tessen techniques

[ilyushin]

hi all...this is my first post here...and i am actually looking for some techniques that would be useful for someone learning (or about to learn) tessen as a wooden weapon...

so any help would be really appreciated....thanks muchly :-)

Anne-Louise

[Mark Brecht]

Hi,

welcome to ebudo. Please be so kind and sign with your full name, as this is an ebudo rule (one of the very few...).

As for Tessenjutsu, we can recommend a very good book by Hiro Mizukoshi Aiki Tessenjutsu. The books is large format (26 cm) and has 126 pages. It is written in Japanese, but the books consist mostly out of pictures and kata sequences, which can easily be understood and learned. You can order it directly from Japanese Treasures here on ebudo, the cost is US$20.

Japanese Treasures: Books (http://204.95.207.136/vbulletin/showthread.php?s=&threadid=3747)


by Hiro Mizukoshi Aiki Tessenjutsu

[Mark Brecht]

Please check this thread, there you will find more books that cover Tessen:

Books on Jutte and other weapons (http://204.95.207.136/vbulletin/showthread.php?s=&threadid=7552)

I hope this helps.

[Don Cunningham]

May I humbly suggest my own book,

Secret Weapons of Jujutsu (http://www.concentric.net/~Budokai/store/books.htm)

This is the first book to appear in English that offers a detailed introduction to exotic defensive weapons like the tessen and jutte as well as other hibuki, or “concealed weapons.” Topics include the history and development of such weapons, as well as textual descriptions and photographs of many special techniques used for employing such non-lethal implements.

It is available from my web site (click on the title above) as well as from Sasuga Japanese Bookstore (http://www.sasugabooks.com/), Amazon.com (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0970280807/qid%3D1002114147/ref%3Dsr%5F11%5F0%5F1/104-9932022-4036765), and Barnes & Noble (http://shop.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?userid=15Q8QLRIH5&mscssid=GUKNAC4D9D5P8P8MMXCU7DGLJP2L6Q8C&isbn=0970280807). You might want to check the prices of many of the Japanese books at Sasuga as well before ordering.

[Don Cunningham]

Hi Daniel,

Yes, I am planning to visit some museums and Yumio Nawa-sensei to examine collections of feudal police weapons and other documents. I am considering doing another book which focuses even more on the non-lethal arresting techniques and implements. This was one of the themes in my first book, and it is something I would like to explain in even greater detail. I am especially interested in the polearm arresting implements, which were not covered at all in my book.

I agree that teaching a particular style does require extensive training. As I described in the book, though, there are no teachers actively teaching most koryu styles which incorporated tessen or jutte. There are a few who have "recreated" these techniques from scrolls or other sources and a few who may have trained in or experienced such techniques at one time, but now only teach iaido or kendo, typically ZNKR.

I met with several of them during my nearly 12 years of on-and-off living in Japan while training in judo and kendo. I traveled to just about every museum I could find with anything in their collections and interviewed numerous authorities. I trained occasionally with some of my judo friends in the police departments to learn their keibo techniques employed in taiho-jutsu. Basically, my book represents a lot of personal research, some dating as far back as 17 years ago when I first acquired an antique jutte.

Before getting into a long debate about which instructor has what background or credentials, my book was never meant to be any kind of "how-to" instruction manual. It is a historical perspective. We did reenact a few techniques to illustrate how these implements were utilized because words alone are not always adequate. I don't currently "teach" tessen or jutte, although I am willing to show others what my research and minimal personal training experience has uncovered.

[Don Cunningham]

...should be best left to an authentic teacher's direct instruction to understand and be readily usable.
Interesting opinion. I don't disagree. Do you find it necessary to frequently disarm swordsmen where you are in Japan? Personally, I never met any on the streets while I lived there, but then...

[Don Cunningham]

Daniel,

I'm glad you saw the humor in my earlier reply. I would say that many Japanese "students" carried a variety of weapons during the riots of the late '60s and early '70s. That doesn't mean that the practice of koryu must still be practical in today's world. I've been known to carry and to even occasionally use various weapons, some defensive and some offensive. I'm sorry, but I am not one of those who believe that we live in a state of near-peril every time we walk outside our doors. I admit there are places not to far from my own residence near Chicago which many do consider quite dangerous. If my business requires me to travel through such an area, there are a lot of weapons readily available which I might want to carry on or about my person. (I'm not admitting to anything here, I'm just saying...) A jutte, though, is not even on that list.