Itten Dojo

The February edition of Sword and Spirit has been posted. Guest contributor Edward Castillo (Salahuddin Muhammed) Sensei continues his series on dojo culture with “Dojo Health and the Sempai.” Download the newsletter by joining the Sword and Spirit group on Facebook, or directly from our website, at https://www.ittendojo.org/dbfiles/download/swordandspirit/pdf/88. All back issues of Sword and Spirit are available at https://www.ittendojo.org/articles/swordandspirit. #ittendojo #japanesemartialartscenter #iaido #jujutsu #judo #shodo

 A recent post that included video of an old iaido form called “So Makuri” (“Complete Resolution”) garnered a number of disparaging comments on Facebook, such as: “Won’t do much against a pistol.” “Please do tell me how your ( sic ) going to use a sword in a fight with those moves.” The solo forms of Muso Jikiden Eishin-ryu are not really about fighting. The forms are primarily studies in physical structure and the optimal generation and application of internal power, but also include encoded tactical insights from the Edo Period of Japanese history. There are paired forms using wooden swords that preserve the actual fighting techniques of the style — in our line we also do free-sparring with wooden swords to pressure test — and there are armed grappling (jujutsu) techniques, as well. We do tameshigiri (“test-cutting”) with shinken (“live,” i.e., sharpened steel swords). Although practical self-defense in a modern context is not the focus of this type of martial art, I do person...