is a

iaijutsu is a combative quick-draw sword technique. This art of drawing the Japanese sword, katana, is one of the Japanese ''ko-ryū'' martial art disciplines in the education of the classical warrior (samurai, bushi).Gordon Warner, Warner, Gordon and D ...

koryū founded by Ōmori Rokurōzaemon Masamitsu (大森六郎左衛門正光), probably in the latter half of the seventeenth century. The techniques developed by Masamitsu were later incorporated into Hasegawa Eishin-ryū and continue to be taught to this day as the first series of ''

kata ''Kata'' is a Japanese word ( 型 or 形) meaning "form". It refers to a detailed choreographed pattern of martial arts movements. It can also be reviewed within groups and in unison when training. It is practiced in Japanese martial arts ...

'' in

Musō Jikiden Eishin-ryū is a Japanese sword art school and one of the most widely practiced schools of iai in the world. Often referred to simply as "Eishin-ryū," it claims an unbroken lineage dating back from the sixteenth century to the early 20th century. 17th un ...

and

Musō Shinden-ryū is a style of sword-drawing art (''iaido'') founded by Nakayama Hakudō (中山博道) in 1932. Nakayama Hakudō studied under Hosokawa Yoshimasa, a master of the ''Shimomura'' branch (下村派) of Hasegawa Eishin-ryū, and Morimoto Tokumi, ...

Development

Ōmori Masamitsu first studied

under the Hasegawa Eishin, the seventh headmaster of Shinmei Musō-ryū and founder of Hasegawa Eishin-ryū. He was later expelled for personal reasons and started to develop his own style. Masamitsu disagreed in particular on the use of '' tate-hiza'' and ''tachi-ai'' as practical sword drawing postures. He thus based his ''

'' on the ''

seiza '' Seiza '' ( or ; ; ) is the formal, traditional way of sitting in Japan. It involves a specific positioning and posture in a Kneeling, kneeled position so as to convey respect, particularly toward elders. It developed among samurai during t ...

'' posture as he had learned it in the Ogasawara-ryū, a school of etiquette or '' reishiki''. Though the form of the ''kata'' themselves were taken from what he had learned with Hasegawa, they were modified to conform to the five forms of sword-drawing as taught in the

Yagyū Shinkage-ryū is one of the oldest Japanese schools of swordsmanship (''kenjutsu''). Its primary founder was Kamiizumi Nobutsuna, who called the school Shinkage-ryū. In 1565, Nobutsuna bequeathed the school to his greatest student, Yagyū Munetoshi, who ...

. By devising these eleven basic techniques, he came back in the good graces of his former teacher.Draeger and Warner, p. 89. This rapprochement between Hasegawa and Masamitsu had great influence on the future of both of their arts, as Masamitsu then began teaching his own style to many students of Hasegawa. These direct students include Hayashi Rokudayū Morimasa, ninth headmaster of Hasegawa Eishin-ryū and Ōguro Motoemon Kiyokatsu, the eleventh headmaster. Since that time the techniques have been passed down in both Hasegawa Eishin-ryū branches and are now found in their modern-day descendants,

(無双直伝英信流), Musō Shinden Eishin-ryū (無雙神傳英信流), which is an original school of Musō Shinden-ryū, and

Development

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References

External links