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In this series of articles, I am attempting to translate and contextualise the dōka of Hasegawa Eishin-ryū. All articles in this series can be found here. This article covers the tanka for the sixth technique, Iwanami.
Roppon-me: Iwanami
Boat Navigating Rocks in Izu Province, by Hokkei
Iwanami is the sixth technique in Hasegawa Eishin-ryū. As with the previous two waza, it differs slightly between Musō Jikiden Eishin-ryū and Musō Shinden-ryū. Again, however, the basics of the technique remain largely similar. Once more, I will cover the technique as it appears in both Jikiden and Shinden.
Iwanami (岩波 or 岩浪) literally means ‘rock wave.’ It refers to a wave that swells and breaks against rocks, and is a fairly common image in Japanese poetry. These waves are often depicted as being powerful or fast-moving, and caused by a strong current in a river. In the Eishin-ryū tanka, the image of one of these waves striking a boat is used to express overwhelming speed and power.
Read More Post a comment (3)In this series of articles, I am attempting to translate and contextualise the dōka of Hasegawa Eishin-ryū. All articles in this series can be found here. This article covers the tanka for the fifth technique, Oroshi.
Gohon-me: Oroshi
'Blowing Snow' - by Shreyans Bhansali on Flickr
Oroshi, or Yamaoroshi, is the fifth technique in Hasegawa Eishin-ryū. Like Ukigumo, this technique varies somewhat in execution between Musō Jikiden Eishin-ryū and Musō Shinden-ryū. However the essential point of the waza remains the same.
Read More Post a comment (2)In this series of articles, I am attempting to translate and contextualise the dōka of Hasegawa Eishin-ryū. All articles in this series can be found here. This article covers the tanka for the fourth technique, Ukigumo.
Yonhon-me: Ukigumo
'浮き雲 / a floating cloud' by furbychan on Flickr.
Ukigumo is the fourth technique in Hasegawa Eishin-ryū. The execution varies somewhat between Musō Shinden-ryū and Musō Jikiden Eishin-ryū, but the movement and feeling involved are much the same.
It is well-known that Hasegawa Eishin was an expert yawara (jūjutsu) practitioner. There is even a Hasegawa-ryū yawarajutsu that claims descent from him. The Hasegawa Eishin-ryū contains a good deal of grappling techniques, or techniques that may be effectively adapted for use in grappling, and Ukigumo is a prime example of this. Even without adapting the basic ’situation’ usually used to describe the waza, there are several clear grappling elements. The nukitsuke here may be treated not so much as cutting through but as applying the sword to the opponent. The sword is then used to take the opponent to the ground, where they are killed with a cut to a vulnerable area of the body.
Ukigumo means ‘floating cloud’ or ‘drifting cloud.’ It is an enduring image in Japanese poetry, notably appearing in a famous passage in the Tale of Genji. The Chinese word fúyún (浮雲), adopted into Japanese as fuun, has approximately the same meaning. The floating cloud is a metaphor for being restless and changeable. As with other imagery we have seen, it can also mean something ethereal or ephemeral that is liable to move or vanish.
Read More Post a comment (5)This is the third in a series of articles in which I am attempting to translate and contextualise the dōka of Hasegawa Eishin-ryū. All articles in this series can be found here. This article covers the tanka for the third technique, Inazuma.
Sanbon-me: Inazuma
Thunderbolts in the Rain over Hashidate, by Utagawa Kuniyoshi
The name of the third technique in the set, Inazuma, means “lightning.” The waza consists of stepping back and cutting into the wrist(s) of an opponent as they commit to a strike from jōdan. Like Tora no Issoku, this is followed by a kneeling kirioroshi.
Read More Post a comment (5)This is the second in a series of articles in which I am attempting to translate and contextualise the dōka of Hasegawa Eishin-ryū. All articles in this series can be found here. This article covers the tanka for the second technique, Tora no Issoku.
Nihon-me: Tora no Issoku
Tiger Amongst Bamboo by Kano Sansetsu
The name of the second technique in the set, Tora no Issoku, means “tiger’s step” or “tiger’s foot” – either could be applicable, I feel. The waza contains an element present in all three schools (or teaching levels) that make up Musō Jikiden Eishin-ryū. This element is sunegakoi, a sweeping block to protect the knee from a horizontal cut. The outer forms of Tora no Issoku and its more advanced counterpart, simply called Sunegakoi, are almost identical. Although “sunegakoi” literally means “enclosing the shin,” in standard Japanese, in Tosa dialect the word “sune” means “knee,” not shin. Senior sensei have told me that this is an important distinction to be aware of.
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Musō Jikiden Eishin-ryū and Musō Shinden-ryū are the two most widely-studied schools of iaido in the world. Both were derived from Hasegawa Eishin-ryū, which was founded by Hasegawa Chikaranosuke Eishin during the Edo period. Two generations later, the ryūha moved to Tosa, where it was transmitted until the modern era. Eishin, the seventh-generation shihan of Hayashizaki Jinsuke’s Shinmei Musō-ryū, was responsible for adapting that school’s battō techniques for the uchigatana, as well as creating a number of waza himself. The waza he created are today collected in both Musō Jikiden Eishin-ryū and Musō Shinden-ryū at the Chūden level, in the set of techniques known as Tatehiza no Bu. This set may also be referred to simply as ‘Eishin-ryū’ or ‘Hasegawa Eishin-ryū.’
Tatehiza no Bu today consists of ten waza, all but one of which is performed from the half-kneeling tatehiza position. In this position one kneels with one leg as in seiza, whilst the other is placed with the foot alongside the knee of the first. This seated position is said to come from the correct posture for kneeling in armour.
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