Muso Jikiden Eishin-ryu
無双直伝英信流One of the principal schools of iaido, with more than forty forms. It is named after Hasegawa Eishin, who around 1700 adapted the teaching to carrying the sword through the belt.
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About Muso Jikiden Eishin-ryu
Muso Jikiden Eishin-ryu is one of the most widespread schools of iaido, the art of drawing the sword. Its line is traced to Hayashizaki Jinsuke Shigenobu in the sixteenth century, whom tradition regards as the founder of iai itself; the school's name, however, comes from its seventh headmaster Hasegawa Eishin, who around 1700 reworked the teaching and adapted it to carrying the sword through the belt as was usual in the Edo period. The repertoire is divided into several series by starting position. Seiza no bu is practised from formal kneeling, tatehiza no bu from a half-kneel, and okuiai from both kneeling and standing; to these are added paired forms and a set of tachiwaza. Altogether there are more than forty forms, more than in other iai schools. In the nineteenth century the line split into two branches, Tanimura-ha and Shimomura-ha, and from the latter came the school Muso Shinden-ryu as well. Anyone practising iaido today under the kendo federation generally does the twelve seitei forms plus Eishin-ryu or Shinden-ryu as their home school. The forms are practised solo against an imagined opponent, with great attention paid to shaking the blood from the blade and returning the sword to the scabbard without looking.
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Selected by overlap in the style profile, not by historical lineage.