The Master and the Angry Dog - Part One

The following happened in 1987 in Seattle. Nakamura Taizaburo Sensei, founder of Nakamura Ryu of Batto-ho, and Head of the Toyama Ryu Federation, had been invited to participate in the Cherry Blossom Festival, and on this occasion had gotten in touch with the local Kendo organization and spent most of his spare time with them.

This story, and other ones were posted on a website at the occasion of the death of Nakamura Sensei in 2003. You can read the other posts by clicking here

Nakamura Sensei’s direct words to us were that he had had an enlightenment experience, and renounced the use of swords to hurt others. He said that’s why he had named his system “Happogiri Batto- Do” and not “Batto-Jutsu”.... because he intended that it should only be used to cultivate the “Katsujin-Ken” and never again the “Satsujin- Ken” as in his previous, deeply mistaken, period.

Once when we pulled up near the door of the Seattle Center House to unload all our makiwara, etc, Nakamura Sensei climbed down from Murosako Sensei’s van right into the face of a tiny, snarling and terrified high strung little dog who had been locked by himself in another vehicle right next to us. The window was open enough that the little dog could get his nose --AND TEETH-- right out there, and boy was he barking, yipping, growling, and carrying on, defending his territory!

With a big chuckle of delight, Nakamura Sensei walked right up and stuck his hand right in the top of the window and started scratching and petting that dog’s head! The dog instantly began sobbing and squeaking and LICKING Nakamura Sensei’s hand! I’m not making this up... I was climbing out of the van right behind him, and saw the whole thing!

APOLOGIES

In my precedent post I quoted an interview of Nakamura Sensei - in which he explained his distrust of a particular way to support a sword blade with the open hand. To illustrate his point he was explaining how a Japanese Master of Kenjutsu had in this way cut his fingers when he assassinated a political opponent in 1935.

I want to make it very clear here, that I am absolutely not approving of the use of Martial Arts in general, and swordsmanship in particular, to hurt or kill other sentient beings.

Some of the posts on this blog are very technical with a pedagogical content, and mostly intended for actual students of one way.
As a teacher I often use historical anecdotes or even jokes to help students memorize details of techniques and moves.

Some of my readers, not involved in Martial Arts might have from this post inferred that I approve of assassination, or of using sword to kill other sentient beings. This is not the case, and if I mislead you in that direction, I apologize for it.

My goal is to reconcile Buddhism and Martial Arts to get past the apparent contradiction between the ideal of compassion and violence. I believe in the potential of Martial Arts to transform ourselves, providing they are skilfully taught and practiced, as was for example Karate in the traditional society of Okinawa at the beginning of the 20th century.

In the following weeks, I intend to post on MUSHIN - commonly translated as "Empty Mind" - a concept or state at the heart of Zen and Budo Practices.

MUSHIN has sometimes been used as a justification for terrible actions by Japanese warriors and soldiers during the first half of the 20th century.

It is important for students of the Ways to realize what Mushin really means.

Iwanami - spare your fingers...

Nakamura Taizaburo was born in 1912. He began his study of kendo at the age of 15; when he joined the Imperial Army in 1932 he was already 3rd dan in both kendo and judo. After teaching kendo to the officers and noncommissioned officers of his regiment, Nakamura sensei was assigned to a boy's military academy as a fencing instructor; during this time he also studied Omori Ryu iaido. Later, Nakamura sensei was selected to attend the Army Toyama Academy where he became an instructor of actual-combat swordsmanship, bayonet, and knife fighting. He was dispatched to Manchuria as a "special fencing teacher" and instructed members of the select Yamashita Special Attack Force.

He founded the All Japan Toyama Ryu Iaido Federation and has been the Senior Master of Toyama Ryu until his death in 2003. In 1952 he founded the Nakamura Ryu.

In this excerpt from Thoughts on Iaido published by Dragon Tsunami Sensei Nakamura makes an interesting (and gruesome) point about the actual use of a waza similar to our MJER Iwanami

There are techniques in which the palm of the left hand is placed along the back ridge of the blade. These are ineffective and are a waste of time and dangerous. A case in point is that of Lieutenant Colonel Aizawa who cut his fingers employing this type of technique. Aizawa once had been a kenjutsu teacher at the former Army Toyama Academy and was an expert in kendo and bayonet fencing. In 1935, using his western model service saber, he assassinated the head of the Military Affairs Bureau, Major General Nagata (this action preceded the February 26 Revolt of 1936). After failing to kill the general with three cuts, Aizawa placed his left palm on the back of his sword at the mid point, assumed a bayonet fencing "half-right stance" and thrust strongly with his right hand, skewering the general completely through from back to front. This technique is very similar to the All Japan Iaido Federation's fifth form called "kissaki kaeshi" and Muso Jikiden Eishin Ryu's "Iwanami". Aizawa cut all four fingers of his left hand to the bone. He later stated, "As a Toyama Academy fencing instructor, I was disappointed and embarrassed that I was unable to cleave the general in two with one stroke."