Tameshigiri in Koryu

[FireFlea]

Hello,

does anybody know which koryu stiles have tameshigiri in their curriculum?

I know there is tameshigiri in Tennen Rishin Ryu and Mugai Ryu. What other stiles do you know? (besides the more modern Toyama Ryu and Iaido stiles)

Greetings,

Florian Wiessmann

[renfield_kuroda]

I have seen countless practitioners of koryu DO tameshigiri, but how many of them have it as part of their curriculum is a different issue altogether.

Regards,

r e n

[Brian Owens]

Depending on the line (and the teacher and the dojo, I suppose), some Muso Jikiden Eishin Ryu dojo have tameshigiri/suemonogiri in their syllabi.

That's just one example off the top of my head. I suspect that many of the old styles practice test cutting, even if not "officially" as part of their curricula.

[Walker]

For a taste of that old school feeling re tamishigiri have a look at Tamishigiri Reigi (http://www.aikidojournal.com/article?articleID=598) by Takamura Yukiyoshi.

I'm not sure how useful a question "who does it" is. We know about all sorts of sword testing and cutting in historic Japan so Bushi, as a class, can be demonstrated to be interested in the subject. Who does it now might be informative if one were choosing a school to ones taste, but really what does it say about any school in particular? I'm not sure it says very much beyond they do it or they don't.

[Ken-Hawaii]

Our Sensei teaches tameshigiri as part of our MJER training, but I don't think he considers it as part of our "formal" training. That's because I'm just finishing up our dojo's second training DVD (Chuden & Okuden), & tameshigiri isn't included, so it's my "educated guess." :D

But it's a lot easier for Sensei to watch our hasuji & overall form when we're actually cutting something than when we're performing waza.

And I find it interesting to test my various shinken to see which cuts the best from different angles (there's a definite difference on shape versus cutting angle!).

[Phil Hobson]

For a taste of that old school feeling re tamishigiri have a look at Tamishigiri Reigi (http://www.aikidojournal.com/article?articleID=598) by Takamura Yukiyoshi.



Wow, I haven't read that one in a while. Thanks for the reminder.

[LeatheJ1]

It is not koryu, but Shinkendo (http://www.shinkendo.com/) focuses on tameshigiri as part of the curriculum.

[Charles Mahan]

It is not koryu...

Then why bring it up in a thread about Tameshigiri in koryu?

[socho]

For a taste of that old school feeling re tamishigiri have a look at Tamishigiri Reigi (http://www.aikidojournal.com/article?articleID=598) by Takamura Yukiyoshi.
Very interesting article, thanks for the link. Particularly the issue of the spirit in the sword and its influence. In one dojo where I trained, when we brought a new sword in for tameshigiri, we would ask the sensei to make the first cuts with it, to contribute his spirit.

Dave

[Michael Mason]

Then why bring it up in a thread about Tameshigiri in koryu?

Mr. Mahan,
Obata-Sensei engaged in years of serious study of other arts and the history of swordsmanship and strategy prior to his founding Shinkendo (and continues his research today). He's written and collaborated on books for the Hawley Library, in addition to his books on technique. (apologies if you were previously aware of this)

Here's a link to an old article on tameshigiri history from Aikido Journal. I think it's an abridged version, but has some interesting bits about members of some koryu schools and their participation in and influence on tameshigiri. (to hopefully bring this back on topic)
http://www.aikidojournal.com/article?articleID=260

Best Regards,

[Charles Mahan]

I know who he is. I was just curious why Shinkendo was brought up in this thread. Shinkendo is perhaps the gendai art with the greatest grounding in koryu principles, but it's still gendai. The question directly concerned the use of tameshigiri in koryu systems. So why bring up Shinkendo in this thread? Especially considering the original poster explicitly excluded Toyama Ryu and other modern styles.

[Michael Mason]

I know who he is. I was just curious why Shinkendo was brought up in this thread. Shinkendo is perhaps the gendai art with the greatest grounding in koryu principles, but it's still gendai. The question directly concerned the use of tameshigiri in koryu systems. So why bring up Shinkendo in this thread? Especially considering the original poster explicitly excluded Toyama Ryu and other modern styles.

Mr. Mahan,
Perhaps it was youthful exuberance on the part of Mr. Leatherman, who, in his defense, clearly made the destinction that Shinkendo was not Koryu.

I understand your objection (if not it's stridency), but it would be a terrible waste to ignore Obata-Sensei's scholarly research on the history of tameshigiri, including koryu.

Best,

[Charles Mahan]

I think you are overestimating the level of stridency of my objection. See the response to your pm. This is polluting an otherwise good topic.