1. Strategy
The
art of the sword can not be learned only by learning the pure techniques, it is
important to use your intelligence, and build up a strategy. First choose the
weapon you can use the best in the given situation. Never stuck at one
weapon. Use a katana (long sword) if possibel, use the wakizashit (short sword)
if needed, and use both if that situation comes.
When
blockin an attack, you will be only successfull if you have the right rythm. In
Jikishin Kage-ryu the inner timing, adapting to the movements of the enemy, and
"shadowing", anticipating and pretending them is the most important. It all
depends on your inner timing. If you posess this ability, than you can escape
the attacks, and your counterattac will be undefendable. You can develop and
expand this ability through training.
If you develop the
rythm, and you can adopt to the tempo of your enemy, you can hide your will into
the "shadow" of your mind. If you can hide your intentions, and can find out the
enemys', you will be the winner of your combat.
(Kage = shadow)
2. Stance
When
standig up to fight with your opponent, your posture of your body will talk
instead of you. Your body has to reflect your ultimate determination, spirit,
and the balance and calmness in you. Alwasy strive to perfect your stance when
practising. You have to achieve a rock hard balance. Don't show your enemy any
weak points.
3. The look
We
include any kind of vision in this category. Don't just see your opponent, but
sense him, and everything arond the both of you. Watch out for anything that can
help you, or set you back in your battle. If you lose your concentration, you
will lose rythm, and you will find yourself in disadvantage. This can be
fatal. Always keep your sight forward, look somewhere behind the eyes of
your opponent. Don't let him find out your intentions by the movements of your
eyes.
In Jikishin Kage-ryu kenjutsu, the true intentions
are always in the "shadows". You have to hide yours, but you have to expose the
opponents'. This is the essence of our school.
4. Techniques
You
have to be opened, to take in the teachings of your sensei. This is the only way
to become a master yourself. During practise, you have to belive in the
effectiveness of the techniques. But using them effectively is only up to you.
This can be achieevd through practise. Don't leave any day behind you without
practise.
History of Jikishin Kage-ryu
Kenjutsu
(translator: Péter
Ambrus)
Researchers date the beginning of
millitary training, and professional warriors to the 10th century. This is the
time, when kenjutsu (techniques of the sword) and its training first
appeared. Mostly those started to train, whose life were in close ties with
combats, since their life depended on the effectiveness of the attacks or blocks
they performed in a battle. The trainings were led by the most experienced
swordsmen, who later developed their own secret school of wielding the sword.
These schools wore the names of their founders, or they were named after a
special movement or a former style. The Jikishin Kage-ryu kenjutsu belongs to
one of the most ancient traditions in Japan, the origin of the school can be
dated back to the 15th century. This school was one of the most significant
sword schools in the Edo (1600-1867) and Meiji (1868-1911)
eras.
There were four schools in Japan, that most of the present schools
are originated from.
These are the following:
Tenshin Shoden Shinto-ryu Kenjutsu
Chuso-ryu
Kenjutsu
Kage-ryu Kenjutsu
Nen-ryu Kenjutsu
The Jikishin Kage-ryu Kenjutsu comes from a previous school,
Kage-ryu Kenjutsu. A samurai called Aizu Iko
(1452-1538) founded Kage-ryu in 1490 (the
school of shadow). He perfected, and tought his style around Japan. There
are evidences from 1525, that another samurai, Kumizume Ise no Kami
Nobutsuno (1508-1548) is teaching his own style, a form
of Kage-ryu kenjutsu. He called it Shinkage-ryu (the school of the new shadow).
The next great master in the line was Yamada Heizaemon, a talented student of a
Zen school, who founded the Jikishin Kage-ryu style in the 1560-s. Jikishin
Kage-ryu means 'the newest school of the ancient shadow'. He was denoting with
the name, to the ancestors, and expressing respect to his former masters.
Matsumoto Bizen no Kami Naukatsu was a famuos master
of this school, he also founded his own school firs called Kashima Shinryu, then
Kashima Shinden Jiki Shinkage-ryu. These schools can be found even today all
around the world. There are more variations like Jikishin Kage-ryu, Seito
Shinkage-ryu, etc.
The 14th grandmaster of Jikishin
Kage-ryu Kenjutsu was a famous swordsman of his time Sakakabira
Kenkichi (1829-1894), the personal bodyguard of the Shogun.
His two most talented adepts were Yamada Jirokichi and
Matsudaira Konen, who both studied the more
traditional ways of Jikishin Kage-ryu. The best apprentice of Konen was
Makita Shigekatsu (1849-1914), a young man from a
samurai family from Hokkaido. His name, and Jikishin Kage-ryu became famous on
the northern island in the times of the Japanese civil war in 1868. By
swordfighting, he was an expert of kyudo, Japanese archery.
He was the heir of the title of
grandmaster of Jikishin Kage-ryu, but unfortunately he was fighting a losing
battle against the Emperor in the revolution. The cast of the samurai was
disbanded, and he had to run. Later, he returned to Hokkaido, and opened his own
dojo, called Jikishin Kan Dojo. He was teaching various martial arts, not just
kenjutsu. His dojo was popular, in spite of the prohibition of katanas in
1867.
After Shigekatsu's death, the village of Atsuta
raised a black granite obelisk in his memory. This memorial can be seen today.
The family tradition has been taken by his grandson, Suzuki
Kimiyoshi (1934-). Kimiyoshi sensei is also a master of
Goju-ryu Karate and Jikishin Kage-ryu Kenjutsu.