If You are into Japanese Swordsmanship check out this video in which I analyze a number of Films and TV Series Samurai fights, to check if they look real or not: th-cam.com/video/WJVs0lbpveE/w-d-xo.html
Thank you for the breakdown! You're one of my favorite sword channels to watch, and I'm an online student of Seki-sensei, so I'm very happy to see your reaction and review! He is such a smooth and fluid swordsman, and a wonderful instructor. 🤗
thats so cool! I wanna be a student, I watch all the videos and practice as much kata as i can repeat, but i cant afford the classes unfortunately, if you have some tips and tricks, or any Seki-sensei quotes you can drop for me that aren't on the channel id love to hear it!
@@twinjunomusic Shogo just released two at home training videos, a 4 minute workout and 7 minute workout, with the basics. I would start there! I'm sure we all look forward to training with you soon!
That false edge cut at 2:00 is much more powerful than people realize, too. Tip cuts can do a lot of damage. I think most people who criticize a lot about the 'tippy tappy' actions haven't done many cutting tests. Or aren't in the context of historical duels but thinking of a fight to the death.
imo, tippy tappy cuts are perfectly fine to parts of the body that require fine movement. Getting a cut on the hand is *very* debilitating, as it can severely restrict dexterity. A good, deep cut is important to parts of the body that would otherwise not debilitate them. Imagine a paper cut on your arm vs the web of your finger, one sucks, and one REALLY sucks (terrible analogy but you probably get the point.)
@@Artameful i always think of it as just cut your opponent and try not to get cut, even if it's a small cut I don't think anybody would want to get cut.
@@ArtamefulI once had an accident in metalwork class at school and cut the back of my finger. It was quite shallow, but I went into shock: I quickly got tunnel vision and felt dizzy and had to sit down. A cut really doesn't have to be deep to be debilitating.
Great and insightful video, really appreciate the respect you show for other martial arts. It's a sign of skill to be humble and show interest in learning instead of pretending to know everything like 99% of TH-cam commenters on sword videos. Big fan, been getting more into hema lately and you've been a huge inspiration.
As a comparison, I'm a swimming teacher. One of the most important things for beginners to learn, especially for being on their back, is relaxation. If a person is tense in the water they'll sink, and if they're supported enough to stay up by something like a noodle or board (or teacher) they'll be very unsteady. And when you're learning and improving your strokes you want both the limbs and body to be able to extend and hold, but not lockdown completely. The most obvious example is in the flutterkick, the basic up/down kick everyone starts with that's used in freestyle and backstroke. A good flutterkick is powered from the hip and thighs with your legs fully extended to pointed toes, but not rigid. Then as you kick the motion should gently but swiftly shift the entire leg a small distance up and down in the water, which goes against natural instincts to press hard and long with the feet from the knee in a running motion. This bent action is less efficient at moving the swimmier and worse at the most important job flutterkick has: supporting the less bouyant lower half of the body so the arms can pull you along. And until a person is able to relax and understand their movements and posture, they'll just keep tensing up and sinking.
@Federico 10:05 - 11:04 Seki Sensei mentions that point in another video (I really don't know which video off the top of my head). Albeit, that he talks about katas and practice overall, not specifically katas alone. He says to not train alone, because, of course, it makes it really difficult to measure distances, steps, swings and even just positioning of your own body correctly. One of the hints for kata practice alone is: Your attacks should be at your own eye-height, because that makes sure, that you swing with full extension (which is true, katas are designed to make full use of the sword. The strike is supposed to happen with the very tip of the sword, where it curves back up - at least that's the ideal (which is why Kendo hits are supposed to happen with the tip), and other katas have completely different ideas of an attack, like: slicing, draw-cutting, stabbing). Other than that he says training alone leads to a lot of bad habits.
Forms and Katas are best when you already know what to do and you want to go through the forms. With a consistent previous fighting and training experience they are good. Otherwise I agree, they create wrong habits. Of course, if a person can’t train with a partner, they are ok even from the very beginning. Better than nothing! I always say.
When light sparring we also tend to do it kinda like they do, we keep going and dont reset. Just announce the hit and keep going. This week we did a very interesting spar where each would stand in a small square close to each other. The objective was to continuously attack and defend without moving away, you could also only move one step to the right or left. Even if we got hit, counter it. And non stop for 2 min, which doesnt seem like a long time but when you dont stop, it absolutely wore you out. Very fun though
I compiled a playlist of the sparring videos from the Japanese channel of Asayamichidenkai. th-cam.com/play/PLWp-td0-_a3SeTePOqOV22J0CovfJCQRb.html There was also a video of many students in the dojo sparring with one another with the fukuroshinai and helmet, but that video has sadly been made Private recently. The title of the video does say that sparring in the dojo occurs roughly once a month, and that all students are welcome to join the sparring session. 浅山一伝会 袋撓自由攻防稽古風景 ※月に１回程度、有志で攻防稽古を行なっています th-cam.com/video/fSYebzk1n8o/w-d-xo.html
Excellent analysis señor! Your comments and insights based on your own personal experience really do provide more enrichment on what Seki Sensei and Shogo discuss! Thank you for posting this video! Much appreciated!
Some years ago they had a show longsword fight, on Swordfish, where they didn’t stop before the 2 minutts was over. Its like kick boxing point vs semi/full contact. Ie much harder.
I've played with Japanese kobudo teachings - Seki Sensei would make me a minus white Belt! Such a humble master, I love these videos. Your interesting in your videos, you are not rude and that's very nice of you. Good channel mate I have subscribed 👍👍👍❤
Didn't know they do contact sparring in Kenjutsu. Interesting. I thought that fighting technique of Japanese sword and longsword are somewhat similar, but there were quite a few of techniques that you just don't see in HEMA. For example, parries and using the lever to push the opponent's sword away to create an opening. I mean, of course there are some techniques with a similar purpose, but in here it looked a lot more different. And continuing fighting after taking hits is an interesting practice. Pausing a duel after each hit is something that I kind of never understood in HEMA outside of competitive sparring.
They used to during the late Edo period through the Meiji restoration, but it was not the combat simulation which we think it should be today. Shinkage ryu and its descendant styles use the fukuro shinai in their kata so they may train forms at higher intensity. The headmaster of Jikishinkage ryu grew frustrated with the "dead" kata of his students so he developed a mask and gloves and instructed his students to strike eachother in the style of his ryuha until he was satisfied thus uchikomi keiko or striking practice was born. This striking practice was later gamified in the Nakanishi-ha itto ryu giving us gekiken. The rules, students and techniques of the Hokushin itto ryu came to dominate the gekiken phenomenon to the extent that the styles of other ryuha were lost to history. This sport was finally renamed to kendo at the turn of the 20th century. This sparring of Seki sensei is a modern creation to suppliment his traditional instruction. Check out (Chiba-ha) Hokushin itto ryu and Tennen Rishin ryu for more kenjutsu sparring, or Haga-ha kendo for what kendo was like.
One of the big differences I've noted is the crossguard vs tsuba. The tsuba gives better lateral protection so they use the flat more for defense, the crossguard gives great defense sagitally so the you often defend with the strong edge and set up techniques to catch with it. Also, the katana is more like a bastard sword, considerably shorter than the longsword.
Hmmm i heard the term before but about a different kind of "swordfight"....yaoi....so if that is called Seme the opponent on receiving end is considered Uke? 😂
@@galadballcrusher8182What you are refering to is Seme and what OP is talking about is sēme. But also, yes, Seme and Uke are words used in Martial Arts too, mostly during demos, Judokas for example consider being a good uke very crucial. (albeit Tori is more common than Seme)
Great video! Seki sensei has some interesting spareing videos against different styles as well. One was against a professiona Kendoka under kendo rules and then kobudo rules. His spar against Tak was also a very exciting bout as well!
There is an expression which the koryu guys at the dojo where I train (kendo) claim is of old Japanese origin: a big cut is a stupid cut. The big body mechanics of their kata are paedagogical to teach proper engagement of the back and displacement of the body when trying to nick an artery as their style instructs. Strong dismembering strokes and tameshigiri practice is the bravado of peacetime styles with no better way to show off their power.
SEKI SENSEI is just awesome and I'm soooo glad SHOGO introduced him to TH-cam , his videos are always amazing , and SEKI has a great sense of humor also 😮😸👍👍
Some attacks have an infamous reputation but this arises from bad execution. A 1-h cut is from long range can be terrific if well executed. Of course, since it has no structure it needs goid dynamics. The issue is that sometimes an attack is delivered with a very short arc and even leather gloves would stop it.
It takes so little power to cut flesh with a sharp sword, and all sorts of important tendons and veins are right near the surface on the arms and legs, so false edge and single handed strikes would absolutely do critical damage to limbs.
Some large swings with one hand like Seki-sensei did against Shogo's leg would be pretty comparable to may two-handed cuts I believe. Especially holding it further down with the left hand.
I think there's also definitely the factor that this is Seki-sensei's student, and he probably recognizes most of the attacks his student plans to take. And as Shogo says, the student is a bit timid and you can see him hesitate or panic when Seki-sensei stays firm and advances unafraid. And then we see that inversion with Shogo facing the more experienced student. Seki-sensei is definitely very impressive, but he is also so confident because he knows and trains the student he faces there, which makes him appear flawless. If he faced a practitioner he was unfamiliar with I'm sure he would be much more cautious. Not saying he is lacking in skill or courage, of course, just acknowledging that Seki-sensei is in his element here.
Good review analysis. By the way, when Seki sensei or his disciple executes an upswing, they actually rotate their blades upwards, so they were not hitting with a blunt side. Only Shogu was hitting with a blunt side.
at around 7:37 he was referring to the the tsuka or the handle of the sword being round (instead of more rectangular which means that edge alignment is not a factor) not the blade of the sword
Yeah, they definitely rotated the blade before the upswing. It’s basically reflexive with practice. (Technically pointless with these, but if he’s using real techniques then I’m assuming he’d still do that here).
I'm a miltary / Polish saber HEMA fencer. IMO the katana sparing here seems composed of somewhat "basic" and very simple technics. Most meanigful hits are scored from the clockwise rotation in the bind forllowed by horizontal cut.
Samurai armour wasn't quite as protective as late medieval or renaissance plate armour, it almost never covered the ENTIRE body, just most of it, so using real steel would either be very dangerous (if using historical armours) or historically confused and bizarre, if they started to use European armour for this. The cultural aspect is a big deal, just like it is in Europe, but in a different way. There are many things done in HEMA that could make it safer but aren't done simply because it would be silly considering the time period invoked in the sport.
This was very interesting, although I have been training in the English martial arts for over thirty years now, I also trained Iain, and Kenjutsu for a few years as well, and received gradings in those arts. So I have a small understanding of how these systems work. The English martial arts depend wholly on the principles of the art, which teaches you about distance and judgment of distance, as well as many other things. In the English two hand sword we use single hand techniques as well as stopping with single hand stops/blocks. So what you are seeing in this video is also used in English two hand sword as well. There is nothing new under the sun.
you gotta watch Seki Sensei's spar with a youtuber name Crazy Musashi TAK. In that video, he spar really fast and the leg attack parry to me was impressive.
try reviewing his sparring videos in his japanese channel too. there's one where he was being hit by younger guy and falling. it was pretty amazing (because it's rare seeing a sensei being handled like that)
The false edge cut with the Katana should not be ignored. You can hit someone with a bamboo stick hard enough that they'll drop whatever they're holding! A Katana has a LOT more mass at the tip than pretty much any European sword. It doesn't matter if it's blunt. PS: I've been hit with a Shinai so bad that I couldn't write for days!
As a Kendoka, the whole attack and continue on is very common in sparring, at least in my experience, and is hard to get used to if you, like me, free-style sparred with brothers or are just not an aggressive person, then you could lose some fairly easy points. Great stuff all around though, especially from Tsugara-san (I believe that his name)
That is sutemi, but for some reason we call it zanshin. Traditionally sutemi means that you hold nothing back for after the attack whereas zanshin means you hold about 20% back for the followup attack. This is confusion which we allow beginners (0-2dan) to have as we learn ki-ken-tai icchi. This confusion is something which you will rarely see in competitive kendo. Zanshin can never mean to show an opponent, even a defeated opponent, your back.
It would be interesting to see if there are any differences if they used something closer to actual katana weights. You average shinai is about 1/3 of the actual weight of an average sized katana. Your average training feder is the same weight as a average katana. That light weight makes many of those flicking attack extremely fast with a shinai but could they do the same with something heavier? That's one of my biggest gripes when comparing training between the two types of martial arts. I'm really surprised that there hasn't been a push for that kind of thing in various Kenjutsu schools at least but not surprised about Kendo as that would turn it on its head.
Weaponism did a video where they tried doing kendo attacks with a real katana and they were still possible. It also depends on the sword, I have one katana that feels pretty heavy and then one which is a pretty faithful replica of a sword made by Muramasa, which is so light it feels better to use in one hand (the original was likely intended as a one-handed sword imo, as the tang is quite short even if it is a full length katana)
I believe he meant figthing with THIS bamboo swords AND protection wouldn't hurt. And they don't use the steel katanas for sparing because of the cultural significance.
I appreciate the modern man's perspective on violence and the benefits of the modern world. However, you would be surprised at the number of people who do want the opportunity to fight with swords. It wasn't so long ago, during the world wars, that the German officer's faces were famously scarred from saber dueling. There is a universe where sword fighting comes back into vogue and for those people who are currently soldiers, they're still exposed to killing in the modern day.
1 Curvature could have little meaning for the average hema guy because they don't train with two handed curved swords, you can do many nice tricks 2 kendo have strect rules = easyer, shogo here show the typical iaidoka mind (kendokas that sweaty noisy brutes)
It's hilarious how ppl make fetish out of weapon sparing without face protection. I've sparred for years with foam weapons without a mask, and its hema with full gear what thaught me to respect distance and threat to the head. Why? Because when you don't wear protection, your partner won't stab you in the eye or slash your face. And if they do, one should stop training with them. So then you easyli go to this delusional place, in which if you guard your arms and legs, you're safe (while in fact you aren't). Once you got a mask on your head, you are no longer immune to head cuts and thrust, and THAT's when you learn to respect the distance and opponent's weapon.
@@Druid_Ignacy Admittedly, I have to agree with you. Being vulnerable to head hits changes everything. But to break a spear in favor of this way of sparring, they hit the head with cuts, mainly from above. So while with some limits you have everything, but of course, more control is needed. Considering anyway that this way of sparring is historically accurate, in a sense that it was used during the 16th century and after, and that it’s use brought the Yagyu Shinkage Ryu to become the favorite school of the shogunate in the 17th century, I love the fact they are keeping it as it was.
I don't understand why either of the actions you mention are 'criticized' they are both documented in historical sources and work in real life. Makes no sense.
Interesting comments. Even if you wear a fencing mask, a direct stab to the face with a padded foam weapon is not a pleasant experience. To me it feels like someone hitting you with a boxing glove. In our school stabs to the face are forbidden but hits are allowed.
I'm honest. The problem with hema is that a big number of practitioners try to exactly replicate the manuals and they forgot that the manuals are basic useful techniques, and cry about unorthodox things that work. And I personally dislike the full set of protection. I really enjoy more using some well build, kinda hard boffer weapons, it helps to evolve the reflexes and the skill to use active protection and not always getting hit cause the gear will diminishe the damage. But the egocentric attitude towards using creative techniques and the mindset of duelling only... Sometimes even if defeat is certain is funny to spar in groups and against groups, more like battlefield and not duel... Lets remember that this is my experience with hema practitioners, and that is not a lot of it. I know outer there has some good groups.
There are certain instincts and training your reaction time that you only get while sparring, doing katas or other sequences of movements does not translate to being good at fighting right away. It's normal that he says he practiced for 9 yrs and looks "pathetic" i think he said, also fighting against someone who is recognized to have mastered said martial art to a degree also changes things, either you are aware in your martial art and tend to be more carefull, distance wise for example. Or you have no idea what you are doing and just go in for striking and get hit in the teeth. Least from my experience.😂
Thank you for your breakdown, and I love your channel ! Perhaps you may have watched already, the following is the link to video with 5 Kenjutsu free sparring, and at 3:36 Seki Sensei sparred with another Sensei . Both are equal on skills and confidence. And I look forward to your valuable breakdown from your point of view th-cam.com/video/EVJnTMWPP9c/w-d-xo.htmlsi=Iajpb9SWq2ClQ9yn
I just watched this video. Is freaking amazing, being everyone there at a higher level of competence. Looking forward to break it down. If you find anything similar hard to access for me (namely only Japanese titles etc.) I would encourage you to send me the link. Thank you very much.
@@FedericoMalagutti You are very welcomed! I’m glad that you find those sparring amazing! I’m more than happy to share more when I encounter more. And again, thank you for your breakdown and look forward to your more comments on those sparring
Seki Sensei is a truly impressive weapons master. His understanding and depth of knowledge is so great that you can put any weapon in his hand and he instinctively knows how to use it.
You should react to the video they made where they fight with european swords (for first time in their lives). You will see Sensei's true skill shine through the exploration of the european style sword vs katana style (while fighting with it, not while practicing or studying). You will prob even recognize some real techniques (and he doesnt know its actual real techniques from real life. His instinct simply makes him do em bc the warrior in him can tell this is the optimal way. He is beyond amazing.
@@FedericoMalagutti Omg I skimmed through your channel to check but I must have missed it.. Ima have to look better :D Id love to see that one too :) Thx, is awesome to get an actual western style fighters comments and perspectives.
I'd say that a light, false-edge cut to the hands are, most of the time in hema, too weak to injure anyone. Were we not wearing gloves It'd probably hurt, but it wouldn't incapacitate an opponent (Kinda speak from experience after taking a nasty blow in the hand when I was doing medieval reenactment). In a real fight, I'd consider this upward cut too risky because of how we expose the upper-body. But as always, awesome analysis. Thank you for your work !
I don't know! I honestly think it is quite safe to land that action with proper distance management, rather than building up some complex technique to get, say, the head, which has many components (everyone of it which can go wrong). An about the "power" of the strike, the thingers are on the handle, it is like snapping a 1.5 kilos kitchen knife with far more leverage against 4 little sausages on top of a wooden plan. Anyway, as any blow can be landed in a good or bad way, and it can have success or fail. But in an unarmored fight (which both the above training and hema training tend to replicate) is quite good.
@@FedericoMalagutti Skallagrim tried it with a hand-analogue and while it didn't sever the entire hand he managed to badly damage it with a very light false edge cut. It's not a perfect test but I feel like the guy above was probably hit with a blunt sword in the hand and not a sharp. Even if it doesn't incapacitate the opponent any hit you can do without receiving one yourself is good enough and it would probably have a negative effect on my handling of the weapon if my finger was half cut-through. I don't understand the assessment of the technique as "not safe enough", it's an action so safe that you almost receive mockery in the hema community for doing it.
Oh, I would definitely enjoy to have a chance to train and spar with them, using their methods. The problem is the entirety of the planet being between us mostly, besides other aspects XD
Always wondered about the lack of sparring in kenjutsu and other Asian weapon systems, as this is where you find what works for you, with Hemas lack of so called 'living tradtion' compared to say kenjutsu, hema proves itself a 'true martial art' thru its emphasis on sparring, great stuff big chap, all the best from sunny Troon 😊
They used to during the late Edo period through the Meiji restoration, but it was not the combat simulation which we think it should be today. Shinkage ryu and its descendant styles use the fukuro shinai in their kata so they may train forms at higher intensity. The headmaster of Jikishinkage ryu grew frustrated with the "dead" kata of his students so he developed a mask and gloves and instructed his students to strike eachother in the style of his ryuha until he was satisfied thus uchikomi keiko or striking practice was born. This striking practice was later gamified in the Nakanishi-ha itto ryu giving us gekiken. The rules, students and techniques of the Hokushin itto ryu came to dominate the gekiken phenomenon to the extent that the styles of other ryuha were lost to history. This sport was finally renamed to kendo at the turn of the 20th century. This sparring of Seki sensei is a modern creation to suppliment his traditional instruction. Check out (Chiba-ha) Hokushin itto ryu and Tennen Rishin ryu for more traditional kenjutsu sparring, or Haga-ha kendo for what kendo was like.
non conoscevo il tuo canale, fantastico! io pratico kobudo d'okinawa, ho sempre avuto la fascinazione anche per l' HEMA è sempre affascinante comparare vari stili a mio avviso , grandissimo comunque un abbraccione!
@@Ianmar1 Hi Ianmar, There is a balance between not insulting people and yet, at the same time, I feel like I need to give you an honest reply which will come across as insulting to some people. So below, I will respectfully give more detail. If they are willing to express their views publically on TH-cam, then I hope they are willing for me to share my opinion on their video publically. Despite the fact that Seki Sensei has some obvious skill and coordination, the information shared in the videos is not only incomplete but also 180° from reality. In other words, not only are the videos not expressing accurate technique, but also giving bad information and misleading those who would watch it. People are being mis-informed aka, bad information. I have respect for people who train hard and consistently (It isn't their fault if what they are doing isn't logical/good technique). Shugo has trained for 9 years, and is legitimately trying to create videos the best way he knows how. I just think that he has strayed from the path of reality. I don't think he is purposely mis-informing people. He is just confused. Again, despite the fact that Seki Sensei has some obvious skill and talent. That doesn't mean that the information and explanations he is showing in the video are accurate. I went down the rabbit hole of their videos watching over five hours of their content. My past knowledge: based on other sword schools I've visited, martial-artists I've talked to, and years of experience leads me to disagree with very fundamental aspects of what is claimed as being "true" or correct with respects to kenjutsu and related arts (battojutsu, iaijutsu...etc) It is because of these discrepancies that leads me to believe that their art, as it currently is in 2024 isn't 100% legit. Meaning, a lot of information has been lost, or has been transmitted with error. One example: Let me direct you to this video where they talk about chiburi being "useless" even though it is well documented historically and with any number of schools. See their video below. th-cam.com/video/6Y6wl5b4vwo/w-d-xo.html -------------------------- Observation: Perspective Across his videos, he is sparring against people who have little skill. You can tell that his opponents are moving poorly. For example: An advanced musician would make a beginner look bad. However, judge that advanced musician against an absolute professional and you would have a different perspective. ------------------- If you have an open mind about it. Let me give my opinion on just a short part of the video so you can see how I view the information. I'm not trying to go against or for the video, just showing you my thought process. Start video @3:50 Shugo, "Even if you are good at sparring with fugoshinai, it doesn't prove that you are good at fighting with a katana." My thoughts: I agree 100% with the statement above. There is some cross-over with regards to using a sword and shinai such as timing, range etc. Shugo, "Even if you are good at sparring with fugoshinai, it doesn't prove that you are good at fighting with a katana."... he goes on to say, "This is because of three main reasons. 1. It's not curved 2. The tsuka is round (Since the "blade" of the Shinai is also round, this also doesn't matter so much) 3. It's a lot lighter " The three reasons above are true, but I wouldn't consider those the "three main reasons". 1. Not curved - I agree, having a curved blade changes a lot about how it functions...but that doesn't matter if the blade-end doesn't have an edge at all. Katana have different sori [the specific curve each katana]. 2. The tsuka is round - Way more critical is the fact that there is no edge. Cutting with a sword is done by keeping the blade's edge on plane. If there is no plane then it is the same as swinging a bo (wooden staff). The round tsuka is secondary to that fact. Since it is round, you don't know where the blade (or mune) would be facing. You also can't take the exact same sword grip on a circular tsuka. The grip is so critical to cutting correctly (go rin no sho for reference). 3. It's a lot lighter. - Yes, that is true, it isn't steel. But just as important as weight is the weight distribution. The shinai has a homoginous weight from the kashira to the kisaki. A steel katana (full nakago or not) will have a lot more weight at kissaki's end. This changes a lot of things. In short, the three above are minor issues compared to... What they are doing is not really combat sparring. It is a game of tag. They are using the shinai like a stick and not like a sword. They are flicking with their hands and not actually doing technique that would actually cut through someone in combat. They are not moving and swinging the shinai as if it was a katana. They are using it as a stick with "flicking" movements. "Short sword mincing." Most [not all] of their techniques would not actually cut through someone. They wouldn't use that technique when trying to cut tatame (especially with a bamboo core). So, if they wouldn't work in combat, why are they using it when sparring? You see this a lot with sparring in modern martial-arts tournaments. Much of it is a and not representing combat. Really, there are other reasons why, but the above is 99% of it. If you aren't actually using a shinai as a sword then you aren't training in kenjutsu. Some other things, There is no edge, no mune. The blade end and the tsuka are both round so they can't evne hold the weapon correctly. If your grip is wrong, then that messes up everything. What they are doing is more like people sparring with "light sabers". So my major issue isn't that they are holding a shinai actually, it is that they aren't using it like a katana. Why do I think they aren't legit? Because of the culmination of all that I saw on their youtube channels.
Ahahahahahah! First of all, I own this channel since seven years and I publish videos weekly. From your comment I understand you don’t know me or my channel as this is MY FIRST REACTION EVER on top of hundreds of videos. And second, I wrote an E-mail to Shogo and Seki-Sensei asking if they would be ok if I react to their videos, they answered yes, and they even encouraged me to do it more in the future. This is far more than what the average TH-camr does btw. Thanks for your comment.
Wtf kind of comment is this ? I dont know where youre from but in the western world there is a thing known as fair use. Its not like he went to the bathroom while the video played without any interactions like some popular streamers enjoy doing these days.
I don’t think so. Most of the sparring carried out back in the days, by the same people we received our hundreds years old swordfighting knowledge was carried out in this way.
I suppose that's a good point, maybe I should say it's not really sparring by "modern definition" I personally don't see the point in not taking advantage of modern technology. That's akin to saying "we don't spar in this style because it's too dangerous or other such BS that was very common in martial arts in the past decades.@@FedericoMalagutti
I would argue that sparring in minimal gear has its advantages compared to using modern protective gear. For example, you are able to do techniques more realistically because you aren't restricted by bulky elbow pads or gorgets. Another is that you have much better visibility compared to a claustrophobic helmet that covers your peripheral vision. Even if no one solution is perfect, it's always good to take advantage of all the tools at your disposal instead of making the issue so black and white.
You can light spar without protective gear or least minimal gear. It's also a great way to restrain yourself and focus on doing the techniques properly, which some are difficult to do with a lot of gear on. I have difficulty doing a zwerchhau with lobster gloves for example
Yepp sparring light is great, but if I cant even poke you in the face without doing you grievous bodily harm we're not really "sparring" we're doing something else. @@badrequest5596
the problem with seki sensei is that he's basically only a sensei on paper whereas in real life he's like one of those fake steven segall type martial artists where people are just obsessed with him as a character and act like he's a badass or will pretend that his moves are dangerous because theyre starstruck. watch his actual sparring videos, he's awful.
You talk big while knowing sh*t about any art. Anybody who has an iota of knowledge about swordfighting from both hema or kenjutsu can tell immediately how proficient and experienced is Seki sensei.
If You are into Japanese Swordsmanship check out this video in which I analyze a number of Films and TV Series Samurai fights, to check if they look real or not:
th-cam.com/video/WJVs0lbpveE/w-d-xo.html
Thank you for the breakdown! You're one of my favorite sword channels to watch, and I'm an online student of Seki-sensei, so I'm very happy to see your reaction and review! He is such a smooth and fluid swordsman, and a wonderful instructor. 🤗
I bet he is, I have a huge respect for him.
@@FedericoMalaguttiit is hard not to. He has such a kind, joyful and humble approach to his fighting it would seem.
thats so cool! I wanna be a student, I watch all the videos and practice as much kata as i can repeat, but i cant afford the classes unfortunately, if you have some tips and tricks, or any Seki-sensei quotes you can drop for me that aren't on the channel id love to hear it!
@@twinjunomusic Shogo just released two at home training videos, a 4 minute workout and 7 minute workout, with the basics. I would start there! I'm sure we all look forward to training with you soon!
That false edge cut at 2:00 is much more powerful than people realize, too. Tip cuts can do a lot of damage. I think most people who criticize a lot about the 'tippy tappy' actions haven't done many cutting tests. Or aren't in the context of historical duels but thinking of a fight to the death.
True
imo, tippy tappy cuts are perfectly fine to parts of the body that require fine movement. Getting a cut on the hand is *very* debilitating, as it can severely restrict dexterity. A good, deep cut is important to parts of the body that would otherwise not debilitate them. Imagine a paper cut on your arm vs the web of your finger, one sucks, and one REALLY sucks (terrible analogy but you probably get the point.)
Exactly, and we see people like Meyer showing very shallow cuts like duplieren all the time. @@Artameful
@@Artameful i always think of it as just cut your opponent and try not to get cut, even if it's a small cut I don't think anybody would want to get cut.
@@ArtamefulI once had an accident in metalwork class at school and cut the back of my finger. It was quite shallow, but I went into shock: I quickly got tunnel vision and felt dizzy and had to sit down. A cut really doesn't have to be deep to be debilitating.
It's always fascinating to see how in so many martial arts, mastery is shown in control of distance, angle, timing, and not wasting energy.
Great and insightful video, really appreciate the respect you show for other martial arts. It's a sign of skill to be humble and show interest in learning instead of pretending to know everything like 99% of TH-cam commenters on sword videos.
Big fan, been getting more into hema lately and you've been a huge inspiration.
Thank you!
Huh. Didn't expect to see you here. Glad to see you are still going strong, and still keeping Node going.
Love this video. This type of breakdown is fascinating
Thank you!!
As a comparison, I'm a swimming teacher. One of the most important things for beginners to learn, especially for being on their back, is relaxation. If a person is tense in the water they'll sink, and if they're supported enough to stay up by something like a noodle or board (or teacher) they'll be very unsteady. And when you're learning and improving your strokes you want both the limbs and body to be able to extend and hold, but not lockdown completely. The most obvious example is in the flutterkick, the basic up/down kick everyone starts with that's used in freestyle and backstroke. A good flutterkick is powered from the hip and thighs with your legs fully extended to pointed toes, but not rigid. Then as you kick the motion should gently but swiftly shift the entire leg a small distance up and down in the water, which goes against natural instincts to press hard and long with the feet from the knee in a running motion. This bent action is less efficient at moving the swimmier and worse at the most important job flutterkick has: supporting the less bouyant lower half of the body so the arms can pull you along. And until a person is able to relax and understand their movements and posture, they'll just keep tensing up and sinking.
@Federico
10:05 - 11:04
Seki Sensei mentions that point in another video (I really don't know which video off the top of my head). Albeit, that he talks about katas and practice overall, not specifically katas alone.
He says to not train alone, because, of course, it makes it really difficult to measure distances, steps, swings and even just positioning of your own body correctly.
One of the hints for kata practice alone is: Your attacks should be at your own eye-height, because that makes sure, that you swing with full extension (which is true, katas are designed to make full use of the sword. The strike is supposed to happen with the very tip of the sword, where it curves back up - at least that's the ideal (which is why Kendo hits are supposed to happen with the tip), and other katas have completely different ideas of an attack, like: slicing, draw-cutting, stabbing).
Other than that he says training alone leads to a lot of bad habits.
Forms and Katas are best when you already know what to do and you want to go through the forms. With a consistent previous fighting and training experience they are good. Otherwise I agree, they create wrong habits.
Of course, if a person can’t train with a partner, they are ok even from the very beginning. Better than nothing! I always say.
When light sparring we also tend to do it kinda like they do, we keep going and dont reset. Just announce the hit and keep going. This week we did a very interesting spar where each would stand in a small square close to each other. The objective was to continuously attack and defend without moving away, you could also only move one step to the right or left. Even if we got hit, counter it. And non stop for 2 min, which doesnt seem like a long time but when you dont stop, it absolutely wore you out. Very fun though
In bjj we call that flow rolling. If you get tapped they just let go and keep rolling without resetting.
@@samlevi4744 not surprising, since most of bjj comes from Japan
Very nice video ! I hope Seki Sensei and shogo see it
Thank you!!!
Great video. Appreciate the positive feedback much more than the much more usual criticism. Thank you!
I compiled a playlist of the sparring videos from the Japanese channel of Asayamichidenkai.
th-cam.com/play/PLWp-td0-_a3SeTePOqOV22J0CovfJCQRb.html
There was also a video of many students in the dojo sparring with one another with the fukuroshinai and helmet, but that video has sadly been made Private recently. The title of the video does say that sparring in the dojo occurs roughly once a month, and that all students are welcome to join the sparring session.
浅山一伝会 袋撓自由攻防稽古風景 ※月に１回程度、有志で攻防稽古を行なっています
th-cam.com/video/fSYebzk1n8o/w-d-xo.html
Excellent analysis señor! Your comments and insights based on your own personal experience really do provide more enrichment on what Seki Sensei and Shogo discuss! Thank you for posting this video! Much appreciated!
@@alexeireyes3683 thanks!!!!
Excellent commentary, thank you and keep up the good work!
Thank you!!!
This was fun thanks for posting
Some years ago they had a show longsword fight, on Swordfish, where they didn’t stop before the 2 minutts was over. Its like kick boxing point vs semi/full contact. Ie much harder.
Yeah, I did it a number of times. We also have a tournament in rome similar to it.
I've played with Japanese kobudo teachings - Seki Sensei would make me a minus white Belt! Such a humble master, I love these videos.
Your interesting in your videos, you are not rude and that's very nice of you.
Good channel mate I have subscribed 👍👍👍❤
Didn't know they do contact sparring in Kenjutsu. Interesting.
I thought that fighting technique of Japanese sword and longsword are somewhat similar, but there were quite a few of techniques that you just don't see in HEMA. For example, parries and using the lever to push the opponent's sword away to create an opening. I mean, of course there are some techniques with a similar purpose, but in here it looked a lot more different.
And continuing fighting after taking hits is an interesting practice. Pausing a duel after each hit is something that I kind of never understood in HEMA outside of competitive sparring.
They used to during the late Edo period through the Meiji restoration, but it was not the combat simulation which we think it should be today.
Shinkage ryu and its descendant styles use the fukuro shinai in their kata so they may train forms at higher intensity. The headmaster of Jikishinkage ryu grew frustrated with the "dead" kata of his students so he developed a mask and gloves and instructed his students to strike eachother in the style of his ryuha until he was satisfied thus uchikomi keiko or striking practice was born. This striking practice was later gamified in the Nakanishi-ha itto ryu giving us gekiken. The rules, students and techniques of the Hokushin itto ryu came to dominate the gekiken phenomenon to the extent that the styles of other ryuha were lost to history. This sport was finally renamed to kendo at the turn of the 20th century.
This sparring of Seki sensei is a modern creation to suppliment his traditional instruction. Check out (Chiba-ha) Hokushin itto ryu and Tennen Rishin ryu for more kenjutsu sparring, or Haga-ha kendo for what kendo was like.
One of the big differences I've noted is the crossguard vs tsuba. The tsuba gives better lateral protection so they use the flat more for defense, the crossguard gives great defense sagitally so the you often defend with the strong edge and set up techniques to catch with it. Also, the katana is more like a bastard sword, considerably shorter than the longsword.
Seki Sensei is very relaxed and in control, he puts constant pressure on the opponent, in kendo we call that “Seme”
Here he is doing kendo
th-cam.com/video/SQ4a-sijENA/w-d-xo.htmlsi=-FdK799ZD3mOzyjT
Seme is better still
Hmmm i heard the term before but about a different kind of "swordfight"....yaoi....so if that is called Seme the opponent on receiving end is considered Uke? 😂
@@galadballcrusher8182What you are refering to is Seme and what OP is talking about is sēme.
But also, yes, Seme and Uke are words used in Martial Arts too, mostly during demos, Judokas for example consider being a good uke very crucial. (albeit Tori is more common than Seme)
Cool to get your take on this!
Great video! Seki sensei has some interesting spareing videos against different styles as well. One was against a professiona Kendoka under kendo rules and then kobudo rules. His spar against Tak was also a very exciting bout as well!
There is an expression which the koryu guys at the dojo where I train (kendo) claim is of old Japanese origin: a big cut is a stupid cut.
The big body mechanics of their kata are paedagogical to teach proper engagement of the back and displacement of the body when trying to nick an artery as their style instructs.
Strong dismembering strokes and tameshigiri practice is the bravado of peacetime styles with no better way to show off their power.
SEKI SENSEI is just awesome and I'm soooo glad SHOGO introduced him to TH-cam , his videos are always amazing , and SEKI has a great sense of humor also 😮😸👍👍
Some attacks have an infamous reputation but this arises from bad execution. A 1-h cut is from long range can be terrific if well executed. Of course, since it has no structure it needs goid dynamics.
The issue is that sometimes an attack is delivered with a very short arc and even leather gloves would stop it.
This is a great video! I need to find some people who want to swordfight. 😩
I bet you’ll find someone! For sure!!
Need more of this
Really interesting! Thanks!
It takes so little power to cut flesh with a sharp sword, and all sorts of important tendons and veins are right near the surface on the arms and legs, so false edge and single handed strikes would absolutely do critical damage to limbs.
Some large swings with one hand like Seki-sensei did against Shogo's leg would be pretty comparable to may two-handed cuts I believe. Especially holding it further down with the left hand.
@@atom8248Absolutely! That momentum with a sharp edge on is devastating. The recovery tempo after committing to such a swing is the real issue
@@davidthor4405 It's high risk high reward. Although you do it from further away so the risk is somewhat smaller
@@atom8248 So true. I have a guy in my club who throws those pretty often. I’ve been working on finding a good counter
I think there's also definitely the factor that this is Seki-sensei's student, and he probably recognizes most of the attacks his student plans to take. And as Shogo says, the student is a bit timid and you can see him hesitate or panic when Seki-sensei stays firm and advances unafraid. And then we see that inversion with Shogo facing the more experienced student.
Seki-sensei is definitely very impressive, but he is also so confident because he knows and trains the student he faces there, which makes him appear flawless. If he faced a practitioner he was unfamiliar with I'm sure he would be much more cautious. Not saying he is lacking in skill or courage, of course, just acknowledging that Seki-sensei is in his element here.
Someone else linked another Seki Sensei fight, against another Sensei above, really interesting!
I would add that, especially at the end, Seki-sensei was attacking in order to teach Shogo what he is doing wrong.
He has different videos fighting non students, He always fights like this. Calm.
Ty so much for this video. "Perfectly martial".. ty so much for that. Im using it going forward lol
Good review analysis. By the way, when Seki sensei or his disciple executes an upswing, they actually rotate their blades upwards, so they were not hitting with a blunt side. Only Shogu was hitting with a blunt side.
at around 7:37 he was referring to the the tsuka or the handle of the sword being round (instead of more rectangular which means that edge alignment is not a factor) not the blade of the sword
Yeah, they definitely rotated the blade before the upswing. It’s basically reflexive with practice. (Technically pointless with these, but if he’s using real techniques then I’m assuming he’d still do that here).
You should watch some of the sparring videos on their Japanese channel - Seki Sensei goes hard on there.
They just shared one with me. Gorgeous, I wasn’t aware of the other channel unluckily! But now I have a lot of stuff to watch it seems lol
I'm a miltary / Polish saber HEMA fencer. IMO the katana sparing here seems composed of somewhat "basic" and very simple technics. Most meanigful hits are scored from the clockwise rotation in the bind forllowed by horizontal cut.
Samurai armour wasn't quite as protective as late medieval or renaissance plate armour, it almost never covered the ENTIRE body, just most of it, so using real steel would either be very dangerous (if using historical armours) or historically confused and bizarre, if they started to use European armour for this.
The cultural aspect is a big deal, just like it is in Europe, but in a different way. There are many things done in HEMA that could make it safer but aren't done simply because it would be silly considering the time period invoked in the sport.
This was very interesting, although I have been training in the English martial arts for over thirty years now, I also trained Iain, and Kenjutsu for a few years as well, and received gradings in those arts. So I have a small understanding of how these systems work. The English martial arts depend wholly on the principles of the art, which teaches you about distance and judgment of distance, as well as many other things. In the English two hand sword we use single hand techniques as well as stopping with single hand stops/blocks. So what you are seeing in this video is also used in English two hand sword as well. There is nothing new under the sun.
Would love to see your reaction to some of their more recent videos where sensei gets to play with european weapons for the first time.
Tippy tappy is more than enough to kill or do significant damage. It's when it becomes a sport where that is discouraged...
you gotta watch Seki Sensei's spar with a youtuber name Crazy Musashi TAK. In that video, he spar really fast and the leg attack parry to me was impressive.
where do we buy these practice swords?
Tozando
try reviewing his sparring videos in his japanese channel too. there's one where he was being hit by younger guy and falling. it was pretty amazing (because it's rare seeing a sensei being handled like that)
The problem is because of the fear, they forget all their techniques.
Hi I’d like to see you reaction to Seki sensei’s iaido videos even if you’ve no experience with iaido yourself. Thanks
The false edge cut with the Katana should not be ignored. You can hit someone with a bamboo stick hard enough that they'll drop whatever they're holding! A Katana has a LOT more mass at the tip than pretty much any European sword. It doesn't matter if it's blunt.
PS: I've been hit with a Shinai so bad that I couldn't write for days!
As a Kendoka, the whole attack and continue on is very common in sparring, at least in my experience, and is hard to get used to if you, like me, free-style sparred with brothers or are just not an aggressive person, then you could lose some fairly easy points. Great stuff all around though, especially from Tsugara-san (I believe that his name)
That is sutemi, but for some reason we call it zanshin. Traditionally sutemi means that you hold nothing back for after the attack whereas zanshin means you hold about 20% back for the followup attack.
This is confusion which we allow beginners (0-2dan) to have as we learn ki-ken-tai icchi. This confusion is something which you will rarely see in competitive kendo.
Zanshin can never mean to show an opponent, even a defeated opponent, your back.
It would be interesting to see if there are any differences if they used something closer to actual katana weights. You average shinai is about 1/3 of the actual weight of an average sized katana. Your average training feder is the same weight as a average katana. That light weight makes many of those flicking attack extremely fast with a shinai but could they do the same with something heavier? That's one of my biggest gripes when comparing training between the two types of martial arts. I'm really surprised that there hasn't been a push for that kind of thing in various Kenjutsu schools at least but not surprised about Kendo as that would turn it on its head.
These are not finesse weapons. The body is the limiting factor for attack speed in most approaches to kenjutsu that I am aware of.
Weaponism did a video where they tried doing kendo attacks with a real katana and they were still possible. It also depends on the sword, I have one katana that feels pretty heavy and then one which is a pretty faithful replica of a sword made by Muramasa, which is so light it feels better to use in one hand (the original was likely intended as a one-handed sword imo, as the tang is quite short even if it is a full length katana)
I believe he meant figthing with THIS bamboo swords AND protection wouldn't hurt. And they don't use the steel katanas for sparing because of the cultural significance.
Oh of course, anyway, I talked about my experience, not theirs.
@@FedericoMalagutti Yeah. Just a small correction, because his line was indeed dubious as in what he meant.
I appreciate the modern man's perspective on violence and the benefits of the modern world. However, you would be surprised at the number of people who do want the opportunity to fight with swords. It wasn't so long ago, during the world wars, that the German officer's faces were famously scarred from saber dueling.
There is a universe where sword fighting comes back into vogue and for those people who are currently soldiers, they're still exposed to killing in the modern day.
1 Curvature could have little meaning for the average hema guy because they don't train with two handed curved swords, you can do many nice tricks
2 kendo have strect rules = easyer, shogo here show the typical iaidoka mind (kendokas that sweaty noisy brutes)
Very interesting
👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
It's hilarious how ppl make fetish out of weapon sparing without face protection. I've sparred for years with foam weapons without a mask, and its hema with full gear what thaught me to respect distance and threat to the head. Why? Because when you don't wear protection, your partner won't stab you in the eye or slash your face. And if they do, one should stop training with them. So then you easyli go to this delusional place, in which if you guard your arms and legs, you're safe (while in fact you aren't). Once you got a mask on your head, you are no longer immune to head cuts and thrust, and THAT's when you learn to respect the distance and opponent's weapon.
@@Druid_Ignacy Admittedly, I have to agree with you. Being vulnerable to head hits changes everything.
But to break a spear in favor of this way of sparring, they hit the head with cuts, mainly from above. So while with some limits you have everything, but of course, more control is needed.
Considering anyway that this way of sparring is historically accurate, in a sense that it was used during the 16th century and after, and that it’s use brought the Yagyu Shinkage Ryu to become the favorite school of the shogunate in the 17th century, I love the fact they are keeping it as it was.
I don't understand why either of the actions you mention are 'criticized' they are both documented in historical sources and work in real life. Makes no sense.
You should check out weaponism. They are very forard thinking wrt sparring and training tools.
I know them, yep yep
Interesting comments.
Even if you wear a fencing mask, a direct stab to the face with a padded foam weapon is not a pleasant experience.
To me it feels like someone hitting you with a boxing glove.
In our school stabs to the face are forbidden but hits are allowed.
A lot of old kendo photos exhibit a thrust to the face mask. This target area was quickly discontinued because it caused too many neck injuries.
I'm honest. The problem with hema is that a big number of practitioners try to exactly replicate the manuals and they forgot that the manuals are basic useful techniques, and cry about unorthodox things that work. And I personally dislike the full set of protection. I really enjoy more using some well build, kinda hard boffer weapons, it helps to evolve the reflexes and the skill to use active protection and not always getting hit cause the gear will diminishe the damage.
But the egocentric attitude towards using creative techniques and the mindset of duelling only... Sometimes even if defeat is certain is funny to spar in groups and against groups, more like battlefield and not duel...
Lets remember that this is my experience with hema practitioners, and that is not a lot of it. I know outer there has some good groups.
There are certain instincts and training your reaction time that you only get while sparring, doing katas or other sequences of movements does not translate to being good at fighting right away. It's normal that he says he practiced for 9 yrs and looks "pathetic" i think he said, also fighting against someone who is recognized to have mastered said martial art to a degree also changes things, either you are aware in your martial art and tend to be more carefull, distance wise for example. Or you have no idea what you are doing and just go in for striking and get hit in the teeth. Least from my experience.😂
Thank you for your breakdown, and I love your channel ! Perhaps you may have watched already, the following is the link to video with 5 Kenjutsu free sparring, and at 3:36 Seki Sensei sparred with another Sensei . Both are equal on skills and confidence. And I look forward to your valuable breakdown from your point of view
th-cam.com/video/EVJnTMWPP9c/w-d-xo.htmlsi=Iajpb9SWq2ClQ9yn
Oh thank you for this! I will maybe react to it in the future!
I just watched this video. Is freaking amazing, being everyone there at a higher level of competence. Looking forward to break it down. If you find anything similar hard to access for me (namely only Japanese titles etc.) I would encourage you to send me the link. Thank you very much.
@@FedericoMalagutti You are very welcomed! I’m glad that you find those sparring amazing! I’m more than happy to share more when I encounter more. And again, thank you for your breakdown and look forward to your more comments on those sparring
Seki Sensei is a truly impressive weapons master. His understanding and depth of knowledge is so great that you can put any weapon in his hand and he instinctively knows how to use it.
You should react to the video they made where they fight with european swords (for first time in their lives). You will see Sensei's true skill shine through the exploration of the european style sword vs katana style (while fighting with it, not while practicing or studying). You will prob even recognize some real techniques (and he doesnt know its actual real techniques from real life. His instinct simply makes him do em bc the warrior in him can tell this is the optimal way. He is beyond amazing.
I actually answered to it a couple months ago, heheh.
@@FedericoMalagutti Omg I skimmed through your channel to check but I must have missed it.. Ima have to look better :D Id love to see that one too :) Thx, is awesome to get an actual western style fighters comments and perspectives.
I'd say that a light, false-edge cut to the hands are, most of the time in hema, too weak to injure anyone. Were we not wearing gloves It'd probably hurt, but it wouldn't incapacitate an opponent (Kinda speak from experience after taking a nasty blow in the hand when I was doing medieval reenactment). In a real fight, I'd consider this upward cut too risky because of how we expose the upper-body.
But as always, awesome analysis. Thank you for your work !
I don't know! I honestly think it is quite safe to land that action with proper distance management, rather than building up some complex technique to get, say, the head, which has many components (everyone of it which can go wrong). An about the "power" of the strike, the thingers are on the handle, it is like snapping a 1.5 kilos kitchen knife with far more leverage against 4 little sausages on top of a wooden plan. Anyway, as any blow can be landed in a good or bad way, and it can have success or fail. But in an unarmored fight (which both the above training and hema training tend to replicate) is quite good.
@@FedericoMalagutti Skallagrim tried it with a hand-analogue and while it didn't sever the entire hand he managed to badly damage it with a very light false edge cut.
It's not a perfect test but I feel like the guy above was probably hit with a blunt sword in the hand and not a sharp. Even if it doesn't incapacitate the opponent any hit you can do without receiving one yourself is good enough and it would probably have a negative effect on my handling of the weapon if my finger was half cut-through. I don't understand the assessment of the technique as "not safe enough", it's an action so safe that you almost receive mockery in the hema community for doing it.
Fight him
Oh, I would definitely enjoy to have a chance to train and spar with them, using their methods. The problem is the entirety of the planet being between us mostly, besides other aspects XD
@@FedericoMalagutti there's a training camp coming up in May! lol
Always wondered about the lack of sparring in kenjutsu and other Asian weapon systems, as this is where you find what works for you, with Hemas lack of so called 'living tradtion' compared to say kenjutsu, hema proves itself a 'true martial art' thru its emphasis on sparring, great stuff big chap, all the best from sunny Troon 😊
They used to during the late Edo period through the Meiji restoration, but it was not the combat simulation which we think it should be today.
Shinkage ryu and its descendant styles use the fukuro shinai in their kata so they may train forms at higher intensity. The headmaster of Jikishinkage ryu grew frustrated with the "dead" kata of his students so he developed a mask and gloves and instructed his students to strike eachother in the style of his ryuha until he was satisfied thus uchikomi keiko or striking practice was born. This striking practice was later gamified in the Nakanishi-ha itto ryu giving us gekiken. The rules, students and techniques of the Hokushin itto ryu came to dominate the gekiken phenomenon to the extent that the styles of other ryuha were lost to history. This sport was finally renamed to kendo at the turn of the 20th century.
This sparring of Seki sensei is a modern creation to suppliment his traditional instruction. Check out (Chiba-ha) Hokushin itto ryu and Tennen Rishin ryu for more traditional kenjutsu sparring, or Haga-ha kendo for what kendo was like.
In the Edo period, they used corpses to test and train the right cutting techniques. The existing techniques are already set in stone.
non conoscevo il tuo canale, fantastico! io pratico kobudo d'okinawa, ho sempre avuto la fascinazione anche per l' HEMA è sempre affascinante comparare vari stili a mio avviso , grandissimo comunque un abbraccione!
@@TomQuixoteDeLaGanja grazie!
That's why you need a Pommel which helps/allows you to controll Egde alignment with the left Hand
shogo is sooo annoying!!
I don’t think they are legit
In what sense?
@@Ianmar1
Hi Ianmar,
There is a balance between not insulting people and yet, at the same time, I feel like I need to give you an honest reply which will come across as insulting to some people.
So below, I will respectfully give more detail.
If they are willing to express their views publically on TH-cam, then I hope they are willing for me to share my opinion on their video publically.
Despite the fact that Seki Sensei has some obvious skill and coordination, the information shared in the videos is not only incomplete but also 180° from reality.
In other words, not only are the videos not expressing accurate technique, but also giving bad information and misleading those who would watch it.
People are being mis-informed aka, bad information.
I have respect for people who train hard and consistently (It isn't their fault if what they are doing isn't logical/good technique).
Shugo has trained for 9 years, and is legitimately trying to create videos the best way he knows how. I just think that he has strayed from the path of reality. I don't think he is purposely mis-informing people. He is just confused.
Again, despite the fact that Seki Sensei has some obvious skill and talent. That doesn't mean that the information and explanations he is showing in the video are accurate.
I went down the rabbit hole of their videos watching over five hours of their content.
My past knowledge: based on other sword schools I've visited, martial-artists I've talked to, and years of experience leads me to disagree with very fundamental aspects of what is claimed as being "true" or correct with respects to kenjutsu and related arts (battojutsu, iaijutsu...etc)
It is because of these discrepancies that leads me to believe that their art, as it currently is in 2024 isn't 100% legit. Meaning, a lot of information has been lost, or has been transmitted with error.
One example:
Let me direct you to this video where they talk about chiburi being "useless" even though it is well documented historically and with any number of schools. See their video below.
th-cam.com/video/6Y6wl5b4vwo/w-d-xo.html
--------------------------
Observation: Perspective
Across his videos, he is sparring against people who have little skill. You can tell that his opponents are moving poorly.
For example: An advanced musician would make a beginner look bad.
However, judge that advanced musician against an absolute professional and you would have a different perspective.
-------------------
If you have an open mind about it.
Let me give my opinion on just a short part of the video so you can see how I view the information. I'm not trying to go against or for the video, just showing you my thought process.
Start video @3:50
Shugo, "Even if you are good at sparring with fugoshinai, it doesn't prove that you are good at fighting with a katana."
My thoughts: I agree 100% with the statement above.
There is some cross-over with regards to using a sword and shinai such as timing, range etc.
Shugo, "Even if you are good at sparring with fugoshinai, it doesn't prove that you are good at fighting with a katana."... he goes on to say,
"This is because of three main reasons.
1. It's not curved
2. The tsuka is round (Since the "blade" of the Shinai is also round, this also doesn't matter so much)
3. It's a lot lighter
"
The three reasons above are true, but I wouldn't consider those the "three main reasons".
1. Not curved - I agree, having a curved blade changes a lot about how it functions...but that doesn't matter if the blade-end doesn't have an edge at all. Katana have different sori [the specific curve each katana].
2. The tsuka is round - Way more critical is the fact that there is no edge. Cutting with a sword is done by keeping the blade's edge on plane. If there is no plane then it is the same as swinging a bo (wooden staff). The round tsuka is secondary to that fact. Since it is round, you don't know where the blade (or mune) would be facing. You also can't take the exact same sword grip on a circular tsuka. The grip is so critical to cutting correctly (go rin no sho for reference).
3. It's a lot lighter. - Yes, that is true, it isn't steel. But just as important as weight is the weight distribution. The shinai has a homoginous weight from the kashira to the kisaki. A steel katana (full nakago or not) will have a lot more weight at kissaki's end. This changes a lot of things.
In short, the three above are minor issues compared to...
What they are doing is not really combat sparring. It is a game of tag. They are using the shinai like a stick and not like a sword.
They are flicking with their hands and not actually doing technique that would actually cut through someone in combat.
They are not moving and swinging the shinai as if it was a katana. They are using it as a stick with "flicking" movements. "Short sword mincing."
Most [not all] of their techniques would not actually cut through someone. They wouldn't use that technique when trying to cut tatame (especially with a bamboo core). So, if they wouldn't work in combat, why are they using it when sparring?
You see this a lot with sparring in modern martial-arts tournaments. Much of it is a and not representing combat.
Really, there are other reasons why, but the above is 99% of it. If you aren't actually using a shinai as a sword then you aren't training in kenjutsu.
Some other things,
There is no edge, no mune. The blade end and the tsuka are both round so they can't evne hold the weapon correctly. If your grip is wrong, then that messes up everything. What they are doing is more like people sparring with "light sabers".
So my major issue isn't that they are holding a shinai actually, it is that they aren't using it like a katana.
Why do I think they aren't legit? Because of the culmination of all that I saw on their youtube channels.
@@aren8798all this video shows is his familiarity with the tools he has at hand.
*How about making your own original content instead on "reacting" to (i.e. stealing) others' videos?*
Ahahahahahah!
First of all, I own this channel since seven years and I publish videos weekly. From your comment I understand you don’t know me or my channel as this is MY FIRST REACTION EVER on top of hundreds of videos.
And second, I wrote an E-mail to Shogo and Seki-Sensei asking if they would be ok if I react to their videos, they answered yes, and they even encouraged me to do it more in the future.
This is far more than what the average TH-camr does btw.
Thanks for your comment.
Wtf kind of comment is this ? I dont know where youre from but in the western world there is a thing known as fair use. Its not like he went to the bathroom while the video played without any interactions like some popular streamers enjoy doing these days.
It's not really sparring if your not even using any protective gear.
I don’t think so. Most of the sparring carried out back in the days, by the same people we received our hundreds years old swordfighting knowledge was carried out in this way.
I suppose that's a good point, maybe I should say it's not really sparring by "modern definition" I personally don't see the point in not taking advantage of modern technology. That's akin to saying "we don't spar in this style because it's too dangerous or other such BS that was very common in martial arts in the past decades.@@FedericoMalagutti
I would argue that sparring in minimal gear has its advantages compared to using modern protective gear. For example, you are able to do techniques more realistically because you aren't restricted by bulky elbow pads or gorgets. Another is that you have much better visibility compared to a claustrophobic helmet that covers your peripheral vision. Even if no one solution is perfect, it's always good to take advantage of all the tools at your disposal instead of making the issue so black and white.
You can light spar without protective gear or least minimal gear. It's also a great way to restrain yourself and focus on doing the techniques properly, which some are difficult to do with a lot of gear on. I have difficulty doing a zwerchhau with lobster gloves for example
Yepp sparring light is great, but if I cant even poke you in the face without doing you grievous bodily harm we're not really "sparring" we're doing something else. @@badrequest5596
the problem with seki sensei is that he's basically only a sensei on paper whereas in real life he's like one of those fake steven segall type martial artists where people are just obsessed with him as a character and act like he's a badass or will pretend that his moves are dangerous because theyre starstruck. watch his actual sparring videos, he's awful.
You talk big while knowing sh*t about any art. Anybody who has an iota of knowledge about swordfighting from both hema or kenjutsu can tell immediately how proficient and experienced is Seki sensei.
Please talk less, its furiously annoying.
I talk as much as I want