The Sword Course

I am a bit sun burned and that must be the only bad thing about Yesterday’s sword course. Shidoshi Lee really out did himself with this content. I feel so proud to have had the privilege of attending such a professionally and well thought-out course on sword work.

We started off with the basics after a bit of warming up. The wrist is a key component as it is the link between the sword and the arm. This is also the first thing that gets tired after a bit of training with the sword. We learned how to roll the sword with our wrists, changing the grip while doing a figure eight and ending the move with the sword in the hidden Ronin stance.

We learned how to perform a dive roll with the sword as well as retrieving the sword from the ground with a roll. Each roll must end in a strike and Shidoshi Lee also demonstrated retrieving a sheathed sword, extracting it and striking all in one motion!!

We learned basic cuts with the swords followed by the Nine cuts Kata. This deadly nine times over kata is a free flow motion that include two hand swaps, two cuts, two decapitations, two strikes, a J-cut and an over hand strike that ends in a blood let before the sword is neatly tucked back into the scabbard.

After perfecting the Nine cut Kata we focused on some defensive techniques. Blocking and then striking proved to be quite a bit more difficult than I anticipated and foot work proved to be yet another stumbling block. Shidoshi Lee introduced the Shinai to us and one of his students suggested that we train with them a bit. The Shinai really makes it easy er to move and strike and visualise the movements and I got it right to parry and follow up with a strike.

Then we learned another Kata, the Sword etiquette. The Kata, meant for the decapitation of a disgraced Ninja, follows a ritual that first brings the swordsman to his knees in respect for his master and ends in a decapitation and ends in a overhand strike that splits the body on the receiving end in half.

Thank you Shidoshi Lee, you are a true inspiration. I really enjoyed the sword course.