The Tengu Were Kind to Me

It is always a pleasure when I encounter genuine, Traditional Japanese Martial Arts on the Internet. I usually end up surfing into somebody's website for a mish-mosh system of "Black Mantis Modern Ninjitsu-Do Ryu." Yikes.

I recently read an article in an out-of-town local newspaper in which a man claimed to practice and teach "kenjutsu" or traditional Japanese fencing. The accompanying picture had him standing in a photogenic, but somewhat awkward, pose brandishing a commercial-off-the-shelf katana with the usual gaudy gold bits. My alarms were sounding at this point, but I know enough not to judge these things too quickly.

For those of you who need to catch up... "Kenjutsu" is a very generic term for the swordsmanship skills of the Japanese warriors. Nobody was a student of "kenjutsu," rather, they proudly identified the specific style or school (or "ryu") they practiced; for example: Katori Shinto Ryu, or Yagyu Shinkage Ryu, or Itto Ryu, or Kukishin Ryu. Saying you practice "kenjutsu" is somewhat like saying, "I'm an engineer." Well are you a civil engineer, a hydraulic engineer, an electrical engineer, a mechanical engineer, a systems engineer?

Also, no self-respecting practioner of a traditional ryu would be caught dead with a glitzy, COTS sword. Glitz violates the principle of "shibumi" or simple, understated elegance inherent in most Japanese martial arts systems. Secondly, most COTS swords simply are not made for the physical demands of traditional kenjutsu practice. Don't believe the hype you read in catalogs. If you reach the level of dedication a student in a traditional ryu has in practice, you'll find that even the much vaunted Hanwei/Paul Chen swords will eventually fail you. (OK, to be truthful, if you abuse your swords and make them do things they aren't meant to do -- which is 90% of the things you see in movies -- ANY sword will fail you.) Thirdly, one of the most important things about traditional ryu is that they are "traditional." It is simply a matter of doctrine and faith that you will need a forged, folded, cutom-made nihon-to if you expect to be taken seriously as a student.

(Now, the art I practice is not quite so rigid in it's expectations. There are pros and cons to that. I own a perfectly satisfactory Last Legend field katana which is a semi-custom, made-to-order sword which holds up exceptionally well to the stresses I place on it. My Paul Chen swords have been retired before the hardware failed me. I also own, for conversation sake, a ninjato from Generation 2 which I am quite happy with. I am looking to someday acquire a Cold Steel Chisa Katana, because it is perfectly sized for Togakure Ryu sword techniques.)

But as I said, just because I had my alarms go off reading the article didn't mean he was a fraud. I knew it was completely possible, likely in fact, that the man didn't want to go into great boring detail about which ryu he studied when most readers would just want to say, "Oh, he plays with swords." As for the chintzy sword and swashbuckling stance, what looks good on film is often a far cry from what works in real life. The sword may have been a gift from some students, the photographer asked him to use it instead of that homely one stuck through his belt. (I've found that the "homelier" a swordsman's katana, often the more expensive and historically important it turns out to be.) Next thing you know it's, "Don't stand like that; try to be more menacing." I've seen all this before. You give the proles want they think they want and thank them for the opportunity to spread interest in your art. The real students will find you eventually.

So can I report that this man is, in fact, one of those rare practitioners of a traditional kenjutsu ryu? Not yet. I'm still looking into it. But he's looking good. I was able to link him to this website, which really excited me. I've seen these people before, and I recognize the names they drop as being reputable. If I find out anything definitive, I will report back. In the mean time, if you're interested in traditional Japanese martial arts, search the articles in this last link. It should be enlightening.