The Iaido Newsletter

A publication of shared distribution dedicated to the Japanese sword arts, Iaido, Kendo and the Koryu A Sei Do Kai Publication (Incorporating the OKF News)

http://www.uoguelph.ca/~iaido

Vol 11/5 #102 May 1999

$5.00 per issue

PHOTOCOPY AND SHARE THIS NEWSLETTER!

http://www.uoguelph.ca/~kataylor

AUSTRALIA David Kolb, 30 Neville St. Kangaroo Point, Qld. 4169 Australia.

BELGIUM: Erik Pooters Wittestraat 9 Kiel, Antwerpen 2020 Belgie.

CANADA CENTRAL Sandra Jorgenson, 77 Harbour Sq. #3310 Toronto Ont. M5J 2S2.

CANADA EAST Robert Miller, 45 Cedar Cr. Beaconsfield, Quebec H9W 4S9.

CANADA WEST Barry Wiseman, 11038 Greenwood Dr. Mission B.C. V4S 1A9.

CENTRAL EUROPE Zsolt Balassy, H-1046 Budapest, Toth A. u. 19. Hungary.

DENMARK Bjarne Blichfeldt Katholm 210 3670 Vekso Denmark.

ENGLAND Douglas Evans 10 Daglish Close, New Romney, Kent TN28 8XF.

FINLAND Pasi Hellsten, Luuvaniementie 4 D 126, SF-00350 Helsinki, Finland.

GERMANY Klaus Wissmath, Rathenaustrasse 9A, D-91052 Erlangen.

HOLLAND Johan Smits, Dunant Straat 866 Zoetermeer Netherlands 2713 XJ.

JAPAN Colin Hyakutake, Matsubara 4 Chome 6-19, Saga City, Saga Ken, Japan 840.

NEW ZEALAND Hamish Robison 15 Logan Tce. Parnell, Auckland.

SWEDEN Arne Oster, Akerogatan 2, S-417 28 Goteborg.

SWITZERLAND Nicolae G. Bialokur, 18 ch. Champ-Soleil, 1012 Lausanne, Suisse.

USA EAST J.S.S. PO Box 1119 Rockefeller Stn. New York, NY USA 10185.

USA HAWAII Hunter Armstrong, 315 Foothills Dr., Sedona, AZ 86336.

USA S-CENTRAL John Ray, 1909 Archer Trail, Denton TX, 76201.

USA WEST COAST Bill Howell, 2525 NE 23rd St. Portland Oregon, 97212.

COMING EVENTS

NORIKAZU IWATA SENSEI

Shin Ken Kai Dojo of Vancouver B.C. Canada is pleased to inform you of, and invite you to, a seminar with Iwata Norikazu Sensei Hanshi Hachidan andTerao Sensei Rokkudan

The Seminar will focus on Muso Jikiden Eishin Ryu (most likely Chuden and Okuden)

Dates: June 24-27, 1999 (hours not confirmed, approx. 9:30 to 17:00)

Location: Steveson Martial Arts Centre, Richmond, B.C. (Richmond is a 'suburb' of Vancouver)

The Dojo is a beautiful 'Japanese style' building located in a fishing village neighbourhood. (BTW, for glimpse of the Dojo, rent 'The Hunted' with Christopher Lambert. The Kendo scene is at the Steveson MA Ctr.)

Fees: $60/Day, $200/Full Seminar Canadian $ (for you stars and stripes types, your $ buys 1.5 of ours)

Accommodation: There are B&Bs nearby in Richmond and Many more in Vancouver. Some billeting may be available

Food: We will likely be organising group lunches that may be purchased at the seminar (not included in seminar fee)

Additional Information: Bruce Campbell bruce_campbell@bctel.com

Tel: (604) 432-8107

Natan Cheifetz bokuto@ican.net

Tel: (604)-874-7707

General notes: Iwata Sensei has been visiting Vancouver for several years now and we have

been very fortunate at that. Sensei is however in his 80's and this is probably his last trip to N. America. We welcome all Iaidoka but recommend early registration as space is limited.

SEMINAR REPORTS

Kyudo Demonstration

in Lincoln, MA -- An Inaugral Event.

by Raymond Sosnowski, NH

Biyako ("white tiger") Kyudojo of the Heki-Ryu Bisshu Chikurin-ha headed by Mr. Kanjuro Shibata XX (the 20th headmaster, as well as Onyumishi, Imperial Bowmaker to the court of the Emperor of Japan) gave a demonstration of Kyudo on Tuesday evening, 16 February 1999, at the Bunsai Gakuen, Boston Institute for Inter-Cultural Communication (BIIC), in Lincoln, MA; BIIC occupies a former monastery on 32 acres in Lincoln. A half-dozen Kyudo-ka were in attendance along with about fifty staff members and college-age students from Japan. [BCCI is "an accredited language school, offering a variety of of language and intercultural programs: English as a foreign language, Japanese language and culture, and community-based intercultural activities" including "hosts/homestays," according to "A Guide to Japan in New England," 6th ed., 1997, compiled by The Japan Society of Boston.]

The demonstration took place in a small auditorium in the student center building. It is an unusual room -- octagonal rather than rectilinear (actually, it is the former chapel of the monastery, quite a appropriate place to demonstrate "meditation" Kyudo). The Makiwara, the short distance target, was set up on the low platform in the alcove on the far side of the room (the former sanctuary). Instead of the commonly used [white] sheet- wrapped hay/straw bale, the Makiwara used here was a cylindrical bundle of dried, salt marsh reeds [very nice aesthetically, and very effective pragmatically] cradled in the portable stand that scissors open, providing a stable place for the bundle to rest between the open "V"'s on top.

The demonstration was the "brain-child" of Mr. Don Seckler, a Lincoln resident, long-time Kyudo-ka, and the coordinator of Biyako Kyudojo appointed by Shibata-s., and was the fruition of his tremendous efforts. For the past few years, Biyako Kyudojo has been relatively inactive; there was a resurgence of interest last year after several Brookline-area [MA] people took "First Shot" during an Intensive with Shibata-s. at Seiko ("sacred tiger") Kyudojo at Karme-Choling in Barnet, VT [see my "Annual Kyudo Intensive in Vermont with Shibata-sensei," published in the Journal of Japanese Sword Arts #95, 10(10), 2-9, October 1998, and the corresponding The Iaido Newsletter, available at ftp://fox.tcimet.net/pub/iaido/TIN95 At that time, Mr. Seckler began a search for a practice space. After a false-start and outdoor Fall practices at his home, he began a dialogue with BIIC. This demonstration also marks the inauguration of what we would like to believe is a long-term relationship with BIIC for Kyudo practice at their facilities.

Along with Mr. Seckler were several other members of Biyako Kyudojo, including Messers. Jim Katz of Bedford, MA, Peter McDade (who supplied the Makiwara and stand) of New Ipswich, MA, Tom Krusinski of Lincoln, MA, Robert Whelan of Rockport, MA, and myself from Merrimack, NH. Mr. Seckler, dressed in a dark blue business suit, made several opening remarks including "What is Kyudo?," "Who we are [lineage]," and "Sports- vs. Mind-Kyudo." When the audience was queried about practicing Kyudo, to our surprise, no one answered in the affirmative. Mr. Katz then proceeded with the actual demonstration as the rest of us, sitting in uniform (Uwagi, Obi and Hakama), watched along with the rest of the audience.

I cannot recall a room being as quiet as this one was during this demonstration. Mr. Katz performed the first form of our Ryuha called Hitote, a standing form in which two Ya (arrows) are shot. The acoustics of the room seemed to heighten the coincidence of Kiai, Hanare (release), and Ya entering the Makiwara [more than one staff member later described the moment to us as "electric"]; several in the audience let out small, involuntary gasps. After Mr. Katz finished, Mr. Seckler made several closing remarks and then took questions. After the demonstration we received a number of fine compliments from the president of the institute, one of the directors, and several other staff members. After taking care of our equipment and changing, we joined the BIIC people in the dining area for a light meal and refreshments.

Several thank-you's are in order here. First and foremost, we wish to thank BIIC for the opportunity to demonstrate our style of Kyudo, and for making space available to us. Thank you to Mr. Don Seckler for all of his efforts in spear-heading this drive to revitalize Biyako Kyudojo. Thank you to Mr. Jim Katz for his fine demonstration, and his behind-the-scenes support as well as his editorial assistance with this report. And thank you to the other members of Biyako Kyudojo who attended; our presence showed that Kyudo is indeed "alive and well" in the Metropolitan Boston area. Personally I would like to thank Mr. Seckler for his fine hospitality afterwards.

Since the Metro. Boston area is so large, a single practice site with limited times is somewhat insufficient to meet the needs of local Kyudo-ka; however, it will be the only site with outdoor distance (28 m.) shooting, weather permitting. A satellite Dojo, Salem Kyudojo at Shotokan Dojo, Salem, MA, has been operating since last Fall under the leadership of Mr. Peter McDade. We have had tentative discussions about setting up a second satellite site with an indoor practice area in Chelmsford, MA, which would not be considered as a Dojo per se because no one there is a "fully qualified" instructor yet.

CLASSICAL FENCING DEMO

Ramon Matinez and his students at the Martinez Academy of Arms are to be congratulated on what I am sure was a major effort to bring off this event. Having put on seminars with international guests, I know just how much work in the planning and coordination stage this requires. Well done, it all came off almost as planned.

The purpose of this event was to demonstrate several different schools of classical European fencing. The purpose was to show the evolution of weapons and usage between many different schools. To give a list of the styles shown will give some indication of the scope.

The Spanish School of Rapier

The Italian School of Rapier

The Small Sword French School

The Small Sword Italian School

The Italian Rennaissance Cut and Thrust methods

The Dusack

Filipino Spada y Daga and stick fighting

And, Arte dell'Abbraccaire (unarmed defenses against the dagger)

There were also matches of various weapons against other weapons and other schools.

The inclusion of the Filipino arts became clear if you pictured them as a reaction against the Spanish rapier school.

All this was held Saturday afternoon (1/9/99) in St. Peters College gym in Jersey City. The basketball players next door would sometimes add an unwelcome chorus. And, in spite of very nasty weather, between 150 and 250 spectators (my estimate) showed up! We had received a couple inches of snow the night before and then it started raining. All day Saturday there was a drizzle mixed with downpours. In spite of all this discouragement, a very nice turnout. The audience, based upon people I know, was very mixed with martial artists, fencers, SCA types, even the odd historian.

The MC job was very ably handled by David Laloum. He brought matters along quite nicely and added his own insights from being both an Australian National Fencing Coach and being trained in the French Academie d'Armes.

Because of the weather, two of the out of town Maestro could not make it. This was a shame since everyone was looking forward to J. Christoph Amberger's demonstration and comments on the German mensur and schmiss dueling societies.

Adam Crown also could not get down from Ithaca in the horrible weather. His part on the Italian Rapier was taken up by others, but still it would have been interesting to see him in action.

Much of the work fell to the host, Ramon Martinez and his lovely wife Jeannette. They started by explaining the Spanish school of Rapier and Rapier and Dagger. They also demonstrated the Italian Rapier among other things.

There was a very intense demonstration of unarmed takedowns against a dagger by John Kovacs. Everyone felt for the attacker since the floor appeared very hard and he seemed to reach it rather quickly. It became obvious that the problem of taking a knife, sword, dagger, club, etc away from someone gets solved pretty much the same way regardless of location. The techniques seemed to me to be very similar to aikijutsu and jujutsu.

After having seen the demo of Spanish Rapier and Dagger, many of the Filipino weapon systems demonstrated made a lot more sense to my untutored eye. Several different drills were demonstrated of single sword, two sword, and knife. This was led by Master Rey Galang and his students from the Bakbakan International.

A very amusing demo was done by Paul MacDonald and Gareth Hunt from the Dawn Duellists Society of Edinburgh, Scotland. They introduced us all to the Dusack. The Dusack was a favorite weapon of the Germanic tribes during Roman times. It basically is your "low rent" sword. It consists of a big thick piece of steel with a slightly upturned point at one end and a handle cut out in the form of an oval at the other. It is single edged and very heavy. Sort of reminds me of a badly done machete without a machete type handle. Apparently the Dusack was around and in use until just a couple hundred years ago. Given the low craftsmanship, not many would have been preserved as antiques. The swordsmanship to use this was also interesting to see. Paul and Gareth kept up a spirited exchange of quips as well as blows.

Paul MacDonald is a swordsmith, and he introduced his latest reproduction of a lost blade style. It was a very elegant blade with an expanded tip area. The whole seemed to be about 4 feet long with a cross bar guard. Only the edge of the expanded tip is sharpened. The cross bar and the end of the handle all have sharp spikes. The weapon is handled more like a staff with one hand on the handle and the other on the unsharpened section of blade. Then you use the tip and/or spikes to open up some armored knight like a big can of soup.

As a replacement for the two missing Maestro, there was a surprise addition of Andrea Lupo Sinclair from Milan, Italy. He is the founder and President of Associazione Triskell. He specialization is swordsmanship styles before 1600. He demonstrated with the help of Mr. MacDonald and Mr. Hunt, some of the Renasissance period cut and thrust methods including blocks, disarms, movement, and even multiple attackers. Mr. Sinclair was very articulate in his demonstration. He had needlessly apologized for his English. Well his English was better than the average Jersey City citizen, so we had no problem following his historical insights.

After the more classical dueling weapons were demonstrated, the more modern epee, foil and sabre were shown. The evolution of these weapons had now become clearer, at least to me.

Given the discussions of late about katana vs rapier, I found the afternoon interesting and well spent.

John Prough

BOOK REVIEWS

RENAISSANCE SWORDSMANSHIP

THE ILLUSTRATED USE OF RAPIERS AND CUT-AND -THRUST SWORDS by John Clements

Paladin Press

Reviewed by Ed Chart, Guelph Canada

As a student of Japanese swordsmanship for nine years now, my interest in various schools and or approaches to swordsmanship has been well developed. Often during my first few years of training my mind would begin to wonder, what of European swordsmanship? Of course there was precious little information available through local library archives, and all that there was, focused on sport fencing. What of those lovely two handed monsters or singled handed knightly swords so often read about in books and seen on TV or in the movies? My searching soon brought me into contact with my local SCA organization, where several months of imitating a waiter serving drinks from his shoulder left me a little disenchanted. How realistic was this? Where was the teaching foundation I was so used too in my Japanese sword studies?

Little beknownst to me John Clements was busy compiling his work on renaissance swordsmanship, an attempt to fill what is clearly a void in modern literature on the use of European swords. In his own words Mr. Clements sums up his work as a short reference guide

for sword enthusiasts, to aid in their study and dispel common myths.

To begin with, this reference guide is logically subdivided into nine chapters with excellent diagrams and illustrations and a pleasant aesthetic quality that does not overpower the reader. In content this work can be best separated into four major sections: An overview of common western sword mythology and misconceptions, an overview of the history and function of three renaissance weapons, an illustrated guide to weapon use and the bibliography. The first section sets out the author's premise of trying to clear up and refocus the readers perception on European martial systems, one that in my mind he does effectively. The second section delves into the heart of Mr. Clements' researched knowledge on the use of Rapier, Small Sword and Cut and Thrust swords. The illustrated section provides the reader with snapshots of fighting stances, blocks, strikes and engagement distances, and the bibliography provides an essential list of resources for the reader.

To provide a well rounded assessment of this book requires the identification of both its strengths and weaknesses as they became apparent. The strengths worth noting in the book, are the dispelling of common sword myths, the logical associations made between the style of swordsmanship and the style of the sword (a point that is very well made and appears to be at the root of many modern misconceptions) and lastly the four page bibliography that provides readers with the names and dates and in some cases the current publishers of relevant literature. Of particular interest to me was the section on cut and thrust weapons as well as the diagrams and descriptions of various weaponry pitted against the cut and thrust sword and rapier. I found this quite thought provoking, as much in what was being described as in trying to decipher the three dimensionality of the illustrated engagement.

In my view the weaknesses implicit in Mr. Clements approach to this short reference guide are more a matter of his writing style and content structure then of the content itself. I found the written portion of the book somewhat disjointed and repetitive which made it difficult in some places to follow his train of thought. With proper editing this problem could be easily rectified, one suggestion might be to reorganize the written portion into a series of shorter essays each with a clear focus. The other major criticism of this work is simply the complete lack of literature referencing with the body of the text. For a book those purpose is to provide a reference for practitioners there is a fair share of Mr. Clements own opinions throughout. I do not necessarily have a problem with this, I find it quite thought provoking, however without citing the literature it leaves the impression that the reader is supposed to accept Mr. Clements opinions at face value. As an end result of this, I was left with the awkward task of trying to determine which one of the references he identifies at the end of his work, would best help resolve the questions I was formulating, and which of those references were key in helping him formulate his own opinions. Clearly, for this book to rise above the problems associated with most of the martial arts literature available in the west, Mr. Clements should have made use of the strong scholarly format found in traditional historical journals and text books.

To conclude this review, there are really only two questions that need to be answered. The first is, does this book fulfil the objectives laid out by the author? In response I would say that yes it does in a passably acceptable manner. The second question is, would I spend my hard earned dinero on a personal copy for myself? The answer to this is, absolutely.

IAIDO PRACTICE TOPS

100% cotton, sized to you and supplied at cost through the Sei Do Kai. $70 (includes postage). Black or white, other colours may be extra. Measure the chest size at nipple height, shoulder point to shoulder point, and from neck to mid-thigh. Send your measurements to Sei Do Kai. 44 Inkerman St. Guelph, Ontario Canada N1H 3C5.

Yearly subscriptions (12 issues) to the Journal of Japanese Sword Arts are $36 cdn in Canada, $36 US in USA, and $48 overseas. Subscriptions, stories, news, views, and anything else should be sent to Kim Taylor Editor JJSA, 44 Inkerman St. Guelph, Ontario, Canada N1H 3C5.

519-836-4357

WEB PAGES

Sei Do Kai Iaido homepage:

http://www.uoguelph.ca/~iaido/

Kim Taylor's webpages

http://www.uoguelph.ca/~kataylor/

Canadian Kendo Federatin:

http://www.uoguelph.ca/~kataylor/ckfindex.htm

Ontario Kendo Federation homepage

http://www.uoguelph.ca/~kataylor/okfindex.htm

SCHOOL TIMETABLE:

Saturday to Wednesday 9am to 5pm

INSTRUCTORS (1999):

Doug Blain has been involved in the study of polishing Japanese swords and related arts since

1985.

Fred Kay has been fitting and repairing Japanese sword mountings for many years. He is a long time

student of kendo and iaido and specializes in Japanese woodworking.

Christopher Lau, also known by his art name of "Motoyasu" has been a student and collector of

the Japanese sword since the early '80s. He was introduced to the art of Japanese sword polishing by the late Tatsuo Akiyama.

Chris Rancourt has been making saya for several years and is a student of iaido and a sword collector.

Kim Taylor has been making and using bokuto (wooden swords) and other Japanese wooden

practice weapons for almost 20 years.

ACCOMMODATION: is available through the University of Guelph and is about $30 cdn per day

for a single residence room. The official contact is the East Residence desk at 519-824-4120 ext

8349. (Please note that arrangements and payment are made directly to the hostel, not through the

sword school.)

TRAVEL TO GUELPH

AIR TO TORONTO then by Red Car Ground Transport to Guelph. Tell the driver you want to be dropped off at the East Residence Porter's Desk.

BUS TRAVEL: The Grey Coach line will drop you downtown, at which time you take a #5 bus to

the University and get off in front of East Residence (ask the driver) or you can get dropped off at

College and Gordon streets and walk from there.

BY AUTOMOBILE: Take the 401 highway to the Brock Road (if coming from Buffalo/Niagara Falls take the QEW north to 403, 403 west to HWY 6 north, it becomes Brock Road). Brock north to College and Gordon, Right on College then right on East Ring Road to East Residence on your left.

FORM AND FEES TO: Kim Taylor, 44 Inkerman St. Guelph, Ontario Canada, N1H 3C5.

1999 GSJSA CRAFTS REGISTRATION FORM

NAME:

ADDRESS:

POST/ZIP CODE:

PHONE:

FAX:

EMAIL:

Full Seminar rate $250 Canadian ($180 US) _______

Daily rate $70 Canadian ______

(Fees don't include travel/room/food.)

STREAM (You are not restricted to the main stream you choose here).

Polishing _____

Fittings and repair ______

(note: depending on final number of instructors, students and scheduling, you will choose classes within your

stream or between streams).

PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING CAREFULLY

I, the undersigned applicant to the Guelph School of Japanese Sword Arts understand that I am

applying for instruction in sword arts, an activity that involves physical activity. I further understand

that the Sei Do Kai carries no insurance against injury to any of the participants in the seminar.

I hereby acknowledge that I am assuming the risk and responsibility for any and all injuries that I may

suffer due to injury, suffered by me, or caused by third parties to me arising out of the practice or

during the use of any of the facilities available. I further acknowledge that I am responsible for

providing my own personal health, medical, dental and accident insurance coverage. I hereby release

the Sei Do Kai, the University of Guelph, and all of its associated persons from liability for any injury

or loss suffered by myself.

DATE Signature

PARENT/GUARDIAN (under 18)

SCHOOL TIMETABLE:

Friday to Monday 9am to 5pm: Classes

Friday Evening: Lecture presentation

Saturday Evening: Public Demonstration

Sunday Evening: Dinner and General Meeting

Registration includes all these events

Koryu Stream Includes: Kashima Shinryu, Niten Ichi-ryu, Shindo Muso-ryu, Tendo-ryu, Comparison of Japanese and Chinese sword styles.

Shiai Stream includes: Kendo, NitoKendo, Atarashii Naginata

Iai Stream includes: Muso Jikiden Eishin-ryu (Iaido Federation and Kendo Federation), Tamiya-ryu, ZNKR Iai (Seitei Gata), and ZNIR Iai (Toho)

Accommodations For University Hostel accommodations (porter's desk at East Residence), plan on around $30 CDN a night. There are also good motels close-by.

The University has two pools, a whirlpool, and a sauna in the same building as our practice. If you want to go outside you can find shops, bars, libraries, and hiking trails. And that's still on the University grounds! Lots of tourist areas nearby for the family to visit.

TRAVEL TO GUELPH

AIR TO TORONTO then by Red Car Ground Transport to Guelph. Tell the driver you want to be dropped off at the East Residence Porter's Desk.

BUS TRAVEL: The Grey Coach line will drop you downtown, at which time you take a #5 bus to

the University and get off in front of East Residence (ask the driver) or you can get dropped off at

College and Gordon streets and walk from there.

BY AUTOMOBILE: Take the 401 highway to the Brock Road (if coming from Buffalo/Niagara

Falls take the QEW north to 403, 403 west to HWY 6 north, it becomes Brock Road). Brock

north to College and Gordon, Right on College then right on East Ring Road to East Residence on

your left.

FORM AND FEES TO: Kim Taylor, 44 Inkerman St. Guelph, Ontario Canada, N1H 3C5.

1999 GSJSA MARTIAL ART SECTION REGISTRATION FORM

NAME:

ADDRESS:

POST/ZIP CODE:

PHONE:

FAX:

EMAIL:

Full Seminar RATE $250 Canadian ($180 US) _______

Weekend RATE $190 Canadian ($140 US) ______

(Fees don't include travel/room/food.)

STREAM (You are not restricted to the main stream you choose here).

Koryu _____

Shiai ______

Iai ______

(note: depending on final number of instructors and scheduling, you will choose classes within your

stream or between streams each day).