The Sword and The Mind and The Blog

It has been MANY months  since my last major post about the Heihō Kadensho, Yagyū Munenori's kenjutsu treatise. In that time, I've received a lot of feedback and commentary.  I thought it would be helpful for my readers if I responded to those comments before digging into more of the techniques and philosophy of Shinkage-ryū. Broadly speaking, this feedback pertains to foot position and posture with the sword. This update has been sitting in my editing bin for awhile, so a lot has happened in that time. Among other things, I entered a Martial A&S Show and Tell last week! I wasn't able to join the live video discussion, but I did send in a short video which the laurels graciously responded to. In that presentation, I recapped some points of my research that I've already published on this blog. I also delivered a research statement describing how I'm trying to introduce more widespread kenjutsu scholarship into SCA Rapier Combat while aiming to be respectful, a...

Before we launch into the first volume of the Heihō Kadensho,  I'd like to talk about two other historic documents that have helped form the Yagyū canon. These documents are as follows: Yagyū-ryū Heihō Mokuroku (Illustrated Catalogue of the Shinkage-ryū Martial Arts) ,          illustrations by Yagyū Muneyoshi (1601) with commentary by Matsudaira Nobusada (1707) Muneyoshi wrote the Illustrated Catalogue as a gift for his friend, the Noh actor Komparu Shichiro Ujikatsu. The text features illustrations of Yagyū stances by Muneyoshi and accompanying martial instruction written by Matsudaira Nobusada (then a student of Shinkage-ryu) at the request of Ujikatsu's descendants. Fudōchi Shinmyō Roku (Divine Record of Immovable Wisdom ) , Takuan Sōhō (17th century) Takuan likely wrote the Divine Record  as a letter to Yagyū Munenori. Sato speculates that it may have been written at the request of the shogun Iemitsu and was given to Munenori....

Hello and welcome to my first post about my primary field of study in the SCA! This is the first in a series of posts centered on reading and analyzing selections from historic Ko-ryū treatises. The term "Ko-ryū" (literally; "old school") refers to any Japanese school of traditional arts, though it can be used as shorthand to reference Japanese schools of traditional martial arts or "Ko-budō". There is a larger debate that can happen over which of these terms (Ko-ryū or Ko-budō) may be more appropriate here depending on whether I am focusing on reading Japanese martial treatises for their combative, moral, disciplinary, or aesthetic content. I cannot speak or write Japanese (much less classical Japanese) so, while that debate would be fascinating, it is out of my depth. For now, I will settle on the more general shorthand "Ko-ryū". Thinking ahead, it might be liberating to have a broader term. After all, this blog may expand from analyzing ...