Okay, I finally was able to watch all of the videos. The first three left me.... underwhelmed to say the least, the first two in particular. In the first video: What the heck is with the hunching over, convulsing and taking baby steps while doing what looks like flicks with a ruler and shouting like Xena??? I thought maybe they were trying to inject some humor at first, but it soon became apparent that he was serious. Bladework was... unique.
Ah, there's often a lot more than seen from the outside, though, Daniel...
The reason I posted those videos was to give you an idea of what many in the Koryu world may immediately think when you mention Jigen Ryu, as that is Jigen Ryu. To give you some perspective, though, you're not alone in your initial take on the Ryu's methods... in the first Koryu Bujutsu book Dianne Skoss described how the "Field Guide" came into being. It started with herself and some others attending a range of Embu (demonstrations), and taking basic notes to try to remember and get a handle on which Ryu was which, ranging from "Muto Sensei does Yagyu Shingan Ryu" to "the women in the Furisode Kimono are doing Yoshin Ryu". One interesting comment is "The Ryu with the 'crazy Granny' technique is Jigen Ryu"....
Oh, here's something fun that's been put up recently to give an idea of some of these Embu. Go to
www.emptymindfilms.com, they have a seven minute clip of the Meiji Jingu Embu, showing quite a range of systems, from ones where the actions are obvious in their movements, and others which seem more, well, odd. Gorgeous footage, though, highly recommended.
Video two was a training exercise and aside from these guys looking like they're very hardcore and have a very strong kiriotoshi, I didn't get much from it.
The history of a system gives it it's philosophy, which is then expressed in it's waza and training methods. With regard to the Jigen Ryu, they have a higher focus on conditioning than many others. What clips like this do is show you what the primary focus of the system is. Oh, and "a very strong kiriotoshi"? Ha, that's an understatement, my friend!
Video three looked more respectable, and I could see more of how they were engaging the lower body, but when they struck the floor repeatedly with their 'sword' during kata because the other guy moved, it just looked like lack of control to me.
Yeah, that's not a lack of control.... for the control aspect of this Ryu, look to the kata where they stop on the opponents forearm or wrist, the sticks used (not bokken, but we'll get to that) are rather heavy, so that takes quite a lot of control.
Video four was more like what I am used to seeing, but they did that convulsing ruler swat thing too.
Right. A bit of background to this Ryu, then.
The Jigen Ryu was developed in the Satsuma area, an area known for incredibly fierce warriors... and the Jigen Ryu were among the fiercest. The teachings of Jigen Ryu basically say that a second strike isn't even worth considering, as you would have killed them with your first one. In fact, they focused so strongly on the initial strike, making it as strong as they could, that enemy warriors were often found killed on the battlefield with a sword embedded in their foreheads. Catch is, it was their own sword, and it was the back of it that was driven into their skulls. The force of the Satsuma and Jigen strikes would literally drive their own swords back, with the Jigen strike continuing through. As a result, conditioning striking drills such as the use of tategi (upright targets) and yokogi (striking targets on their sides) would be used up to 1,000 times a day, striking down with kiriotoshi from Tombo no Kamae (the very high "Hasso" Kamae, literally meaning "Dragonfly posture"), as well as having drills of running through a series of sticks put in the ground, striking each down to the ground. The strikes to the ground that you noted are representative of cutting someone completely in half.
The Hombu dojo of the Jigen Ryu actually has no floor, being just dirt. That allows them to change the position of striking targets and upright sticks as required. Additionally, you may have noticed that for the most part "proper" bokken/bokuto aren't being used. This is because the conditioning methods of Jigen Ryu are so severe that training items are broken regularly, so rather than waste time carving properly shaped weapons, they just use heavy, solid sticks of approximately the right length. When it comes to the "crazy granny" technique, the idea behind it is to overwhelm an opponent so they are unable to respond or raise their sword. Once you have them completely overwhelmed, you move in for the finish. That's why the kodachi method targets the forearm, and the tachi method targets the shoulders.
In short, whether it's understood or not, these are not the guys you want to face. It was said that if you ever met a Satsuma/Jigen swordsman, don't bother with any Reiho (bowing, etiquette), as they would have already killed you while you were performing it. These guys don't mess around.
Video five... well... lifting heavy object and essentially letting it down on a bundle of sticks did not impress me, though the fact that the guy is not of large stature and looks like he's in his seventies did.
Perhaps I'm missing some vital clue?
Ha, as I said, mate, you try it!
Video seven looked good, but it is unfortunate that the angle of the camera was not more advantageous.
Yeah, I put that one up because it's a good look at a range of the technical methods, even though it's not exactly the same as what you'll be learning (close, though).
The remainder of the videos were very enjoyable and I really appreciate you taking the time to post them. Video 8 was the one that interested me most, both because the technique looked excellent and because it is the style that I am preparing to study.
Yeah, that's a nice one. That, and the remaining, were put there because they are the system you'll be learning. All in all, it was to show some of the variance that can exist in seemingly related systems.
Please explain video one to me. I originally was going to make some less than flattering observations of it, but not being familiar with the style, I will withold comment.
Hopefully my comments earlier will help you understand what you saw a little better... but so you know, you would hardly be the first to offer less than flattering comments about this Ryu-ha, or others. What always needs to be taken into account when looking at clips is the context itself. For example, the following clip often gets some, uh, interesting looks. Even the person who put it up thinks that he's looking at amateurs....
What this actually is is a form of conditioning training from the Yagyu Shingan Ryu known as Mifuri. In this exercise you repeat the individual actions from their kihon kata over and over, as fast and powerfully as you can, in a form of conditioning for your cardio, respiratory, and spirit. The white belts are not indicative of rank, as the Yagyu Shingan Ryu is a dominantly armoured system, and when wearing armour, the obi worn was traditionally always white. Some of the favourite actions of these guys is to pick someone up, and drop them straight down onto their heads. Again, a very serious system with a misunderstood training practice.
And I'm not bragging; the guy in the video is probably a foot shorter than I am and probably weighs a lot less too; I'm about 6'4" and over two hundred pounds, but more importantly, under fifty. The guy in the vid looks like he's seventy. He certainly has my respect!
