In 1603, Yagyu Hyogonosuke, grandson of Yagyu Sekishusai and future soke of Shinkage-ryu, joined the service of famed general Kato Kiyomasa. Sekishusai doted on his grandson, whom many said was very much like Sekishusai in personality and ability. When Hyogonosuke prepared to leave for Higo Domain (present day Kumamoto, in Kyushu), Sekishusai gave him two things. One was the Shinkage-ryu Heiho Kiriai Kudensho, a kind of list of reminders of various Shinkage-ryu gokui. The other thing was a piece of paper with two original poems on it. The second said, “Do not relax your gaze when facing your opponent — this is the reflection (kage) of the watery moon (suigetsu).” The first said, “切り結ぶ刀の下ぞ地獄なれ、ただ切り込めよ神妙剣.” Underneath the cutting swords, this is hell. Just cut in with shinmyoken.
Shinmyoken (Mysterious Sword or Wonderous Sword) is the Shinkage-ryu concept of one’s true, realized potential. Cutting with one’s shinmyoken means cutting with a free and natural body, and free and natural mind, mind and body and sword as one.
For me, the truth of this latter poem is exemplified by gasshi. Gasshi is an exercise, much like the kiri-otoshi of Itto-ryu. Shidachi and uchidachi stand apart at roughly itto-issoku maai, in jodan kamae. In some kata, shidachi is in sha-no-kamae (wakigamae) and uchidachi is in chudan kamae. Regardless, what happens is simplicity itself. Uchidachi steps in and cuts straight down on shidachi. Shidachi waits the barest fraction of a second and then also cuts straight down on uchidachi. The two swords meet in the air above the two practitioners, and uchidachi’s sword is deflected away as shidachi’s sword goes straight and true to uchidachi’s crown.
This is the essential exercise of Shinkage-ryu; it’s approach to combat contained entirely therein. It is considered the most difficult exercise to pull off, and it’s the very, very first thing new deshi are taught. Theoretically, when one has mastered gasshi, one has mastered Shinkage-ryu. The practical viability in combat for this technique is debatable. However, to borrow a phrase from Ellis Amdur, it’s an “information rich” exercise. It’s not uncommon to see old hands at Shinkage-ryu just stop whatever other kata they were doing and focus on gasshi for a while.
And man, for me, nothing says “Underneath the cutting swords, this is hell” like gasshi. To begin with, it’s not very easy to cut straight down one’s center line in the first place, stepping with either foot. The right hand is further up on the tsuka, and people tend to have a dominant eye that makes visual centering very difficult. You may think you’re cutting straight down your center, but actually cutting straight down just a little to the left or right of it. Your hands may cut down your center, but your kissaki might be a bit off-line. One can get by with such minor flaws in other situations, but the flaws are magnified in gasshi. Even when (and if) you do learn to cut down your center line, it’s then a lifetime of work to keep cutting down the center.
Once you cut straight, then there’s the question of maai and hyoshi. Every uchidachi is different. Every uchidachi cuts with a different hyoshi. Different heights and body sizes require different adjustments for maai. There’s no way to fake it; you have to learn to read uchidachi before the cut, so you can cut with the proper hyoshi and maai. That’s the essence of Sekishusai’s first poem above, I believe, as well as Yagyu Munenori’s instruction to “defeat your opponent 10,000 leagues away from inside your tent.” Finally, there’s the fear factor. There’s no bogu, and no moving to the side. Screw up and you get nailed in the head and/or hands with a fukuro-shinai. Sure, it won’t kill you, but it’s no fun. Most of the blood I’ve spilled in Shinkage-ryu has come out through the knuckles on failed gasshi. The tendency to flinch, to close one’s eyes, to slightly cant the shinai so it shields you from the oncoming blow, these are things shidachi and uchidachi always battle, from the newest greenhorn to the veterans.
At the high levels, gasshi becomes a form of shiai. The goal is win with katsuninken, so you must induce the other person to cut first. This is done by cutting at the other person, to induce them to try to gasshi you, but waiting for the right moment so that one’s own cut is delayed, allowing one to win with gasshi. Attacking is in Waiting. Waiting is in Attacking. It becomes psychological warfare. Who can induce the other to cut without getting cut themselves?
Needless to say, I suck at it. I flinch, I rush, I don’t cut straight, I don’t step in enough, I step in too deep. People who deride kata-geiko need to try gasshi for a while. You know exactly what’s coming and what you need to do. I just need to cut in with shinmyoken. That’s all. But that’s pretty much something I’ll be working on the rest of my life.
Another great piece Josh. It’s interesting that gasshi is taught in Shinkage Ryu from day one. In kendo, kiriotoshi is IMHO the most difficult and subtle waza of all, mainly because, as you say, it requires courage. Many people aren’t even aware, when they are beaten by it, that this is the technique used. b
Very interesting Josh. Thanks for sharing. I’ve seen Shinkage-ryu embu many many times but I know nothing about it, so I always enjoy your insiteful posts. I’d like to give it a whirl just to see for myself what it actually feels like, because I have trouble imagining how one would achieve a kiri-otoshi like cut with a round fukuro-shinai.
It’s not kiriotoshi as used in kendo, and its executed differently from itto-ryu (though the spirit is identical). I would also add that Josh makes some points here that are equally applicable to menuchi/debanamen in shinai kendo itself.
Basically, the outward shell looks different, but the content at the end of the day is the same. In my humble opinion.
Interesting piece. It is fast becoming lost as the ryu drifts more and more to an iai only situation, but Katayama Hoki ryu also originally had the same sort of thing as one of its major focuses. As George said, different shell, but same engine.
Just re-reading this via our discussion on Swordforum. Very useful for my kendo.
BTW George I don’t mean the waza where you strike down your aite’s sword to create the opening, which is a shikake waza I’ve also heard called kiriotoshi (but I think more correctly called ‘uchiotoshi’ to differentiate). What I mean by kiriotoshi is very like debana men except that it truly deflects the aite’s sword as part of the downwards cutting action. b
fyi Ben, I studied YSR directly from Yagyu-sensei on-and-off (mostly off i’m afraid) over a number of years so (because you know my current situation as well) you can understand a bit more where I am coming from.