I completed yesterday (December 21st) one of my goals for this year. I practiced each one of the MJER Shoden waza and Batto Ho waza 150 times - that is home practice and dos not include class practice. I also practiced Yoshukai Iai - the whole set - 120 times. The long term goal is to practice each waza 1000 times.

Katachi cannot be practiced solo, so far we are up to 350 times Ukenagashi Sono Ni, both parts. I certainly cannot say our execution is perfect, but it has improved a lot. When we first started, we would, maybe, get one acceptable waza each 20 or 30 repetition. Now there are times when I can perform properly 3 or 4 times in a row. 

How do I know they are good ? That's a good question. It feels good, it seems that the timing is good, the distance is good, the opponent's boken slides effortlessly on mine. Notice that I did not say it was perfect ! I am sure there will be things to improve, which I am not able to figure out by myself, and this is what seminars are about.

One thing I know is that our practice has improved, and that this is the only way to progress.

I practice 4 or 5 mornings per week - MJER Iai, Yoshukai Iai, then Zen, the whole thing takes about 1 1/2 hours. Some days I have to shorten it. 

We practice Katachi in class, usually Tuesday night for we have a 3 hours class. We only account for sets of 10. If you practice 3 times a waza, you don't really have the opportunity to improve it, so it does not count. We do 2 to 5 sets, each opponent does both Uchidachi and Shidachi part. It takes a while, but it is worth it. 

Practicing each waza 1000 times will take years, but we have time ! In 2014 I want to complete 150 of each Chuden and Okuden waza; for katachi: 1000 Ukenagashi Sono Ni - then we will switch to an other one, possibly Shinmyoken. 

What are your goals ? 

Terminology : Katana, Tō, Tsurugi and Ken

 

         The complexity of Japanese terminology is a constant source of aggravation and wonders... The same Character can very often be pronounced in very different ways (Also 2 different characters may have the same pronounciation...)  When it comes to sword, 2 words come back very often "To" and "Ken". 
They are found for example in Junto sono ichi (First waza of the Batto-ho set of MJER) and in Shinmyoken (9th waza of the Tachiuchi no Kurai set of MJER).
However, to make things even more complicated for us poor Gaijin, other words such as Katana and Tachi come up on a regular basis...

Let's try to clarify some of this :

The Character 刀 reads Katana in Japanese and Tō in Chinese. It is found in the Japanese words :

• Bokutō (木刀) : wooden Sword.
• Iaitō (居合刀) : sword to practice iaidō
• Nihontō (日本刀) : Japanese swords
• Battō-jutsu (抜刀術) : art of sword drawing

The Character 剣 reads Tsurugi in Japanese and Ken in Chinese. It is found in the Japanese words :

• Bokken ( 木剣) : wooden sword.
• Shinken (真⁠剣) : live (sharp) sword.
• Kendō (剣道) : way of the sword.
• Kenshi (剣士) : swordsman.

Originally 剣 (Chinese Ken; Japanese Tsurugi ) was used to designate a double-edged Sword, and 刀 (Chinese Tō; Japanese Katana ) a single-edged one. 

 

Character	Chinese	Japanese	Type of Sword
剣	Ken	Tsurugi	Double-edged
刀	Tō	Katana	Single-edged

 

 

Naginata - Tsurugi - Tanto - Uchi Katana- Tachi

Although the single-edged curved blade has been used in Japan for over a millennium, the usage of 刀 (Chinese tō ; Japanese katana - single edge sword), is much less common in pre-modern Japan (before the 1868 Meiji Restoration)  than the usage of 剣 (Chinese ken ; Japanese tsurugi - Double edged straight sword). Thus, in pre-modern Japan, swordsmanship was more often referred to as kenjutsu, kendō, kengi, gekken, and other terms rather than tōjutsu, tōhō, etc.

After the Meiji Restoration, the modernized variants of Japanese swordsmanship have been referred to exclusively with the character 剣 (ken ).

The Tsurugi  is the Japanese version of the Chinese Jian Sword - It was originally used in Japan until the Single-edged saber (Katana) was introduced around the 11th century. 

Okuden Tachiwaza - Bangai no Bu

In this amazing video, Iwata Norikasu Hanshi demonstrates the Okuden Tachiwaza and Bangai no Bu sets of Muso Jikiden Eishin Ryu school of Iaijutsu.

All waza are  demonstrated from several angles, and bunkai are provided for each one of them, seen from different angles, even from above when necessary..

Although  the comments are in Japanese, this is so well done that you pretty much understand everything.

Enjoy, train harder...

You can read a great Interview of Iwata Norikazu Sensei (also called Iwata Kenichi), who left us on January 1st, 2011. He was 97 years old.