Mike Brewer

Does anyone here study any of the various Japanese sword arts like Iaido, Battodo, kenjutsu, etc.? I know the basic principles of each, but my question is more theoretical than practical. If you train in these arts, why do you do it? What makes the Japanese sword call to you as a good way to spend your training time?

I mean, there's not much practical "street value" in learning the samurai sword, and in terms of fighting, there's certainly much better and more direct ways to learn, so I have to assume that a great many people study these arts for reasons outside the normal self-defense motivations we see in other arts. I'd be really interested to know more about them.

Thanks in advance.

jubaji

Its sort of a meditation-like deal. Self-cultivation and all that stuff.

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Hardball

I studied kenjutsu because it was required for japanese jujitsu. At first I enjoyed it but after I hurt my rotor cuff I hated sword. We only used the wooden sword.

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The Way of the Warrior is Practice. Daily practice, accumulate practice minute by minute, hour by hour and day by day. {Book of 5 Rings} Mike Brewers 2008 Sit up challenge 23,000/100,000 running balance.(Crunches) Kicks 6,000/100,000

Mike Brewer

Yeah, I kinda gathered. However, I'm so used to meditations that focus on specific issues one wants to resolve, it's a little hard to comprehend the benefits of meditating on an ancient sword art. Is there something specific that it cultivates (or that it intends to cultivate)?

I really like the idea that sword arts emphasize the finality and lethality of a sword blow, and I am impressed with most dojos' willingness to admit the impracticality of the art rather than try to shoehorn it into a self-defense need it really doesn't serve. I can see some benefits in training something that gets your mind around serious consequences (and presumably, an equally serious pursuit of the ability to dish out and avoid said consequences), but since I have no experience in such things, I wondered if someone else might be able to expound a little more?

Michael Wright

I try to work on my sword at least once a day. Its key to maintain a firm grip near the hilt, otherwise as Hardball says it can cause fatigue in the shoulder region. I too enjoy the finality of the event, and especially like to meditate on the notion of a swift, hard blow.

Tant01

It's not much of a secret that Aikido and Judo both have very close historical ties to Japanese Kenjutsu and Tantojutsu.

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While the old form, jujutsu, was studied solely for fighting purposes, Kano's new system is found to promote the mental as well as the physical faculties.

T. Shidachi, 1892

jubaji

That's not what you are meditating on.

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Mike Brewer

Not very Zen, then, eh? Do this thing which requires the utmost attention and mindfulness (swinging around a 4 foot razor blade), but meditate on other things?

Can you explain a little, Jubaji? It really is something I'd like to better understand and I'm not trying to be a dick. It's just that my decidedly Western and non-traditional mind, it's beyond me at present. I'm as much an idiot about the Japanese sword arts as Dick Hardman is about...well, everything. (Sorry Dick. I'm just messing with you. )

jubaji

I'm afraid not. If I did, zen you wouldn't get it.

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Mike Brewer

Aww, horseshit. You just don't know any better.

Seriously, though. If you have something you could recommend as far as reading material, etc., I'd appreciate it. I'm thinking seriously about taking up some kind of kenjutsu or iaido, specifically because I think it might be a useful meditation I could identify with. But I don't want to waste my time with something that doesn't fit my life and ideals. I figure by now, you folks know enough about my personal philosophies to put advice in worthwhile context. I am after all a rabid American, and I am not attracted to the whole Japanese culture aspect that draws so many of the D&D freaks into sword arts. To me, it's a matter of finding something with utility in my philosophical and moral studies. In that respect, I identify with the Japanese arts as a whole, and the sword arts in particular.

Given the broader picture, can you do better than that bullshit you just posted?

jubaji

Bullshit is a large part of my academic training, so you'll have to indulge me. As for books, you'll find that a lot of the published material on the subject is heavy on the cliches and aphorims and such crap. If you want to get a feel for what its about you should really give it a try, though I think you'll need a fair amount of time to make a fair asessment.

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Mike Brewer

Like I said, I intend to do that, but I don't know enough about the art to tell from the outset if I'm looking at a bunch of knobs or if the people teaching the class have something to offer. My problem is that all I have to go on is a fighter's background, so I'd inevitably go in looking for people who did real cutting and such, infusing "reality" attributes with something I never intended to be a reflection of reality in the first place.

Can you at least give me some suggestions as far as what to look for in a school that's "getting it right?"

jubaji

If you are constantly criticized and humiliated, you are in the right place.

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Mike Brewer

What if I have no sense of pride, and am nearly impossible to humiliate?

Mike Brewer

AHA!! So the thing you're meditatig about is not lopping a leg off one of those over-critical sonsofbitches with that giant razor you're swinging around! I get it! It's all about learning patience and restraint.