Chanbara

By Dr. Ivica Zdravkovic, KIAI Founder

Also, there are numerous weapons and disciplines in Chanbara, out of which only a few may resemble pure child’s play. Kodachi (short sword replica) is used as a baton. Escrimadors have a better chance in the Kodachi division than experts in hanbojutsu, or experts with wakizashi. It is similar with choken (long sword replica) in the Choken Free division. This is not a common picture that we're used to seeing in Japanese sword arts. Still...if you watch "Rashomon" or any other such movie, you will also see (carefully choreographed) fights where the sword is used in a similar way. Wielding furiously with a one-handed (katate) grip was very common in the old days. In the Edo period when numerous styles were derived in a peaceful surrounding, we got piles of flowery techniques, which have basically NEVER been tested on the battlefield. (So, not all koryu are really applicable). In most other disciplines of Chanbara, there is a lot of technique involved. In Choken Ryote (long sword - double handed grip), it is almost the same as in kendo. To make it more illustrative, the current Grand champion of Europe is a young kendo black belt holder from France named Benjamin.

In the Nito discipline (kodachi in one hand, choken in the other) there is some whipping, but there is also a lot of tactics involved such as lots of maai, go no sen, sabaki, etc. In Choken Iai you get a tube 40 cm long, which simulates a saya (scabbard). You put it under your belt and place the choken inside, and then, whoever makes the first cut, wins. It is a very tactical "game." You are allowed to make only one draw/cut (nukitsuke/kiritsuke), and if you miss, your opponent can cut you - or he can even wait for you to draw first, evade your cut, and then you're doomed. (You may block, or run out and make jogai, or approach and prevent him from pulling his sword).

The Yari division is also attractive and technically demanding, and so is Tate Kodachi (shield on one hand and short sword in the other hand). Finally, there is Tanto, which is very complicated.

Now, all of this is "just a sport" (as if kendo and karate are not!). Fortunately, the creators of Chanbara are also kendo, iaido, battodo and kenjutsu sensei.

With Choken (long sword of Chanbara) you can do soe te and semme te, you can do suriage, you can do harai waza, kiri otoshi, etc. Soe te and semme te mean "assisting hand" and "pressing hand." You can push the "blade" of your sword the same as a real one and you can press the sword against a sword, the same as real ones in order to close the distance. Suriage means to “slide and rise,” which is to close the distance by raising his sword with yours and then pressing on him. Harai waza means “deflecting his sword with your sword,” which is a small "introductory" strike to remove his "blade" from the central line. Kiri otoshi means “dropping cut,” which is to cut over his sword in order to lower it down, so that you can approach safely and perform a thrust (tsuki). All of this illustrates that Choken provides most of the same technical and tactical options as in kendo or bokken kenjutsu sparring.

I do not doubt there are even more realistic approaches and methods, but Sport Chanbara is very good too. And, it teaches you the basics of swordsmanship in the same way that you can learn the basics of jujutsu in a judo club. Additional studies are required, but the foundations are there, and those are solid foundations.

If you visit the site of the International Sports Chanbara Association, you will see Tanabe sensei performing Kihon Dosa with Kodachi and with Choken, which is a pure distillate of Japanese swordsmanship. Kihon Dosa is a short kata where you perform only five basic attacks (strikes), but it hides dozens of important lessons. It teaches you te no uchi (grip), it teaches you kamae (guard), it teaches you shizei (stance), it teaches you okuri ashi (sabaki, moving your legs), it teaches you kiri undo (cutting practice), it teaches you kime and maai (energy focusing and distance), it teaches you kiai and kokyu waza (shouting and breathing), it teaches you uchi waza (basic strikes), it teaches you metsuke (eyes focusing), it teaches you reiho (ceremonies and etiquette), it teaches you nihongo (Japanese terminology), etc.

People compete in Kihon Dosa, and it is a basic requirement for exams in Chanbara (yes, there are kyu-dan grades in Chanbara too). Whoever has not seen and tried Kihon Dosa, does not know what Chanbara is all about.

I dare even comparing Chanbara with the latest fashion of Paint Ball Shooting. If you were a drill sergeant who is to prepare soldiers for some battlefield, would you rather train then them only by shooting with blanks and shooting on immovable targets from a standard firing-range, or would you also spend some time in the "game" of Paint Ball?

The best sentence I have ever heard about Chanbara was from MJER sensei from the USA who said: "I am pretty sure if Samurai had the Choken in the old days, they would use it in their training." This is absolutely true. Samurai were people of practical mind. After all, they also competed in their old dojo; if not, why would they invent bogu, fukuro shinai, etc.?

As for the "poor quality" of Chanbara champions, there are at least 8 disciplines in Chanbara, out of which only two, Kodachi and Choken Free, are "swinging around". Even in those two disciplines, it is EXTREMELY HARD to make a score, and once more, everything is based on good movement (sabaki), good distance (maai) and good timing (go no sen), the same as in many other sports, including karate, European fencing, kendo, etc. All World champions (Grand champions in the World Championships in Japan) so far were experienced in kendo, or were in Chanbara for at least a couple of years. The European champion (as already mentioned) is a black belt in kendo and a 6 year active competitor in Chanbara. I am not saying that someone cannot become a champion in just 6 months (there is a genius or two in every field), but to become a world champion you have to have more experience, especially when knowing what you must do to become a world champion (and I mean a Grand Champion, a winner over ALL winners in ALL disciplines). The average tournament in Chanbara requires for you to make at least 4 or 5 wins to achieve any medal, and a minimum of 5 or 6 wins for gold. The additional problem is that you MUST NOT receive a single strike during all these matches (no ai uchi either!), and you cannot win without making correct points.

Finally, here are a few more words about "reality". Most of the critics use this wrong deduction: fake weapons equal fake fight, sport rules equal useless game, or "toy weapons" equal "toy warriors." This "logic" could be transplanted to some other areas, and then we see how really disputable it is. For example, I could also say, boxing is a game where toy fighters use toy gloves, in which "padded fists" are made to replace real bare fists!?? Is that true? Of course it’s not true. Maybe boxing today is not even close to "real boxing" (if there ever was any such thing), but one can be pretty sure that any average boxer will do very well in a street fight. So, in light of this we have to ask ourselves: What do we actually want from sparring (and practice in general)? Blood and bruises; or fun, recreation, sport, and some art and tradition? If anyone wants to be a "real warrior," then some other drastic measures should be made. Such "reality-based, no-nonsense, modern-age swordsman" should pull out his shinken, insult and assault a couple of police officers in his town and then run high up in the forest mountains like Rambo. There's hardly anything more real than that. Same as a manhunt on a young outlaw Musashi in the famous novel by Eiji Yoshikawa.

And so, while the chase is on and the "real warrior" is finally experiencing all the horrifying sides of such reality, we will enjoy the safe and friendly surroundings of our Chanbara class...!

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