How to connect the Japanese Sword from the draw to the cut!  This month we will be covering the "furikaburi" or the movement of raising the sword between the nukitsuke (draw) and the kiritsuke (cut). This movement should be a smooth, circular, non-stop continuous connection of the two techniques.  There are nine points in this motion that are covered one by one.

• Bring the right elbow in toward the body
• Bring the right hand across at the same level it finished nukitsuke at
• Bend the wrist inward as the hand is coming across
• The right hand stops just inside the center line of the body
• The sword is angled upward outside the left shoulder with the cutting edge beginning to turn forward toward teki
• The left hand returns the saya to its' original start position
• The right hand begins upward to the Jodan or high position
• The left hand follows along and joins the right hand on the tsuka
• The left hand anchors at the front of the forehead a fist away with the right hand above it

There are also several drills to define and improve your technique starting with the 2 step  bundling drill. This drill shows what each hand is doing and when it is doing it!  The next drill, named the first position continuity drill is designed to prevent people from stopping the sword at its high point before it drops into the attack.

I cover these points and more in the second chapter of the DVD video based on Muso Shinden Ryu Iaido with the title "Secrets of Japanese Swordsmanship - The Hidden Movements".  Although the video is based on the MSR, the many of the points are universal and can be applied to any style you may practice.    The video took the 5 major movements of the sword in order as they appear in the kata and detailed them individually point by point. The video begins with the Nukitsuke, containing 25 points and continues through the furikaburi, kiritsuke, chiburi and noto. As I said in May's blog, I believe that in order to develop ones technique first they have to understand how their technique works! Without this understanding there is no path to mastery of the Sword and sadly no functionality in its' movements. There is no free, flowing reaction to teki (enemy) and consequently no  "Mushin".  Loosely translated,  Mushin means action without thought. Engagement without thought is essential to successfully reacting to an opponents challenges.

​It is my hope that through this series on the "points of technique" of the Sword that I might shed some light on the inner mechanics of how each of these 5 essential movements is done. I am attaching a youtube clip for your convenience to follow along if you would like to see this info as well as read it.  The video details the furikaburi and the positions of the sword as it moves from the draw through the upward position and down into the cut.

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I hope that you will find these points useful in your training! If you have any questions feel free to reach out to me through the contact page  and I will be happy to help!

​​You can find the Secrets of Japanese Swordsmanship "The Hidden Movements" at Mountain Teachings.
                                           The "Hidden Movements" of Iaido 
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Recently, I produced a DVD video based on Muso Shinden Ryu Iaido with the title "Secrets of Japanese Swordsmanship - The Hidden Movements".  Although the video is based on the MSR the points are universal and can be applied to any style you may practice.    The video took the 5 major movements of the sword in order as they appear in the kata and detailed them individually point by point. The video begins with the Nukitsuke, containing 25 points and continues through the furikaburi, kiritsuke, chiburi and noto. I felt that in order to develop ones technique first they have to understand how their technique works! Without this understanding there is no path to mastery of the Sword and sadly no functionality in its' movements. There is no free, flowing reaction to teki and consequently no  "Mushin".  Loosely translated,  Mushin means action without thought. Engagement without thought is essential to successfully reacting to an opponents challenges.

​It is my hope that through this series on the "points of technique"  of the Sword that I might shed some light on the inner mechanics of how each of these 5 essential movements is done.

​Let's start with the Nukitsuke. Drawing the sword from the scabbard directly to the opponent. I have isolated the Yokoichimonji (horizontal draw) into 2 parts. The first part of the draw covers everything that is happening as the sword moves through and releases from the saya (scabbard). The second part is the movement of the sword as it travels upon release from the saya to the target. The first half breaks down into 15 points while the second has 10.

I am going to cover 4 of the 25 points in todays discussion. Three of them are done with the left hand before the sword releases and the fourth one is done with the right hand during the cut. Please pay close attention to the left hand points as most of the focus in the draw is usually on just the right hand.   I am attaching a youtube clip for your convenience to follow along if you would like to see this info as well as read it.  
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​                                         First Part
​​​Point one - the left hand must pull the saya, back and away, off sword as the sword is moving forward! To often this is overlooked and the left hand remains locked in place.
​Point two - the left hand must actively keep the sword from binding while it is moving forward by pressing the saya lightly inward especially as the sword is nearing the last third of the saya.
​Point three - the first pad of the index finger and thumb of the left hand lightly pinch the mune (back of the blade) gently as the sword moves forward from the saya into the release.
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                                      Second Part
​Point four-the right wrist is alive and pressing the sword to the outside as the right hand moves from left to the right on a horizontal line. The feeling is as if you are pressing the wrist to the outside toward the  outer side of your forearm.

​I hope that you will find these points useful in your training! If you have any questions feel free to reach out to me through the contact page  and I will be happy to help!

​You can find the Secrets of Japanese Swordsmanship "The Hidden Movements" at Mountain Teachings.
                                                                   Just click on the cover below!​​

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