Small holes in an otherwise solid tsuba

[isshinryuronin]

It's been suggested in the thread, "would you want to win at all costs" that the two small holes in some tsuba were to allow a thread to secure the blade to make it harder to draw it in anger, at least by practitioners of Jigen-ryu. Anyone have an educated opinion on this?

 

[Gyakuto104]

They were to accommodate the handles of two little implements to be secured into the side of the scabbard: one was a kozuka utility knife used for cutting fruit etc (not as a weapon)

The other was for the handle of a kogai, a blunt probe used for tidying the hair or scratching a helmeted head and the other for the removing ear wax!

Swords didn’t necessarily have both implements, but tsuba were often made with two holes.

In the relatively peaceful Edō period (1603-1868) when swordsmanship shifted from a fighting art to a means of spiritual development, some swordsmen used a twisted paper ‘string’ to lash the tsuba (via one of these holes) to the kurigata of the scabbard thus discouraging them from using their swords for trivial purposes. However is was only twisted paper thus easily broken; if they really meant to make their swords transiently unusable, perhaps they’d’ve used something more substantial.

 

[Haruhiko]

It's been suggested in the thread, "would you want to win at all costs" that the two small holes in some tsuba were to allow a thread to secure the blade to make it harder to draw it in anger, at least by practitioners of Jigen-ryu. Anyone have an educated opinion on this?

There are some people who theorise that the namako tsuba, usually attributed to Musashi-sensei, was designed deliberately so that the finger, during keiko, would be able to extend past the tsuba.

After a more comprehensive discussion with my sensei and questions about its practicality, we all agreed it would be stupendously stupid and dangerous.

As for tying sageo or other material around these holes (especially in smaller blades), I've honestly no idea!

It's an intriguing question...

But we should remind ourselves, especially insofar as Jigen-ryū is concerned, that it may remain outside the scope of their ryū's foundational philosophy.

 

[Gyakuto104]

I’ve just read of interesting uses of kozuka/kogai of which I was totally unaware (‘Roots Still Cracking Rocks’ by Ellis Amdur, first edition. Publisher -The Ran Network p 67-68)

They were used as post-mortem ‘sign offs’ (‘todome sandan’) for various types of killing by stabbing them into particular parts of the body and leaving the small blade in place. They affirmed to the authorities the reasons for the killing when the perpetrator actually presented themselves to the authorities for sanction:

Gyōichi (‘at the will of a superior’)-when killing by order of a superior, one stabbed the body through the sole of the foot.

Adauchi - when killing in the service of a vendetta (retaliation), one stabbed the body under the ear (‘vendetta’ has a nuance of obligation -one is upholding the honour of clan/family, for example.

Ishū-uchi - when killing for personal revenge, one stabbed through the solar plexus.

Amdur suggest these must be areas important in Chinese-based medical theory but all this information is unreferenced so I can’t attest to its truth.

 

[Same Trick49]

Jigen ryu was the sword school of the satsuma clan.
Here is a small gathering of satsuma samurai, maybe we can come to know more about Jigen ryu’s mysterious tsubas by examining pictures like this ?



satsuma samurais - Bing

 

[isshinryuronin]

I’ve just read of interesting uses of kozuka/kogai of which I was totally unaware (‘Roots Still Cracking Rocks’ by Ellis Amdur, first edition. Publisher -The Ran Network p 67-68)

They were used as post-mortem ‘sign offs’ (‘todome sandan’) for various types of killing by stabbing them into particular parts of the body and leaving the small blade in place. They affirmed to the authorities the reasons for the killing when the perpetrator actually presented themselves to the authorities for sanction:

Gyōichi (‘at the will of a superior’)-when killing by order of a superior, one stabbed the body through the sole of the foot.

Adauchi - when killing in the service of a vendetta (retaliation), one stabbed the body under the ear (‘vendetta’ has a nuance of obligation -one is upholding the honour of clan/family, for example.

Ishū-uchi - when killing for personal revenge, one stabbed through the solar plexus.

Amdur suggest these must be areas important in Chinese-based medical theory but all this information is unreferenced so I can’t attest to its truth.

Or, they could have just left a post-it note.