Yagyū Shinkage-ryū
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Yagyū Shinkage Ryū (柳生新陰流) is one of the greatest and most famous Japanese schools of swordsmanship or kenjutsu. Its name roughly means "Yagyū New Shadow School," Yagyū being the name of the family which came to head the school at the end of the 16th century. It grew out of a school headed by Kamiizumi Nobutsuna, who named Yagyū Muneyoshi his successor in 1565. Today, the Yagyū school remains one of the most widely practiced schools of Japanese swordsmanship.
History
Until the 16th century in Japan, martial techniques were concerned with effectiveness in real battle. At the time of the founder of Shinkage-ryū, Kamiizumi Nobutsuna, the superiority of a school was determined through duels. Basic postures were very distinct; very low, in protection of the body. The idea of winning at any price was deeply ingrained in the schools which were born at this time, as were the concepts of Isatsu-no-tachi (the school of the sword that kills only once) or Ichi-no-tachi (the sword of only one cut). A lot of importance was placed on the technology of swords and armor themselves. However, with the arrival of muskets (arquebuses) and other elements of modern warfare, these traditionally invincible techniques were no longer sufficient. Kamiizumi, with the creation of the Shinkage-ryū (New Shadow School), changed basic postures a bit by raising them slightly. He changed the manner of holding the sword. He shortened the length of the blade of the sword, and perhaps most importantly, he perfected a new method of teaching to make the study and practice of kenjutsu uch easier. Before, practice was carried out with either a bokken or one with a dulled steel blade. The practitioners had to therefore stop their blows during teaching if they did not want to hurt themselves or their students. Kamiizumi created a practice sword made of strips of bamboo supported in a leather scabbard, which had the same balance as a regular steel sword. This bamboo sword came to be known as shinai ("bamboo sword," although it is phonetically a pun on the negative of "to die") and it has continued to be used for practice and competition in modern kendo. It allows striking with quickness, fluidity and potency without causing serious or disabling wounds as one would with the wooden sword and without having to stop the attacks. However, blows delivered with a shinai are far from being soft, and can still cause serious concussions. Kamiizumi, sensing the changes in the ways of war at the time, re-thought his methods of bujutsu, and began to advocate the utilization of light armour during training. The face of war was being transformed, and as it was necessary to move faster than before, Nobutsuna perfected a style of sword "freer" in its movements, more sparse, more restrained, more adapted to brawls and to duels than the fields of large scale battles.
Kamiizumi qualified the ancient schools of sword as satsujin-ken, or the killing swords. They are characterized by postures and offensive techniques, designed to win at any price. He wanted to establish "tatsujin-ken ", the sword of an Accomplished man, an Expert. The art of the sword of the Shinkage school takes into account the opponent's weaponry and methods to adapt itself to, contrary to the former sword styles which wanted to impose their dominance without taking into account the opponent. The strategy of the Shinkage school takes into account the geography of the terrain, the hour of battle and other numerous parameters. "Move with the mind, in order to move with the body" is one of the central tenets of the school. If one's sword does not stop the movement of the enemy, if one tries to fit to the opponent's rhythm, if one enters into the evolutionary mind of the adversary to find his weakness, then this sword style is called Katsujin-ken, the sword of the One who preserves Life, the Sword of the Victor.
The Foundation of Yagyu Shinkage Ryu
The feudal lord Kamiizumi Nobutsuna led a simple life. Although he was not a monk, he kept his head shaved, which was a sign of renunciation of the everyday world. He did not have children and left all his property to his student Yagyū Muneyoshi. Muneyoshi is renowned as a remarkable swordsman. He developed the mutō techniques of using bare hands against the sword and it is he who appended the name of his family (Yagyū) onto the name of the school, founding the Yagyū Shinkage-ryū. But it was his son, Yagyū Munenori, who became the master of the techniques of mutō and created the techniques of iaijutsu.
Upon Muneyoshi's death in 1606, the school split into two, his elder son Yagyū Toshiyoshi taking command of the Owari branch, while Munenori became the head of the Edo branch. This branch, although no longer headed by a descendant of the Yagyū family, continues to be practiced by a small, faithful group of practitioners in Osaka under the direction of Sono Seigo. The Owari branch of Nagoya continues under the guidance of a direct descendant of Munenori, Yagyū Nobuharu Toshimichi.
Munenori's son, Yagyū Jūbei Mitsuyoshi, contributed greatly, in turn, to the school. He was not only a master of sword, but also a strategist, an expert of jujutsu-yawara, ninjutsu, kempō and an ascetic who went on musha-shugyo, the warrior's ascetic journey. His sword technique was named chie-no-ken (sword of Transcendent Wisdom).
The one who codified the techniques of the Yagyū Shinkage-ryū into its traditional form was the fifth heir (soke), Yagyū Renya Toshikane. He invented and codified all the instructive series of basics or the kihon-waza into a code known as Hassei-hō or more commonly Sei-hō. These series were made responsible for making understood essential points of forms (kata) transmitted by Munenori. Before the advent of modern kendo, he created a form of free fighting in teaching with shinai.
