奥伝 奥居合
The formal name of Okuden is Battō kokoromochi no koto (抜刀心持之事): “the mental attitude of sword-drawing”. It is also referred to as Okuiai, Eishin-ryū ura/oku, or simply Jūshin-ryū. In the densho, it is introduced with the following passage:
格を放れて早く抜く也 重信流
Free yourself from the rules and draw quickly
Jūshin-ryū
Traditionally, Okuden would be taught only once the student had learnt Ōmori-ryū, Eishin-ryū, Tachiuchi no kurai, Tsumeai no kurai, Daishōzume and Daishō tachizume. Going back even further, the various forms did not start out as actual kata at all, but as instructions on how to act in specific situations in which one might find oneself during the course of duty. Most of the kata in the later Battō kokoromochi no koto were adapted from entries in the Soto no mono no daiji (外之物之大事 “outside essentials”; teachings outside the core curriculum of the school) and the Jōi no daiji (上意之大事 “essentials of acting under orders”; instructions for situations that may arise when on a mission) to work as training methods for daily practice. For this reason, although practising the forms will aid in developing speed and technique, without the correct background and knowledge of the scenarios they were originally meant to instruct on, such practice amounts to little more than pointless sword-swinging.
In addition to preparing the student for various dangerous situations, there are forms in Okuden which teach the inner secrets (極意; gokui) of the art, and in doing so give a deeper level of understanding of the basic or public (omote) forms. These are the true oku or inner teachings that have been concealed under layers of secrecy, to the point of most of them having been nearly lost in modern iai, only the surface forms surviving with scattered fragments of deeper meaning without necessary context in many lines of transmission.
Adding to the confusion, the Okuden that has been passed down in Musō Shinden-ryū has been greatly distorted and the kata names jumbled over time. Although Musō Shinden-ryū is usually regarded as belonging to the Shimomura line of Tosa Eishin-ryū, this is not entirely correct when it comes to Okuden. The Okuden of Musō Shinden-ryū is probably that which Nakayama Hakudō learnt from Morimoto Tokumi of the Tanimura (Gotō) line, which is why it is nearly identical to that of Musō Jikiden Eishin-ryū. The true Shimomura line as transmitted from Hosokawa Yoshimasa was passed down by Nakayama only to a select few students, first of whom was Kimura Eiju, under the name Musō Shinden Jūshin-ryū. Another line of the Shimomura-ha survives as Musō Shinden Eishin-ryū through Hosokawa’s other student Ueta Heitarō.
Unfortunately, while the densho of the Shimomura line have been published, only the Kongen no maki has ever come out of the Tanimura line, and it appears its teachers have not had access to the old scrolls since the split. While the Shimomura-ha densho were eventually published in the 1970s, it was already too late as forms and interpretations had calcified, and few teachers actually read the old texts. Making matters worse, the kata names had been rearranged in the Tanimura line, with many forms assigned misleading names originally belonging to unrelated entries in the Jōi no daiji and other sections. Later on, with no access to the actual texts, teachers attempted to reconcile the names with the forms, resulting in confusing interpretations that in some cases are far removed from the original scenarios. Although this renaming and rearrangement of Okuden is usually attributed to Ōe Masaji, there is no clear evidence that he did not pass it on as inherited from Gotō Masasuke. Indeed, if Nakayama’s Okuden is the one he learnt from Morimoto (himself a student of Gotō), the changes may have happened earlier.
As garbled as the transmission may have become, however, one must not forget that a koryū is a living tradition that is shaped by each of the teachers who have passed it down to the present day. It would therefore be wrong to say that what we are taught is incorrect because it is different from the old tradition, and it is our responsibility to practise and pass it on as we are taught. With this in mind, however, it is also our responsibility to learn and understand where that tradition comes from and why and how it evolved into what it is now. So much is at danger of being forgotten and lost, and this proud and venerable school deserves our best efforts to understand it at a deeper level. In the case of Okuden, this understanding begins with the realisation that the forms are not merely kata, but teach important lessons on how to survive various dangerous situations Edo-period samurai might have expected to find themselves in; in doing so, the kata preserve an intangible piece of the culture iai sprung from.
My main sources for this work have been the book 林崎抜刀術兵法 夢想神傳重信流 by Kimura Eiju, the Okuden volume of 道理を愉しむ居合道講座 夢想神伝流 by Ishidō Shizufumi, and the long-running blog Mitsuhira.
居業（座業）
Meaning: “haze” or “mist”
Traditional name: 向拂 Mukōbarai (“sweeping in front”)
Other names: 撫斬 Nadegiri (“caressing cut”)
The name Kasumi may have borrowed from the Soto no mono no daiji, where it describes a detached, “dreamlike” state of mind, as if “seeing through a haze”. That Kasumi, however, is unrelated to this kata, which was originally called Mukōbarai and is first attested in the Battō kokoromochi no koto.
Danzaki Tomoaki (and possibly others) taught that the scenario of this kata is that you have two enemies in front, and cut one in nukitsuke before turning the sword over and cutting the other one in the return stroke — this is obviously nonsense. Although there is no explanation anywhere in the densho, it is otherwise universally agreed that the enemy evades the first cut, wherefore you advance and cut again to the left. Since this is the case, it is important to make nukitsuke without the prior plan of making a return cut. Nukitsuke is variously thought of as being across the chest, to the face, or to the neck; the return cut is usually to the neck, but it is also possible to aim for the raised right knee.
Although there is no additional explanation directly referencing Mukōbarai in the densho, there seems to be more to this form than meets the eye, however. To begin with, the name itself emphasises the sweeping motion of the horizontal cuts, and the oldest description says to “sweep” back to the left after nukitsuke. Similarly, Kimura Eiju writes:
拂う心持にて[…]抜付け拂い[…]右から左に拂い
with a feeling of sweeping […] make a sweeping nukitsuke […] sweep from the right to the left
The intent of these sweeping cuts is clearly different from that of the nukitsuke in, for example, Yokogumo, which is not described in these terms. However fast or effective it may be, merely adding another step between nukitsuke and kirioroshi does not seem to encode any deeper understanding of the basic techniques learnt so far, as one would expect of an Okuden kata.
There is, however, one entry in the copy of the Soto no mono no daiji written by the tenth headmaster Hayashi Yasudayū Masakusu, where the following is explicitly stated under the heading 詰合ハ二星 (“Tsumeai (is) nisei”):
詰合ハ二星二ツヅマル敵之拳也二星一文字ト云時ハ敵ノコブシヲ抜拂フ事也惣而拳ヲ勝事極意也
Tsumeai comes down to nisei; that is, the enemy’s fists. Nisei ichimonji means to draw and sweep at the enemy’s fists. In general, the innermost principle is to defeat the fists.
It is not entirely clear whether Masakusu is referring to the Tsumeai series of paired kata — although I deem it likely, as the preceding entry explains the inner secrets of Daishōzume — or situations where the enemy and oneself are “pressed close together” in general; remember, however, that Tsumeai would have been taught before the student was introduced to Okuden, and is simply a continuation of the teachings imparted through the Eishin-ryū solo forms. Therefore, one can safely assume that the above statement about the secret of Tsumeai fully applies to forms like Yokogumo and Mukōbarai. Given that, this technique nisei ichimonji (二星一文字) seems to fit quite well with Mukōbarai: ichimonji describes a horizontal stroke like the character 一, and nisei refers to the enemy’s hands; as this is further explained to mean “drawing and sweeping” (抜拂フ) at the fists, I have little doubt that this is the secret technique this kata is meant to teach. The theme of targeting the hands goes all the way back to the Kongen no maki, where Tsukaguchi rokusun is named as the ultimate secret of the school.
In addition, it is possible that the emphasis on “sweeping” cuts and the old colloquial name Nadegiri (“caressing cuts”) reflect a concrete technical requirement rather than metaphor. If Kasumi concerns cutting the enemy’s hands while he is still drawing, a direct cut risks being stopped by the opponent’s tsuka or the blade inside the saya, whereas a brushing or sweeping action allows the blade to pass across both hands while clearing the obstruction. That the name Nadegiri was in common use is suggested by Ōe Masaji, who notes in passing in Kendō tehodoki that the form was popularly known as such, lending further support to the idea that this manner of cutting was understood informally even if not explained explicitly in the densho.
The idea of targeting the raised knee with the return stroke by aiming lower than the initial cut might also represent a remnant of an earlier technique targeting both hands. After all, if the first cut truly were to the eyes, neck, or chest, there would be no reason to advance the body in order to reach the knee, which is closer. On the other hand (pun intended), if the first cut is to the right hand and the second to the left when the enemy has just begun to draw, it makes perfect sense for the second cut to target a lower point further back. This also changes the necessary rhythm into one continuous motion as usually practised, rather than cutting — missing — cutting back.
An interesting application of the same technique is in the kata Gaiseki from Daikendori, where uchidachi tries to cut first the right knee of the approaching shidachi, then (unsuccessfully) the left knee on the return cut as shidachi steps back to evade.
Meaning: “protecting the shin”
Traditional name: 柄留 Tsukadome (“stopping (with) the tsuka”)
In the traditional form as practised in Musō Shinden Jūshin-ryū, one uses the tsuka to press the enemy’s sword hand down and stop his draw; as he instead steps back and draws from below to cut the leg, one continues as in Tora-issoku, which in that school means cutting from below into kirimusubi and sweeping the blade away. However, the description in the Battō kokoromochi no koto says only: “as in Tora-issoku, stop (from) below, step in and cut,” with no mention of first stopping with one’s own tsuka. Indeed, there is another version passed down through oral instruction: draw from below with the edge down and stop the enemy’s right hand with nukitsuke; this version is the honwaza in Musō Shinden Eishin-ryū. Yamatsuta Shigeyoshi noted that the current Sunegakoi, which is nearly indistinguishable from Tora-issoku, was created to hide the true application of stopping the draw with an upwards cut to the hand. This is Tsukaguchi rokusun, the ultimate secret of the school passed down from Hayashizaki Jinsuke Shigenobu himself, and can be considered the true essence of the omotewaza Tora-issoku and all related forms. It is also for this reason that Sunegakoi is taught as requiring a faster draw than Tora-issoku, as the necessary timing changes from go no sen to sen no sen or even sensen no sen.
I once heard that sune (“shin”) was used in the Tosa dialect about the knee as well as the lower leg; the wording in the Jōi no daiji entry for Tanashita seems to confirm this, as it refers to what must be the knee by this word.
Meaning: “cuts in four directions”
Traditional name: 四角 Shikaku (“square”/”four corners”)
Other names: 四角 Yosumi, Shisumi (“four corners”)
The name Shihōgiri appears in one of the old mokuroku directly following the core Eishin-ryū forms. It is unclear to me what exactly it refers to there, but it appears to be a small set of four kata: 向 (opposite), 右 (right), 左 (left), and 後 (behind).
The important lesson of this kata, which comes from instructions in the Jōi no daiji, is that one will not have time to deeply cut each enemy in turn, and that iai relies on “shallow” victory. In order to keep all four enemies at bay precisely long enough to cut all of them in quick succession, the essential action is to make a large sweeping circular cut the moment the kissaki leaves the saya, rotating to the right until reaching the enemy to the rear. Exploiting the opening caused by the instinctive shying away of the enemies, one can then cut each of them with quicker-than-usual cuts, not trying to make fully committed cuts. The positioning of the enemies was later rotated 45°, and the instructions were combined with Ryōzume (Towaki) to incorporate a thrust to the rear left enemy before the sweep.
Meaning: “caught in the door”
Traditional name: 両詰 Ryōzume (“pressed on both sides”)
Other names: 三角 Sankaku (“triangle”/”three corners”)
Originally, this form dealt with the scenario where you have an enemy close by on both sides, such as when you are sent as an envoy and the guards move to seize you. Towaki was the base form, as it is faster first to thrust to the left before cutting to the right, compared to cutting each enemy in turn. However, if you think the enemy to the right may stop you from drawing, it is prudent to cut him before turning to the one on the left: this kaewaza became Tozume. The positioning of the enemies was changed from directly to the sides to diagonally to the front right and left.
Sankaku is another kata completely, where you have one enemy in front and two behind.
As for the name, Tozume comes from an entry in the Jōi no daiji, instructing on what to do if you fear the enemy might slam the sliding door shut on your head as you bow in the doorway upon entering a room; in this situation, you should place a folding fan in the door groove in the floor and hold it down with your knee while bowing, in order to block the door.
Meaning: “beside the door”
Traditional name: 両詰 Ryōzume (“pressed on both sides”)
See Tozume. The enemies’ positions were again shifted from directly to the sides to diagonally to the front right and rear left. Musō Shinden Eishin-ryū in the Hosokawa tradition has a similar kata called Zengozume (前後詰) with one enemy directly in front and another directly behind; Towaki can be considered an in-between version of Zengozume and the original Ryōzume.
The name Towaki again comes from the Jōi no daiji, where it contains instructions on how to enter a room when you suspect an enemy might be hiding to the side of the door waiting to ambush you: enter through the door with one decisive step directly towards where you think the enemy is standing, and pull the sword out together with the saya, using the tsuka to push him back with a strike to the chest, before drawing and thrusting at the staggered enemy. In the case that the enemy has already drawn his sword and cuts down the moment you enter, first block the cut with the tsuba near the fuchigane, the sword still in the saya.
Meaning: “under the shelf”
Traditional name: 棚下 Tanashita
Tanashita was another entry in the Jōi no daiji detailing how to cut when vertical space is limited, such as under a low ceiling. The oldest version in the Eishin-ryū iai mokuroku hiketsu said simply to lower one knee to the floor at the moment of cutting, and that once one has understood this, one would also be able to cut without needing to place the knee on the floor.
In modern Musō Shinden-ryū, influenced by the Tanimura line, the scenario of Tanashita is usually imagined to be drawing from tatehiza and coming out from under a crawl space or similarly very cramped place before cutting down. Although this scenario exists as a variant in the traditional Shimomura-ha (as does the standing version related above), the oral tradition adds one crucial element: before exiting the crawl space, one should sweep horizontally at the enemy to afford oneself the time to get out.
The standard version in the two current lines of Shimomura-ha emphasises cutting in a vertically constrained space, rather than just exiting from one before cutting. As such, the important point is to make a very compact cut while still leaning forwards to the point of touching the right thigh with the upper body, and only straightening up again once the sword clears the ceiling.
With this background, one cannot help but wonder what the purpose of practising the current Musō Shinden-ryū Tanashita is, other than learning how to crawl forwards with the sword on one’s back.
Meaning: “pressed on both sides” (Ryōzume); “pressed in front” (Mukōzume)
Traditional name: 向詰 Mukōzume
The name Ryōzume originally referred to Towaki, where one has an enemy on each side; hence the name. This was reinterpreted in the Gotō (Tanimura) line to mean “obstructed on both sides”, and assigned to this form. In fact, as the original name Mukōzume implies, the scenario is that the enemy is seated close opposite to you, and there is not enough space in front to do a horizontal nukitsuke like in Yokogumo (and perhaps no space behind to step back as in the kaewaza). Instead, you draw the sword and bring it between yourself and the enemy, horizontally so as to (I presume) control the enemy’s sword hand and stop him from drawing his own sword, and follow with a tsuki to the solar plexus as he attempts to back away.
Meaning: “tiger run”
Traditional name: 虎走 Torabashiri
This form, too, has its origin in the Jōi no daiji, and concerns how to execute a kill order on someone in a large room with other people present: stand up, hunch over with your sword pressed close in front so as to seem non-threatening, and walk (not running, despite the name) briskly with your knees close together straight to your target without hesitation. Once in range, draw the sword with the edge down within the line of your body, the purpose being to conceal the draw for as long as possible so as not to alert the nearby enemies, and cut gyaku-kesa, followed by a vertical downwards cut. This nukitsuke is said to be like that in Tora-issoku because of the angle, but is mostly no longer practised that way outside the main Shimomura line.
Although some modern lines of Musō Shinden-ryū teach the scenario as pursuing and cutting down a fleeing enemy, leading to the advancing movement turning into a noisy run, this is purely a later construction. The entire purpose of the kata, as explained in the Jōi no daiji, is to cross the distance to the enemy and cut him down without betraying any hint of your intentions until it is already too late for him or his nearby allies to respond. Every aspect of posture, footwork, and sword-handling serves this purpose. Therefore, you hunch over and walk briskly but as quietly as possible as if to discreetly and casually excuse yourself without disturbing the other people present, and tuck your sword close in front to appear unobtrusive and to hide the initial draw. The quick, purposeful, and quiet footwork along a single line is likened to a that of a hunting tiger, hence the name. A pattering run would alarm the whole room before you can even get close; the feeling should be one of “excuse me, sorry, don’t mind me, nothing suspicious going on here, I just really need to be over there for a moment…” For the same reason, although many current lines teach to place the right hand on the tsuka already when standing up, the older lines specifically teach to leave the right hand off the tsuka until the actual draw.
As for the second part of the kata, where you retreat and cut once more, it was not part of the original instructions in the Jōi no daiji, but was already present when the training method was first formalised as a kata in the Battō kokoromochi no koto. While no rationale is given anywhere in the densho, the scenario is usually given as one of the fallen enemy’s allies reacting and pursuing you as you try to leave the scene. Although this does seem like a likely development, it seems strategically unwise to perform chiburi and nōtō (albeit leaving 2-3 sun of the blade unsheathed) as the remaining enemies are scrambling to attack you. Most likely, the second half of the kata was added for symmetric completeness, providing an opportunity to practise a hasty retreat with nukitsuke as the enemy catches up, rather than as a necessary part of a single continuous scenario.
With the element of surprise already spent and the need for deception gone, the purpose of adopting the same hunched-over posture and small half-running steps as in the advance must be different in the retreat. This is purely my own reasoning, but I would suggest that the reason for lowering the hips and leaning forwards here is to keep the centre of gravity low and shifted forwards to improve balance and stability while moving swiftly backwards, and that the purpose of the small steps is similarly to reduce the risk of stumbling or tripping on an unseen obstacle or uneven floor as you keep your gaze on the enemy in front — exponents of jōdō and kendō will know that small, quick steps are much safer and more controlled when going backwards, e.g. upon receiving a taiatari. When you then suddenly need to stop and draw into a cut, you can keep stable and absorb the momentum by extending the left leg backwards and straightening up without dropping your centre of gravity.
立業
Meaning: “brought along”
Traditional name: 行連 Yukizure
Similarly to the relationship between Tozume (of which this is the standing form) and Towaki, this was originally a kaewaza of what is now Tsuredachi. The enemies were positioned directly to the sides, and in the basic form one would draw and thrust at the enemy to the left before cutting the enemy to the right. However, an additional note added that one could also cut the enemy to the right with a one-handed cut before cutting the one to the left; this version became the Yukizure of Gotō-ha and later Musō Shinden-ryū. This entry was first included in the Soto no mono no daiji, and contained instructions on what to do in the event that enemies try to bring you away by coming from both sides at once.
Meaning: “escorted away”
Traditional name: 行連 Yukizure
Other names: 連達 Rentatsu
See Yukizure. The name Tsuredachi traditionally belonged to Yukichigai.
Meaning: “completely and repeatedly”
Traditional name: 五方切 Gohōgiri (“cuts in five directions”)
Other names: 追いかけ斬 Oikakegiri (“pursuing and cutting”)
Although the corresponding form in the Shimomura line is called Gohōgiri, the original entry in the Soto no mono no daiji is actually named Sōmakuri. It describes swinging and cutting “inexhaustably in vertical and horizontal directions”, for which reason it is also referred to as Katajū (形十; “cross-shape”); there is a variant by this name in Musō Shinden Jūshin-ryū. According to the Soto no mono no daiji, Sōmakuri was performed in regular practice by cutting gradually lower from the neck, shoulder, waist, and shin, before finally making a downwards vertical cut.
There is no explanation anywhere in the densho for the scenario of Sōmakuri. However, there is a very short passage mentioning the name in the Iai heihō gokui hiketsu (居合兵法極意秘訣), written by the tenth headmaster Hayashi Yasudayū Masakusu. Writing down what his adoptive father, the ninth headmaster Hayashi Rokudayū Morimasa, told him many years before, he mentions among other things that when doing Sōmakuri: “you should cut with one hand and then grasp with the left hand. Balance is crucial.” While this is interesting in and of itself, what makes it particularly noteworthy is that Morimasa seems to have been talking about Shinkage-ryū (which he learnt from Ōmori Rokurōzaemon Masamitsu). The fact that Sōmakuri first appeared in the Soto no mono no daiji supports the conjecture that it is the very same thing brought into the school from outside, as soto no mono refers to things from outside the core curriculum, such as from other schools.
While I can find no form or technique listed by that name in current Shinkage-ryū mokuroku, there is a record in the Tokitsugu-kyō-ki (言継卿記; the court diary of Yamashina Tokitsugu) from the 23rd day of the fifth month of the first year of Genki (1570) relating the following:
上泉武蔵守信綱来。軍敗取向総捲等、令相伝之。
Kamiizumi Musashi-no-kami Nobutsuna [the founder of Shinkage-ryū] came. He transmitted Gunbai, Torimuki, Sōmakuri, and the like.
In the Yagyū-ryū shinpishō (柳生流新秘抄), there is finally an explanation in the Tengushō (天狗抄) chapter of a method for fighting four or five enemies at once: in order not to allow them to surround you, when they come at you from a distance, you should pick one and, closing the distance to him, let loose with repeated strikes from all directions, paying no heed to what happens on your left or right, so as to push him back and break the circle. This method is called 總南風 (“the total south wind”), but the reading is given as sōmakuri.
Oikakegiri is another kata entirely.
Meaning: “complete stopping”
Traditional name: 放打 Hanashiuchi (“release-strike”)
Sōdome, on the surface, is difficult to make sense of. There are many contrived explanations as for why one would repeatedly cut and sheathe the sword while walking without performing chiburi in between, but most agree on the following points regarding the scenario:
No obviously corresponding entries appear in the older densho, and the kata first appears in the Battō kokoromochi no koto with the following terse description: “while walking, cut with one hand and sheathe, then cut again; no limit on the number of repetitions.” There is, however, one note left by Soda Torahiko under the entry for 手之内 (te no uchi) in a later copy of the Jōi no daiji. In earlier explanations, te no uchi is a technique for taking control of the centre by pressing down on the enemy’s hand and following through with a thrust when crossing swords, but in this particular version, it is (perhaps mistakenly due to a mixup) described only as “cut down the enemy (切り捨て) and keep walking”, and the note adds “this is probably Sōdome”.
Although some later lines perform Sōdome by cutting at the leg and ducking low, the older way of doing it is to cut the torso with kesagiri while lightly dropping the hips for stability; the draw seems to have become gradually lower over time to make it faster. The original name Hanashiuchi implies that the essential point of the form is to draw and cut in one motion. It can fairly safely be assumed that the repeated cuts are a practice method added at a later stage, as commented by Masaoka Katsutane:
The scenario for Sōdome is: at the instant you meet the opponent, you draw and cut kesagiri, then snap the blade back into the scabbard and pass on by. To give this movement a more formal “shape”, you repeat the draw-cut several times, and at the end, just like in other kata, you open the blade to the right and finish by sheathing.
If that is the case, how does the “narrow path” affect the shape of the kata? Why is it relevant that it takes place during the night? Movement is not as visibly constrained as in Kabezoe, and with the target in the earliest versions being to the front right, there appears to be at least enough space for two people to walk side by side. There is also no special consideration given to lighting conditions, unlike in Shinobu. Since these oral traditions have been passed down in multiple lines, however, they must have had some relevance to the original form.
My theory is as follows: the scenario is that you purposely arrange to pass the enemy on a narrow bridge or other location where he is forced to pass close to you, customarily on the right so as to avoid saya clashing. Using this opportunity, you draw and cut in a quick surprise attack, and, without stopping, sheathe while walking on so as not to arouse suspicion from distant onlookers. This must be done at night to keep the risk of detection to a minimum, as it would be difficult in low-light conditions to identify you or tell from a distance what transpired until you have already left the scene.
It may be unrelated, but in the 真傳流居合極秘書 (Shinden-ryū iai gokuhisho), there are instructions for how to quickly cut someone down without being seen by the public eye: draw and cut in a surprise attack, then hide the sword as-is under your haori, and sheathe the sword once you have retreated to a place out of sight.
Meaning: (“in stealth”)
Traditional name: 夜之太刀 Yoru no tachi (“sword in the night”)
Other names: 夜の敵 Yoru no teki (“enemy in the night”)
The name Yoru no tachi first appears in the Battō heijutsu shinshin kanyō no daiji (抜刀兵術真心肝要之大事; “the most important essentials of the true heart of sword-drawing”), where it is more accurately translated as “nighttime sword-fighting”. It suggests wearing white clothing or slipping off one’s kimono to expose the white juban underneath so as better to see the enemy’s sword and judge the situation and distance more clearly. A low guard is recommended, as is aiming for the enemy’s legs; it is also suggested to feint by suddenly dropping low to make the enemy think one has fallen over, and then to sweep at their legs.
A related entry from the Gokui no daiji (極意之大事; “essentials of the inner teachings”) is 地獄捜 (jigokusagashi; “searching through Hell”); a method for searching for an enemy hiding in pitch darkness. It consists of pulling out the sword with the saya, drawing the blade so that around three sun (~9 cm) remains in the saya, and quietly sweeping the surrounding area to probe with the kojiri. When you feel something, quickly draw the blade out and thrust.
Meaning: “passing by”
Traditional name: 連達 Tsuredachi
The name Yukichigai originally referred to Ryōshi-hikitsure; as you dont “pass by” anyone in this Yukichigai, it is difficult to understand the reasoning behind the renaming. Tsuredachi was an entry under the Soto no mono no daiji, covering the scenario where two enemies — for example, robbers during travel — try to bring you away by walking in front and behind you. In this situation, you should strike the enemy in front with the tsukagashira on the back of the head, then draw and cut in the moment you turn to the rear, before turning back and cutting the first enemy. In current Musō Shinden-ryū, the scenario is usually thought of as enemies approaching from the front and back, and the target of the tsuka strike as being between the eyebrows or the philtrum.
Meaning: “flipping the sleeve”
Traditional name: 人中 Jinchū (“among people”)
Other names: 賢の事 Katame no koto (“regarding hardening”)
This form first appeared in the Battō kokoromochi no koto. The name Sodesurigaeshi was borrowed from the first kata of Daishō tachizume, but as the original name Jinchū implies, the scenario is fighting in a thick crowd. For this reason, there being no space in any direction, one needs to draw the sword straight up along the left side of the body, although in most lines of Musō Shinden-ryū this part has been forgotten, and the draw is done forwards instead. Having drawn the sword, it was originally brought around to the right and along the extended right arm so as to avoid cutting innocent bystanders as one parts the crowd and steps in to cut. However, while many lines now teach to hold the sword upright for the same reason (although this could also be risky), many others inexplicably place the sword along the left arm instead, running a great risk of cutting bystanders when parting the crowd.
Nōtō was traditionally performed inside the body width by placing the back ridge of the blade on the shoulder and sheathing vertically, but if there is no risk of hurting the surrounding crowd, it can be done normally.
In the Shinden-ryū iai gokuhisho, there is an entry regarding what to do if someone tries to attack you in a crowd: grab a merchant or whatever (yes, that is a verbatim translation of 商人にても何にても) you can find, and push him at the assailant, thereby giving you an opening to gain victory.
The alternative name Katame no koto (or Ken no koto) appears in the Battō kokoromochi no koto after the list of kata that are now practised. There is no information about it anywhere, but it does not appear to be an actual kata, as it is listed together with more general strategies. The kanji 賢 actually means “clever”, but the reading is given as katame (“hardening”), so it should be taken as a miswriting of 堅. However, 賢之事 (“the matter of the clever”) is a term from classical Chinese literature, where it instructs a ruler to promote the worthy despite the risk of them being more capable than and overthrowing the ruler himself. If I had to guess what the name means here, I would say that, given the surrounding context, it is probably the same as tachikatame (太刀堅; “securing the sword”), a method for binding the sword to the waist when wearing armour.
Meaning: “entering through a gate”
Traditional name: –
Other names: 隠れ捨 Kakuresute (“hiding and discarding”/”coming out of hiding”)
Mon-iri is a new form from the Tanimura-ha, and does not exist as a kata in Shimomura-ha or the Battō kokoromochi no koto. The name, however, comes from the Jōi no daiji. There, it describes a method for entering through a gate when you expect someone to cut at you the moment you exit on the other side: take out the sword with the saya and strap it to your back with the sageo, holding it in place by pulling the end of the sageo with the left hand; crouch down by leaning forwards and run through the gate; as the enemy cuts down on the sword on your back, cut at his legs with your wakizashi. There is also a similar strategy in the Gokui no daiji called Shishidō-iri or Shishihora-iri (獅子洞入; “entering the lion’s den”), where you draw the sword and hold it along your back while swinging the wakizashi with the other hand.
The name Kakuresute might be based on Kukurisute (クゝリ捨; “tying up and discarding”), another “extra” entry following the kata list in Battō kokoromochi no koto. As with Katame no koto, there is no explanation of Kukurisute anywhere in the densho, however.
Meaning: “along walls”
Traditional name: 抜打 Nukiuchi (“surprise attack”/”drawing and striking”)
Other names: 人中 Jinchū
Kabezoe is an entry in the Jōi no daiji instructing on how to fight in a narrow alley or other places with similarly obstructed sides. Ironically, given the kata that would later take its name, it stresses that if one tries to cut in such a place, one will invariably hit the walls, overhangs or lintels. Instead, one should draw within the line of the body by twisting sideways, and rely on thrusting techniques.
The scenario for Nukiuchi is described as encountering an enemy while walking along a narrow, confined space such as an alley, and seizing the initiative by drawing and cutting before the enemy. Some annotated versions of the Battō kokoromochi no koto are more specific, saying that because movement is constrained in all four directions, one has to draw straight up along the left side of the body as the feet are brought together, in the same way as in Jinchū. Nōtō should also be done as in Jinchū, meaning over the shoulder so as to keep the blade within the width of one’s body.
Adding to this, oral tradition states that the cut needs to be performed without extending the elbows completely forwards, so as to avoid cutting into the “wall” behind the enemy. Several things about this explanation always struck me as odd:
With this in mind, and the fact that the movements in this form are nearly identical to Jinchū apart from the parting of the crowd, I believe Danzaki Tomoaki not to be entirely wrong in referring to Kabezoe as Jinchū. Most likely, one started out as a kaewaza of the other, the difference being whether you spot the enemy through the crowd, or only notice him as you literally bump into each other on a busy street with people all around you.
Meaning: “deflecting (a cut)”
Traditional name: 弛抜 Yuruminuki (“slack draw”)
At first glance, there does not appear to be much to add about this form; it first appears in the Battō kokoromochi no koto under the name Yuruminuki, referencing the relaxed grip necessary for ukenagashi, and ukenagashi techniques are, after all, ubiquitous in kenjutsu. However, on closer inspection, the phrasing in the oldest description is not entirely unambiguous and may not match the current technique in every respect:
如前歩み行敵ゟ先に打を躰を少し開き弛して抜に切る也
While walking as before (i.e. in Nukiuchi), forestall the enemy’s cut and evade by opening up the body slightly, and cut in the draw.
There is no mention of ukenagashi anywhere, and instead the main point is evading (弛し hazushi; note that this kanji is the same as yurumi in the kata name) the cut by opening the body. The same wording is used in the old Kodachi no kurai to describe evasion by stepping back or to the side without deflecting the cut, while ukenagashi is referenced as such. Furthermore, you do this before the enemy can complete his cut (sen no sen, not go no sen), and the cut is done by means of drawing (抜に切る). Nothing about this is consistent with ukenagashi, and the modern form is too simplistic to fit into Okuden.
Therefore, it is not unthinkable that 弛抜 was originally meant to be read Hazushinuki (“evasion draw”), but was later changed into an ukenagashi technique and the reading updated to the current Yuruminuki. It is worth noting here that there exists a kakushiwaza (hidden technique) where one opens up to the right while drawing to evade the cut, and simultaneously cuts the enemy’s left wrist or forearm from below as he cuts down. I would posit that this version was the original form, and the current form is an omotewaza.
Although I will refrain from going into detail here, there is a technique from the Soto no mono no daiji that is glaringly absent from Okuden, namely Raiden (雷電; “thunder and lightning”). It is, together with the state of mind known as Kasumi, described as the innermost of the inner secrets, and is an application of Tsukaguchi rokusun. In simple terms, it consists of creating an opening for the enemy to cut, and then cutting his hand or wrist before he can complete his cut. It is even stated that while other schools do ukenagashi by clearing the mind and reading the enemy’s intention, in this school we enter Kasumi and let victory arise naturally by performing Raiden. It is structurally very similar to the Shinkage-ryū concept of Katsujinken (活人剣; “the life-giving sword”), which would explain its place in the Soto no mono no daiji. I believe this is the true nature of the kata Ukenagashi.
Further supporting the identification of Ukenagashi with Raiden, there is an illustration in the densho labelled 雷電極所 (“the decisive point of Raiden”), showing a swordsman with the sword raised in furikaburi opposite another about to draw his own sword with the edge down for an upwards cut. The positioning with the right foot forwards exactly matches that right before the draw in the kakushiwaza described above.
Meaning: “requesting leave”
Traditional name: 抜打 上・中・下 Nukiuchi jō/chū/ge
The scenario of Itomagoi is usually explained as being attacked by surprise (nukiuchi) during a seated bow to someone of lower, equal, or higher rank, and responding with ukenagashi and returning the cut. However, it is exceedingly unlikely that anyone would have bowed like that while wearing a sword, particularly a long sword, as it would have been a serious breach of etiquette. The current three kata should therefore be taken as pure practice forms, or at most as representing a “but what if?” scenario.
There is, however, an entry by the name Itomagoi in the Gokui no daiji:
When you have been ordered to deal with someone, go to that person’s place and make small talk about this and that; in the midst of that, you should cut them down. If there is no opening, take your sword and, saying “I’ll come again soon” as you rise to leave, push them over with the kojiri, then immediately draw and thrust. Or, when the host sees you out and comes out with you, watch for that momentary opening, knock them down with the kojiri, then immediately draw and thrust.
(These forms are only practised in a few lines)
Meaning: “both men pulled along”
Traditional name: 行違 Yukichigai
Although the basic form as practised today consists of slashing the enemy’s side while passing him, the original instructions for Yukichigai in the Jōi no daiji specifically stated that cutting while passing someone is bad. Instead, it says, one should draw the sword while passing the enemy, keeping him on your left side, and immediately thrust at him. If he starts drawing first, you should swiftly knock him back with the tsukagashira to the chest before drawing your own sword. Both of these variants are practised as kaewaza in Musō Shinden Jūshin-ryū, along with versions for dealing with two enemies.
The Jōi no daiji adds some rather interesting advice under the Yukichigai heading: if you notice someone behaving suspiciously outside at night, you should call out your own family name; if they have hostile intent towards you, they will respond “yes”. This method is supposedly also effective during the day when you are out travelling.
The name Ryōshi-hikitsure, like Kukurisute and Katame no koto, appear after the list of kata without any further explanation in the Battō kokoromochi no koto. However, it also appears in the Iai heihō gokuisho (居合兵法極意書) under the heading 極意軍馬組附. As this name means “inner secrets of warhorse grappling”, I suspect it should actually be 軍場組附: “battlefield grappling” (the idea of suplexing a horse amuses me greatly, though). Given both contexts in which the name appears, it seems quite likely that it is instructions for some form of grappling while in armour. There is an entry matching this description in the older Iai heihō gokui hiketsu, regarding what to do when dragged down on the ground together with the enemy (“both combatants dragged along”), with the enemy on top. In this entry, which is named 組討心持 (kumiuchi kokoromochi; “the mental attitude of grappling”), the instructions are to draw one’s sashizoe (knife or short sword), fold up the enemy’s kusazuri (tassets; the armour skirt), and stab upwards there.
Meaning: “pursuing and cutting”
Traditional name: 追掛斬 Oikakegiri
Oikakegiri (written 遂懸切) first appears in the Soto no mono no daiji. It instructs that, when pursuing an enemy, one should draw and align the kissaki in front of one’s own left eye, then run in and cut (the kata as practised in Musō Shinden Jūshin-ryū incorporates a thrust before the cut). One should avoid attaching oneself to the enemy’s right side, as this allows him to turn quickly and evade or sweep the blade aside; instead, it is preferable to pursue while keeping pressure on his left side.
Due perhaps to the outsize influence of kendō on modern iaidō, in particular through ZNKR iaidō, enzan no metsuke (遠山の目付; “distant-mountain gaze”) has become the default in iai. In solo training, it is convenient as one only has to look in the general direction of the kasōteki, past them into the distance. However, in traditional Eishin-ryū, enzan no metsuke is rarely used. Instead, in seated forms where the enemy is close, nisei no metsuke (二星の目付; “two-star gaze”) should be employed. This name, like enzan no metsuke, probably comes from Shinkage-ryū and is first attested in the Tsuki no shō. It is defined as looking at the enemy’s both hands (the “two stars”), attention equally divided between them and not fixed at one point. This allows one to accurately detect the enemy’s intent at a very early stage.
Tachi metsuke no koto (太刀目付之㕝; “gaze in sword-fighting”) in the Battō heijutsu shinshin kanyō no daiji describes another, rather unusual, type of metsuke. It says that when facing an opponent in a (standing) fight, one should look at the enemy’s legs and feet. Two reasons are given for this: firstly, it allows one better to “know the situation” (i.e. judge distance, timing, and intent); secondly, it helps one stay calm in the face of danger and not be overcome by fear. In an oral tradition recorded in the later Iai heihō gokuisho, however, the feet are no longer mentioned: “In general, one should look at the enemy’s fists, but adapt to the form at hand. In a desperate situation, one should make the enemy move first, then seize the initiative and sweep horizontally.”
In the section Chūyō no daiji (中夭之大事; “essentials of cutting the enemy off mid-action”) of the Iai heihō gokui (no) maki (no) hiketsu (居合兵法極意巻秘訣), there is an attempt to explain the attitude required to win by means of tsukaguchi rokusun. In familiar terms, one should adopt the mindset of uchidachi in paired practice: by making large, deliberately conspicuous movements, one clearly shows tsukaikata (shidachi) where to strike. Swept along by the same rhythm and feeling, the enemy seizes upon the opening thus presented, and at the moment he commits to his cut, the situation is immediately reversed and tsukaguchi rokusun is executed.
In the Shinden-ryū iai gokuhisho, it is stated that the essence of iai lies in thrusting techniques, but that thrusts are hidden inside the forms of daily practice; when one feels that it would be a good time to thrust, that is when one should thrust. This is surely doubly true in Okuden, and should be kept in mind during practice.
When moving from a one-handed cut into furikaburi towards another enemy in a different direction, one runs the risk of getting the tsuka stuck in the sleeve opening when wearing a regular kimono. In order to avoid this, Okuden kata employ a technique called yukiore (雪折; “breaking under the weight of snow”). It consists of dropping the kissaki and thereby raising the tsukagashira in the direction of the next cut, clearing it from the sleeve opening. The name conjures the image of a tree branch breaking under heavy snow; I once heard it referred to as yanagiore (柳折; “willow tree breaking”), which is ironic as the saying goes “the willow tree won’t break under the weight of snow” (柳に雪折れなし). In the basic Musō Shinden-ryū forms, this technique applies only to Tozume and Yukizure.