Yagyu Shinkage-Ryu

Hatsuharu wrote:That's why bamboo maker got the skill to cut it right...well that is past...recently all maker use machine.......

Actually bamboo is not that hard to cut if you know how to do it properly. Cos the fibers run parallel to the trunk.... If u can manage to create a space between two fibers, all u have to do is pull the pieces apart..... it'll be perfectly straight.

I got my fair share of cutting bamboo during raya when we made lemang.....

That's why bamboo maker got the skill to cut it right...well that is past...recently all maker use machine.......

Hatsuharu wrote:Izzaz....the last picture.....is that Yagyu Jubei from Shin Onimusha?

she is my favorite character......

By the way...the Hikihada Shinai.....is totally a full bamboo...as i see

Yeah! Yagyu Jubei from Shin Onimusha! My favorite character too, damn fast and more versatile than others....

And yes, the hikihada is full bamboo. Covered in leather. If you cut correctly it will split into the slats like the slats we have on shinai. Somehow they split nicely, into halves then quarters then one-eights and so on. But if you cut wrongly then they'll BREAK! Good training right?

Izzaz....the last picture.....is that Yagyu Jubei from Shin Onimusha?

she is my favorite character......

By the way...the Hikihada Shinai.....is totally a full bamboo...as i see

The Hikihada shinai





Kata enbu






Gasshi





Yagyu in current Japanese entertainment sector

The video above was recorded at the 2009 Nihon Kobudo Kyokai Enbu Taikai demonstration at the Nippon Budokan, Feb. 8th.

Yagyu Shinkage-Ryu (柳生新陰流) is perhaps one of the most famous koryu in Japan. Who wouldn't have heard Yagyu Jubei's one-eyed legend? The school was founded circa 1568 by Kamiizumi Nobutsana. In Donn Draeger's seminal work Classical Budo it is written:

In his search for a worthy successor, Kamiizumi Ise no Kami engaged Yagyu Tajima no Kami Taira no Munetoshi in combat, defeating the latter by using the hikihada, a sword made of bamboo strips covered with the skin of toads.

Currently the school still uses hikihada to train, but they are no longer covered with toad skin. Normally they are covered with cowhide or horsehide.

When Kamiizumi Nobutsana defeated Yagyu Munetoshi, the defeated swordsman stayed on with Kamiizumi in order to learn his techniques. At that time the school's name was only Shinkage-ryu, meaning "shadow school". Kamiizumi passed on leadership of the school to Yagyu Munetoshi, after demonstrating his own development, “Muto” (the concept of “no sword”), to Kamiizumi Isenokami. It is here that the history of the Shinkage Ryu of the Yagyu family begins. Roughly translated, Yagyu Shinkage-Ryu means "Yagyu New Shadow School".

The school does not just teach an art of killing. Like many other koryu in Japan, Shinkage-Ryu is a way of life and living. The emphasis is on developing a way to see and approach any situation, even the way of ruling an entire country. They call this Katsujin-ken. Katsujin-ken teaches that, if one's sword does not stop the movement of the enemy, then one may try to fit to the opponent's rhythm, thus entering into the mind of the adversary to find his weakness.

In the video you can see that they use hikihada. Inside a hikihada is like a normal shinai, except that it isn't split into four strips but is covered with a leather pouch. The hikihada allowed striking with quickness, fluidity and potency without causing serious or disabling wounds as one would with the wooden sword, and without having to stop the attacks. They also use it for kata exercises. The hikihada is very practical in training because it helps to pull you to the right movement. If you cut too much with the hands, the slats break. If you cut with the whole body, the slats split evenly, into two, four, eight, and so on. A hikihada with more slats is more flexible, and certainly shows your skill. If you keep cutting wrongly, you will have to make a new hikihada every time.

One very important exercise in Yagyu Shinkage-Ryu's syllabus is gasshi. It is analogous to Itto-Ryu's kiri-otoshi and probably our Kendo's kirikaeshi. Shidachi and uchidachi stand apart at roughly itto-issoku maai, in jodan kamae. In some kata, shidachi is in sha-no-kamae (wakigamae) and uchidachi is in chudan kamae. Regardless, what happens is simplicity itself. Uchidachi steps in and cuts straight down on shidachi. Shidachi waits the barest fraction of a second and then also cuts straight down on uchidachi. The two swords meet in the air above the two practitioners, and uchidachi’s sword is deflected away as shidachi’s sword goes straight and true to uchidachi’s crown. It is considered the most difficult exercise to master, and is the very first that beginners are introduced to. Theoretically, when one has mastered gasshi, one has mastered Shinkage-Ryu. The aim is to keep your cut DEAD CENTER down the CENTER LINE, with Katsujin-ken.

The school's headmasters are descendants of the Yagyu family. The current headmaster is Yagyu Koichi who assumed leadership in 2007. There are 22 headmasters so far:

Founder - Kamiizumi Ise-no-kami Fujiwara Nobutsuna
2nd Headmaster- Yagyū Tajima-no-kami Taira Munetoshi (Sekishusai)
3rd - Yagyū Hyōgonosuke Taira Toshitoshi (Jounsai)
4th - Owari Gondainagon Minamoto Yoshinao
5th - Yagyū Hyōgo Taira Toshikane (Renya)
6th - Owari Gondainagon Minamoto Mitsutomo
7th - Owari Gonchūnagon Minamoto Tsunanobu
8th - Yagyū Hyōgo Taira Toshinobu
9th - Owari Gonchūnagon Minamoto Yoshimichi
10th - Yagyū Rokurōbe Taira Toshitomo
11th - Yagyū Hyōsuke Taira Toshiharu
12th - Owari Saishochūjō Minamoto Haruyuki
13th - Yagyū Mataemon Taira Toshiyuki
14th - Yagyū Hyōsuke Taira Toshihisa
15th - Owari Gondainagon Minamoto Naritomo
16th - Yagyū Shinroku Taira Toshimasa
17th - Yagyū Chūjirō Taira Toshishige
18th - Owari Gondainagon Minamoto Yoshikumi
19th - Yagyū Sangorō Taira Toshichika
20th - Yagyū Kinji Taira Toshinaga
21st - Yagyū Nobuharu Taira Toshimichi
22nd - Yagyū Kōichi Taira Toshinobu

There are many lessons we can learn from Yagyu Shinkage Ryu. The Yagyu have a saying that "the difference between living and dying lies in inches", which indicates that a good feel for ma-ai is essential for any swordsman, including us Kendoka today. We are constantly reminded by our senseis and sempais to constantly check our distance between you and your opponent. Even a men cut that misses by two inches can prove disastrous in shiai.

But perhaps the most important lesson the Yagyu can teach us is the influence of our minds and swordplay. We all know that Kendo is not just about scoring points, it is about cultivating the mind. Yagyu Munenori, son of Yagyu Munetoshi, was a master swordsman who was fascinated in which the "Zen mind" could help his technique. He came to the conclusion that the "Zen mind", or mizu-no-kokoro (Mind like water) could assist swordsmen (and kendoka). Since in this state the mind is not fettered with anticipation or fear, it creates no advance plans of response and is not even consciously involved in the swordsman's actions. The opponent's sword moves, and you respond. There is no intervening mental process, and therefore the technique has the celerity of free fighting.