copyright © 2008 Jeff Broderick, all
rights reserved
Last month I went to the Nihon Kobudo Taikai at the Nippon Budokan. (This example illustrates the sometimes-confusing nature of Japanese; the modern name of Japan is "Nihon" but traditional things still retain the old-fashioned sounding "Nippon".) I took a lot of pictures and video with my now rather outdated camera, and it really struggled to get any good shots at high levels of zoom indoors. So, most of my pictures are a bit blurry, or have terrible white-balance. I suppose I could have tried to fix them but ... well, by now I think most people who read this thing know how lazy I am. If you want, you can always donate to the "Buy Jeff a New Camera Fund". Anyone?
A report, much better pictures, and (we hope) video will appear on Kendo World soon. If you enjoy seeing this sort of thing, you should subscribe to the magazine to support the ongoing effort to bring you free content like this. What follows are my own not-very-good pictures, and some thoughts.
Everyone
lined up at the beginning. It is amazing to think of the combined hours
of practice standing in that acre of real estate. On the left is
Namitome Shigenori Sensei of Shinto Muso Ryu jodo; on the right is
Iwami Toshio Sensei of Hyoho Niten Ichi Ryu kenjutsu. Both have been
kind and generous enough with their time to visit us in Canada.
The
demonstrators are split up into groups by weapon - archery, kenjutsu,
jujutsu, iaijutsu, and so on, and within each group, each ryuha goes by
age. Oldest ryuha go first. Ogasawara Ryu kyubajutsu (mounted archery)
is just about the oldest continuous martial art in Japan (after sumo,
perhaps) so they go first every year. If you ever think that iaido or
kendo is an expensive hobby, I shudder to think how much those kimono
and handmade bows cost.
This
is a pretty bad photo technically, but I kind of like it anyway. Kyoso
Sensei doing Tenshin Shoden Katori Shinto Ryu iaijutsu.
Ono-ha
Itto Ryu with its distinctive "oni gote" or large padded gauntlets.
They really smack those things.
Iwami
Sensei demonstrating the Nito Seiho of Niten Ichi Ryu.
This
was amazing. Kobayashi Sensei of Shin Gyo To Ryu is 95 and unable to
walk very well, and so came in a wheelchair. He demonstrated seated
techniques with his son.
Takenouchi
Ryu
Suio
Ryu
Katsuse
Sensei of Suio ryu shows Masaki Ryu kusarigama-jutsu
Iai
in full armour: Shojitsu Kenri Takaichi Ryu
Hozoin
Ryu Takada Ha Sojutsu (spear)
Saburi
Ryu
Owari
Kan Ryu spear ...
...
and Kenjutsu; in the background with fukuro shinai and in the
foreground with an o-dachi. The first third of the blade seems to be
wrapped with paper to allow the user to grip it there.
Yoshin
Ryu; definitely the best-looking demonstrators of the day.
Arai
Sensei is on the receiving end of Ukan here. A demonstration of Shinto
Muso Ryu.
Furukawa Sensei was supposed to demonstrate but didn't. Next practice, I asked him why he didn't demonstrate; was he sick? He said a word in Japanese that I didn't know. I stared blankly. He said it again; I asked him "What does that word mean?" He barked in English, "My - muzza - dead!" And that's how I learned another word for "funeral".
Yagyu
Shingan Ryu. It is hard to categorize as it is fighting in armour but
they wrestle, use swords, knives, and sometimes even their helmet to
clobber the other guy.
I've
never seen gunnery before, so this was great. Seki Ryu Hojutsu. Do I
need to explain how loud it was? Note the guys crouching in the
background with fire extinguishers, just in case something goes very
wrong somehow. I heard an anecdote that, a few years ago, all the black
powder smoke set off the sprinkler systems in Himeji. Oops.
Last month I went to the Nihon Kobudo Taikai at the Nippon Budokan. (This example illustrates the sometimes-confusing nature of Japanese; the modern name of Japan is "Nihon" but traditional things still retain the old-fashioned sounding "Nippon".) I took a lot of pictures and video with my now rather outdated camera, and it really struggled to get any good shots at high levels of zoom indoors. So, most of my pictures are a bit blurry, or have terrible white-balance. I suppose I could have tried to fix them but ... well, by now I think most people who read this thing know how lazy I am. If you want, you can always donate to the "Buy Jeff a New Camera Fund". Anyone?
A report, much better pictures, and (we hope) video will appear on Kendo World soon. If you enjoy seeing this sort of thing, you should subscribe to the magazine to support the ongoing effort to bring you free content like this. What follows are my own not-very-good pictures, and some thoughts.
Everyone
lined up at the beginning. It is amazing to think of the combined hours
of practice standing in that acre of real estate. On the left is
Namitome Shigenori Sensei of Shinto Muso Ryu jodo; on the right is
Iwami Toshio Sensei of Hyoho Niten Ichi Ryu kenjutsu. Both have been
kind and generous enough with their time to visit us in Canada.
The
demonstrators are split up into groups by weapon - archery, kenjutsu,
jujutsu, iaijutsu, and so on, and within each group, each ryuha goes by
age. Oldest ryuha go first. Ogasawara Ryu kyubajutsu (mounted archery)
is just about the oldest continuous martial art in Japan (after sumo,
perhaps) so they go first every year. If you ever think that iaido or
kendo is an expensive hobby, I shudder to think how much those kimono
and handmade bows cost. 
This
is a pretty bad photo technically, but I kind of like it anyway. Kyoso
Sensei doing Tenshin Shoden Katori Shinto Ryu iaijutsu.
Ono-ha
Itto Ryu with its distinctive "oni gote" or large padded gauntlets.
They really smack those things.
Iwami
Sensei demonstrating the Nito Seiho of Niten Ichi Ryu.
This
was amazing. Kobayashi Sensei of Shin Gyo To Ryu is 95 and unable to
walk very well, and so came in a wheelchair. He demonstrated seated
techniques with his son.
Takenouchi
Ryu
Suio
Ryu
Katsuse
Sensei of Suio ryu shows Masaki Ryu kusarigama-jutsu
Iai
in full armour: Shojitsu Kenri Takaichi Ryu
Hozoin
Ryu Takada Ha Sojutsu (spear)
Saburi
Ryu
Owari
Kan Ryu spear ...
...
and Kenjutsu; in the background with fukuro shinai and in the
foreground with an o-dachi. The first third of the blade seems to be
wrapped with paper to allow the user to grip it there.
Yoshin
Ryu; definitely the best-looking demonstrators of the day.
Arai
Sensei is on the receiving end of Ukan here. A demonstration of Shinto
Muso Ryu.Furukawa Sensei was supposed to demonstrate but didn't. Next practice, I asked him why he didn't demonstrate; was he sick? He said a word in Japanese that I didn't know. I stared blankly. He said it again; I asked him "What does that word mean?" He barked in English, "My - muzza - dead!" And that's how I learned another word for "funeral".
Yagyu
Shingan Ryu. It is hard to categorize as it is fighting in armour but
they wrestle, use swords, knives, and sometimes even their helmet to
clobber the other guy.
I've
never seen gunnery before, so this was great. Seki Ryu Hojutsu. Do I
need to explain how loud it was? Note the guys crouching in the
background with fire extinguishers, just in case something goes very
wrong somehow. I heard an anecdote that, a few years ago, all the black
powder smoke set off the sprinkler systems in Himeji. Oops.