The Eight Traditional Styles Of Japanese Sword Fighting Used By Samurai

There are eight traditional styles of Japanese sword fighting. All of these styles contain techniques from ancient samurai martial arts such as tojutsu, kenjutsu, iaijutsu and iaido. From 1185 until 1868, Japan was ruled by samurai, some of which would roam around Japan fighting one another in battles to the death. Samurai warriors always carried two swords, a katana and a wakizashi which are noticeably different in length (the katana being the longer of the two).

Some styles of Japanese sword fighting favor two swords, whereas others are more geared towards the use of the single longer katana blade. Once upon a time there were millions of samurai from hundreds of thousands of families, which equated to roughly 5% of the population. These samurai families were the rulers of Japan and many had their own styles of swordsmanship.

As expected, some styles died out, whilst others thrived under the most brutal test of effectiveness. If the last of a samurai family died, their techniques often died forever with them, whilst the victor’s styles still live on today.

The 8 Styles Of Samurai Sword Fighting

Hyoho Niten Ichi-Ryu

Created by the most famous samurai in Japanese history and the author of “The Book Of Five Rings” Miyamoto Musashi, Niten Ichi-ryu is a style based around the use of 2 swords at once. A rough translation of this style is known as “two heavens as one”. Many styles of Japanese swordsmanship use only the katana, but Niten Ichi-rye uses both. An example of this would be using the wakizashi to defend whilst counter-attacking with the katana. When performed successfully, the opponent has no defense as they’re only using a single sword. Musashi was even known to throw the wakizashi to finish duels when necessary, a tactic that was not widely used at all.

Mugai-Ryu

Founded by Tsuji Gettan Sukemochi in 1680, Mugai-ryu is an unlikely but successful method of sword fighting since its founder was a zen buddhist who reached enlightenment aged 32. Like most other sword fighting styles, Mugai-ryu is an art filled with kenjutsu techniques and is mostly fought with the katana. The fact that Mugai-ryu only has 13 techniques excluding variations shows Sukemochi’s opinion on teaching what actually works in battle rather than excess and “untruthful” forms.

Jigen-Ryu

Jigen-ryu is the most aggressive form of samurai swordsmanship and is based around killing the opponent in a single strike whilst screaming a kiai. An all or nothing style, Jigen-ryu teaches that you should not even consider a second strike.

The basis of this single strike technique is to begin in the dragonfly stance and cut your opponent through their neck downwards and diagonally. When Jigen-ryu was most popular in feudal Japan, apprentices of the art are said to have been made to practice 10000 strikes per day.

Yagyu Shinkage-Ryu

The most cerebral of traditional Japanese sword fighting techniques, Yagyu Shinkage-ryu is a style designed to win at any cost. It is heavily based towards adapting to both your environment and your opponent in order to win a duel, rather than focus on perfect form and kata. Much like Niten Ichi-ryu, Shinkage-ryu also has a throwing technique to catch your opponent off guard during battle.

Shinkage-ryu is an extremely offensive style and uses a long thin blade, ideal for adaptability and not forced in to a single style of striking.

Tamiya-Ryu

A lot of the emphasis of Tamiya-ryu is based upon the drawing of the sword. As the sword used in Tamiya-Ryu has a slightly longer hilt than an average katana, Tamiya-ryu is centered around keeping your opponent at a distance where you can attack them, but they cannot reach you. Techniques used are usually large and sweeping arcs with particular attention paid to the smallest of details.

When compared with other styles of Japanese swordsmanship, Tamiya-ryu places a greater emphasis on the beauty of technique.

Muso Jikiden Eishin-Ryu

Muso Jikiden Eishin-Ryu is a style based around drawing and striking with the katana in a singular motion. Whilst there are paired techniques that use the wakizashi alongside the katana, these are rarely taught outside of Japan and are considered to be more advanced parts of the curriculum.

Overall, the art of Eishin-ryu can be broken down in to the following areas:

• Tanren – Intense physical conditioning synonymous with almost every martial art
• Waza – Sword striking techniques
• Nukitsuke – The specific drawing and striking of the sword in a singular motion
• Kiritsuke – A decisive and final strike
• Chiburui – Shaking the sword to remove blood after a battle
• Noto – Returning your sword back to its sheath

Ono-Ha Itto-Ryu

Itto-ryu is a style with more than 150 techniques, almost all of which are based on a single downwards strike. This style is a somewhat more complex and diverse version of the single technique seen in Jigen-ryu. Unlike Jigen-ryu there are many variations about the angles and velocity at which you can strike as the style is based on the quote “one sword gives rise to ten thousand swords“, meaning that you are able to diversify your strikes based upon the reactions of the opponent.

There are also less prominent versions of Itto-ryu which are practiced. These styles are very similar to the Ono-ha variation but have some variations in the way the style is taught alongside some slightly different techniques.

Tenshin Shoden Katori Shinto-Ryu

With its roots embedded deeply in Japan, Katori Shinto-ryu is one of the countries oldest remaining martial arts. It is disputed whether this style of swordsmanship began in 1447, but at the very least it has been around since 1480. Unlike other sword styles, Katori Shinto-ryu is a complete martial arts system that encompasses a variety of other weapons such as the bo staff, spears, and shurikens, although the katana is still used as the main attacking weapon.

Katori Shinto-ryu is still taught in Japan today through a variety of sub-branches including a main bloodline that requires members of the school to sign a pledge stating they will teach the techniques to nobody else.

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