Listen to all the people and kids talking while he's doing this. In another era there would have been a beheading. What a vanishing truly unique culture.
Mr. Soga causes some serious harm to the poor bamboo rolly-thingies. :[ I hope one day I shall be as competent as him. :] I'm sure anyone who knows a thing about Iaido, can tell from the fact that I forgot what the targets are called, that I have a LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONG way to go. ha ha.
Az egyik legszebb tameshigiri-kata amit valaha láttam!
Szomorú - de tény - hogy japánban, hiszed vagy sem, a két nemzeti sport a baseball és a golf. Egyáltalán nem tisztelik saját, egyébként roppant civilizált hagyományaikat.
I'm very interested to hear if somebody has more info about the kata (name, ryu, etc) with batto at 3:19 and notto at 3:27. Specifically, I am interested in the chiburi at 3:22. I have never seen anything like it before, where the blade is drawn over the left leg. Though, I am familiar with drawing it over the right leg as shown at 2:29. Any help would be greatly appeciated!
@ChaosNanite hi. that series of cuts was just something to get him from his last target and across the floor to his next one. and the notto is just the left leg version of the right leg you noted. until i ask him, i want to say that Nakamura Taizaburo (Soga Sensei's teacher) employed several. This might have come to my teacher from him. I'll ask.
Wow. Soga-sensei is incredible. Of course, as a hachidan, it's expected that he is amazingly stupendous. I do MSR iaido (more seitei than koryu though) and kendo, and I'm a n00b. But I'm always amazed at people with such skill, such as Soga-sensei. And this going to sound especially n00b, but his torei was superb to my novice eyes. Thank you for posting this.
Avoid steels labeled 440c and 420. They are stainless and while not bad for knives are shit for swords. Most production kats use 1060
, 1070 or 1095 steel, which are good steels. Some use L6 which is a fantastic steel with regards to stress tolerance and edge keeping, but starts to stain quick and easy. Dynasty forge and Bugei make great blades. Paul Chen/Hanwei make some good starters too. Check them out.
Kung-fu is traditional CHINESE martial art that mostly uses body as weapon,and Iaido is Japanese traditional martial art in which main(and only) weapon is sword(katana).
This was a good example of Japanese swordsmanship. I do not know what Soga Ryu is, but I can identify the Omori Ryu kata of Shohatto. It is a good example of just how muddled the Japanese sword arts are. Unlike us, the Japanese dont spend a lot of time pointing fingers at folks that dont fit too well into thier view of martial arts. This example had one of the oldest kata known in it, and it was still integrated into an art that only recently formed.
Soga Sensei studied Toyama Ryu under Nakamura sensei in his first group of students. After he left, Soga Sensei developed a set of wakizashi kata and some other exercises and voila Soga Ryu.
As far as seeing Omoto Ryu kata and the likes in Toyama Ryu, a lot of Toyama Ryu came from Omori Ryu (so i've read and been told).
he shows a certain level of mastery and dedication that you just dont see in most western tameshigiri demonstrations.
anyone who practices with some effort will be able to cut, but to move so thoughtfully and deliberately while doing so, with such dignified form, takes a different kind of mastery.
very good timing very good shato :) aswell its a very good set out hes very confadent with his sole aka sword aswell he controls his cuts well and very nice kata very good i must find him and get him to join dion ippon
I rewatched it to count. I saw 5 waza with and 10 without the traditional flick out to the side chiburi.
during practice and formal presentation of our waza we do chiburi after each kata. he does some of his notto a certain way because it looks more "kakoi." cool. thanks for the comment.
Soga Yoshiharu is quite clearly one of the best iaidouken alive. His unique style expands on Toyama-ryuu, which was invented in the 1920s for army officers.
holy crap... thats one asian man you don't want to mess with.
techwizzy 1 month ago
Listen to all the people and kids talking while he's doing this. In another era there would have been a beheading. What a vanishing truly unique culture.
CoolLikePenguinNuts 2 months ago
Mr. Soga causes some serious harm to the poor bamboo rolly-thingies. :[ I hope one day I shall be as competent as him. :] I'm sure anyone who knows a thing about Iaido, can tell from the fact that I forgot what the targets are called, that I have a LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONG way to go. ha ha.
KoriKitti 3 months ago
That opening. Off to go play Shogun 2 it is.
Myounage 7 months ago
That a small piece of the round-up mat makes a pretty loud thump when it hits the floor at 2:14, I wonder how dense it is.
KalKyuLayTor 1 year ago
Az egyik legszebb tameshigiri-kata amit valaha láttam!
Szomorú - de tény - hogy japánban, hiszed vagy sem, a két nemzeti sport a baseball és a golf. Egyáltalán nem tisztelik saját, egyébként roppant civilizált hagyományaikat.
Sageo11 1 year ago
I'm very interested to hear if somebody has more info about the kata (name, ryu, etc) with batto at 3:19 and notto at 3:27. Specifically, I am interested in the chiburi at 3:22. I have never seen anything like it before, where the blade is drawn over the left leg. Though, I am familiar with drawing it over the right leg as shown at 2:29. Any help would be greatly appeciated!
ChaosNanite 1 year ago
@ChaosNanite hi. that series of cuts was just something to get him from his last target and across the floor to his next one. and the notto is just the left leg version of the right leg you noted. until i ask him, i want to say that Nakamura Taizaburo (Soga Sensei's teacher) employed several. This might have come to my teacher from him. I'll ask.
curlywolf 1 year ago
Amazing demonstration. Does anyone know the song at the end?
JVThrillz 1 year ago
what katana is this, who is its' maker whare was it forged
firefox8192 2 years ago
Wow. Soga-sensei is incredible. Of course, as a hachidan, it's expected that he is amazingly stupendous. I do MSR iaido (more seitei than koryu though) and kendo, and I'm a n00b. But I'm always amazed at people with such skill, such as Soga-sensei. And this going to sound especially n00b, but his torei was superb to my novice eyes. Thank you for posting this.
dohrt 2 years ago
Was this purely a form demonstration to the public or was it a class or a contest?
whizzkid11k 2 years ago
short answer: yes. demo to the public.
longer answer: it was during a culture day to let foreigners (mostly U.S. servicemen and families) see and try Japanese culture.
curlywolf 2 years ago
cool, thanks
whizzkid11k 2 years ago
smooth and elegant
newaza2boddha 2 years ago
Dude which martial art is the best? BAtoujitsu
fighter3223 2 years ago
dude the bowing in is wierd
what school is it frim
octotango 3 years ago
@octotango Pretty standard reiho for a lot of sword arts.
Iaazathoth 2 years ago
very good form. Fluid movement and solid concentration.
GoreTorn16 3 years ago
im trying to find a decent sword for tameshigiri, can you tell me what steel is most commonly used?
MMAfighter70 3 years ago
Avoid steels labeled 440c and 420. They are stainless and while not bad for knives are shit for swords. Most production kats use 1060
, 1070 or 1095 steel, which are good steels. Some use L6 which is a fantastic steel with regards to stress tolerance and edge keeping, but starts to stain quick and easy. Dynasty forge and Bugei make great blades. Paul Chen/Hanwei make some good starters too. Check them out.
mightydagon 3 years ago
ok thanks, really appreciate it
MMAfighter70 3 years ago
is 1040 steel good
alucard76115 2 years ago
The only problem with L6 steel is that it's very expensive. The Hanwei Praying Mantis katana for example is L6, and it costs over £1000GBP
bibblebob 2 years ago
I remember seeing his other performance, he always ends his performance with the cutting of the bamboo, gotta love it.
JesusFuckingChrist84 3 years ago
actually he ends it with shochu...
curlywolf 3 years ago
Not quite what I meant...
JesusFuckingChrist84 3 years ago
totally awesome!
zh001d 4 years ago
2:38 to 2:41 is awesome!
GeneralHanSolo 4 years ago
Kung-fu is traditional CHINESE martial art that mostly uses body as weapon,and Iaido is Japanese traditional martial art in which main(and only) weapon is sword(katana).
Don't mix those two.
Lazarvs89 4 years ago
who now where can i go to some of that scholl where u learn how to use katanas or other kung-fu and other martial arts techniques?
miluziana 4 years ago
you go to a place that teaches iaido for the katana you go to a shaolin temple for your kung fu check your local asian community
phamax111 4 years ago
This was a good example of Japanese swordsmanship. I do not know what Soga Ryu is, but I can identify the Omori Ryu kata of Shohatto. It is a good example of just how muddled the Japanese sword arts are. Unlike us, the Japanese dont spend a lot of time pointing fingers at folks that dont fit too well into thier view of martial arts. This example had one of the oldest kata known in it, and it was still integrated into an art that only recently formed.
GoldenButterfly1 4 years ago 5
Well said!
NikitasGuitars 4 years ago
Hi GButterfly,
Soga Sensei studied Toyama Ryu under Nakamura sensei in his first group of students. After he left, Soga Sensei developed a set of wakizashi kata and some other exercises and voila Soga Ryu.
As far as seeing Omoto Ryu kata and the likes in Toyama Ryu, a lot of Toyama Ryu came from Omori Ryu (so i've read and been told).
Thanks for the comment.
curlywolf 4 years ago
This comment has received too many negative votes show
Nami-ryu is way better than this old traditional stuff. Why bother practicing this old crap!
666NamiRyu13 4 years ago
nami ryu basis all of his stuff off of this old "crap" as you so put it
jackbobjohny 4 years ago
He does chiburi in every kata, they are just different kinds of chiburi. The common chiburi is the yoko-chiburi, but there're many other types.
jsalpan2002 4 years ago
he shows a certain level of mastery and dedication that you just dont see in most western tameshigiri demonstrations.
anyone who practices with some effort will be able to cut, but to move so thoughtfully and deliberately while doing so, with such dignified form, takes a different kind of mastery.
ni7enichi 4 years ago
Man, what a great tameshigiri
00RV00 4 years ago
his motions are soo fluid, i are awestruck o.o
goldenkirby 4 years ago
very good timing very good shato :) aswell its a very good set out hes very confadent with his sole aka sword aswell he controls his cuts well and very nice kata very good i must find him and get him to join dion ippon
seishin48 4 years ago
I rewatched it to count. I saw 5 waza with and 10 without the traditional flick out to the side chiburi.
during practice and formal presentation of our waza we do chiburi after each kata. he does some of his notto a certain way because it looks more "kakoi." cool. thanks for the comment.
curlywolf 5 years ago
Truly magnificant swordsmanship. It was interesting to note the absence of chiburi in most the waza he performed, is that typical of toyama ryu?
Devoken24 5 years ago
truly magnificent! such respect, speed, control and concentration! subarashii ^^
Jiiidaaa 5 years ago
he's 8th dan
JVic1992 5 years ago
Stay tuned true-believers! Another video coming soon!
curlywolf 5 years ago
Soga Yoshiharu is quite clearly one of the best iaidouken alive. His unique style expands on Toyama-ryuu, which was invented in the 1920s for army officers.
MaxBrains 5 years ago
his for m is impeccable; he and his his sword are one. very bushido.
chibisensei 5 years ago
That is amazing. The amount of respect that he gives his sword is beautiful. It isnt just a tool for cutting its like a part of him. Very good.
mbudzi14 5 years ago
That's Awesome! The amount of respect and attention he pays to his sword, the tradition, the audience, and his form are great! I'm very impressed.
meowspit 5 years ago