword-testing and evaluating a sword for tameshigiri use, discussions that were uniquely valuable because they are not geared toward appraisal (which most if not all books on nihonto are) but functionality as a martial artist's weapon.

The majority of the book does focus on tameshigiri technique, safety regulations, and the role and practice of cutting in swordsmanship.

I hope this helps!

Nicholas Lauridsen

That is very cool! Thanks for stopping by and telling us about it,now I can't wait to read it.

Domo Arigato goasaimasu, Nicholas San...

Heading over to amazon now...

Thank you for the info...
Regards,
Walt Robillard

Walt-san, thank you for reminding me -- since the publication is completely new (i.e. we are receiving the first crate of books tomorrow), we haven't arranged a distribution relationship yet (i.e. it won't be on Amazon for a while), and will instead be taking orders for the time being the conventional way through an order form (http://www.shinkendo.com/orders.html) available on the shinkendo website. (It is linked off the instructional materials page (http://www.shinkendo.com/product.html).)

An announcement (http://www.shinkendo.com/bbs/showthread.php?s=&threadid=284) on the shinkendo forums has detailed information about ordering; basically, it's a print order form you send in with a check. We are currently investigating other methods of payment, but this is the available method for the present.

Thanks again!

Shitsureishimashita,
Nicholas Lauridsen

AHA! It's all becomming clear now...

The sword system that is an adjunct to our Kempo system is Toyama Ryu so this will be an invaluable resource ( it will go right next to my Nakamura video ).

Thank you again for the heads up ( as kroh heads for the order form...)

Regards,
Walt