Katana Course Notes

This course is a one day introduction to the Japanese sword for jitsu grades.

• Why study sword work ?
• Physical Caracteristics of the katana.
• Handling the katana.
• Safety.
• Wearing.
• Gripping.
• Posture.
• Iaido.
• Drawing.
• Cutting.
• Cleaning.
• Resheathing.
• Kendo.
• Sword Etiquette.
• Glossary.
• More Information.
• Martial Arts.
• Books.
• Links.

Why study swords ?

The usual weapons studied in jitsu clubs are knives, coshes and broken bottles. The value of these are obvious. But why swords?

In fact, sword work is quite practical.

• Swinging a sword around magnifies problems with balance and posture.
• Many techniques are good to practise with swords because they originated in sword work.
• Partner work increases your awareness of distance and timing.
• The kata can be practiced alone in a small space.

It is also an unfortunate fact that real sword attacks are happening more frequently.

There are also less tangible benefits. The sword is a link to the history of Jitsu, a beautiful objct to use and the ultimate symbol of the samurai.

Physical Characteristics of a Katana

The word "sword" covers a great many weapons. This course is concerned solely with the katana. The katana is a curved sword about 90cm long. It is sharp at the point and the convex edge.

The crucial feature of the katana is that it is extremely sharp. Sharper than anything you have ever handled. Sharp enough to cut you into two pieces without knocking you over. It is important to keep this in mind in order to understand the ways in which it should be handled.

The scabbard is a wooden tube. It is not attached to the obi and although it should fit the sword snugly it must not impede the draw.

Handling the Katana

Safety

• Check your equipment before you use it.
• A bokken must not be split or splintred.
• An iaito must have a tight peg.
• Clothing should not have anything which might catch.
• Never cut towards anyone. It does not matter how far away they are. Adjust yourself so that you are cutting to the side of them. If you are training with other people, decide on a direction and all cut the same way.
• Look before you cut.
• Do not train with people behind you.
• If you do not understand something, do not do it.

Wearing a katana

Unless you are Conan or Xena, the sword is worn horizontally through the obi. The obi itself should be as long and as wide as possible and is worn under the hakama. The scabbard slides in front of your belly button comes out of the left hakama "pocket".

Check points

The obi should be tight enough to take the weight but loose enough to allow movement. To stop the katana sliding out when you move, grip the top of the scabbard with your left hand and put your thumb onto the guard about 45° from vertical.

If you do make a mistake and the sword falls out, just let it go. You might look foolish but the temptation to grab a moving blade must be resisted.

The Grip

The katana is held in both hands with the right hand nearest the tsuba. The tip should be slightly raised and the sharp edge away from you.

The handle fits diagonally across your palms. Try to think "fishing rod" rather than "hammer". Separate your hands so that there is as much contact with the handle as possible. It is common to exaggerate this with a bokken by curling the little finger of the left hand under the butt. For proper bound handles, the left hand goes slightly higher up so that it rests against the binding knot.

The grip is not tight but relaxed. The lower fingers grip most and the top ones hardly at all. If the sword is still, the tip should be pointed directly at the throat of whoever is opposite you.

When you swing the sword, the impetus comes from the left hand and control from the right. There should be no tension in your movements.

Do not forget your jitsu. Defences should always involve body movement. The sword deflects the attack away from the body. (There is never any attempt to bring the attacking blade in like western fencing).

Posture

Again, do not forget your jitsu. Stay balanced at all times and keep your back as straight. Set your height and keep it, even if you are just walking.

Common faults include :

• Leaning forwards.
  Avoid this by keeping your head up and your shoulders back. When your shoulders have to move, push your hips with them.
• Twisting the body.
  This is usually caused by standing with your toes pointing in different directions. It is bad because with a two handed weapon, the strongest cutting line is straight ahead. Keep this cutting line towards the enemy.
• Following the sword.
  Keep control of it. It should move in graceful arcs which bring it back to you.
• Looking at the sword.
  Look at your enemy! Dropping your eyes makes you instantly vulnerable.

Introduction to Iaido

Iaido covers four general categories of sword technique - drawing (nukitsuke), cutting (kiritsuke), cleaning (chiburi) and sheathing (noto).

Nukitsuke

As soon as you have made the decision to draw, put your right hand to the top of the handle and your left hand to the top of the scabbard. Beak the seal by pushing the guard away with your left thumb.

Now draw smoothly by simultaneously moving the handle forwards and the scabbard backwards until the blade if free. The sword can be used straight away with the right hand. The left hand moves forwards to return the scabbard to its place and then straight to the sword.

Check points

• Do not look down, remember that you are under attack.
• Do not be too keen to get a full grip at the start or you will have trouble pushing the handle away.
• The movement must be straight forwards along the line of the scabbard.
• Make sure that the left hand is doing its fair share or you will end up leaning forwards.

The movement must be as smooth and controlled as you can make it - not as fast as you can make it. The sword must be free of the scabbard before it can move in any other way. Any deviation will at least cause friction and may cause the blade to cut into or even through the scabbard. Your fingers will not even slow it down.

Kiritsuke

Sharp as it is, the blade will only cut if it is continually moving. Cutting movements need to be large and circular with the force of the whole body behind them. For an overhead cut, the movement is like casting a rod for fly fishing, the power comes from the left arm only. The katana comes forwards in a wide arc, with the maximum extension at about 45° up. The actual cutting is done on the way back rather than on the way out.

As you swing, it is essential to push your hips forwards. This keeps your back straight and puts more of your body weight behind the cut. This use of the hara (body centre) is very important in sword work.

To halt the swing, tighten your fingers from the little one up and twist your grip in slightly as if you were wringing a cloth.

Check Points

• The movement must be a large natural swing - tense muscles will spoil this.
• If the cut is good there will be a satisfying swoosh.
• Your back should stay straight and there should be no hunching of the shoulders.
• The tip should not wobble.

Chiburi

If a bloody sword is resheathed, it will stick there and be useless. Removal of excess blood is done either by shaking (chiburi) or wiping (chinugui). This operation must not be regarded as a formality. It should be done deliberately and menacingly. Above all, it must be done without showing any sign of weakness or lack of alertness.

The point here is that you are performing for the benefit of any onlookers who might be waiting for an oppertunity to attack. So, at the very least, you must not look down.

Noto

To begin putting the sword away, place your left hand on your hip and follow the scabbard up to the mouth. Then swing the sword firmly backwards. This movement is started by the hips and is done by the wrist, not the elbow. At the same time, bring the mouth forwards so that your hands meet. In this position, the back of the blade touches the left hand directly over the mouth of the scabbard. The back of the rest of the blade touches your upper left arm.

From here, both hands move in opposite directions simultaneously. The left hand maintains contact with the blade at all times until the point drops into the scabbard mouth. Now the scabbard comes up to horizontal and the hands come back together.

Check Points

• Never glance downwards.
• Keep the contact between your left hand and the back of the blade.
• Hold the handle lightly so that the point drops into place when it is ready.
• Convey the impression that the sword is going away reluctantly and can spring out at any moment.
• Move both hands, not just the right. Think of the movement as putting the scabbard onto the sword.

If you make a mistake, do not try to recover, do not glance down. Just move the sword back out in front of you and start again.

Introduction to Kendo

Kendo is a modern martial sport derived from katana fighting. Like western fencing, it developed in responce to the need to practice safely. Iaido schools taught distance and timing with two-man kata using bokken. A bokken though is a weapon in its own right and is too dangerous for a mock fight.

The solution to this problem was the development of armor and bamboo weapons. The armor is based on battlefield armor. The shinai is a bundle of bamboo strips tied togather.

Further safety is provided by the rules of contest. Cuts and thrusts are only allowed to specific areas. Even then, they only score points if the judges are satisfied with the quality and sincerity of the attack.

Kendo has long been taught in Japanese schools and is hugely popular there. Compared to most martial arts, it is expensive to take up because of the equiptment. This means that its international spread is quite slow.

Etiquette

Sword etiquette is a complex subject which is beyond the scope of this course. For our purposes, it is enough to say that almost anything you do with a katana can be interpreted as a threat.

A good example of this is the formal rei in which the katana is removed and laid down in front of you. Laying down the sword with the sharp edge in front of you with the handle to the right is very unfriendly. It conveys the impression that you consider the people around you a threat and are only removing the sword because you have to. Laying it down with the sharp edge towards you and the handle to your left is the exact opposite. It expresses trust and as little hostility as possible.

Glossary

More Information

Martial Arts

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Books