Mastering the Samurai Sword. Cary Nemeroff

one of his training visits for Juko-Kai members.

      Cary earned his shihan (master instructor) grading in my sokeship art of juko-ryu iai-jutsu/ken-jutsu, and, like all head founders, he developed his own sword kata. His forms are a reflection of what he feels his sword art should represent. It is my opinion that he has done a fine job in this respect.

      —ROD SACHARNOSKI, DAI-SOKE, TENTH DAN

       President, Juko-Kai International

       Ninth Dan Hanshi, Seidokan Karate, Kobudo and Toide

      Preface

      This book was originally designed as a manual for my own students. I hope it will become an invaluable resource for all students of kobu-jutsu, and certainly for those who are studying some form of iai-jutsu or ken-jutsu.

      I will commence by taking the reader through what I term a brief history of Japan. Next, we will examine two major forms of the samurai fighting arts, which in Japanese are known as kobu-jutsu: the sword techniques of iai-jutsu and ken-jutsu, the drawing of the samurai sword and samurai sword fencing. These evolved by empirical means alone, as the samurai reflected upon their experiences in battle, and honed their technique by applying lessons learned using the battlefield as a laboratory.

      Last, we will delve deeply into Fukasa-Ryu iai-jutsu and ken-jutsu, one modern ryu (style) of iai-jutsu and ken-jutsu that is deeply rooted in some of the oldest extant kobujutsu. When I use the word “modern” here, it is not meant in any way to imply that this is some sort of inauthentic, completely subjective ryu that evolved from a path different from other styles of kobu-jutsu that continue to exist today. In using the term “modern,” I am attempting to accurately describe something that is taught and learned today, contemplated today, and continues to evolve today. Although it was named as a unique ryu in the modern era, modernity was not an intended component of this ryu, which respects and incorporates long-established kobu-jutsu techniques. This ryu’s ideology, saho (formal etiquette), and waza (techniques) have all been conscientiously preserved in the original forms of the ryu that have come before it.

      The Fukasa-Ryu way of iai-jutsu and ken-jutsu is the materialization and documentation of another samurai swordsman’s retrospection upon his life, a retrospection that began with kobu-jutsu study during my childhood and remains a driving force manifesting itself in both my career and my personal life. In writing this book, I am not purporting to reinvent the wheel. I am, however, taking a painstaking look at a variety of well-made wheels and retrofitting them to a more modern car.

      In recent years, the samurai sword has undergone one of the greatest transformations in its long history. While once used by a select class of warriors on the battlefield, it has now found its way into lives and classrooms around the world, as a tool for self-betterment, learning, and reflection.

      Samurai sword training can have a positive effect on the body by calming the mind while simultaneously exercising the muscles. The complete focus it requires turns practice into a form of meditation through movement. On a physical, muscular level, samurai sword practice can build strength and endurance and can burn calories, just like any other comparably sustained, rigorous form of exercise.

       Chapter 1

      The History of the Samurai Sword

      The samurai sword as we know it today evolved as a practical weapon used regularly in battle. As the needs of Japan’s warriors changed and evolved over more than a thousand years of history, so too did their armaments. This development of the samurai sword is often organized into four key periods: Chokuto, or Ancient Sword; Koto, or Old Sword; Shinto, or New Sword; and Shin-shinto, or Modern Sword.

      Although today the samurai sword is used for different purposes—for exercise and relaxation, for meditation and important lessons of discipline—understanding its history is an important part of understanding the modern methodology of its use.

      CHOKUTO OR ANCIENT SWORD PERIOD

      The birth of Japan, like the birth of the samurai sword, is shrouded in myth and legend. We begin our journey through Japanese history with a warrior named Jinmu, who, perhaps during Christ’s lifetime, sailed from the Kyushu Islands to Honshu, the central and largest of the four main islands of Japan. Jinmu would become the first emperor of Japan, after defeating the hostile tribes inhabiting Honshu’s Yamato Province.

      Legend tells us that this brave man was endowed with “spirit from the gods.” But even the gods couldn’t bring stability to Japan: constant struggles for power and control of land would bring down emperor after emperor.

      During the period extending through the ninth century of the Common Era, weapon making in Japan was based mostly on designs created by swordsmiths of Chinese origin and, to a lesser degree, craftsmen from Korea and Japan. The swords they created would likely have been of the Chokuto, straight-edge type, modeled after the one-handed jien (“sword,” in Chinese) or ken (Japanese pronunciation), with straight, double-sided blades. In 645 CE, the Taika Reform established the supremacy of the imperial family, making the emperor the absolute ruler of all Japan. In 710, the capital of Japan was established in the Yamato Province at Nara, marking the beginning of the Nara period (710–784). Japanese nationalism slowly gathered momentum, setting the stage for a great leap in Japanese sword design.

      According to legend, a swordsmith named Amakuni (circa 700 CE) observed scores of samurai he had outfitted returning from battle with broken blades. Saddened by the flaws in his work, he sought to produce a superior tool that would return unscathed from the heavy use typical during battle. Amakuni and his son prayed for spiritual guidance, disappeared into his shop, and emerged about a month later with superior ore and tempering methods that resulted in what would become known as the first “samurai swords.” But new materials and methods were not Amakuni’s only contribution to the development of the samurai sword: purportedly, he was the first to create the superior one-sided, curved tachi blade.

      Parallel to the refinement of sword-making skills, a myriad of combat techniques proliferated from experience with the sword on the battlefield, as well as in individual duels between samurai who employed the grand weapon. Its arc shape not only gave it martial prowess in terms of sword strength, but also enabled its user to draw the weapon much more efficiently than the straight-edged type. With it, samurai could draw and fight at a moment’s notice, unlike those armed with the older, long and clumsy straight blades. Amakuni’s modification of the samurai sword was perfectly timed: With Japan’s growing nationalism came the need for augmentation of samurai sword production, in order to meet the needs of the national army which defended the emperor against potential usurpers.

      But this new blade was more than just a weapon—it was the hallmark of a growing warrior culture that would influence every factor of life in Japan for hundreds of years. Who could have imagined that this single accomplishment by one Japanese swordsmith and his son would be instrumental in elevating the perception of Japan in neighboring communities such as China and Korea and, most importantly, in the minds of the Japanese people, who had formerly perceived themselves as inferior to the Chinese across the sea?

      KOTO OR OLD SWORD PERIOD

      The samurai sword would only become more important during what is known as its Koto period (900–1530). Civil unrest was fostered by the extravagant habits of the Fujiwara clan, whose daughters married their way onto the throne of the imperial family. A period of lawlessness marked the end of their avaricious one-hundred-year reign, as their greed (rather than devotion to duty, the hallmark of more successful Japanese rulers) enabled the Minamoto and Taira samurai clans to usurp Fujiwara power and reestablish order. It was during this time, about 200 years after Amakuni manufactured his samurai sword, that Yasutsuna, a swordsmith in Hoki Province, would “perfect” the sword. He utilized painstakingly chosen iron sand and ore, incorporating high-heat tempering techniques