The Itto-ryu Bookof Oral RecollectionsForewordThe Ittō-ryū Book of Oral Recollections (Ittō-ryū Kikigaki, 一刀流聞書) was written by my grandfather,

Takano Mitsumasa. It records things said by his distinguished teacher of Ittō-ryū swordsmanship,

Nakanishi Chūbei Tanemasa, while my grandfather was studying under his tutelage.

The book covers all areas of teaching, is very detailed, and contains many useful sections, but parts of

it are repetitions of earlier sections or are incomprehensible to non-Ittō-ryū students. For this reason I

have chosen to exclude sections that are out of line with today’s modern way of life, and publish only

selected extracts.

- Takano Sasaburō

The sequence of trainingYou should train sword techniques obediently and sincerely, with no stiffness in the body or limbs.

In shiai [sparring with shinai], the body and hands should be kept relaxed and free from tension. In

kata [using bokutō], you should pay close attention to the techniques, feeling and maai.

Moreover, after training in this way, practise with habiki [blunt blades] should be conducted as though

you are engaged in combat using a sharp sword.

If you do not strictly train the body and harden the mind, then you will not be able to reach the level

where you can train freely with habiki. Training with habiki is only one step away from a fight with real

swords, so this training must be taken very seriously.

MaaiIn your everyday practice, you should pay close attention to maai. Even when you have no opponent,

you have maai. Although maai is of course affected by the length of your sword, it does not depend

solely upon it.

Maai may be difficult to understand, but it is simply one’s own kamae. It is the distance from within

which you can successfully strike and thrust.

When ippon-shōbu takes a long time, it is because combatants are taking care to establish correct

maai without rashly entering their opponent’s striking range.

Maai with real swordsIf you were to use a shinai of 2 shaku 3 sun 5 bu*, it would feel short for a shinai.

A bokutō of the above standard length feels longer than a shinai of the same length. Furthermore, if

you use a habiki of this length, it will once again seem longer than the bokutō.

You should be aware of this when studying maai with a shinken.

* The same length as a standard Ittō-ryū bokutō (not including the tsuka) – approx. 71.2cm. The length

of a adult’s modern kendo shinai is 3 shaku 9 sun (including the tsuka).

Ittō-ryū bokutō and shinai cut to the same length

How to act as uchidachiWhen practising with a partner of greater skill, you should make it appear as if you are avoiding

making contact, but in reality strike with full intent.

When practising with a partner of lesser skill, you should act as if you are really trying to strike them,

whilst in fact you are avoiding making contact.

Various technical pointsWhen the opponent steps forward with their right foot and cuts, you can strike them by moving to the

right and cutting them from that side.

When facing an opponent who strikes powerfully, you should attack them first.

Proper use of the sword tip to pressure your opponent is good for your own training. However, it can be

very unpleasant for your training partners.

If the opponent makes a shallow cut at your hands [i.e. with a short step in], your counter should be to

evade by stepping back. This is because stepping back is a shallow [i.e. short range] motion.

If the opponent makes a deep cut [i.e. with a long step in], you should counter with kiriotoshi.* In this

case, even if you try to evade, the opponent’s attack will still connect. Therefore, kiriotoshi should be

used.

In shiai, even if your mind and sword are both correct, you may still be struck by the opponent. When

the opponent initiates an attack, if you try too hard to utilise your own sword, it will stray to the side

and the opponent can use this opportunity to successfully strike. This should be studied deeply.

While you are facing off against an opponent and applying pressure, it is bad to impatiently attack

openings as soon as they present themselves. You should be patient, and keep firm pressure on the

opponent, forcing them into making an attack. If you initiate an attack, you open yourself up to a strike

from the opponent.

When your opponent is acting in a limp and unresponsive manner, if you adopt a similar facade

without allowing your mind to become dull and languid, your opponent’s resolve will weaken. During a

long bout, you should make your mind increasingly intense and focused. Then, while matching your

actions with the opponent, you should keenly apply pressure with the sword tip.

* Kiriotoshi is the core principle that underpins Ittō-ryū technique, strategy and philosophy. It is a

method of cutting ‘through’ an opponent’s strike, rendering it ineffective whilst delivering a strike of

one’s own. Ittō-ryū’s kiriotoshi is different to what is commonly referred to as kiriotoshi in kendo today.

Avoid defensivenessIt is vital to look at the opponent as though you are trying to kill him with your glare. However, this

does not mean looking at him with forceful eyes. Rather, you should brace your abdomen with a grunt,

filling it with power.

The essential point is to communicate to the opponent that you have power in your abdomen with this

grunt. Shouting at the opponent just means you will receive an attack. To merely hold your ground is

to go on the defensive, and should be avoided.

KakegoeIn shiai, kakegoe is used to indicate that you have found an opening to strike or thrust and are

attacking it. Kakegoe should not be used to try and draw an opponent out; rather, it ought to be used

when you have spotted an opening to strike or thrust. Simply shouting at your opponent is

disrespectful and should be avoided.

TaiatariDuring shiai, when you receive taiatari from your opponent, put power into your hips and make your

body light, like a piece of floating driftwood. Remain flexible so that you can smoothly deflect your

opponent to the left or right, diverting the force of their taiatari.

Regardless of if your opponent is large or powerful, you must not be in the least afraid of him. You

must always believe you can best him.

Also, if attempting to knock your opponent down or get him under your control, you must remain calm

and maintain the feeling that you can do as you please, whilst at the same time not letting your

opponent feel that he can act freely.

Points of victoryMost people think only of cutting an opponent with their sword, and are completely ignorant of how to

actually win in a duel. They are focused only on cutting the enemy.

It is dangerous to think only of cutting the opponent, while remaining oblivious of winning strategies

such as controlling the opponent’s sword with harikomi [entering by slapping], osae [pressing] or

makikomi [entering by winding]. After studying these points thoroughly, you will be able to attain

victory.

There is an Ittō-ryū teaching*:

Do not think merely of striking the enemy

Protect yourself and openings will naturally appear

Like shafts of moonlight through a hovel’s tattered roof

*This teaching is a poem attributed to Itō Ittōsai Kagehisa, the founder of Ittō-ryū.

Strike large,counter smallDuring training, it is said that when striking, you should make a large strike, and when stopping an

enemy’s strike, you must do so with a modest movement. If you do not, then when involved in a fight

with live blades, anxiousness will naturally make your attacks smaller, and your movements to counter

the strikes of your opponent will be too large.

Controlling your opponent with feelingIn shiai, if you utilise your sword tip freely, the opponent will unable to tolerate it. They will feel like

they cannot act freely, and will feel very uncomfortable.

If you suppress your opponent with feeling in this way, and give them a little leeway in which to

retreat, they will feel utterly powerless and will yield.

Respiration rhythmRespiration rhythm [kokyū – this indicates a relationship between the respiration of both participants]

is something you can come to understand through shiai.

When you strongly apply pressure from gedan your opponent will think you are going to thrust. If you

then deliberately hold back, in the opponent’s ensuing moment of doubt you have an opening in which

you can make a real thrust. This is the point of respiration rhythm.

Tanemasa sensei said:

“Watch a child sleeping. Think about how they are breathing, and how you are breathing. If your

breath out does not match when the child is breathing in, you are not controlling the point of

respiration.”

Don’t make others come to youIn your training, you should deliberately practise with difficult opponents. You should go to these

people and request to do keiko with them. If you allow them to ask first, you may feel unable to do

keiko with them, and wish you could postpone it until a later date. This will lend your opponent extra

confidence and vigour, and you will end up feeling completely overwhelmed.

In your training, you should not try to make other people come to you. Even if you do not know

anything about your opponent’s condition or technique, you should request to do keiko with them first

The two metsukeWhen facing an opponent in shiai, the two metsuke* are as follows. For opponents in jōdan, you should

watch the point from which they raise and lower their weapon [i.e. the hands]. Opponents in seigan

will raise and lower their kissaki, attempting to hide their intent. When they are going to strike, they

will raise the kissaki, and when they are going to thrust, they will lower it. Observing the kissaki, you

should watch for when the opponent moves the sword in a real attack**. In this way, the truth will

make itself known to you.

*‘Two Metsuke’ (futatsu no metsuke no koto, 二之目付之事) is an important teaching in Ittō-ryū and is

the first recorded in the Jūnikajō Mokuroku (the first document of transmission issued to students of

Ittō-ryū). On a basic level, it teaches that students should watch the hands and kissaki of the

opponent. What is described above is one application of the concept. Takano Sasaburō’s own writings

contain the same teaching – to look at the hands in jōdan, and at the kissaki in chūdan or gedan.

**Jitsu (実) in Japanese, meaning literally “truth.” Its counterpart is kyo (虚), “falsehood.” The ability to

discern between these two is the ability to read the intentions of one’s opponent.

Extract from a Hokushin Itto-ryu document explaining the teaching ‘Two Metsuke’

Do not rely on spirit aloneThe Kanaji Mokuroku* contains the line: “do not favour jōdan if you lack ability.” This means that if you

attempt to use confidence and a strong spirit to overcome a lack of sufficient training in a technique,

you will not be successful.

* The second of the major documents of transmission in Ittō-ryū.

Strong and weak pointsObserve your sword and the opponent’s sword as a single entity, and pay attention to the strong

points and weak points. Observing thus, you should put pressure on the weak point of the opponent’s

sword using the strong point of your own weapon.

Sticking to the opponentWhen sticking to your opponent* you should see them as being like sticky boiled rice, and be without

stickiness yourself. When you are engaged with the opponent’s stickiness and attack naturally, even if

you match with the opponent exactly, you will have points where you are stuck to the opponent and

where you are not. This should be studied carefully.

* In Ittō-ryū, ‘sticking’ to the opponent’s sword is often referred to as sokui-tsuke. In some ways, this is

similar in concept to tsubazeriai in kendo. However the position typically taken in Ittō-ryū is further

out, vying for control of the centre with your sword ‘stuck to’ the opponent’s. There are a number of

ways of writingsokui-tsuke but here the characters used are those for “quickly [prepared] rice.” More

precisely, ‘sokui’usually refers to rice that is boiled and then mashed to form a thick glutinous paste.

The three methods–so,gyo andshinThe three methods are as follows.* With sō you convey to the opponent, “that does not bother

me, that is no good,” smother his attack and defeat him. With gyō you immediately show the

opponent, “that is no good,” confront him aggressively and defeat him. With shin you immediately

strike down the opponent.

*The “three methods” (note: this term appears in the English translation for clarity’s sake; the original

text simply reads, “methods”) are known as sō (草), gyō (行) and shin (真) in Ittō-ryū and correspond to

gosen no sen, senzen no sen and sensen no sen** respectively. Sō, gyō and shin have a much broader

meaning than this in Ittō-ryū: in this case, however, they appear to refer to these three timings. The

terms are originally taken from calligraphy, where shin denotes standard, precise characters

(kaishotai), gyō denotes slightly looser, freer characters (gyōshotai) and sō denotes flowing script

where the form of the characters is very free (sōshotai).

** These methods have different names in different schools of swordsmanship. Here they are defined

as follows:

– Gosen no sen: you allow the opponent to move and then counter his attack.

– Senzen no sen: you strike in the instant the opponent begins his attack.

– Sensen no sen: you strike in the instant that the opponent thinks to attack, but before he can move.

Swordsmanship and agingIf older swordsmen try to compete with younger opponents and make large attacks, their posture and

grip will fail. This looks very poor. You should not care about being struck, and fence your opponent

using correct technique. If you do not conceal physical frailties in this way, others will take notice and

your status will suffer.

Older people may exert pressure with their sword tip but find their opponent’s mood and spirit does

not become tense. In this case you should make an opening with a technique and thrust, strike men, or

strike the left or right kote. In other words you should be able to adapt according to the opponent.

As you age, you will stop competing as much, and simply pay attention to surikomi [entering by sliding

in], harikomi [entering by slapping] and uchikomi [entering with a strike], becoming acquainted with

what you can and can’t do and only using the techniques you are capable with. This leads to areas of

excess and deficiency.

At the age of sixty-two I competed in a shiai. Somehow, my younger opponent managed to knock me

over with a thrust. Some people said that this was dangerous and that I should have been more

cautious. While they may not find themselves knocked over with thrusts as I was, these types of

people will be hit with strikes and thrusts at trifling moments. This is a ridiculous attitude which proves

they know nothing about fighting with a sword.

Various teaching pointsWhen working to raise the level of beginners, you should not worry about their footwork and so on, but

teach them about the correct position of the sword, the correct method of kiriotoshi and so on, so they

can smoothly and effectively perform these techniques. If you try to correct their footwork and body

movement, they will pay too much attention to this. It will make them have a tension in their chest and

be unable to use their hands smoothly. If you teach them to move their hands smoothly their footwork

and body movement will naturally become smooth too.

There is a saying: a one-eyed monkey laughs at a monkey that sees clearly. A teacher who sees things

in an unbalanced way will raise his students with the same biases, even though they may come to him

without biases of their own.*

If your frame of mind is corrected, your physical posture will become correct also. If your physical

posture becomes correct, the way you use your sword will become correct also.

People with the habit of raising their sword tip should correct their footwork and their sword tip will

naturally lower.

People with stiff shoulders should correct their footwork and their shoulders will naturally become less

tense.

People who become excessively fixated on observing the opponent’s state should correct their use of

the sword tip, and their observation of the opponent will naturally become correct.

*Takano Sasaburō explains this concept in terms of a one-eyed monkey whose children have two eyes,

but who keep one closed out of sympathy for their parent.

The vital pointPeople who are overly worried or concerned about a certain element of swordsmanship should stop

thinking about that point in particular, and look to correct the basics underpinning that element.

A folding fan* is the same – the pin that holds the fan together is vital, and must reach through all the

spines to secure them. This is why the pin of a fan is known as “the essential point.”**

*In Japanese, a folding fan (ōgi, 扇) is pronounced in the same way as ‘highest/secret teaching’ (ōgi, 奥

義) – this metaphor is likely a play on words to indicate that the basics underpin everything, even the

highest teachings.

**The word for the pin of a folding fan (kaname, 要) is also used to refer ‘the essential point’ of

something. It is written with the character for ‘necessary.’

Act according to your opponentIf you are stronger, act weaker. If you are weaker, act stronger. This means that if your opponent is

more skilled than you are, you should strike at them strongly and aggressively. If your opponent is less

skilled than you are, you should allow them to strike at you.

The process of teachingIn swordsmanship, the process of teaching is as follows: first, teach students to relax and lose tension;

when in the middle of their training, subject them to many hardships; finally, foster in them a

courageous spirit.

Beginners should be taught to strictly adhere to the correct kamae for the start of a kata (be it gedan

or seigan), the correct kamae for the end of a kata (be it gedan or jōdan), and the points where the

kata begins and ends.

Meanwhile, although it is the most important part, the point of attaining victory should at first be

ignored. Beginners should be made to focus strictly on the start and end of the kata. If from the start

they are fixated only on the point of victory they will acquire bad habits.

To use an example, if an inexperienced person constructs a box, prepares tobacco or a makes a plate,

even if they are very skilled, an expert will still be able to tell that it was made by an amateur.

Natural skill and correct methodologyIn swordsmanship, including the swordsmanship popular today*, even if a novice has a lot of natural

skill, they will not act in accordance with the correct methods of swordsmanship. They will therefore

not be able to handle a real sword effectively.

* Possibly a reference to the spread in shinai competition.

Striking and cuttingWhen a senior practitioner cuts the opening in an opponent’s kamae with a blade, we call this cut a

‘strike.’ Today, people do not understand the meaning of this and try to imitate the cutting motion of a

sword. This is of no use and does not aid in training.

Controlling the pace

When learning to play the flute, at first the calmer elements are taught. Later, the faster-paced

elements are progressively introduced. Contrary to what one might expect, the timing of the calmer

and more leisurely-paced elements is more difficult. In swordsmanship too, at first students should be

made to engage at a comfortable pace. When using a real sword anyone will be able to strike instantly

and decisively if they have learned to act without apprehension or delay.

Teacher and studentA teacher should know how to look at what a person is doing, thus grasp their mood, physical

condition, method of striking with the sword, level of training, use of tenouchi and so on, and be able

to correct the appropriate elements.

Regardless of how naturally skilled or unskilled someone is, and even if they fight very crudely, they

may still be able to attain victory. Even if someone looks bad when training or if teaching them is

extremely difficult, you should begin by carefully instilling in them the essential points of victory for a

real sword fight.

If you learn from someone who is fundamentally bad, your development will be affected and you are

likely to acquire bad habits.

On sparring with shinaiSince long ago, it has been stipulated in the kishōmon* that a student must be granted permission

before they may participate in sparring using shinai. These days there is a trend for teachers to give all

their students permission to participate in shinai training, and many in fact think that experience in

shinai bouts is advantageous in a fight. However when I see students doing shinai practice, they look

to me just like rank amateurs hacking away at each other. They do not show a desire to learn, and

merely act according to their own whims.

In addition, the kishōmon of course absolutely forbids practicing with shinai in secret away from the

dojo. However, many people commit this indiscretion. This current state of affairs calls for even more

prudence by students.

*A kishōmon (起請文) is a written oath to adhere to the rules of a traditional school, signed by a student

upon admission – in this case, the school in question is Ittō-ryū. This oath usually carries the penalty of

celestial punishment from various deities for disobeying the rules.

Embracing deathIf participating in a fight with real swords, you must go into it with the conviction that you will be killed.

If you can do this you will be able to act decisively and remain physically strong. If you do not think

that you will be killed, you will not be able to attain victory. This is a point of profound significance.

In a fight with real swords, you cannot prevail if you do not have a firm knowledge of the duality of life

and death. For example, when the day is over night will fall. When night is over it always becomes light

again.* When your life reaches its limit, you will meet death. Likewise, when the threat of death is

exhausted, you will surely live.

There is an Ittō-ryū teaching:

Like a horse chestnut husk carried on the mountain river’s rapids

Discard your body and float upon the current**

* Here “day” and “night” are described with yin (in, 陰) and yang (yō, 陽), which indicates a much

broader meaning incorporating negative and positive, west and east, passiveness and activeness and

so on. Yin and yang are used to express many important concepts in Ittō-ryū, as well as in other

schools of Japanese swordsmanship.

** This poem is a major teaching of Ittō-ryū. The key phrase “mi wo tsutete” literally means ‘discarding

one’s body.’ This means to commit fully to an attack with a preparedness to die in the attempt. The

same idea is commonly referred to as sutemi (捨て身) in modern kendo. In the poem, this line is a play

on words. The horse chestnut husk has discarded its seed (mi, 実 in Japanese) and has become light,

floating on the water. The swordsman who discards his body (also pronounced mi, 身 in Japanese) and

is prepared to die in a fight will in fact be more likely to prevail in an encounter.

Facing the opponentWhen your sword tip is not touching that of your opponent (i.e. you are too far away) you cannot cut

him. A bout will be decided when the point of each sword has passed the other by 5 sun (approx.

15cm).

A cultured man [i.e. a samurai] who is determined to kill his opponent will approach them directly,

facing them squarely. A person of lower class will approach his enemy diagonally, in a hanmi stance.

Even if you are a member of the warrior class, sidling up to an opponent indirectly makes you no

better than a boorish peasant.

If you try to raise your spirit above that of an opponent whose spirit is higher than yours, you will not

be successful. If you try to lower your spirit beneath that of an opponent who is operating lower than

you, your actions will become crude and lose substance. Instead, you must stay in the very centre, the

‘true centre,’ and never stray from it. The ‘true centre’ means you act so as not to lose*, without

excess or deficiency in any area. If you simply carry out your daily training in this way, when you have

to fight for real, simply act so as not to lose, and you will naturally be able to utilise the teachings

Shinken and Dokumyoken.* If you stray from the true centre, then you will not be able to make use of

these teachings.

* This is an ideal of swordsmanship in Ittō-ryū.

** Shinken and Dokumyōken are two of the highest teachings of Ittō-ryū. They are part of the Kōjō

Gokui Goten, a set of kata which are said to originally come from Chūjō-ryū (via Toda Seigen and his

student Kanemaki Jisai, who subsequently taught them to Itō Ittōsai).

True victoryTrue victory means to be sincere and act according to your true feelings. If, no matter what occurs,

you remain unshaken and maintain a clear and composed sense of dignity, you will be able to grasp

victory. The feeling you should have is that described by the Buddha: “throughout heaven and earth, I

alone am holy.”*

When inquiring of your sensei, if you ask with the feeling described above, you will receive an equally

direct and sincere answer. In this way students can come to receive the most secret teachings from

their teacher. This is a concept that is very difficult to put into words.

*When the Shakyamuni Buddha was born, he raised one hand to heaven, stretched one hand towards

the floor, took seven steps and proclaimed that there was no-one more exalted than him in all of

heaven and earth.

Training is a journeyYour training is like a journey. If you have business in Kyoto, first you set out from Shinagawa, walk

until you reach Hakone, continue past Oigawa, travel through Nansho and finally you will arrive in the

Kyoto area. Instead of taking this winding route, you may think it is better to travel directly to Kyoto,

but if you do so, even though an event may still occur along the way, your journey will not be filled

with many trials and tribulations.

In training and competition, you should allow the fifty kumitachi* to lead you through many trials and

tribulations until you become proficient. Other approaches are useless. If you approach them in this

way, competition and kumitachi will never become tiresome.

* The core fifty techniques of Ittō-ryū.

Matching of spiritIn Noh drama, performers only wear a single mask. To show happiness or sadness, an actor does not

change his mask, but expresses the emotion through his performance. A skilled performer is able to

make an audience cry when they express sadness in this way. This is empathic – a direct connection

between the minds of the performer and the audience.*

If you do not understand the points at which your spirit and the spirit of your opponent match, then

you will not be able to attain victory.

** The phrase used here, 以心伝心, is a Buddhist expression referring to a telepathic communication or

tacit understanding. In Zen Buddhism particularly, it indicates the nonverbal transmission of an

inexpressible truth or understanding from teacher to student.

Owlish swordsmanshipThere is such a thing as ‘owlish swordsmanship.’ Like an owl that can see in the darkness of night but

which is rendered blind in the brightness of day, such a swordsman cannot comprehend the bright

areas of opportunity.

Students who go through a process of gradual cultivation through training based on teachings and

written documents they receive, and – in recent years – who take the true centre in shiai, who have

reached the point where, more so than winning they focus on not losing, and are able to utilise the

highest teachings very rarely have this kind of problem; however, even if you deliberately pay close

attention to it, when facing an opponent your sword tip is liable to raise slightly. If you are not facing

an opponent, this will not occur. You must be mindful of this and work to correct your sword tip

accordingly.

Adherence to the master’s teachingsIn Ono Jirōemon’s* dojo it is written:

“The Ittō-ryū school of strategy taught by this house strictly adheres to the teachings of the founder

teacher, Itō [Ittōsai] Kagehisa, and transmits these teachings to students, never adding personal ideas,

but simply passing down the teachings of Ittōsai sensei.”

*Itō Ittōsai’s successor and the founder of Ono-ha Ittō-ryū. Nakanishi Tanemasa’s line of Ittō-ryu (which

originated from the Ono family tradition) is today called ‘Nakanishi-ha Ittō-ryū,’ but well into the

twentieth century its official name was simply ‘Ittō-ryū’ and it was colloquially known as ‘Ono-ha Ittō-

ryū.’ This naming denoted that it was the same tradition as that of the Ono family, albeit continued by

a separate line of teachers. There was a great deal of interaction between various lines of Ittō-ryū in

the Edo and Meiji periods. The full delineation of present-day Ono-ha and Nakanishi-ha occurred in

modern times.

Itō Ittōsai presenting Ono Jirōemon Tadaaki with the Kamewaritō, a sword that was a symbol of succession in Ittō-ryu. Source: Honchō Bugei Hyakunin Isshu, 1851

GroundingEven if you erect a fine, solid pillar, if the ground* is poor the pillar will twist and fail to stand straight.

If the ground is solid then even if the pillar itself is poor, it will stand straight and true. In

swordsmanship, even if a person is skilled at techniques they will not amount to anything if their

grounding is poor. Conversely, a person who is unskilled but has a solid grounding can become truly

capable. This “grounding” is extremely important.

* The word used here is chigyō (地形). This term appears in the Jūnikajō Mokuroku, where it refers in

practical terms to adopting advantageous tactical positioning and movement corresponding to the

terrain. Yamaoka Tesshū writes of two positions: junchi (順地) and gyakuchi (逆地). Junchi is an

advantageous position where you are uphill from your opponent, and gyakuchi is the opposite. This

teaching states that it is also important to place the elements (e.g. the sun, wind and rain) at your

rear. The essential goal is to take an advantageous position while forcing your opponent into the

disadvantageous position. This clearly parallels the teachings of Sun Tzu. In both immediately practical

and philosophical terms, chigyō is a key teaching in Ittō-ryū.

Developing courageA person who tempers their courage* will naturally improve the use of their hands (i.e. techniques). A

person who focuses on training the hands will not develop courage. Courage is tempered by coming

face to face with death.

Like a shell ladle: discard the body, to save the body**

*Tan (胆): literally “liver,” this can be interpreted in a similar way to “guts” in colloquial English.

** A shell ladle is made from an empty clamshell. The body of the shellfish has been discarded, but the

empty shell can be used to fish out food from a pot. Hence, the swordsman must strike at the risk of

his life (with sutemi) in order to avoid death.

Distance and closenessA skilled person understands closeness and feels difficulty at a distance. An unskilled person

understands distance but not closeness.* If you construct a box, first you prepare your saw, sharpen

your plane, and gather your tools – you organise all the things you need to put the box together. If you

try to make a box without undergoing this preparation, your saw will not cut, your plane will not

smooth, and you will be unable to make a decent box. In swordsmanship, if you aim to defeat someone

you must scrutinise the situation deeply in preparation. Only after you have done this will you

understand how to win.

* ‘Distance and Closeness’ (遠近之事) is a teaching contained in the Jūnikajō Mokuroku which states

that the distance between you and the opponent should be far for him, and close for you. Of course,

physically speaking this is not necessarily possible. Rather, this teaching refers to perception of

distance, and to adopting maai in a way that establishes victory before you make a strike.

Be calm and decisiveIt is vital to be unhurried and to remain calm. If a fire breaks out, if you panic you will forget to rescue

important things, and you will lose them. In swordsmanship, you face a similar situation. If you lose

your cool and rush, you have already lost the mental battle. Without panicking or hurrying and without

fear, take a single step without stopping, to reach the point of victory.*

*Although the kanji used here are different, this recalls the Ittō-ryū teaching “a single step, without

stopping” (一歩不留). In simple terms this means to act without pause, doubt or hesitation, and

advance at a smooth pace, avoiding stagnation. This can be interpreted on both a raw technical and

philosophical level. See this article for more information.

The heartThe heart* should be rounded, but still have one corner

Too round, and the heart will turn over too easily

To keep a corner on a heart that feels round:

The harder it is for the men of today’s world,

The more they must strive to do so

*Kokoro (心) in Japanese: this is perceived as the seat of consciousness.

TachiumareTachiumare [lit. the birth/origin of a sword strike]* is explained as follows. Put simply, in today’s shiai,

when facing off with your opponent or dealing with them, both parties’ swords cannot be said to be

tense: they are only waiting. When your opponent intends to strike, their sword tip will tense up and

become firm. This is the moment at which they will strike. Knowing this, you should wait within

attacking, and attack within waiting. This is known as ken-chū-tai, tai-chū-ken ( 懸中待 待中懸)**. The

key point is where the sword of the opponent rises or falls and becomes tense. When the opponent

intends to strike he will raise his sword tip slightly. When he intends to thrust he will lower his sword

tip slightly. From this, you can understand tachiumare. If you understand the above and put it to use,

you should progress until you naturally understand the point of respiration (kokyū).

*Tachiumare is an important Ittō-ryū teaching which appears, in different forms, in both the Kanaji

Mokuroku and the Hon Mokuroku, the second and third tiers of transmission respectively.

**This teaching also appears in the Hon Mokuroku.

During shiaiIn shiai, the mind is false but the shinai is truthful (if the mind is false, the truth will be apparent

through the techniques on the surface). This is because the shinai is always poised to immediately cut

or thrust.

This is one case where, while maintaining respect for the [Ittō-ryū] school, it is acceptable to deviate

from its teachings. When young, you should regard technique as everything, even to the point of

failure. Passing beyond this, when you are over forty years old you should make use of your spirit and

presence. In the same way, [young] people do as they please, but as they get older they become more

mindful and thrifty.

Takayanagi senseiA man asked Takayanagi*: “Sensei, you say that we must be able to defeat a strong point weakly and

a weak point strongly. But what does it mean to win with strength?” Takayanagi replied, “I do not yet

know.”

* Takayanagi Matashirō was a student of the third generation headmaster of the Nakanishi line of Ittō-

ryū (and Tanemasa’s father), Nakanishi Tanehiro. Takayanagi’s family transmitted a branch of Toda-

ryū that came to be known as ‘Takayanagi-ha.’ He was one of the so-called ‘three crows’ of Nakanishi

dojo, the other two being Terada Muneari and Shirai Tōru, respectively the first and second-generation

headmasters of Tenshin Ittō-ryū. Together these three acted as guardians for the young Nakanishi

Tanemasa following Tanehiro’s death. Takayanagi was famous for his ‘silent sword’ technique, where

he would defeat opponents without letting their shinai touch his.

The moon on waterThe moon on water is explained as follows. You make yourself like the moon and shine light upon your

opponent. Or, if you make yourself as water and allow your opponent to become like the moon, you

will see the points where the light they cast is insufficient. In other words, you will realise their areas of

falsehood.

Put your feeling into the belly of your opponent and act as if no swords are involved. Allow this to

assist your use of the sword.

The ability to fight is something that no-one can teach, but even a child has it. At first, our school

teaches sōand gyō [see above] without any connection to fighting, and exclusively teaches to remain

calm and suppress the urge to fight. At first, students learn by paying no mind to swords conveying to

the opponent their spirit alone. Thus, when they allow this approach to assist their use of the sword

they will be able to attain victory.

The nature of a sparkThe nature of a spark (sekka no kurai, 石火の位) is the feeling of a sickle striking a stone: it is sharp and

fierce. When you and your opponent’s swords meet, the nature of a spark is the moment of sharpness

where you transfer your feeling and your sword to the opponent.

Adhere to doctrineEven if a purse is dirty, you should not throw away the coins it holds. Even if you are of lowly stature,

you should not discard propriety and doctrine*.

*The word used here is hō(法). This indicates law, dharma, reason, natural order, propriety and

doctrine.

The three naturesThe nature of dew (tsuyu no kurai, 露の位), the nature of a spark (sekka no kurai) and the nature of a

temple bell (bonshō no kurai, 梵鐘の位) can be understood as follows. With blunted swords (habiki, 刃

引) stand far apart from your opponent, calmly and unhurriedly approach them and with a fullness of

spirit cut down their sword with kiriotoshi. When you cut down their sword, it is with the nature of dew.

When your sword connects with theirs, it is with the nature of a spark. Once you have struck down

their sword, immediately you assume the nature of the temple bell, and send out a resounding echo

that engulfs your opponent.

The nature of dew (tsuyu no kurai) is like a drop of dew collecting on a leaf. Although it is constantly on

the verge of falling from the leaf it hangs on, then plops from the leaf as the tension breaks. Standing

away from your opponent, as you approach them you must amass a fullness of spirit, then like a drop

of dew falling from a leaf cut down their sword with kiriotoshi. The point of cutting down their sword

has the nature of a spark [see above].

The master and the amateurA skilled bowman, when using a noisemaker arrow* to exorcise someone possessed by a fox spirit**,

stood facing the target with the intent to shoot the shoulder, where the possession was located. As he

aimed at the shoulder and went to shoot the swelling, it shifted to the waist. When he aimed at the

waist, it shifted elsewhere. As a poor shot would have killed the person, the bowman passed his bow

and arrow to his servant and commanded him to shoot, but the servant declined. The command was

issued strongly, and the servant reluctantly stepped forward to face the target with an arrow on his

bowstring. In that instant the fox possession was dispelled. The master was so skilled he could not

miss where he aimed for, but it was impossible to know where the unskilled servant’s arrow would

have struck. Thus, the fox spirit took fright, and vanished.

When someone has trained a little with a sword and knows something of kiriotoshi and methods for

winning bouts, it is good to engage them. A complete amateur who knows nothing of how to cut with a

sword will attack randomly and without logic, and it is not good to engage with them.

*A noisemaker arrow (hikime or kaburaya) refers to a blunt arrow with a conical device fitted at its tip,

designed to make a loud noise when shot. These kinds of arrows were used to scare away animals, and

presumably, as this tale shows, were also used in exorcism.

**Fox possession (kitsunetsuki, 狐憑き) was a condition believed to affect young women who had been

possessed by the spirit of a fox, which was viewed as a supernatural creature in Japanese folklore.

Symptoms were varied but often included fox-like behaviour, frothing at the mouth, developing a huge

appetite and the presence of a lump under the skin that would shift when touched or pricked with

needles. Exorcism usually took place at Shintō shrines. The fox possession myth is to some extent

analogous with lycanthropy in European folklore.

Woman possessed by a fox spirit

Growth and maturationThe three methods shin, gyō and sō* have nothing to do with physical technique, and are methods of

the mind. When your technique has matured, your sword, body and mind will be unified.

For example, if you view plum blossom, you may paint a picture of the flowers you see, but you cannot

capture their scent. A plum tree draws up moisture from the earth, grows tall, its flowers bloom and its

fruit ripens. The painting is lacking the shin of the earth, so it merely looks pleasing to the eye.

Swordsmanship too is like a plant growing from the earth. Solid ground, shin, is vital. You cannot train

in swordsmanship without a determined focus. You should have a strong appreciation for this.

*Shin, gyō and sō, as explained previously, refer to timings in Ittō-ryū. However their scope is much

broader than this. They can also refer to speed, shape or how close a technique is to the basic model,

amongst other things. In the above description the meaning is close to that used in

calligraphy: shin denotes precise, standard characters, sō very loose, flowing characters, and gyō is

somewhere in between. Without learningshin it is not possible to progress to gyō and sō.

Turning the self“Turning the self” has the following meaning. A lamp that shines its light directly upon you is a

hindrance, but if you try to shield yourself from the light, it will still seep through the gaps between

your fingers. If you close the lamp’s shutters, the light will still stream through the cracks between

them. If you turn so that the lamp is not in front of you but to the side, it becomes an even greater

hindrance.

It is best to turn to face away from the light, so you cannot see it at all. You will not be aware that the

light is shining upon your back, and will be unperturbed by it. This is what is known as “turning the

self.”

Although I know little*, I believe the above description of shielding yourself from light means that if you

put yourself through great pains in training the kumitachi, acquiring skill, learning to read the tells in

an opponent’s mood and sword movement, and become able to shine your own light on the opponent,

you may progress further, to the point of extinguishing your opponent’s light. At this point you will no

longer be perturbed by anything.

*This line suggests that this paragraph is written from the perspective of Takano Mitsumasa.

The other side of victoryA die is a cube, with faces numbered one to six. Six is the highest number attainable. When you win

totally, the reverse of that victory is a singular defeat of one. When you win with a five, the reverse is

two defeats. When you win with a four, the reverse is three defeats. This is the point of life and death.

Note: For clarity’s sake, it should be noted that a die has six and one, five and two and four and three

on opposite sides.

Adapting to circumstanceUsing the hardness of chopsticks, you can hold the softness of a bean. You do not set out to use the

chopsticks stiffly because they are hard, nor softly because the bean is soft. You must use them

adaptively, according to circumstance. Swordsmanship is the same.

Mountain foot,river mouthAt the mountain, its foot. At the river, its mouth.* This means that when you see an opponent intends

to thrust at you, you should leave the target of your throat open while protecting all other targets, then

defend the throat when he makes his thrust.

If you try to prevent him from making this thrust from the beginning, he will change the target he is

attacking. To leave yourself open when the opponent intends to thrust is what is called “mountain foot,

river mouth.”

*This phrase appears in the Kanaji Mokuroku.

Yin and Yang in Itto-ryu and other schoolsNaganuma Jikishinkage-ryū* teaches to use jodan no kamae with the spirit of ‘activeness within

activeness’ [yang within yang, 陽中の陽]. Ittō-ryū teaches to use gedan with a spirit of passiveness [yin,

陰]. With a spirit of ‘activeness within activeness,’ if you do not issue forth [i.e. be proactive, attack]

then you will fall into passiveness. In our school, when you issue forth the passiveness within your

passiveness becomes active, and you are able to apply yourself.

Munen-ryū** takes a position between activeness and passiveness, and utilises a slightly distorted

seigan no kamae.

*‘Naganuma’ refers to the main branch of Jikishinkage-ryū swordsmanship. Naganuma Kunigo, the

seventh-generation headmaster of Jikishinkage-ryū is credited with introducing practice with shinai and

bogu, as pioneered by Nakanishi Chūta of Ittō-ryū. The Naganuma branch, in contrast with the Otani

branch, was said to favour jodan no kamae.

**Shindo Munen-ryū, founded by Fukui Hyōemon, was another prominent swordsmanship school in this

period.

Do not use physical strengthNeither striking nor cutting requires physical strength. When an experienced drummer strikes a drum,

he does so with crispness and the sound resounds cleanly.

Chuta senseiChūta sensei* said:

“When children are playing beside a well, and a child looks like they will fall in, any onlooker, no matter

who, will be startled. This is the vital point in an engagement. Not only is it very interesting, it has a

profound meaning.”

* Nakanishi Chūta, the first head of the Nakanishi line of Ittō-ryū.

 

Compare natural ability, hard work and enjoyment of training: of the three, the latter is most important

for becoming skilled.*

Although a cow may walk slowly, its pace is fine. It will continue onwards for a thousand leagues, never

resting nor taking its eyes from the path.

This is the way of strategy: to attack the heart is best; to attack city walls is worst. Battling with hearts

is better than battling with soldiers.

- Zhuge Liang, Marquis of Zhongwu**

*These are regarded as the three necessary elements for mastery of an art.

**This is a quotation from the Chinese classic Romance of the Three Kingdoms (Sangokushi, 三国志 in

Japanese). It is advice given to Zhuge Liang by Ma Su during his campaign to subdue the southern

tribes. When considering which strategy to employ against the city of Nanzhong, Zhuge Liang asked

Ma Su’s advice, and was told that he should win the hearts of the people in the city rather than

conquer them using military might.