Toyama Ryu
The Art of Sword Drawing
Toyama Ryu Batto Do
Toyama ryu kihon kata (the eight basic kata as transmitted through the Nakamura line)
Toyama ryu jokyu kata (advanced variations on the eight basic kata)
Toyama ryu henka (advanced applied variations)
Toyama ryu hensen (the study of the original methods and their technical evolution to the present time; Gunto soho, Battojutsu and Battodo/Iaido periods.)
Toyama-ryu
Toyama-ry¨± (‘õɽÁ÷) was born perhaps as early as 1925 at the Rikugun Toyama Gakko, or "Toyama Military Academy". By the 1970s, three separate organizations represented Toyama-ry¨± iaido: in Hokkaido, the late Yamaguchi Yuuki Sensei's Greater Japan Toyama Ryu Iaido Federation; in Kansai (Kyoto-Osaka area), the late Morinaga Kiyoshi Sensei's Greater Japan Toyama Ryu Iaido Association; and, Nakamura Sensei's All Japan Toyama Ryu Iaido Federation. Each organization was autonomous and retained its own set of forms; the Hokkaido branch even included sword versus bayonet exercises.
The army iai-batt¨ kata differ from many kory¨± sword schools, in that all techniques are practised from a standing position. At the heart of the ry¨± is the tameshigiri or test-cutting.
As a result of a somewhat limited series of movements and the relative speed at which a student may begin cutting targets with a sharp sword, Toyama Ryu has become widespread in the United States where it is easy to acquire swords. The history of the style has been strangely sugar coated from the standpoint of Imperial Japanese war atrocities.
Although popular sales literature for the schools that teach Toyama Ryu often cite the style as a type of kenjutsu, the flat footed cutting of targets calls to mind the tied up and defeated nature of the intended targets of the Toyama Ryu.
Information
- Systems: BATTO JITSU
- Date founded: 1925 approx.
- Founded by: Toyama Military Academy
- Present representative/headmaster: None to cover all three branches.
- Primarily located in: Kanto Region
Toyama-ry¨± (‘õɽÁ÷) was born perhaps as early as 1925 at the Rikugun Toyama Gakko, or "Toyama Military Academy". By the 1970s, three separate organizations represented Toyama-ry¨± iaido: in Hokkaido, the late Yamaguchi Yuuki Sensei's Greater Japan Toyama Ryu Iaido Federation; in Kansai (Kyoto-Osaka area), the late Morinaga Kiyoshi Sensei's Greater Japan Toyama Ryu Iaido Association; and, Nakamura Sensei's All Japan Toyama Ryu Iaido Federation. Each organization was autonomous and retained its own set of forms; the Hokkaido branch even included sword versus bayonet exercises.
The army iai-batt¨ kata differ from many kory¨± sword schools, in that all techniques are practised from a standing position. At the heart of the ry¨± is the tameshigiri or test-cutting.
As a result of a somewhat limited series of movements and the relative speed at which a student may begin cutting targets with a sharp sword, Toyama Ryu has become widespread in the United States where it is easy to acquire swords. The history of the style has been strangely sugar coated from the standpoint of Imperial Japanese war atrocities.
Although popular sales literature for the schools that teach Toyama Ryu often cite the style as a type of kenjutsu, the flat footed cutting of targets calls to mind the tied up and defeated nature of the intended targets of the Toyama Ryu.
Information
- Systems: BATTO JITSU
- Date founded: 1925 approx.
- Founded by: Toyama Military Academy
- Present representative/headmaster: None to cover all three branches.
- Primarily located in: Kanto Region