It goes without saying that Kuroda Sensei is amazing. But his drawing speed always blows my mind. As soon as he grabs that tsuka its out in the blink of an eye. Awesome!
The best sword master of today. The essence of his movement is common to that of Noh actor's movements. He himself never says about it, but,in fact he can cut his opponent in two with a single stroke of a sword.
Im grateful for even having found videos of him. If he ever offered me to become his apprentice, id probably pass out. No harm in dreams, eh? The fluidity and speed of this guy's movements is superb.
The practical application is about starting with a katana in its saya one moment, and a cute in the opponent the next, no telegraphy, no wasted motion. It has become an art in and of itself, and it isn't for those who just want to fight or cut. The balance of life and death is weighed in the silent, motionless seconds before and after the draw.
yeah the way he puts back his sword is tradidtional but also its a way to make the swords edge not touch the inner wall on the sheeths his sword so he does not dull or hinder the edge in any way
ps1973 Yes and no. It depends on what you are asking specifically. It isn't the original tamiya ryu which was founded by Tamiya Heibei Narimasa himself. It was his student 4th generation down the line, Kamiizumi Magojirō Yoshitane who later changed his name to Tamiya Gon'emon Muneshige who was inspired and founded his own line. Since the techniques were roughly the same, just his interpretation of tamiya ryu, he paid tribute to the lineage and also called his style tamiya ryu. Today original tamiya ryu is commonly known as heibei tamiya ryu or simply tamiya ryu. It is as known by other names such as (tsumaki) tamiya ryu or shin tamiya ryu along many others. After the 14th headmaster's passing, both his sons went their seperate ways to teach the art and founded 2 seperate branches independent of each other. One of the brothers, Tsumaki Kazuo Genwa was unanimously nominated to be the 15th soke which he accepted the role. His brother runs his own branch and calls it tamiya ryu as well, but they maintain independence from the 15th soke and his main branch. In order to separate the confusion, people usually address the version of tamiya ryu by Gon-emon Muneshige Tamiya's as (kuroda) tamiya ryu since its passed down each successive generation within the kuroda family along with the role of headmaster. This style is completely non-affliated with all the other tamiya ryu styles who find affliation with the main branch led by Tsumaki. Hope that helps.
Just to make it clear Kuroda sensei does not do Katori shinto ryu. Though his Iai is still very nice and very old. It's it's Tamiya ryu of Kuroda sensei's family tradition (the spelling is different from the other, more well know, Tamiya ryu). As for 'fenston's coment... And what little time I have spent with Kuroda sensei prover to me that he is a true gentle-man and very skilled. I enjoyed watching this Thanks
It's one of the arts that Kuroda Tetsuzan (who's the person in the video) inherited through his family line... most probably Tamiya ryu-iaijutsu. Just for the record Katori Shinto Ryu is completely different.
@AphelionDustwake It's not "a kata" it's a whole field of kenjutsu that most styles have adapted at some point. It's the art of drawing and cutting in the same motion, to put it simply. Obviously there are very simple and dynamic ways of doing it, but the forms have varied almost infinitely as kenjutsu became more about ceremony and cultivation over the centuries.
@robertmrivers Just realized... he did a couple kata at a slow speed to show the detail...this is not the normal pace of the kata. The rest were at speed. Also, he does not look at his saya during noto once... don't know where you are picking that up. His eyes follow (a concept called metsuke) the attacker before, during, and after the cut...again, a principle you are oblivious to because you are only concerned with the speed and trying to "imitate" iaido. Good luck.
@talkfan Yeah. Whenever I can get a hold of someone with a camera. Or if that robertmrivers dude decides to hit me back on that. You gotta understand, I don't have money for that kind of stuff. I barely have enough money to get my new sword.
wow i'm so embarrassed, sorry i dont know what i was thinking when i called it katori for an instant. i am looking the second waza and it has a lot of similarity with Takiotoshi from the tatehiza set. that is tatehiza he is sitting in don't you agree?
@shengxlong nah, that one message was from a while ago. I tried contacting him by e-mail and his channel, but got nothing. I think he was just saying that to see if I actually practice this and when I said "yeah, come see my skills" he kinda just stopped talking.
@shengxlong yeah, i've seen his website, but still, none of you have actually seen what I can do; although most of what I've been practicing (i've been practicing for 15 years) is my Iai strike, which is done in about 0.3 sec.
@meddlingmage23 I dont know what Ryu you are practicing but you didnt comprehend basics of Iai. This guy is amaizing, just look how focused he is ! And how easy he goes from total relax into full battle mode. Every idiot can swing with sword but only few can do it right. About Scabbard, well I dont know this Ryu but it is possible that they are allowed to do this.
@Arenoth21 look, my bad. I didn't mean to put people down. I'm glad you can see that it isn't that easy, but i guess it's hard to be objective since I compared it to myself, and after doing these moves for like billions of times, it seems easy to me.
actually he is not. He is a master of his family styles of Kenjutsu, IaiJutsu, Jujutsu, and Bojutsu. His name is Kuroda Tetsuzan Sensei and is a brilliant and phenomenal martial artist as well as a gentleman. He is amazing to say the least.
@meddlingmage23 Well I train Muso Shinden Ryu form 4-5 years now. Pretty fresh 2nd Dan, thank you. You said "Hell, most of you can do this yourself with a few months of practice." I would like to see that. It takes years to get on this level. I didn't ment to offend you. If you really do Iai for so many years then you have my admiration.
@FlankerCZ Unfortunately, I'm a rather broke ass person, so i don't have any video cameras or recording equipment, but every day I do iai strikes targeting pebbles the size of a tooth to work on my concentration and accuracy. If I can ever borrow recording equipment, you'll be the first person I show it to.
@talkfan Yeah, my "self-taught BS" can let me cut through stuff with a dull sword. And I have felt what he is doing because i can do his form myself. At least that robertmrivers guy is an instructor. What do you know about this? Your name suits you well: full of talk. I'm still waiting for the other guy that said he'd fly to where I am to see what I can do, but then again, i bet he didn't expect that I would agree to him filming my stuff.
@robertmrivers imitate? i already told you, he's not doing anything hard. I practice my own style, i developed on my own, but i only got into that once i could already do this crap that you're thinking is mad good. As I said, if I could record some of what i can do, it would open up your mind a little.
What Kuroda sensei is actually demonstrating here is Tamiya-ryu iaijutsu 民弥流居合術. Kuroda sensei also teaches Komagawa Kaishin-ryu as well as Shishin Takuma-ryu jujutsu
@meddlingmage23 ...so i'm curious to watch your performance!...but remember that when you do a iaido kata you have to be more correct and precise than being fast...in a real fight Kuroda would be surely faster than this. anyway, good for you if you practice good iaido!
anybody find it wrong if I go ahead and label Tetsuzan a modern kensei? Not like there's any way to contest that in the modern age, but he's inhuman, sorry.
@meddlingmage23 So, you don't know what you're looking at. You can imitate what he's doing, but, he is not doing what you think he is doing. The speed is relative to what the attacker is doing. It is not about being fast...with better being "more faster". You need to know what the attacker is doing to appreciate what he is doing. Until you get to a senior level where you are actually shown the application, you'll always be in the dark. I agree, anyone can "do the moves" faster. But thats not it
@robertmrivers actually, when I was 10. So, not even teens yet, though, I still think even 10 is kinda late. I haven't been to Japan, but I can do this guy's "form" after watching it once. Without money to attend this stuff, I was self taught, and I learned fast since I started with a live blade and mistakes hurt. I'm not gonna bother arguing since i have no way of showing what I can do. By the way, I am 24, so yeah, i do know what I'm looking at, and he IS doing it unnecessarily slow
@meddlingmage23 Mate, I've been kind of tracking about you and robertmrivers and he's actually real deal (I actually practice Hung Ga from Traditional Chinese Martial Arts, but as Martial Artist we all share the same Warrior's Path), and a martial artist must never let the chance to improve his self knowledge, or he will show a really bad weakness which is being presumptuous of his skills, I say meet up with him, and share the budo knowledge with a bottle of sake haha.
@Arenoth21 dear sir or madam; I don't understand the basics of iai?! Are you fucking kidding me?! I did this for over half my life, how long have you done this for? I know what I'm talking about. Yes, he is focused, but anyone doing this has to be, especially with a live blade. Also, true iai strikes aren't sword blows anymore, they're closer to a whip strike than anything else.
You did this for ten years, in your teens? While I appreciate your time spent practicing, it means nothing. Ur trying to interpret something you don't understand. Your commentary on speed says volumes on your understanding of it. What rank did you make it to; what style. Who's your teacher. Been to Japan? I ask because you have to pass through the ranks in order to be shown the new material.As a teenager and below a certain rank, unfortunately, u do not even know what you are looking at
@meddlingmage23 Ando who said "You doing right" ? If you will do these moves, who teach you ? You talk about master. You are better ? Show me any video, where you will do these absolutely clear, fast and RIGHT moves. After i can accept your words. You dont say your skill rank, master. This isnt only about move and strenght. U must have mental power. This is it, what you can see on this video. If you don see there, you are only amateur.
ok, i've been practicing iaido for about 12 years since I was 12 or 13 and I find this a lot slower than it has to be. Don't tell me this guy is the master... Actually, I feel bad for the people who are on this guy's nuts and think he is the shit, because it's really not that hard. Hell, most of you can do this yourself with a few months of practice. I mean HE IS LOOKING AT THE SCABBARD WHEN HE RESHEATHS for fuck's sake.
