We warmed up with 雷光之剣 raikou no ken. After the solo drill, I added advancing and retreating footwork against a partner. This trains both attack and defense with the sword, but also good distance for muto dori.
We continue our study of 剣術 kenjutsu kihon with some waza against an attack from 八相之構 hassō no kamae. As the opponent cuts, we evade to the forward angle, while countering with 胴切り dōgiri. Then finish with a 袈裟斬り kesagiri from the 死角 shikaku or dead angle.
On the other side, we use a jodan uke to receive the attacker’s cut.
Next I demonstrated 天地人之構 tenchijin no kamae, which is a sword kamae that is not often taught. Hatsumi Sensei says that this kamae was made famous by the master swordsman 小野岡隆俊 Ono-oka Takatoshi. You position the blade diagonally close to your right ear, and (刀身の鍔先九寸左前方斜めに位取る tōshin no tsuba-saki kyū sun hidari zenpō naname ni kuraidoru) about 9 sun (~30 cm) away from the body with the left forward at an angle. I think it helps to transition from 天地之構 tenchi no kamae to get the proper alignment.
I used this to parry an incoming cut. Many people do this with the 鎬 shinogi, but I think there is a strong argument for using the 刃 ha. The wedging effect is quite powerful, and this allows you to control the kukan.
I showed a henka for the other side where you align your own spine with the blade. Drop it down and forward to enter. Then you can pivot around it as a shield from the attack.
In fact, I moved the same way unarmed for muto dori. Wedging into position by controlling the internal and external space. I shared some methods Hatsumi Sensei taught last month in Japan to control the opponent’s blade with just his fingers. The students are always shocked when their own 切先 kissaki seems to bend in on itself.
Of Note: shared a non-mom day