Earl Hartman
13th June 2000, 21:49
While this post is bound to be controversial, I thought that in the interests of historical research it would be valuable to report on a conversation I had recently while on a business trip to Japan.
As those of you who have read my past posts on this subject already know, I trained in MJER Iai Heiho under the late Masaoka Kazumi Sensei when I lived in Japan many years ago. A few years ago, I made the acquaintance of a fellow MJER practitoner here in the States and was surprised to see how many differences there were in the way we did the techniques. Intrigued by this, I started to look into why this was; asking about it on e-budo, reading, and making phone calls, etc.
During my last business trip to Japan, I spoke with Noda Toru Sensei, Masaoka Sensei's senior deshi. He still lives in Kochi City and still practices iai. He is one of only two men to have received the Kongen no Maki (the MJER version of menkyo kaiden) from Masaoka Sensei (I did not catch the name of the other recipient).
Anyway, I got the following information from him regarding the transmission of MJER, and a few other things:
1. Kongen no Maki vs. Lineal Headmaster/Soke
Kongen no Maki is the highest level of certification in MJER. Oe Masamichi transmitted the Kongen no Maki to 5 or 6 men, apparently. The recipients that I know of are Hokiyama S., Masaoka S., and Mori S. According to Noda S., there is nothing over and above the Kongen no Maki in MJER to differentiate any of the holders of the Kongen no Maki from one another. Thus, all of these men can, and should, be considered the legitimate 18th generation of the school. According to Noda S., MJER has never had a single soke. Kono Hyakuren S., was, apparently, the first to refer to himself as such. As I have said before, I never heard Masaoka S. refer to himself as the 18th soke.
2. Differences in Nukitsuke
I explained to Noda S. the differences I had seen in the way people did nukitsuke, primarily the degree of hip rotation. The ZNIR practitoners I have seen face almost completely straight forward at the nukitsuke, using very little hip rotation (to my eyes, anyway), whereas Masaoka S. taught me to rotate my hips significantly. Noda S. offered the following explanation, which is so elegant in its simplicity that it has, for me at least, the ring of real truth:
Oe S. was, apparently, a very large and strong man, yet he preferred short swords. Thus, he was able to draw effectively with little hip rotation, with the result that at the completion of nukitsuke his body was facing squarely to the front for the most part, with some opening to the left, but not to a pronounced degree. This is confirmed by Iwata Norikazu S. in his various writings.
Masaoka S., on the other hand, was a small man (I remember him being only about 5'2" or thereabouts). Thus, he required more hip rotation to draw effectively. That is, the fundamental mechanics of the draw were the same, but each person would adapt them to the requirements of the interplay of blade length and individual physique. I can't speak for others, but this seems to me to fit in very nicely with my experience of the Japanese principle of "ringi ouhen", or adapting as necessary to the circumstances. The fundamentals always remain, but in order to be true principles they must not be adhered to as dogmas of physical form but live and change with the prevailing circumstances (only up to a point of course; where the line is crossed is often a matter of opinion, it seems).
Anyway, I thought that people on the list, especially the MJER practitioners, would find this information interesting.
Earl Hartman
As those of you who have read my past posts on this subject already know, I trained in MJER Iai Heiho under the late Masaoka Kazumi Sensei when I lived in Japan many years ago. A few years ago, I made the acquaintance of a fellow MJER practitoner here in the States and was surprised to see how many differences there were in the way we did the techniques. Intrigued by this, I started to look into why this was; asking about it on e-budo, reading, and making phone calls, etc.
During my last business trip to Japan, I spoke with Noda Toru Sensei, Masaoka Sensei's senior deshi. He still lives in Kochi City and still practices iai. He is one of only two men to have received the Kongen no Maki (the MJER version of menkyo kaiden) from Masaoka Sensei (I did not catch the name of the other recipient).
Anyway, I got the following information from him regarding the transmission of MJER, and a few other things:
1. Kongen no Maki vs. Lineal Headmaster/Soke
Kongen no Maki is the highest level of certification in MJER. Oe Masamichi transmitted the Kongen no Maki to 5 or 6 men, apparently. The recipients that I know of are Hokiyama S., Masaoka S., and Mori S. According to Noda S., there is nothing over and above the Kongen no Maki in MJER to differentiate any of the holders of the Kongen no Maki from one another. Thus, all of these men can, and should, be considered the legitimate 18th generation of the school. According to Noda S., MJER has never had a single soke. Kono Hyakuren S., was, apparently, the first to refer to himself as such. As I have said before, I never heard Masaoka S. refer to himself as the 18th soke.
2. Differences in Nukitsuke
I explained to Noda S. the differences I had seen in the way people did nukitsuke, primarily the degree of hip rotation. The ZNIR practitoners I have seen face almost completely straight forward at the nukitsuke, using very little hip rotation (to my eyes, anyway), whereas Masaoka S. taught me to rotate my hips significantly. Noda S. offered the following explanation, which is so elegant in its simplicity that it has, for me at least, the ring of real truth:
Oe S. was, apparently, a very large and strong man, yet he preferred short swords. Thus, he was able to draw effectively with little hip rotation, with the result that at the completion of nukitsuke his body was facing squarely to the front for the most part, with some opening to the left, but not to a pronounced degree. This is confirmed by Iwata Norikazu S. in his various writings.
Masaoka S., on the other hand, was a small man (I remember him being only about 5'2" or thereabouts). Thus, he required more hip rotation to draw effectively. That is, the fundamental mechanics of the draw were the same, but each person would adapt them to the requirements of the interplay of blade length and individual physique. I can't speak for others, but this seems to me to fit in very nicely with my experience of the Japanese principle of "ringi ouhen", or adapting as necessary to the circumstances. The fundamentals always remain, but in order to be true principles they must not be adhered to as dogmas of physical form but live and change with the prevailing circumstances (only up to a point of course; where the line is crossed is often a matter of opinion, it seems).
Anyway, I thought that people on the list, especially the MJER practitioners, would find this information interesting.
Earl Hartman