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The Origins of Seitei Iai
by Wayne Muromoto
Students is a college club practice setei iai at the Kyoto Budo Center in Japan
Eurypides said something about there being nothing novel or unique but that the old is made new because we look at it anew. Or something like that.
In like manner, the most widely practiced system of iai (sword drawing) in Japan proper is that promoted by the Zen Nihon Kendo Renmei (Japan Kendo Federation, or ZNKR), the seitei gata iai (standardized forms of iai), or the seitei iaido (standardized Way of iai). In actuality, it is the old made new.
Critics of the seitei iai-and they are legion, both outside of the seitei system and many within it-have legitimate bones to pick about the ten forms that make up the seitei iai. The details change almost yearly, depending on the tinkering of the board of top ranking iai masters in Japan. Sometimes these changes are for the better, making the seitei gata more logical. Sometimes, critics will scoff at the changes as nothing more than political maneuverings by one or the other teachers who want to get their techniques and their own agenda on the table.
Others will charge that the seitei iai do not have a technical foundation as a viable iai system based on real "battlefield" situations. There is a ring of truth to this, since the seitei iai were created in the 20th Century, long after the great battles decided by skill at swordsmanship were but a faded memory. But some erstwhile critics may go too far in saying that there is therefore no use for seitei iai. There are, indeed, some very good reasons for a beginning student to start a study of the sword with the seitei gata before embarking on an in-depth study of one of the older schools of iai.
The reasons for the weaknesses and strengths of the seitei iai may be discovered if we investigate its origins.
The Iai of Old
A couple of noteworthy books exist in Japanese on the history of iai, the art of quickly drawing out the sword and cutting (or countering an attack) with one smooth motion. About the only English language book worth spending your money on concerning the history of iai is that by Gordon Warner and Donn F. Draeger, titled Japanese Swordsmanship (Weatherhill, 1982). However, the techniques illustrated are different from the way the seitei iai is currently practiced.
The handbook titled Zen Nihon Kendo Renmei Iai, compiled by Kamimoto Eiichi (Kabushiki Gaisha Ski Journal, 1981), discusses the probable origins of iai in a brief and clear manner. No doubt, Kamimoto surmises, iai developed out of battlefield necessity. In the Nara and Heian periods, samurai fought on horseback armed with spears and naginata. However, if their weapons broke, they had to quickly pull out their swords or daggers to defend themselves. This led to the development of the techniques categorized under terms such as nuki-ai, iai, za-ai, bakken, saya no uchi, riho, battojutsu, and so on. Whatever the term, the application meant a rapid unsheathing of a sword against an unexpected, sudden attack. (1)
These techniques were part of many old, composite martial arts schools that dealt with swordsmanship and samurai weaponry. Iai was differentiated from kenjutsu, which dealt with swordsmanship after the initial draw, although the differences in the olden times apparently were slight. In classical systems, having a knowledge of both iai and kenjutsu were accepted as the usual standard of training.
The person considered the "father" of iai is Hayashizaki Junsuke Shigenobu, who lived in the late 1500s. Warner and Draeger discuss this shadowy figure in as much detail as is possible in their book. Suffice it to say that legends abound about this figure, much of which is unverifiable and unclear. One legend is that the young Hayashizaki discovered his iai from a vision while meditating in the course of shugyo (austere religious training) as he prepared to fight his father's murderer. A detailed discourse of the life of Junsuke will appear in a future issue.
In any case, it is apparent upon further research that Hayashizaki was probably not the first person to develop iai. Ryu (schools) that predate Hayashizaki, including the Tenshin Shoden Katori Shinto-ryu, Takenouchi (or Takeuchi) ryu and other older systems have iai in their curriculums and were founded prior to his time.
However, Hayashizaki Junsuke wandered the length and breadth of Japan, and passed on his particular methods to a great number of disciples, who in turn founded many of the existing iai schools. He could rightly be called the greatest exponent of iai during the ancient period because he was the inspiration and teacher to so many subsequent iai masters. Hayashizaki is considered the founder of the Tosa clan's seminal iai system, which became bifurcated to become the Muso Shinden-ryu and the Muso Jikiden Eishin-ryu. Hayashizaki also inspired the development of the Hoki-ryu, Tamiya-ryu, Jushin-ryu, Hayashizaki-ryu, Shin Muso-ryu, and so on.
These ryu passed on the modified teachings of Hayashizaki through the centuries.
Nakayama Hakudo, the "Saint" of Swordsmanship
If there are any great sword masters after the Meiji era and Yamaoka Tessen, then perhaps the title of "sword saint" (kensei) could be applied to Nakayama Hakudo, an amazing and eclectic budo teacher. Hakudo, of course, was not alone in his endeavors. There were other great kendo masters whose imprints are still found on modern kendo, but we will leave those masters for another day, another article.
During the Meiji era (1868-1912), Hakudo sojourned to the former province of Tosa to seek instruction in iai. He studied primarily under Hosokawa Yoshimasa and Morimoto Ukumi in what was then known as the Eishin-ryu. Based on that training, Hakudo developed what he called in 1934 the Muso Shinden-ryu. Along with masters of the Eishin-ryu, Hakudo began to openly teach the once-secret art of iai publicly. Just prior to armed hostilities of World War II, the Butokuden-a ranking body for martial arts in Japan-recognized a dan ranking system for iai.
A woman iaidoka performs zanshin (watching spirit) while sheathing her sword.
The Development of Modern Iaido
The war and the subsequent banning of most martial arts during the Occupation put a hold on the spread of iai until the ban was lifted in 1953. Iai was then subsumed under the All Japan Kendo Federation (Zen Nihon Kendo Renmei), with dan rankings (from shodan to judan) and instructor's licenses of renshi, kyoshi, and hanshi, as in kendo.
But the problem was that there were a number of different classical iai schools and no single way to decide ranks. How could you compare someone doing a Hoki-ryu kata against someone doing Muso Jikiden Eishin-ryu kata, for example?
In addition, kendo and iai masters encouraged kendo students to take up iai in order to understand the mechanics of wielding a real sword, but many of the old iai schools' techniques took decades to master. How could you teach basic, simple introductory iai methods to the modern budo enthusiast, who lived in a busy, contemporary world?
The solution, an altogether not very elegant one but the one that everyone could agree upon, was to develop a new system that serve as a basic introduction to iai and a standardized way to judge and apply dan ranks. The only other alternative would be to foist a single ryu on all the iai practitioners, an unthinkable solution since there were so many different iai schools still in existence and no one would have agreed to be subsumed under another classical ryu.
Twelve people, who were considered the top masters of iai, were asked to develop the standardized set of iai, drawing upon their own classical iai schools for inspiration. They met at the Budokan in Tokyo and hammered out the most minute details, compromising, changing or going with the techniques of one or more schools.
One example of this cooperative development was in the very first kata, called Ippon-me or Mae. The Ohmori-ryu stylist, famed for his graceful and large motions, would draw out the sword, cutting horizontally, and then in furikaburi (bringing the sword over the head in preparation for a downward cut), would swing the sword tip around the left shoulder and then up past the head. The Eishin-ryu practitioner, on the other hand, would cut horizontally, and then from that position pull the sword straight upabove his head in a motion called tsuri-age ("yanking up a fishing pole"). A minor detail, perhaps, but a major stylistic stumbling block. The compromise was that the sword would pass close to the left ear, sort of halfway between the two methods.
Those of us who might criticize the way the seitei iai is put together have to realize the great amount of flexibility and open-mindedness that had to be displayed by these teachers, masters of their centuries-old styles, who had to put aside their cherished opinions to work together. It wasn't easy.
In May, 1969, the first seitei iai kata were presented to the public at the Kyoto Taikai martial arts festival, held at the old Butokuden site in Kyoto.
The seitei iai gata included the first seven kata, which were derived and modified from classical iai schools. The first two kata, Mae and Ushiro, came from the Ohmori-ryu. The third, Ukenagashi, was from kata found in the Ohmori-ryu and the Muso Jikiden Eishin-ryu. The fourth kata, Tsuka Ate, was similar to tate hiza techniques of the Eishin-ryu. Then the next kata, Kesa Giri, was derived from the Hoki-ryu. The Morote Tsuki kata was a thrusting technique found in many different iai schools. (2)
As the teaching of the seitei iai was refined, it was decided to add three more kata to further round out a student's training. The new kata were introduced in 1981. The eighth kata, Ganmen Ate, was derived from the Muso Shinden-ryu oku iai methods. Soete Tsuki came from a famous Hoki-ryu technique, and the tenth kata, Shiho Giri, was also from a Hoki-ryu kata.
Detractors of seitei iai claim that it is a modern and therefore rootless system of swordsmanship. Perhaps. I would contend that the final judgment is still out on the seitei iai. It is still evolving (to the exasperation of even this author). But a great deal of thought and concern went into its development. And if you look at the historical circumstances, there might not have been any other alternative. The ZNKR wanted to spread iai on a standardized basis throughout its kendo practitioners. Rather than choose one specific classical school, which would have alienated all the other iai masters, it found the best kind of compromise that it could. That the seitei gata has its flaws is obvious. However, that it has succeeded in popularizing iai to the point where its adherents now number in the thousands is a testament to its good intentions of bringing together the disparate classical styles to work together.
Whether or not the seitei gata continue in its present form, it has, at least, succeeded in that regard. It brought people together to hash out the forms that are now the most widely practiced iai forms in Japan.
Reference:
(1) Page 12, Zen Nihon Kendo Renmei Iai, by Kamimoto Eiichi, Kabushiki Gaisha Ski Journal, Tokyo, Japan. 1981.
(2) Page 14, Ibid.
In future issues, we will investigate the actual techniques of the seitei iai and various classical iai styles. To learn more about iai, check out Wayne's martial arts club web page.
