Ryuseiken Battodo

Japanese swordfighting

Ryuseiken Battodo is a swordfighting martial arts style that teaches kata, sparring and culminates in test-cutting (tameshigiri) of targets with real swords.

Latest Activity

rawnshah added a blog post
It might have just been an off-day for folks but from what I saw last weekend, all the candidates for the next black belt level, myself included, do not seem ready for their next test. As cutting criteria again, you need to be proficient in those ...
October 28
rawnshah added an event
Nov 8th (Sunday) Cutting day at Himmel Park, Tucson & Speedway (east side)
October 28, 2009 from 6pm to 7pm
We'll have another cutting day and if possible a black belt class on Sunday Nov 8th. It's not Saturday like the last time so other students, and senseis can join in. This will likely be the last cutting day before we have to submit names for blac...
October 28
Jamie J. Meek and rawnshah are now friends
October 19
Hey Jamie, It'll be great to see you. If you're soaking the goza, make sure you do soak it for at least 24 hours. Maybe it's just me but these goza seem to be a little harder than usual. I'm going to try soaking two or three different sets at 1,2...
October 19
Jamie J. Meek updated their profile
October 19
Jamie J. Meek updated their profile photo
October 19
Sensei, Just for your information. I will be bringing 4 goza. I am looking forward to a different set of eyes to help me improve that much more. Dusty and I have one lesson this week and will finalize the cuts I will be doing on Saturday. I am exc...
October 19
Jamie J. Meek is now a member of Ryuseiken Battodo
October 19

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About Ryuseiken Battodo

Battodo is the Japanese art of the drawn sword, and focuses on principles of swordfighting in the battlefield. We practice a combination of katas (fighting forms), sparring with padded swords, and test-cutting real targets with swords.

Perhaps unlike other styles that focus on more complex katas or one-on-one fight situations, we focus on developing proficiency on simpler but rapidly effective techniques. Since this is for the field, the sword is usually already drawn out of the scabbard (unlike iai). The tameshigiri or target-cutting skills also emphasize full swings and attacks to get the feel of cutting completely through the target rather than slicing, hacking or bashing the target.

Blog Posts

rawnshah

Cutting last week

It might have just been an off-day for folks but from what I saw last weekend, all the candidates for the next black belt level, myself included, do not seem ready for their next test. As cutting criteria again, you need to be proficient in those cuts, which to me means you should be able to do it not just once or twice but pretty much on command 60-90% of the time.

You should not have to think through the cuts but you can certainly do it at a careful pace (slow in between cuts). The worst is w… Continue

Posted by rawnshah on October 28, 2009 at 8:58am

rawnshah

Sharpening

I purchased some sharpening stones from Nihonzashi to try out. They have a fairly large selection of stones from 100 to 8000 grit. This is based on the Japanese grit system, and all the stones are from Japan I believe. I only purchased a 1000/6000 combo stone, and a 3000 grit one, which are better for maintenance not hard core repair. The Japanese grit system is not the same as the US one (quite different actually). There is a conversion chart that I saw somewhere but you will need to be careful… Continue

Posted by rawnshah on October 14, 2009 at 9:20am

rawnshah

Next cutting day: Sat 10/24

I'm considering another cutting day on Sat the 24th starting around 9am at Himmel park. It usually goes on till noon. I need responses from people on who can attend and how much goza you need.

We have goza again. As before goza is $6 for a full piece/ $3 for half piece. I plan to cut about 9 goza myself and may have students from the high school class too, so I simply can't soak it all and bring it all in my car. (one plastic tub only fits about 16 before it breaks). For Andrew C and Andrew D,… Continue

Posted by rawnshah on October 5, 2009 at 4:44pm — 6 Comments

rawnshah

Peg/stake sharpener and new pegs

I have the new Peg sharpener in and have been making some pegs. Basically, it's cheaper in the long run than buying pre-made pegs for our cutting stand. I went out to Home Depot, got four 1" dowels and had them cut down to size, so now we have 16 possible pegs.



It works like a big pencil sharpener essentially. B… Continue

Posted by rawnshah on October 4, 2009 at 9:04am

rawnshah

Myth: That "Zing!" sound when you draw

Another myth from many movies: Swords should make "Zing!" sound when you draw them from the sheath.

Perhaps for other swords, but this is generally a bad idea for Japanese swords.

First, most, perhaps all, sayas are made from wood (or wood on the inside). Some have metal or horn fittings at the koiguchi (the opening entry point for the sword), but that is mostly or entirely on the outside. So there is not really any other metal on the inside to make that metallic ringing/zing noise. Wha… Continue

Posted by rawnshah on September 26, 2009 at 8:30am

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Forum

Daniel

Hi I am new here :) 2 Replies

Started by Daniel. Last reply by Daniel Mar 2.

Andrew Cameron

Friday's 10/26 Practice 3 Replies

Started by Andrew Cameron. Last reply by shakeel Feb 27.

Christopher Arendt

Practice Bokuto with Saya! 3 Replies

Started by Christopher Arendt. Last reply by shakeel Feb 15.

 
 

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Web sites & Resources

Matsuri: A Festival of Japan (2008) - Phoenix, AZ, Feb 23-28, Heritage Square

Battodo Ryuseiken in Japan. Also a partial site in english.



The Kodenkan of Tucson



The UofA Ryuseiken Battodo on the ASUA site



Tameshigiri.com - where we get goza. The ordering and shipping process are given.



Hanwei/Paul Chen swords



The Knighthawk Armoury builds some interesting realistic looking goshinken. They're expensive but they claim to be pretty durable (not yet tested by us).



Folding a Hakama the proper way



Woodall's Custom Workshop makes nice cutting stands for tameshigiri.


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