Free Form Fencing with Bokken

This is a video of us fencing with bokken. We are both students of Muso Jikiden Eishin Ryu Iaido, as well as other arts. Though MJER doesn't include such practice, we felt it would be an interesting educational activity to engage in a bit of fencing. We decided to take video of some of our fencing sessions, and this video is an edit of some of the more interesting exchanges.

Note that this practice is completely unstructured, free from all restrictions except mutual interest in safety. It is also important to note this is solely an independent study — we do not have a fencing teacher, nor do we teach fencing to others. This is a project we both are interested in pursuing, so we get together about once a week and fence.

We are posting this video with a question: Does anyone else engage in a similar method of practice? Are there any traditional families of swordsmanship (extant or otherwise) that have a similar practice as part of the curriculum? Does anyone do this type of thing in a structured class, with a qualified teacher experienced in this sort of fencing?

Category:

Sports

Tags:

• bokken
• fencing
• form
• free
• randori
• kenjutsu
• muso
• jikiden
• eishin
• ryu

[EishinRyu]

well done gentlemen. good control and respect for each other, also very good control of your center and keeping chudan. also good ma-ai. this is how some fellow students and I will start practicing. where are u guys located? were in Vanccouver BC in Canada

O-KEIKO GANBATTE!

[mrdanie1san]

Thanks for the comment!

We're in East Lansing, MI

[MCSomatik]

I do Kenjutsu (Ken Kai Ryu) and we fence quite alot like this.

You guys are exceptional at it, I must say.

[MCSomatik]

@bassistoftheyear The tsuba is actually there to stop your hand from slipping onto the blade during thrusts, and not to protect the hand from the opponent's blade, which is a common misconception (still better to have one though!).

Not all the bokken in my dojo have tsubas but it is preferred.

[bassistoftheyear]

neither of you have a tsuba? what is the reason for this? is it ryu specific? seems kinda dangerous to me even a bokken can break a finger

[usernameSPARTAN117]

I wanna practice this!! T__T

Excelent video, I could be watching this kind of videos for hours, because I love it, keep the great work :D

Thumbs Up, sub, fav (y)

[kegage1000]

We also train using full contact combat kenjutsu (for lack of a better term). We are all in tne SCA (Society for Creative Anachronism) and use those armor, weapons, and safety standards, but not the combat rules. We emphisize proper movement, control, and cutting technique in our training.

[kegage1000]

Well done. Very nice. I agree with the others.

Good control and movement.

Yes, there are others out there that practice this way, and even do more intense practice than this. I am in Memphis, TN. I, and some friends of mine, have been seriously trying to study kenjutsu for many years (34yrs for me) on our own. No one here to teach us so we have to do the best we can. This is very similar to a drill we do to develop movement, perception, and reaction skills.

[davetherave188]

well done gentlemen

[BigP103]

Great video! That's certainly my idea of a good time!

[MagikDee]

Beautifull Free Form !

Lots of REspect for that Match !

[Natebaber]

good stuff, this was fun to watch