Swordfest 2009 Gekken/Sparring Embu: Part 1

[kegage408]

Great Video! One of the best sparring videos I have seen as opposed to most out there. I have been doing this type of sparring in the SCA (Society for Creative Anachronisms) for over thirty years, but with a katana made of rattan, and this has all the correct elements. Good form, technique, and most of all committed full cuts and thrusts. The only two things that maybe off are the tendencies to revert to kendo style slap blows, and no attacks to the legs. We target the legs above the knee.

[jung567]

One question... does the RSW teach kenjutsu styles or do you have to know some styles before joining?

[IshiYamaRyuSeattle]

@jung567

RSW is merely the company that produces the sparring weapon that we are using. To get anything useful from this type of training, yes, I would say that it requires knowledge of kenjutsu or kendo. Without that knowledge, sparring is reduced to a game of tag.

[EishinRyu]

It is very nice to see control and proper technique in a dynamic training environment. Both of these Kenshi seem to have very good kihon in order to properly execute these techniques during free-flowing combat. Well done. No one seems to lose their cool even after getting cut, and the maai and cuts are all done with proper intent to strike, none of this "tag" that you seem to see a lot these days when people attempt this. Once again, very well one gentlemen!

[Samuraihitachi]

1:46 was the best exchange...

[geordieweaver]

This was really interesting to watch, I've sparred in Kendo and in controlled bouts with bokken, however this is the best of both worlds, just checked out the RSW site and me thinks the club will be saving for some of their kit.

Yours in Budo

Simon

[kendoka0girl]

I'd never seen anything like that. Thanks for sharing. Were those some kind of bokken? I couldn't tell what kind of head gear that was either.

[IshiYamaRyuSeattle]

We're using sparring weapons from RSW, which are essentially metal weapons wrapped in impact foam. They closely approximate the weight and balance of a shinken. The protective gear is basically just some MMA and Karate gear we gobbled together; however we're requiring better helmets since I nearly gave Jason a concussion on that opening menuchi.

[janchodkiewicz]

Besides of RSW, are you use real steel blunt katana during your sparring? Do you know any sparring vids of japanese Kenjutsu Schools?

[IshiYamaRyuSeattle]

@janchodkiewicz

No, none of the participants in this video have participated in habiki gekiken (sparring with steel blunts). Interestingly one person in the audience, Sang Kim, did do that in Japan a few years ago and ended up winning. Blunts are as close to the real thing as you can get, but the tradeoff is you have to wear a lot of protective gear which restricts movement fairly significantly. Some could argue that makes it less realistic. RSW is a good balance, but nothing is perfect

[janchodkiewicz]

How do you judge who was the winner? Do you count proper hits or solve this problem in different way?

If you have good protectors it doesn't restrict movements. You have to make/buy good protectors only.

I advice to use good fencing mask to your sparing (allstar for example). It's suitable to steel swords/feders so I supose it' will serve well during RSW bout. Actually you risk heavy eye injury during thrust.

[IshiYamaRyuSeattle]

In this exercise and our practice at IYR, we don't have winners or losers, and we don't make any attempt to judge who wins. Putting too much thought into making a decisive strike or striking a legal target detracts from the totality of the experience. We simply focus on fighting and not about getting a point...in our hearts we know who "wins", but this exercise is about training and getting better - winning is not the primary objective.

[tomurso]

Great clip!

[CelestialSouljah]

The demo went off pretty well, I think. There was some good technique all around. (This is Chris by the way.) You got the better of me again Steve. I'll get you next time. lol

[IshiYamaRyuSeattle]

You got some great hits in there. You adapted really quick to the new weapons, that opening men uchi was much quicker than I was expecting. I can't tell if you ended up hitting kote or if I was able to get pull off kaeshi do in enough time. You had good control of the center; ken o korosu almost seemed out of the question for me, which at least gave me an opportunity to "try" to practice go sen no sen. Overall, it was a lot of fun; definitely something we'll have to get together to do again.

[CelestialSouljah]

Yeah, we will. This is definitely a test of technique.  You maintain yours well. Mine didn't fall apart as badly as I thought, but there is room for improvement.

[genei09]

Saw some good techniques in here. Looks like fun.

[Delmo67]

You can tell who the Kendoka is even without the labels. Jittery fellows those Kendoka :) . Nice video, thanks for posting!

P.s.~ I'm sure ive asked this on some of your other videos, but where did you get your sparring Tachis?

[IshiYamaRyuSeattle]

Thanks for your comment. Kendoka are really tough. I have a little background in kendo, but not as much as either Chris or Alberto. Chris just received shodan (I believe), and I'm not sure what Alberto is.

The weapons are made by RSW ("Realistic Sparring Weapons") in Hong Kong; their website is rsw [dot] com [dot ] hk

[Samuraihitachi]

Awesomeness brother...

[Samuraihitachi]

Round one, fight! Mortal Kombat.. I think after this round I was basically cooked for the day. Second and third rounds I was just going through the motions. Oh and I wouldn't mind a copy of any of the rest of the footage you obtain during Swordfest... Pretty Please!

[IshiYamaRyuSeattle]

Trust me, I felt your pain. I was exhausted as soon as Chris stepped onto the floor for the second round. It was a good experience though. I have the Mugai Ryu, Nakamura Ryu and part of the Shinkage Ryu embu on film. I'll shoot you a copy when they are done processing.

[IshiYamaRyuSeattle]

lol, I still love that tsuki at 1:06...about took my head off.