Sword defence, are we missing the point?
Technical article: (Switch to paid subscription to read the whole thing). Otsuka Hironori and his Shinken Shira Ha Dori (Sword defence).
If you ever wondered what this is really all about, here are some speculations that may surprise you.
I am going to come clean here; as a practitioner of Wado karate for many years I have deliberately steered shy of the sword defence (you will see why by reading on).
It’s not that they are kept secret, they can be seen all over YouTube, performed by the late grandmaster and his heirs and everyone else who thinks they can do them, without getting sliced and diced.
In 1975 I was privileged to be at Crystal Palace in London to watch Otsuka Sensei perform this same demonstration, but that time an error of judgement occurred and he momentarily left his hand in the way of the blade, receiving a nasty cut. It was bad, but the old man was not fazed, he continued on to the end of the demonstration. Suzuki Sensei once said that in the knife and sword defences Otsuka Sensei received many cuts over the years.
But with the sword defences in general, I have a number of reservations. Not how Otsuka Sensei designed or performed them, but how they are seen today.
Sticking the wrong label on them.
I believe that they are miscategorised. They remind me of a book that has been placed on the wrong shelf in a library. Though they are not only on the wrong shelf, they might even be in the wrong library. Just what are their purposes? They are instruments, but of what exactly?