Gawd, this post touches a number of subjects, and I really had no idea where I should put it. So I put here in the general koryu section. Please bare with me...
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I came across this video of Kuroda Tetsuzan today: "Kuroda Sensei kenjutsu part 2". The clip shows a number of, what at first appears to be (there's a twist coming), shoto vs tachi kata.

The kata are all variations on a theme, but what caught my eye---as a student of Daito-ryu---was how VERY Ippon-dori-esque the kata were. In both Ippon-dori (the "first" and arguably "greatest" kata of Daito-ryu) and the Komagawa Kaishin-ryu kata (Kuroda's kenjutsu style), the basic response is the same: Shitachi/nage "dives" under the incoming sword, blocking/shielding with one hand and grabbing uchitachi's arm/hand with the other (and in many of the variations, re-directs the sword & arms).

It had been my understanding that Ippon-dori was based on a Itto-ryu shoto kata, though I haven't seen the original version. So it shouldn't seem too odd to see similar kata. But it was intriguing that similar kata should show up in Kuroda's style. First, and somewhat superficially, because Kuroda is often described as having "aiki-like" movements.

But the second reason I thought it was interesting is more historical. I was under the impression that Komagawa Kaishin-ryu was derived from the Shinkage line of kenjutsu, which I thought was a different "family" of kenjutsu than Itto-ryu. So it seemed strange that they would share similar kata.

I know Sokaku studied a bunch of kenjutsu styles, and was known for an eclectic, highly personalized sword-technique, but Ippon-dori is based on an Itto-ryu kata... right? I found this video of Ono-ha Itto-ryu, which shows a vaguely similar kata, but it's not conclusive.

But I started thinking, "maybe it's just me, I haven't been exposed to many shoto kata." I started wondering if this type of thing---diving towards uchitachi and/or grabbing his arms---was a common shoto response across styles.

Now, though, comes that twist I promised---as I re-watched the video, I realized the shoto wasn't a shoto at all---it's a jutte. It's hard to tell, but if you watch the video on full screen, around ~0:12 the camera zooms in and you can see the... err, guard-arm(?) when shitachi(?) places the jutte behind his back.

This was also intriguing. The jutte is still listed as one of the weapons of the Komagawa Kaishin-ryu, so I guess the Shinkage-Itto thing is still an issue... I guess...

But this was also intriguing in light of Takeda Sokaku. The jutte is certainly a part of Don Angier's Yanagi-ryu (which has a historical link to Takeda), but more significantly, there has been some mention of the jutte in relation to Daito-ryu.

But as I was looking up info on the jutte and Daito-ryu, I came upon a video of Ikkaku-ryu juttejutsu. D@mn if that also doesn't look like Ippon-dori! In particular, it's very reminiscent how shitachi(?) pushes back on uchitachi's arm (particularly with the jutte positioned at the hip, poised to strike), forcing him off-balance as he retreats (re-watch that video of Ippon-dori).
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So where am I going with this? I don't know! Can anyone help me make sense of this all (or just part of it)? Am I making a mountain out of a mole-hill? Is Ippon-Dori a rather "generic" technique, after all?

Thanks!