This is the 5th video of the series: "How do you fight against an ** attack/situation?” This time, let’s discuss how you can fight against horizontal attacks. So today, Seki sensei, the 22nd headmaster of Kobudo Asayama Ichiden Ryu with 400 years of history, will introduce iai, kenjutsu, Jo staff, and sickle techniques that deal with horizontal attacks. He will also explain the strengths and weaknesses of horizontal cuts and how to perform them correctly, which are hardly explained properly in one video.
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I love how Sensei is super serious looking 99% of the time until he swings or does a technique and then you can see joy on his face.
I really love this channel. It’s opened my mind about many concepts and shown me a major flaw in what I was thinking about sword warfare before. Thank you!
I think the sheer variety of situations considered in these Katas shows the history and the practicality of the ryuha. Previous masters of the ryuha at some point must have run into every single one of these situations, and came up with a Kata to be ready for it.
And it's amazing that we can so easily learn from those experiences right now
I would also like to consider the time and circumstance of which these kata were conceived. The middle and late 1600's must have truly been a tumultuous time for Japan. Even with introduction of fire arms it was still very important to cultivate practical swordsmanship despite their growing usage. Judging from this ryuha it must have been understood that no one weapon could solve all problems.
@@unrussleablejimmies4428 Mid-to-late 1600s? No, not really. Mid-to-late 1500s? Certainly. But the 1600s were the start of the Edo/Tokugawa period, which had unprecedented peace after the Senkogu Jidai. Especially by the mid- to late-1600s, as you say, there wasn't a lot of fighting going on.
My dad is a master of the European pole weapon family (spears, halberds, etc.) I have yet to show him Seki-sensei's videos but I would love to see the two of them discuss techniques. They both have charismatic older man vibes that I think would be an amazing experience to be around. Also - I would love to see Seki-sensei's opinions on the use of shields - how would a samurai fight against someone using a shield?
I would also like to see a video about using traditional techniques against shields.
And I would like to see Seki Sensei's reaction to kriegsmesser (war knife)
@@HeyYouFromThatGame my concern would be getting ahold of one. He is running a school and has expenses. If I were wealthy, I would donate some practice leather dussak and ship them. Sadly, I'm not.
Hi, Shogo! Seki sensei do impress me very much. I am russian guy, not a practicing martial artist, but have seen a number of fights and several true fighters and warriors. And Sensei is definitely a highest grade of a warrior person. His skill reflects in his manner, tone, posture. In every way. Respect, thank you for your content.
After all of these beautiful Demonstrations I do not think seki sensei would have much trouble in old japan. He truly is a masterful swordsman and his timing is inspirational thank you for sharing your wisdom with us all godbless and be safe.
Love this channel. I would never leave a negative comment. Thank you for sharing!
"Before the energy is born, you stop the swing." That is actually a really eloquent way to express the idea in English! We use the same concept regularly in aikido, but, up to this point, I had not heard of a consistent way to phrase the concept that is easy to remember. I'm taking this phrase back to the dojo. Arigatō gozaimashita, Seki-sensei!
In hand to hand Martial arts, that applies as well, sometimes even more effective than straight up blocking.
Those who claim that horizontal strikes are the most powerful have literally no idea of human bodymechanics. The muscles in our back and in our abdomen are much better suited for vertical strikes, thus vertical strikes are much much more powerful than horizontal strikes. BTW, Shogo: great channel and great stuff your teacher and you present here. Keep it up!
Seki Sensei your foot work is too smooth. 4:54 I bet you can moonwalk.
There are countless techniques for a sword in its sheath, again we have seen some of those here. Perhaps a dedicated episode to that as well?
Simply superb! I cannot say much else. Arigato gozaimasu Seki-sensei and Shogo-sama. Happy new year dear friends. 🎉🙇
I'm waiting for my equipment to arrive from Tozando. I'll join classes for Jo staff soon
We are looking forward to seeing you soon!
I was trained to horizontal cut inside towards the body and turn the blade so you can push it off your body for two cuts. One towards your body the second being off of your body even if the opponent is right on you. The recovery from the second swings outside extension was drop/lunge forward pulling the handle towards your torso turning the blade forward and bringing your second hand to the handle. Was a dao form but seeing all this showed me how it works and why you have to keep it so. Cus anything else would fail. Thank you!
Young master teach awesome lessons 👏 😎 👌
Simply beautiful
great ryuha great teacher great videos
You’re using fewer muscles in the horizontal cut, and you’re still fighting against gravity. A horizontal cut still has a place though, look at the…krumphau (sorry if that’s misspelled). It’s an upward parry from the low guard, turning into a strike aimed at the head or neck.
Seki-sensei has been an amazing source of knowledge for my sword training! Idk what I would have done without this channel, it has opened my eyes to so much! Hoping that the sword videos I make will be even a fraction as informative and useful
brilliant video as always
7:56 haha the look of surprise on his student is priceless.
Its cool to see how to defend with multiple weapons in this case.
Fantastic video thank you ☸️🙏🇬🇧
15 secs in...Love that cheeky strike with the grip of the katana while its still in the scabbard.
Thank you.
As far as I can tell (please correct me if I’m wrong) horizontal cuts are better when fighting in a western style, more specifically in armored combat, horizontal cuts are low and harder to block in full armor, and if you are using a mace or a heavy weapon it can crush ribs and break bones, of course it is far more effective to use vertical cuts and swings because they can hit the head easier, but can also be blocked easier, but that’s just what I’ve seen, and Europe developed different ways of fighting then Japan or Asia!
Whats the name f the other sowdsman? I hope to see him one day winning the demonstrations himself
Love your videos,
『何が強くて、何が弱い』という主張は間違っている事がよくわかる。 どの手段にもメリットとデメリットがあるので、それをよく理解して技を行わなければいけない。それが浅間一伝流での教えであり、ここにある全ての質問の回答でもある。 武を学んでいるすべての者が、自分のスキル、道具、状況について、どんなメリットとデメリットがあるか一つ一つ考えてみる事が大切だと思いました。
仰る通りです！
Love this channel. お疲れ様です! Might we see videos about the Sai, Tonfa or Jitte? I am particularly fond of the Jitte, as there aren't too many videos of it on youtube, and I rarely see it in media, if ever at all.
Something I'd love to see, considering the past videos on the Kama, would be how Seki Sensei would fight with C-shaped western sickles.
Or what about a falx / falcata? Though I guess it's similar to the sakabatou.
Love sensei's countering techniques. I think almost every school has a series of kata countering horizontal strikes, especially swings from left to right, because it's dead obvious the opponent is targeting either throat, chest, or waist, and is easier to react with your right side. Not sure if everyone back in the days had the courage to read and counter right away, I think I would just back step for safe 😂
as a fan of shikomizue I definitely appreciate the jo staff sequence!
Wonderful you are
I am interested in purchasing the Kama used in the video (or similar). How long is the handle of the Kama?
you guys should try to use a rapier, would love to see sensei's opinion on it
We will next!
After couple years of HEMA I can pretty comfortably say (at least from my own experience) that no (real) strike, cut or thrust is objectively better than the other. They all have their benefits and they all can be countered somehow. What matters is when and how you do it
Domo origato seki sensei
At 8:35 through to the end, I can see value for rapier fencing. The parry and counter would be nearly the same.
The only reason to do a mittelhau(horizontal or middle cut in the way described in your video but I'm a HEMA guy so I will use HEMA terms especially by ignorance of kenjusu terminology) is basically if you do the a transverse step/side step to get out o the way as you do it, but this isn't going to work at all times and will inevitably mostly end in hand hits or arm hits as opposed to more crucial attacks like to the body. Otherwise, one, and I know this from sparring, exposes themselves to all manner of counters that make the mittelhau not worth it.
Can we see some students sparring with each other?
I’ve done very little Japanese sword stuff outside aiki-ken (and anybody knows _that_ ‘s not much in itself) but I’ve been studying with a HEMA club for a few years and what I’ve noticed is that beginners will often default to wide horizontal swings in unchoreographed fencing since that’s what _feels_ powerful to them before they’ve developed the appropriate kinetic chain for efficient cutting motions. Those cuts are much less efficient than the ones shown in this video and would also be much easier to counter.
After watching many video here, I came to a realisation that Tsukada-san not actulally being mentioned for his job in absolute majority of cases. Not only he himsef is very skilled, he also constantly being on reciving end of techniques shown/ It is quite dangerous, in many cases quite painful, but he still does it time and time again, so we viewers can see techniques in best way possible.
Huge
Can you examine the Tenshinryu Hyouho validity for us in a new video?
it's biomechanics of the human body- two armed horizontal swings make your arms bend in a way that takes away your range and flexibility while leaving you open after the swing. Vertical and diagonal swings leave you in a much better position
i am curious how many ways there are to use a sword while it is in its scabbard... i couldn't help notice how reserved his sword is
Interesting isn't it?
"what if..." are people who practice a kata without knowing what it is supposed to train
How do i sign up for the classes
what sorts of things might a student do that irritate Seki sensei? over the years a lot of people have asked me to teach them, and I always decline because I don't feel qualified. no matter how much I learn I still feel inadequate. especially when I compare myself to people like Seki sensei. I've never been one to seek out weak opponents. I find defeating those that have advantage over me very appealing.
Onegaishimasu, Shogo san: isn't that a bit short for a jo? Hanbo will be correct too?
It's like cutting wood you need to have an angle on the blade to get maximum of energy to cut. You see people try cut straight down and the wood absorbs the energy if you cut diagonally you get more energy spread. same with with most blades not all. ^^
How to deal with Banana cuts? Many blade related martial arts practice really nice, straight cuts, but beginners, cut in curves and at times, it can work as a feint, even though it was never intended as such...
footwork
In many cases I’d move in closer against such attacks. A crooked/curved cut will often land at a bad angle and turn flat, so even if I fail to parry it I could just counterattack with relatively little risk of serious injury.
As effective as it may seem...there still appears to be room for the opponent to harm u with the top most part of his blade even if u block with the sheath of your sword as a counter ...in my opinion .
🎄🎅🙏👍☃️🎄
In the Kenjutsu kata where Seki Sensei lured uke to attack his waist and then struck uke’s sword down, why attack the waist and not the neck? (Ignoramus here. Honest question. 🙏🏼)
✨🙏🌺✨
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I have a question. What does Seki Sensei think of bare handed styles against weapons?
He didn’t think of it, there are techniques of it in his style that has been brought down!
@@letsasksekisensei Okay, thank you. I've always been fascinated by the idea of bare handed martial arts vs weapon martial arts
Am I the only one who saves all of Seki sensei’s videos 🤣 ?
people in the commnents even questioning the legitimacy of what Seki Sensei does, shows how delusional they are of their own abilities and the real world
So why doesn't the katana wielder just stab? I've always wondered this when seeing all these moves starting from high, low or to the side... wouldn't you be able to just make a quick jab at them before someone could move their sword from so far away?
There are counters to thrusts as well. We have seen some here. Perhaps an episode dedicated to thrust counters?
it is possible to stab with a katana, but it take risks. In japan, stab is also said to be the ``sword of death.'' That is, if you are dealing with multiple enemies, even if you decide to ``pull'', This is because there is a concern that a sword that has entered an enemy's body may not come out and be cut by another enemy.
I practised kenjutsu before and I can tell you that thrusting attacks are very easy to counter using a katana. We do not encourage thrusts as a primary technique for attack as it can be easily deflected, sidestepped and countered by an opponent who spent any amount of time with a sword. Thrusts also leave you open to attacks from other directions and is therefore not a good primary technique, it is usually a secondary or even last-ditch technique when you're in a pinch.
kzhead.info/sun/rLGsmNahn59niJ8/bejne.htmlsi=u_sKfOLv_vpLwsWq That is a question we’ve already answered in a previous video!
@@letsasksekisensei thankyou so much for the response! I posted a further question on that video! I really love what you are doing with these videos :) I actually was injured ands then covid happened, but my friend has been trying to get me to join his school for sometime and these videos have really amped me up to go!
We always see a kata when the jo or the bo user is the winner what about a situation when the sword user is the winner?
Forget about horizontal strikes, kesa cuts, or stabs; maybe the staff is the strongest weapon of them all.
Think of this KAta as being boxing. Mr. Seki avoids the opponent's preemptive punch and hits the counter punch. It is inevitable that the sword side this time was defeated. It should be considered that he underestimated Mr. Seki's ability and attacked him because he attacked very easily. The first surprise attack method was a mistake.
hi
Chain knife/rope dart?
Desculpa perguntar mas ja vio samurai x ? O último treino do Kenshin com o mestre dele é possível fazer vários ataques rápidos ? E se defender o primeiro ataque seria uma boa técnica defesa? É no treinamento contra o shishio
Wasn't that a hanbo and not a jo staff?
In our Ryuha we call it a Jo too
@@letsasksekisenseiThank you
I think common sense states vertical (downward) cuts are strongest, just due to the nature of gravity no? 🤔😅
Wouldn't the descending diagonal cut from the wielder's top right to bottom left be the strongest, due to how human biomechanics work? The descending vertical seems like it would be a close second, however.
I think they think that way on japan due to people being longer vertically. So "strong" here means something more like "effective." For a vertical cut, it's easier to step out of the way with little movement, while you can't really fly or duck under a waist level cut and it effects a big area. Edit: Rewatched the video, and I think the reason the horizontal strike here is seen as strong is that it travels a lot of space and engages the whole body.
People keep commenting on strongest cuts. Perhaps they need to review the episode that shows strength or force is not key to a sword strike. The pressure needed to pierce or cut flesh is quite miminal and one's goal is to disable or end the opponent with minimum effort.
@@kohikan5180 Yes, plus in the video they're referring to the perceptions of a hypothetical third party.
Honestly to really prove something is effective just use it in sparing honestly show us seki sparing someone.
I've seen plenty of old Japanese swords and there seems a discrepancy between techniques and practice, or real-world use. that chopping technique he used there, where the edge of Seki sensei's sword hits the spine of his opponents. that would damage the blade. from what I've gathered that would be avoided. he wouldn't do that with a real blade would he? I thought Japanese swordsman avoided crossing their blades as much as possible when they actually used them. I can usually tell when a sword has seen combat even if it's been fixed and repolished.
We have an example of a preserved katana with a chip off the enemy’s edge stuck in its back (mune). In a life-or-death fight the survival of the sword takes second place to the wielder’s own survival and a chipped edge wouldn’t have been a big deal if the sword remained intact enough until the wielder was safe. But more importantly, if you look at the technique more closely, there may be hints that it was originally targeted at the opponent’s hand or forearm rather than the sword. I’d speculate that it’s demonstrated as a cut to the sword to spare the teki/uke’s hands but the actual application would go directly for the hands/arms.
Damn Seki sensei has some strong eyes. The rest of you are weaklings, man up. It's a miracle he has patience to teach you guys.