Nodachi Jigen-ryu Demonstration Video

[hamish]

You can view the page at http://www.kendo-world.com/forum/con...stration-Video

[turboyoshi]

So I got around to watching this video today. It seems rather interesting. Does anyone know much about this style? Some quick googling didn't pull up much information but it seems respectable.

[Big One]

I don't know much about it neither. Watching the video, it seems like they use several quick cut to supress the enemy.

[ben]

@ZealUK, is this your mob? b

[Twobitmage]

I think I vaguely recall that it is a style practiced in the southern regions of Japan. Perhaps Satsuma.

[Josh Reyer]

This is not ZealUK's group -- they practice against a standing (vertical) target, with smaller bokuto. Although being from the area and a smart fellow, I imagine he might be the best to answer this.

However, paging through my Gakken Nihon no Kenjutsu, here's what I find: it's official name is Yakumaru Jigen-ryu. It was trained in by the lower-ranked bushi of Satsuma (I believe the higher ranked studied Jigen-ryu Heiho - ZealUK's group. While the groups are related, the kanji to write their names are different). The founder of Yakumaru Jigen-ryu, one Yakumaru Kenchin, combined Jigen-ryu with his own family art of nodachi kenjutsu.

The first part of the demonstration is basic striking on the target, called a "kakari". It's hard to see, but their stance when doing their quick successive cuts is entirely on the toes, with knees deeply bent, a quite physically challenging position. In the second part, they train to run up to the kakari, and stop on a dime at perfect maai with a powerful cut. The third part demonstrates their "nuki", a rising strike from the draw. Next is "uchi-mawari", where they practice striking at multiple foes. In normal practice there are many more sticks stuck into the ground, and the man with the nagabo (called the "dashi") serves as a moving foe, who may enter the area at any time and has to be dealt with. The last demonstration is training against the nagabo, which serves as a stand in for any kind of long weapon.

The current soke is Yakumaru Yasuo.

[turboyoshi]

Thanks Josh. That was much more informative than anything I could find on the web. I thought the stances and cuts looked physically demanding. Does "nodachi" mean that they study to use a sword that is longer than a normal sword and is that why the physical mechanics look so different? Those bokuto look longer than shinai from the video but it's hard for me to be sure.

[Josh Reyer]

Thanks Josh. That was much more informative than anything I could find on the web. I thought the stances and cuts looked physically demanding. Does "nodachi" mean that they study to use a sword that is longer than a normal sword and is that why the physical mechanics look so different? Those bokuto look longer than shinai from the video but it's hard for me to be sure.

I don't have nearly the familiarity with the YJR to feel comfortable commenting. All I can say is that nodachi are bigger than the standard-sized sword, and that deep stances in cutting (with a standard-size sword) are an important part of Yagyu Shinkage-ryu, although we keep our feet flat on the floor. The length of the nodachi might be a factor in the use of the hands and elbows (they always cut kesa-giri, and always keep the left hand connected to the right elbow, no matter which kind of hasso they are in).

[turboyoshi]

Thanks Josh, I appreciate you taking the time.

[Alex]

From Alex Bennett (ed.) Budo: The Martial Ways of Japan, Nippon Budokan, 2009 (This is from one of the earlier manuscripts)

The Jigen-ryū is called the “secret sword art of Satsuma” because of the remote region where it is located. It developed from Taisha-ryū, an offshoot of the Shintō-ryū and the Shinkage-ryū, and is famous for its peculiar stance called “tombo” (dragonfly) and the shrill screams that adepts made when making their relentless attacks. Students of the school enter a frenzied state as they hack furiously at bundled tree branches or wooden poles “three-thousand times in the morning, and eight-thousand strikes at night.” Although trainees of the school were strongly discouraged from fighting, once cornered they would attack fiercely in a murderous flurry of screaming and slashing. Zen and esoteric Buddhist terms also feature predominantly in writings left by Tōgō Chūi to explain the philosophical framework of the Jigen-ryū.

[turboyoshi]

Ah thanks Alex. I hadn't thought to search under just Jigen-ryu but that gives me a little more material. With information this scarce I guess this is not a popular style, eh?

[ZealUK]

This isn't the style I practice, as Josh noted, however I am familiar with them.

This group actually goes by the name Nodachi Jigen-ryu (Kenshukai). Yakumaru Jigen-ryu (Kenshokai) are featured in the Gakken publications mentioned above.


Alex, the excerpt you posted is about Jigen-ryu Hyoho, not Nodachi/Yakumaru Jigen-ryu.

[Twobitmage]

josh, is the reason why you guys use crooked wooden weapons (rather than the ultra smooth bokuto that most use) because the training is so vigorous that they would break often?

[Josh Reyer]

josh, is the reason why you guys use crooked wooden weapons (rather than the ultra smooth bokuto that most use) because the training is so vigorous that they would break often?

As I noted, I don't do either Jigen-ryu (示現流) or Yakumaru Jigen-ryu (薬丸自顕流). ZealUK would be the best one to answer that.

[ZealUK]

The bokuto used are yusunoki (isunoki) and are dried out for 5 to 10 years before being used. The wood is very hard and the weapons last quite a long time, but do eventually break.

Carved bokuto are used for suburi and some kata, but they just wouldn't stand up to the punishment of repeated imact training.