Kenjutsu: First Martial Arts Sword Lesson


The first sword lesson (kenjutsu) one learns in our dojo is how to handle the sword and its proper etiquette.

A few hours are spent building correct habits before we even begin studying what people believe kenjutsu and sword fighting is.

With many groups recreating kenjutsu, this part of the learning process seems to be put aside for the more interesting sword stuff.

Why bother keeping it as part of the lesson?

For those visiting our dojo or visiting as a fellow student on the martial path this can be puzzling as we are not an overly formal group. We train in regular athletic clothes, don’t wear belts, and while the subject matter is taken very seriously, as this is a Japanese martial art, we don’t take ourselves seriously in terms of hierarchy.

Yet, there is a warrior-responsibility to those training with us, which needs to be imparted, understood, and upheld.

If you can’t do the small stuff, how can you do the big stuff?

 So why sword etiquette?

This is a Japanese sword art and that will always be respected. As a student one needs to know the reasons why we do things, and how we do things in order to respect the sword, teacher, and promote harmony. While we might not be as formal with the sword, what happens if a student visits another traditional sword school, which is highly recommended as part of musha shugo when the time is correct.

Imagine how that would look and the dis-service it would do to the student?

You may not personally use it all the time, but you need to know it in case you need to make it available.

The second reason is to combat the misconception about the sword, especially the Japanese swords arts since these are still very closely guarded and often closed door. If one is not instructed and trained in etiquette one will not realize just what and how the sword is, what it is truly frighteningly capable of.

To not know this as a foundation would be an oversight on my part to the student, and would create many openings and mistakes in movement later on.

There are other reasons regarding mushashin (warrior heart) regarding sword etiquette, but these are best left for in-person transmission.

Don’t dispense with the formality, the kihon, waza, and heiho will come later.  

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