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The
principles of this modern battlefield sword art are drawn from the
techniques and philosophy of the samurai era.It is based on the art of
drawing a sword from a standing position, but also incorporates some of the
mental and spiritual elements that governed the daily lives of swordsmen of
ancient Japan.
Japanese army officers were later issued new swords shaped more like katana.
However, not all officers had sufficient background in kenjutsu to deploy
these weapons in combat. Consequently, in 1925, a simplified form of sword
technique was devised that emphasized the most essential points of drawing
and cutting. For instance, the army iai-battō kata differ from those of many
koryū sword schools in that all techniques are practised from a standing
position. Koryū schools included a number of techniques executed from
seiza(sitting). Also, this modern ryū has an unusually strong emphasis on
tameshigiri, or "test-cutting." Swordsmen involved in developing this
military system included Nakayama Hakudo and Sasaburo Takano. |
