⚔Join the Online Kobudo Training with Seki Sensei⚔ Sign Up HERE (One Lesson FREE): www.patreon.com/lets_ask_sekisensei Interested in taking lessons directly from the 22nd headmaster of Kobudo Asayama Ichiden Ryu, Seki sensei? Sign up to learn authentic samurai skills with 400 years of history with perfect English interpretation from Let’s ask Shogo (ru-vid.com). ❶ No previous martial arts experience is required; you can catch up anytime ❷ Every lesson will be RECORDED and will be available to rewatch anytime ❸ You can ask Seki Sensei questions about the techniques and samurai culture/history ❹ You can join even if you belong to another Ryuha style ❺ You can receive OFFICIAL DAN RANKS by taking exams online (and opening a DOJO in the future) 🛍Purchase the Equipment You Need for Training: tozandoshop.com/letsaskshogo🛍 🗡Iaitō (training katana): tozandoshop.com/collections/habahiro-heavy-weight-iaito/products/byakko-tenryu-semi-custom-iaito?variant=34479502164101 *🗡Bokutō (wooden katana) with plastic Saya (scabbard): tozandoshop.com/collections/iaido-bokuto/products/the-nyumon-iaido-beginners-set 🥋Dōgi and Hakama: tozandoshop.com/collections/kendo-uniform-sets/products/basic-synthetic-kendo-uniform-set-1?variant=39417538216069 🥋Inner Obi (any color): tozandoshop.com/collections/iaido-obi/products/cotton-kaku-obi?variant=34282096230533 🥋Outer Obi (must be WHITE): tozandoshop.com/collections/aikido-obi/products/white-aikido-obi?variant=34120442413189 🦯Short Jō staff: tozandoshop.com/collections/polearms/products/4-21-shaku-jo?variant=39604823195781 🦯Long Jō staff: tozandoshop.com/collections/polearms/products/5-shaku-bo?variant=34073586106501 🧐Frequently Asked Questions About Our Online Lessons: Q❓: I have no experience with katana. Will I still be able to catch up? A💡: You don’t need any previous katana martial arts experience to participate in our lessons. Seki Sensei, the instructor of the online lessons, will carefully give you instructions on how to handle the katana regardless of your level. You will also be able to access all the videos of the past lessons, so you can watch what every other student has learned in the past. You can also send us videos of your progress, and Seki Sensei will be happy to give you feedback. Q❓: What is the right length of the Iaito (zinc alloy training katana) I should use? A💡: Please purchase an Iaitō that is at least two blocks longer than the standard length. The standard length for Seki Sensei is about 177cm, so he should use a 2.45 Shaku long katana. However, he uses a 2.6 Shaku-long katana that is supposed to be used by someone 190cm tall. If the katana is too short, it becomes too easy to draw, which is not good for training. Q❓: Can I join even if I belong to a different Ryuha style? A💡: Yes, it’s not a problem at all. The Seki Sensei himself has trained in more than five styles and various other weapons. If you don’t want others to know that you are participating, you can join the online lessons with your camera off. To have the Sensei check your progress, you can send us a video of you practicing. 🗡Join the Online Iaido Training with Seki Sensei🗡 Sign Up Here (One Lesson FREE): www.patreon.com/sekisenseiiaidotraining Interested in taking Iaido lessons directly from the 8th Dan Iaido Master with 40 years of experience in Musō Shinden Ryu, Seki sensei? Sign up to learn authentic samurai skills with perfect English interpretation from Let’s ask Shogo. ❶ No previous martial arts experience is required; you can catch up anytime ❷ Every lesson will be RECORDED and will be available to rewatch anytime ❸ You can ask Seki Sensei questions about the techniques and samurai culture/history ❹ You can join even if you belong to another Ryuha style 💻Seki Sensei's Official Website💻 sekisensei.com/ 🎵Original Opening Theme Song "Hyakuren"🎵 Performance: Hanafugetsu (Singer/Suzuhana Yuko, Shakuhachi/Kaminaga Daisuke, Koto/Ibukuro Kiyoshi) Compositions & Arrangements: Suzuhana Yuko Mixing & Mastering: Watabiki Yuta ❓What is Asayama Ichiden Ryu? / Who is Seki sensei?❓ ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-2aBKmWmJpJw.html 📱Instagram📱 instagram.com/lets_ask_sekisensei/ *Please ask us questions through the DM here ♪Music♪ elements.envato.com/audio otowabi.com/category/material/japan #katana #iaido #kenjutsu #kobudo #asayamaichidenryu
Just like elder said “Not all chillin guy actually chill...some of them totally dangerous if their killer instinct is triggered" And yeah I guess Seki sensei is one of em💀🔥 But I love him❤️
I am glad to hear from Seki sensei that commoners in the Edo period were allowed a short sword, as it confirms with some of the information I have read in books about feudal Japan. I understand that the maximum legal blade length was 2 shaku, about 60cm. Another piece of trivia is that some commoners wore their short swords in a full length katana saya (scabbard). Only the blades were restricted in size, but not the saya, so this may have been done to deter a would be assailant by fooling them into thinking you are carrying a katana, or as a legal way of showing contempt for the law.
Furthering the idea of fooling someone into thinking you are carrying a katana, I'd also heard before that sometimes people would carry wakizashi in a katana sized saya because the wakizashi would be drawn faster than an opponent would expect and thus be caught by surprise.
@@enforcer0175That's actually a really simple, yet clever tactic. The only problem I could see from that is to get into that killing distance fast enough.
Absolutely fascinating 👍We love all this history and culture especially discovering how Samurai actually used and applied these wonderful weapons. Thank you Master and thank you Shogo for making it easier for us to understand and learn more of this wonderful knowledge. And it seems like serendipity or is it synchronicity that we started off watching you, then Masters channel and now you also are here once again helping us understand. And all of us with a hunger to learn from him 🤔 Thank you all. Take care. Stay safe 🙏 John and Kate. P.S. Can't wait for the next parts 😊👍
That last move, ike-dori, is identical to a move I learned in an Aikido class many years ago! We were of course not taught the version using a wakizashi but I now see that a lot of that training can be adapted. Shogo, thank you so much for bringing this content to us, and thank you Seki Sensei for sharing tidbits of your art. Again I want to mention that I am unable to financially support your efforts, and to publicly thank those who can via Patreon or however, and to urge those who can afford it but have not yet contributed, to consider doing so.
Wonderful! I love to see the techniques of daily situations...when attacked outside walking, in a corridor of a building, etc...that show the depth of a ryuha's system, that knowledge for dealing with situations outside of the stereotypical media representation of the battlefield or dueling situation. That knee trick was really sweet. Thanks for the video to everyone!
That empty-hand version reminds me of a tachi-dori waza from Aikido - an irimi entrance followed by a tenkan follow-up - the disarm can either be done standing or kneeling after sinking to the floor.
Great video. I can't believe such a recent video is available when searching about Wakizashi. This topic is really under-represented on youtube. Well done and thanks.
Thank you for the free lesson. A wakizashi is practical in tight and confine spaces, not to mention as it's shorter, it's also more nimble compared to a longer weapon like the katana. It is when you can't see it, that's the danger.
please make as many wakazashi videos you can it is a very special ken to me !thank for these amazing teachings.may the wind always be on your back and may the road rise with you both.
As a Goju-ryu practitioner, I want to stress that there is no way Ukete would be fast enough to meet Semete with a fast Katana draw for a quick block/grab of the wrist and use the sweep to take Semete down, unless Ukete trained in empty hand techniques for a while. Seki Sensei is a master of Kobudo, so he absolutely can, and so can his Katana opponent in the video. However, those that are untrained should not attempt this technique. Arigatou Gozaimashita!
It took and still takes a very long time to become proficient in any martial art, you’ll see in this video the techniques are very slow, in reality they would be lightning fast.. Training for samurai would begin at an early age..
This is my main problem with the moves as they are shown. It may be that Seki Sensei doesn't want to show things on camera but here I find several things unrealistic. First, the opponent makes it really obvious he is about to attack by slowly putting his hand onto his hilt which gives the defender a lot of time to react. Second, the opponent draws very slowly which I realise is partly because it's a demo but given how fast I have seen some people draw I feel it's unrealistic to react with the blocks and catches in time. Third, the opponent only ever uses one hand whereas Seki Sensei uses both. Now maybe Seki Sensei can still pull all this off against an untrained or undertrained opponent but if this was two well trained samurais then I can't imagine these techniques allowing the defender to actually pull off the moves. He would be cut or almost cut before he could react.
@@ruan13o There's still room for human error in the drawing. Besides, there must be other forms of parrying he didn't show us. Seki sensei is good with feints, he could use some in a real situation.
Again, BRILLIANT content from two very passionate people! I like how they "surrendered" the long sword when indoors and KEEP the short one when the long one was nearly useless indoors anyway. I don't think that's coincidence since a LONG blade in the narrow and short halls of a Japanese house or castle would be barely useful at all if you could even draw it properly in the first place in some of the tighter corners. I know more than a few Iaido practitioners who have marks in their ceilings and walls from trying to practice under an 8 shaku ceiling...it just doesn't work well. I am six feet, four inches tall so my shomenuchi swing can reach as high as 10 to 12 shaku (feet) depending on the blade. This is why many sword-based martial art dojo's MUST have high ceilings. A wakizashi, on the other hand, is ideal for indoor spaces, especially considering the architecture of the time with mostly shorter ceilings, narrower halls and doorways, and lots of exposed wooden beams to lodge a blade into on swinging it. It really just makes sense if you know how much room it takes to draw and wield a katana properly and how small "indoors" feels when you're doing that.
Wakizashi has a lot in common with the European Langesmesser (long knife). It was pretty ubiquitous, carried by everyone from nobles to peasants, and had a very in depth fighting style combining standard longsword fencing (which arguably developed from the messer), grappling, and disarms just to name a few topics. I really love this type of widely carried short sword style of weapon, it tends to be fill a fascinating role in whichever culture you see it in.
@@jaketheasianguy3307 That is largely incorrect, Mesers are more about who made them and how they are made (according to guild laws) rather than claiming it's a knife to exploit a loophole. It is simliar to the wakizashi in that everyone was allowed to carry one in areas where carrying weapons was allowed (mostly weapons were restricted in cities, but it depends on which city), whereas something like a longsword was restricted to nobility.
Thank you so much for these fantastic videos. I became a subscriber after watching about 30 seconds of the first video. My last visit to Japan was 2017. I've been waiting for all the travel restrictions to lift. So now I'm planning a return soon. Thanks again.
Thank you for sharing! The historical lessons about guilt being determined by who drew their sword first was especially informative. I have a question: do you know of any wakizashi kata from this school that focus on being in a cramped space, such as a corner? If so, is there a chance you will explore them in a future video?
This is just down right AWESOME! I love the structure of the video, the different angles really make it easier to see how the kata works in the situations explained! 👌🏿👌🏿👌🏿👌🏿👌🏿👌🏿😇 Fantastic work everyone!!!!! Also, Shogo… SO PROUD OF YOUR HARD WORK!!!! 😇
I absolutely love these films. I appreciate the knowledge you both have and the amazing ability to explain it all so well. The multiple angles done on each method helps so much! Subscribing!
Thanks for the video. I think the reason so many people want to learn about the wakizashi is that at least in the US the katana is so popular that it is easy to find books and videos on how to use it but there is almost nothing available on the wakizashi or tanto.
Hello my friend Your Sensei seems to be one really laid back guy with no hang ups and a lovely way with people . I love watching and learning here . Amor Tim ❤️
I'm noticing from a lot of these videos that most encounters with bladed weapons are a LOT shorter than most people believe. If one person is sufficiently prepared, 2-3 swings is pretty much all that's needed.
Thank you for sharing so much of Japanese culture and history. Are there many disabled people that practice the Japanese martial arts? My foot is amputated so was wondering if a person like me could participate in that. Especially the various bladed weapons.
Thank you so much for such great content! So authentic and well explained. Great format! Keep up the good work, helping us all to better understand the samurai ways and traditions. I feel it helps to better understand the culture.
I love it when you go to the old masters. And keeping those traditions alive. Ko ryu will survive. Thanks again for your show. Domo arigato ! Is it “ gozaimsu” or “”gozaimashte”? Ultra polite tense. I meant it either way. Thanks 🙏
This is excellent information about my newly purchased wakizashi, I have a difficult story of getting to a home yesterday afternoon, so this blade will always remind me of that! I would've been able to get the daisho for $700 which would've included a display stand & maintenance kit, however my friend didn't purchase my wares so I have only my short sword. Regardless this is a beautiful contemporary weapon for my arsenal & I'll get the rest of my swords in August. 🦓💚
@@manikyum Well right now It lies on my softest pillow on my bed as I am lacking a display stand, in addition to that, it waits for its familiar katana which I shall bring home with me in August as I may have already described above. 🦓💜
Thank you for the videos truly enjoying the content. Baiting the opponent into drawing first, similar to a gunfighter in the Old West. Admittedly that almost never happened over here like it did in the movies, but it's still something we think about.
The point about the first combatant to "show steel" being the aggressor is very similar to cowboy rules. With Western cowboy duels, the first man to "touch leather" (or "slap leather") is said to have initiated the duel. You can hold your hand over your pistol holster, you can wiggle your fingers over it, but the deciding point is who actually touches it first. Thus there is a lot of psychological warfare between rivals in a guarded town to try and goad somebody into drawing first (and thus becoming a justifiable homicide). I am sure it was the same in the Sengoku Period.
I am truly enamored with your videos and I wish for nothing more than one day be part of the culture and teachings of great masters in the art of swordplay. So thank you for bringing this knowledge to one such as myself. I may live in the US BUT!! My heart and My soul belong in the Land of the rising sun! Huugghh how I long to go home I miss the red sun's blue skies and the mountains
One thing I would like to see is the katas you explain executed at real life speed after they have been demonstrated slowly. I know I'm somewhat strange in that respect, but to me, seeing a fighting situation performed, for want of a better word, disassembled into its component moves, feels very strange. Being able to see it executed as it would look in a real-world situation would resolve things for me.
Great video! I love the wakizashi but was always lead to believe (urban legend?) it was carried for hari-kiri. Excited to see practical application and the fact that it was likely more commonly carried than the katana was news to me.
In Aikido, we often are shown how our empty-hand waza are derived from sword or staff waza. Interesting to see a sword technique that started out as an empty-hand technique.
I am remembering that last fight in Twilight Samurai (Twilight Seibei, I think it was called in Japan?): our protagonist is sent into a building to defuse a hostage situation, turns into a sword fight... and the opponent goes for an overhead strike and gets his blade stuck in the rafter directly above him. Ever since then, I've been acutely aware of the usefulness of short blades! Which kinda sucks for me, since I've been studying the yari and naginata lately... complete opposite. Seki-sensei, Shogo-san: Arigatou gozaimashita! This channel is now appointment viewing for me, much like the JP Asayamaichidenkai channel.
I learned most of my wakizashi skills not from kenjutsu but from kyujutsu. You do not wear a long katana while using a bow but you still always wore a wakizashi. Several schools of kyujutsu (not kyudo the sport) teach wakizashi as it was your last line of defense.
am interested in how high usual ceilings are in houses? in my apartment the ceiling is about 2.5 m high and when I swing my katana while standing I usually hit the ceiling and the wall, shoot the plaster and break the chandelier at the same time. with shorter wakizashi this never happens . I imagine someone with a shorter weapon would have a deciding advantage over a katana in such a situation. ;)
(To preface my issue here is with the combat shown right at the start of the video at 00:00! And I'm in no way an expert like the sensei I just have some qualms with what's being shown.) No disrespect to the sensei, as I recognise his accomplishments and respect him for it, but there's no way an attacker would just let you grab their wrist with no resistance. Like the attacker makes his first cut from the Saya then just kind of sits there staring at the sensei while he does his thing to eventually take him down. Like if your first strike misses you'll surely make another strike or reposition, not stay still watching in disbelief at the fact you missed as your opponent goes to disarm you. I get that the whole kata is slowed down most likely to demonstrate the movements but even still the movement seems flawed when it expects the attacker to not resist being countered. I also understand that kata usually are done to demonstrate form not necessarily to imitate a real fight, so maybe thats what is happening, but I still think its not great especially when all the comments are saying the demonstrations are amazing, practical or 'real' history. If this is done more as a demonstration of form like iaido then cool, its impressive for sure, but if this is meant to be a real example of samurai combat then I'm not sure. Both combatants would be trained swordsmen most likely, both combatants wouldn't freeze up after missing one strike. Please tell me if I'm wrong, I'm more than willing to try to understand what I'm missing here. Thank you!
Hi, samurai, can I ask why is part 2 private? Maybe just to keep us waiting in excitement... :) By the way I think the Sensei is very chill guy, but someone who I never want to have problems with. XD
In the Wakizashi II section starting at 6:50, I noticed that Seki-sensei is blocking with the edge of the blade, rather than on the side where the blade should be more ductile and spread the impact of the blow more evenly, which is what I was taught. Is there a reason for this edge block?
6:15 > Feigning a draw to tempt your opponent into a fight, when they have an Uchigatana and the Samurai has an Wakazashi. My brain IMMEDIATELY went back to the fact that when going into castle, you would hand your long sword off to a servant. You know who frequently pretended to be servants? Enemy spies and assassins aka ninja.
Thank you once again for the educational video. This question might be a little off-topic, but is there is a particular reason why the second person places his foot on his thigh/knee when he falls down, rather than on the floor?
From style and history's perspective it is really similar to the Takagi Yoshin Ryū. I am training the Shoden level of that Ryū at the moment. The manipulation of the balance with the leg is quite similar to Do Gaeshi Kata. Is there some historical influence from this Ryū, my knowledge is not up to date with the evolution and influence in a historical perspective. Greetings from Germany
