A really really stupid question on drawing swords

[rebelfilms]

Last night at a firends house the conversation turned to Japanese swordsmanship. The debate was as follows. I held that (from what i know) that when you draw the sword,the non-busnuiss end end of the scabbard is pointing down towards the ground, while the other chap held that its at an angle pointing up. What i was wondering - after getting really confused- is, whihc of us is right, or are we both right but have come across different ryu?

[Soulend]

Even within the same ryu it can be different. In MJER, the kojiri (butt end of the scabbard) is parallel to the floor in the waza Tsukekomi and Tanashita, but points straight down in Kabezoe. The koiguchi end (mouth of the scabbard) is usually pushed down a bit to facilitate a horizontal draw.

Due to the curvature of the saya(scabbard) and the width of the obi, it would be difficult to crank the koiguchi end down far enough to where the kojiri was pointed straight up, but perhaps some ryu have this.

[gendzwil]

Sometimes the saya will be oriented so the butt end sticks up a little bit. One of the seitei kata has the saya twisted 180 degrees so that the edge is pointing down, and then the sword is drawn such that the cut is up (ground to sky). But normally the angle is flat or with the butt down a little bit, as the objective is usually to draw and cut aiming at the torso or head of the opponent.

[Aozora]

I agree with post follow up posts so far, and would only add that with proper saya biki (pulling the saya off the sword), the end should face off to your right somewhere at the end of the draw.

In general, the saya should point opposite of where the tsuka gashira is, which in MJER is aimed towards where the cut is going to take place, like the iron sights of a gun.