Sekiguchi Ryu Battojutsu I

[nightsharp]

Nope, "katana" just means sword. The same character can be read toh, which is derived from the Chinese word dao, "blade". "tachi" does contain that same character (read as chi, not toh or katana), but it translates better as "big sword".

Plus, tachi is a technical term referring to pre-Muromachi era cavalry sabers, mounted edge down and hung from hoops instead of thrust through the belt like a modern katana.

[mekugi]

"To", "Katana" and "Tachi" are used interchangibly. Therefore "tachi" is a generic word meaning "sword". The two kanji, ta-chi, literally means "thick-sword" and not *big* (compared to an Odachi or Choken- which is referring to length). There are schools that have Tachi vs. Kodachi kata, illustrating the use. It has nothing to do with the way it is mounted, unless followed by the term "koshirae", which is in fact talking about a specific mount. It's easy to confuse.

[nightsharp]

Oh, I see what you mean. Various iaido schools, like MJER, do have "tachiwaza", and in that sense they are interchangeable because those schools started back when tachi was literally the correct term.

The common reading of the character shifted in the 14th century to reflect the difference between cavalry and infantry techniques. The blades themselves didn't change (although some of them were cut down to make battojutsu possible) just the koshirae.

[kfkonrad]

An interesting point I never thought of. We do standing kata called "Tachi Waza"... I always thought that tachi was another word for standing. Meaning... we have seiza kata, tate hiza kata, and tachi kata.

I need to look into this...

[mekugi]

Two different words with the same sound. You have to understand them in context or see the Chinese characters. We have the same thing in English...beat and beet....

[nightsharp]

He's not using a tachi; it's mounted like a katana, plus you can't do battojutsu with a tachi at all.

[mekugi]

Ummm...tachi just means "sword". Nothing else; just another name for the same thing.

[nightsharp]

But, they're not interchangeable. The modern "tachiwaza" is archaic, not technically correct, like when the SCA types say "thee" and "thou".

[mekugi]

You might want to look into a school in Kyushu called "Kage Ryu." They use Choken for iai, pretty amazing to behold.

[powerofthefro]

I was hoping to see some examples of battokiri so I could practice it. Still it was cool to look at this. (Is he using a tachi or is that my imagination?)

[omegagilgamesh]

It may not be the most visually impressive, but to one trained in martial arts, it looks like solid techniques. The way the nihontou cuts is subtle, as it has to be dragged through the target, not pushed. With realistic defense along side that, the guy looked, to me, like he knew what he was doing.

[MiraSeth]

of course he knows what hes doing. thats why hes on a stage