Who's this?

[A. Bakken]

I recognize the kanji for Muso Shinden Ryu Iaido, but not the author's name.

[Ralutin]

Hi,

According to a source of mine, the author's name is Shigekichi Yamashita and if memory serves me correctly, I believe he achieved 10th dan in Muso Shinden Ryu iaido.

I could be wrong, so please correct me if I am...

[Earl Hartman]

I think that perhaps his last name is Yamatsuta as opposed to Yamashita. (The last kanji in his family name is Neslon's #4037). His given name could also be read as Shigeyoshi, (which is what I thought at first) although kichi is also a very common reading of the last kanji in his name.

Really nice nukitsuke.

[Ralutin]

Originally posted by Earl Hartman
I think that perhaps his last name is Yamatsuta as opposed to Yamashita. (The last kanji in his family name is Neslon's #4037). His given name could also be read as Shigeyoshi, (which is what I thought at first) although kichi is also a very common reading of the last kanji in his name.

Really nice nukitsuke.

Hi Earl,

You're right. My source translated the kanji as Yamatsuta, but I thought it might have been Yamashita. My bad.

In which case, I have never heard of this gentleman. I've got another feeler out there looking into him and I'm very interested in what he can find out.

[JAnstey]

Hiya,

"Muso~shinden iaido~" by Yamatsuta Shigeyoshi is an old book by the man. I have a copy of his book in Japanese in an old slip case.

Cheers

Jason

[Earl Hartman]

Aha. So it IS Shigeyoshi.

[Ralutin]

Hi all,

My other source came through:

The gentleman in the photo is Shigeyoshi Yamatsuta, 9 dan hanshi of Muso Shinden Ryu iaido and one of Nakayama Hakudo's students. He lived from 1887 to 1971.

[Andrei Arefiev]

Originally posted by Ralutin
The gentleman in the photo is Shigeyoshi Yamatsuta, 9 dan hanshi of Muso Shinden Ryu iaido and one of Nakayama Hakudo's students. He lived from 1887 to 1971.

And he was a member of the original committee to develop the ZNKR seitei iai.

Best,

[Martyn van Halm]

His toes are angled to the left... is that standard practice with this iai form?

TSKSR has nukitsuke, but the toes generally point the other way for more balance...

[Ralutin]

Originally posted by Martyn van Halm
His toes are angled to the left... is that standard practice with this iai form?

TSKSR has nukitsuke, but the toes generally point the other way for more balance...

Hey, when you're a 9 dan hanshi, you can pretty much do your iai any damn way you feel like! :D

Besides, Yamatsuta sensei looks like he's in perfect balance to me.

[A. Bakken]

Thanks for the help, guys.

[Tim Mailloux]

Originally posted by Martyn van Halm
His toes are angled to the left... is that standard practice with this iai form?


In MSR the front foot is angled inwards, and the back foot should be straight.

[Jack B]

This beautifully shows the kissaki stopping in dead center, and the big twist on the hip to maximize sayabiki. Both details differ from my school, but they look excellent on him.

I've seen the name translated as Yamatsuta Jukichi, also, but that is just an alternate reading of the kanji.