Question about a type of sword discipline

[Bill Mattocks]

When I was in Okinawa, I had a coworker who was very much into the Okinawan/Japanese culture. He learned a lot more Japanese than I did, he dated local girls (almost unheard of, most Okinawans would forbid their daughters from dating Americans and with good reason), and he became a member of a Japanese religion not unlike Shinto - but it was, as he said, completely unpronounceable, and it was represented by a series of hand gestures and a loud clap at the end (seriously).

Anyway, he studied a form of martial arts that was sword-based, and I never got the name of it. It was not kendo. I watched him practice once in our gymnasium, and I don't know if he was practicing a single form or if that was the whole thing, but it consisted of him kneeling on the floor, then rising, drawing his sword (a katana-like sword, not a kendo sword), cutting at something above his head, and then flipping the blade over, and resheathing it, all in one very fast movement.

I asked, and he told me it was for a samurai to draw his sword, cut a horseman, flick the blood from the blade, wipe the blade, and resheath it in one motion as the horseman passed.

Does this sound familiar to anyone? Anyone know the name of it? I'm just curious.

 

[searcher]

It sounds very much like the first Iaido form. At least it does to My Wife(the swordswoman).

 

[Bill Mattocks]

Thanks, Jon - and thank your wife for me, too. That's a question that has been bugging me for years.

 

[Chris Parker]

Hi,

A few older systems, and their modern interpretations include the aspect of horsemanship in their teaching of swordsmanship. Schools such as Enshin Ryu have such techniques. The Enshin Ryu is split into two sections; Koden Enshin Ryu, and Honmon Enshin Ryu. The Koden section is the old techniques supposedly unaltered, the Honmon section is a reworked version of the original Iai section, and involves mounted techniques. In these, you lift your left or right leg (depending on which way you want the horse to turn) prior to drawing and cutting. The Chiburi and Noto is obviously done high in order to not injure your horse.

 

[Daniel Sullivan]

I'm going to second Searcher on this, and add the term, iaijutsu as a possibility. If he practiced a Koryo iaijutsu, then there would also be a specific ryu thereof.

Daniel

 

[JadecloudAlchemist]

), and he became a member of a Japanese religion not unlike Shinto - but it was, as he said, completely unpronounceable, and it was represented by a series of hand gestures and a loud clap at the end

Clapping the hands and feet stomping I have heard as both a calling of the Kami(deity) and/or act of purification.

Here is some more information on it.


http://eos.kokugakuin.ac.jp/modules/xwords/entry.php?entryID=800

As others have said it sounds like Iaido or Iaijutsu.

 

[searcher]

The clapping thing is very common with bowing in and/or preparation for performing the form or start of the class.


Bow>clap>bow>clap, clap>bow. It is pretty common.

 

[Sukerkin]

I'm at a loss to decide what it was that you saw Bill.

Iai in all it's guises that I know of is concerned with unarmoured fighting either indoors or in the streets (or similar confined environs). I don't know of any forms that are for dealing specifically with mounted opponents.

That doesn't mean that such do not exist of course, given that my knowledge extends only to Muso Jikiden Eishin Ryu in practise and the related Muso Shinden in theory.

Could it possibly have been Katori Shinto that he practised? That art has armoured techniques within it as well as battlefield weaponry (yari, naginata, bo et al).

 

[Chris Parker]

I think Katori Shinto Ryu is a good contender, Sukerin, they do have a number of Iai techniques which involve leaping up as you draw and cut from a kneeling posture. However, I haven't come across the explanation involving a horse... more often, it is a reaction to a surprise attack when seated. Could be an individual instructor's take on things. Does anyone know of a Katori Shinto Dojo in Okinawa, either following the Otake Dojo, or the Sugino Dojo groupings?

 

[Sukerkin]

I share a hall training alongside a Katori Shinto class on Saturdays and I do agree that the moves described sound very much like one of their iai kata.

They're not meant for dealing with horsemen tho' (again with the proviso of "not to my knowledge" ), which is what makes me hesitant to be definitive.

Of course it is possible that Bill's co-worker was pulling his leg (joking with him).

 

[Ronin74]

Bill, I'd have to agree that it sounds like it might be hard to put a name on what you witnessed.

I've done Filipino Martial Arts, and there was an understanding that for every different sword you could find in the Philippines, there was an art associated with that particular blade. To go even further, I used to trade lessons with a friend who had learned a Japanese sword-based art, and he would say that for the few but different swords that come from Japan, there's more than one sword style associated with each.