A Brief History of Japanese Swordsmanship

Japan is a unique country from many points of view, and its long military history has provided an unequaled opportunity for the development of weapons and fighting arts. With nearly two thousand years for the Japanese cultural penchant for organizing and refining to act upon these arts, the results today are a number of highly specialized disciplines, including jujutsu, judo, aikido, karatedo, kenpo, iaido, kendo, batto-jutsu and numerous others. All have long historical roots, systematized training methods, and a philosophical component, but none are older than jujutsu (considered the mother of all modern Japanese fighting arts) and iaido. Many historians argue that it is impossible to study the history of Japan without studying the history of its swords.

Indeed, swords have existed in Japan for its entire historical period, if we can believe the archeological evidence. Short, straight swords imported from China and Korea are among the earliest weapons found in historical sites around Japan. After 200 BC, when these swords first appeared, the Japanese began making their own, and by around 700 AD they would be making the first of what are now considered the finest swords ever made anywhere in the world.

The person considered responsible for making the first vast improvements in Japanese sword design and manufacture was a smith named Amakuni. Like others in his profession, he was responding to the huge demand for weapons made by local, provincial and national leaders. There were almost constant regional conflicts over land rights and issues of power and, when not warring among themselves, it seems the early Japanese were invading the Korean peninsula, China, or defending against invaders from those places. Any leader with a supply of superior weapons would have been at a great advantage, so there was a constant, long-term effort to find sword makers who could improve the craft. The most devoted smiths made the quest for the perfect blade into a lifetime's pursuit, and there are men today who still devote their lives to this art.

The long sword in Japan has seen three major incarnations, and for each type of sword there has been a fighting style to match its shape. The early blades, called chokuto or "straight swords," tended to get longer as metallurgy techniques improved and, though not many specifics are known about the methods of wielding these weapons, the extra length without any significant increase in weight certainly provided a reach advantage for their owners. The handle size of these blades suggests that they were held in one hand, and the proliferation of two-edged blades suggests a thrusting and hacking fighting style common to two-edged blade fighting around the world.

The first major change in the shape of the sword came during Amakuni's time, perhaps made by Amakuni himself. It was found that a curved sword could be drawn from the scabbard more quickly and could provide a more effective cutting angle, so forging methods were developed to make a curved blade at least as strong as the earlier straight ones. These swords, called tachi, were extremely long, some nearing four feet, and were generally used by soldiers on horseback. The long, curved blade was ideal for a sweeping draw and slash against opponents on the ground or mounted upon other horses.

Later in Japan's history, most soldiers found themselves doing battle on foot, or engaging in individual combat against one another. For such men, the tachi were too long to be drawn or wielded comfortably, so a shorter sword was developed. This sword was the katana, and it is the sword that most modern iaido systems employ in practice. Katana are generally between two and four feet in length and, though curved, have a less pronounced arc than the tachi. They can be efficiently drawn from the scabbard into position for a horizontal, diagonal or vertical cut, and the curve of the blade lends itself well to the efficient slashing cut characteristic of iaido.

Evidence exists that swordsmen were engaging in single combat in Japan up until the Meiji Restoration in 1868. After the Restoration, swordsmanship went into a general decline, but there were a number of schools that perpetuated the art, usually called iaijutsu, kenjutsu or batto-jutsu at that time. The emphasis in these schools was preservation of the techniques that swordsmen had practiced before 1868.

As the society gradually adapted itself to the new, peaceful era, teachers of the martial arts began to reconsider the spiritual benefits of training in budo and to make these the primary focus of their teaching. Though it is true that Zen and other philosophical doctrines had always been a part of the education of the samurai, after all practical need for fighting skills had disappeared some teachers realized that, just as certain concepts from these doctrines could inspire in a warrior a better state of mind for doing battle, correct practice of the art in the absence of war naturally gives rise to the state of mind that is sought by practitioners of Zen. It had also been noted that long-time practitioners of the fighting arts often became the most insightful and gentle of human beings. So it was that many budo schools began to teach that martial arts training was not a means of learning how to fight, but a tool for perfecting the character of its students. The motto of the Eishin-Ryu iaido system expresses this same thought:

          Iai does not enable one to kill people,
              it is not meant for taking lives.
          It is expressly for the purpose of
              putting one's own life on a peaceful course.

The most recent chapter in this conversion from fighting method to philosophical art form came after World War II, when the occupying forces of the United States forbade the Japanese from practicing their traditional fighting arts. In their efforts to get permission to practice again, various associations of teachers wrote new bylaws specifying that their arts were not meant for the taking of human life, but were means of preserving traditional culture and educating people. In concert with this effort, and with the overall change in emphasis in training, many schools changed the name of their arts. While they originally used the suffix jutsu, which means "art" or "technique," these schools began to employ the suffix do, which means "path" or "way." Thus jujutsu became judo, kenjutsu became kendo, and iaijutsu became iaido. The connotation of the "do" ending is that the art form is a way of life, a training method with philosophical benefits that extend to every aspect of an individual's makeup and have a profound effect for his or her entire lifespan.

Concepts which supplement the spiritual training of the martial artist have found their way into our modern budo vocabulary. Kiai, or the union of spiritual energies, is well known. Zanshin, the visible and invisible presence of spiritual energy, is another concept central to correct practice. Reishiki, etiquette, is vital to keep practice safe and efficient. Bushido, the code of the samurai, infuses all aspects of martial arts training. Without these and other concepts to guide training, Japanese martial arts become little more than physical fitness or fighting methods, and practice of the archaic arts such as iaido and kyudo, which offer no self-defense applications, would be difficult to justify. As historical art forms, however, with the cultural aspects intact, these arts are rewarding to practice for an entire lifetime.

How to Bow

All traditional martial arts practice begins and ends with the bow. The bow (rei) is a symbol of respect for the traditions and humility in the face of the great teachers that necessarily precede one in the art. Bowing to another person does not indicate that one is worshipping that person, as some students of the martial arts have complained. Instead, the bow shows that both parties are willing to put aside any differences and cooperate in practice for a time. The rei also serves to denote the start and end of practice so that everyone involved is prepared to begin. It is easy to imagine the disastrous consequences if a student of iaido simply pulled out his sword and began practicing without giving any warning to the others in the group.

There are three major types of bow in the Eishin-Ryu iaido system: the standing bow to the shomen (the front of the room, where some objects or pictures representing the traditions of the art are kept, called the kamiza, meaning "upper seat"), the seated bow to another person or to the teacher, and the seated bow to the sword. In all three, the sword is temporarily moved from a "live" position to a "safe" position to indicate the swordsman's lack of aggressive intent. As a part of understanding the overall use and strategy of the sword, it is important to understand when the sword is in a position to be used and when it is not. Whenever the scabbard is held in the left hand, making the handle of the sword available to the right hand, the sword can be drawn, so any such position is considered aggressive or, at the very least, alert (virtually all swordsman are right-handed). Whenever the sword is in a position that would make it difficult to draw (held by the scabbard in the right hand, for example), the swordsman is considered non-aggressive, and this position is used for most bows.

This is similar to the display position for swords on a rack: the handle points to the left. One way to decide whether or not a school is worth attending is by checking the position of any swords on display. If the handles point to the right, there's a good chance that the head of the school lacks knowledge of traditional swordsmanship.

In the standing bow, one holds the sword by the scabbard in the left hand. One then deliberately moves it out of this aggressive position by turning the handle toward the right, grasping the scabbard in the right hand, and finally holding the sword at the right side of the body with the right hand, handle pointing backwards, completely out of reach. The bow is performed with the sword remaining in this position and only after the bow is the weapon moved back into the left hand.

In the seated bow, performed in front of another person or a teacher, the sword is again moved from the left hand to the right hand, and this time set down at the right side of the body with the handle forward, directly in front of the right hand in a position from which it would be difficult to draw. When this bow is complete, the sword is usually moved directly into position for the torei(bowing to the sword), without being put in an aggressive position in between.

During the torei, the sword is placed directly in front of the student with the handle to the left, a non-aggressive position. It is also worth noting that the omote, or "face" of the sword, is down when it is set properly for the torei. Though the two sides of the blade may seem identical, the side which faces the left when the sword is held in two hands (or faces the kurigata when inserted in the scabbard), is considered the front, and that is the side shown when the blade is displayed on a rack. When the omote is down during the torei, the cutting edge faces the practitioner, so there is no danger of offending anyone facing him by pointing the edge in their direction. Paying close attention to all these details helps develop a keen awareness of the blade's position; a necessary skill for an iaidoka.

One can detect the influence that the sword arts have had on other martial arts by watching traditional practitioners of aikido and karate when they bow. Most aikido teachers, and many karate teachers, bow by moving their left hand down to the mat surface before the right hand. This is an emulation of the early swordsman, who wanted to keep the right hand ready in case some danger arose during the course of the bow. By retaining the older tradition, these teachers focus on the readiness aspect of the bow, cultivating alertness in their students.

The correct attitude to have during the bow is one of relaxed alertness, mixed with humility. Bowing is a time to focus concentration and to put aside thoughts of other matters, since wielding a sword is dangerous and requires one's full attention. When bowing to the kamiza or to the teacher, remember that no practice would be possible at all without the traditions and the teaching lineage that lead to you. Always rise from a bow a second later than the teacher and any senior students to show respect for their higher position. Try to maintain an awareness of your immediate environment on all sides. Awareness is one of the most important qualities of a swordsman!