Nakamura-ryu Battodo
中村流抜刀道A battodo school that Taizaburo Nakamura founded in 1952 by adapting Toyama-ryu, according to the IBF and in his own words. Kakuseikai places the compilation of happogiri in 1953.
Quick Facts
JapanCharacter & Origin
Training
Organisation & Competition
What the style is built from
Editorial rating on a 0–3 scale, based on how much room each area gets in ordinary training.
About Nakamura-ryu Battodo
Nakamura-ryu battodo is a school of sword cutting that, according to the International Batto-Do Federation (IBF), was founded by Taizaburo Nakamura by adapting Toyama-ryu iaido (gunto no soho). WEB Hiden (2022) states that Nakamura added his own experience to Toyama-ryu battojutsu and after the war created eight happogiri cuts based on the principle of eiji happo. Sources disagree on the year of origin: the IBF and Nakamura himself in an article from 1988 give 1952, Kakuseikai places the compilation of happogiri in 1953, and we have not found an independent source.
Read more
Kakuseikai states that Nakamura was born in 1912 in Kaminoyama in Yamagata Prefecture, volunteered for the army in 1933 and served in Manchuria, while Nakamura himself gives his army entry as 1932. According to WEB Hiden, in 1939 he obtained an instructor certificate at the Army Toyama School after special training in kendo and jukenjutsu. In the 1988 article Nakamura describes a system of eight stances, eight ways of cutting, eight ways of sheathing the sword and eight forms. Nakamura died in 2003, on 13 May according to Kakuseikai and on 15 May according to the IBF. In 2004, according to the IBF, his second daughter Tomoko Nakamura became the second head of the school (soke) and chairwoman of the federation. According to the IBF's own history, it was founded in 1991 under the name Kokusai Iai Battodo Renmei and renamed in April 1999, Kakuseikai is its main dojo, and its headquarters is in Tsurumi-ku in Yokohama.
History
According to the Kakuseikai, Taizaburo Nakamura was born on 24 January 1912 in Kaminoyama, Yamagata Prefecture, as the fourth son of the family. According to the same school, in 1933 he voluntarily joined the 32nd Infantry Regiment of the 8th Division in Yamagata and served in Manchuria, where he was called up again in 1941 for a border unit. In an article from 1988, Nakamura himself gives his entry into the army as 1932. WEB Hiden (2022) and the Kakuseikai both state that in 1939 he obtained a teacher's certificate at the Army Toyama School after special training in kendo and jukenjutsu. According to the Kakuseikai, in 1948 he built the Shiseikan dojo in Yokohama, and from 1950 he led a movement to restore the Hayashizaki shrine, completed in 1961. In an article from 1988, Nakamura states that he created the system called Nakamura-ryu battodo in 1952 and that an exchange of views with Masayoshi Takayama contributed to its creation. The Kakuseikai places the compilation of happogiri in 1953. The Kakuseikai also states that Nakamura founded the Zen Nihon Battodo Renmei, but this federation does not name its founder and names Seiji Ueki as the successor.
Technique
Nakamura states in a 1988 article that the system contains eight fighting stances, eight ways of cutting, eight ways of sheathing and eight forms, inspired by the eight strokes of a single character (eiji happo). English Wikipedia, citing Nakamura's Iaikendo (1973), lists the eight happogiri cuts: a thrust with one or both hands, a vertical downward cut, left diagonal downward, right diagonal upward, right diagonal downward, left diagonal upward, left horizontal and right horizontal. According to it, the eight kamae consist of five kendo and iaido stances plus the left waki-gamae, the left hasso and the right jodan. English Wikipedia further states that to the basic chiburi shared with Toyama-ryu Nakamura added seven more, mainly from Omori-ryu and Tenshin Shoden Katori Shinto-ryu, and that he considered the diagonal cut kesagiri especially useful. The IBF gives five teaching concepts for the test cut: maai, hasuji, kakudo, enkeisen and tenouchi.
Today
According to the IBF, Nakamura died on 15 May 2003 at the age of 92, while the Kakuseikai and the Genbukai give 13 May 2003. In 2004, according to the IBF, his second daughter Tomoko Nakamura became second head of the school (soke) and chair of the federation. According to its own history, the federation was founded in 1991 as the Kokusai Iai Battodo Renmei and in April 1999 was renamed Kokusai Battodo Renmei, in English International Batto-Do Federation. Its headquarters is in Tsurumi-ku, Yokohama, where the main dojo is affiliated with the municipal sports association, and its structure lists overseas and domestic branches under a board of directors and an education department. Nakamura's book The Spirit of the Sword appeared in English translation by Gavin J. Poffley.
Did you know
According to WEB Hiden (2022), Nakamura held 10th dan in battodo, 8th dan in kendo, jukendo and tankendo, 3rd dan in judo, 4th dan in kyudo, 9th dan hanshi in iaido and the title of hanshi in calligraphy. English Wikipedia gives 7th dan kyoshi in kendo. According to Kakuseikai, he won the all-Japan jukendo championship in 1958. English Wikipedia states that he received the Order of the Sacred Treasure in 1973, and it cites his saying Iai to wa, hito ni kirarezu, hito kirazu, that is, iai means neither being killed nor killing. In an article from 1988 he states himself that in the last days of the war he tried cutting the necks of five bulls. Genbukai states that in 1989 he visited the USA and recognized Fumio Demura as a senior instructor of Toyama-ryu. Japanese Wikipedia mentions that the writer Yo Tsumoto visited him and tried cutting pork for the first time.
Frequently asked questions
When did Nakamura-ryu battodo originate?
According to the IBF and Nakamura's 1988 article, in 1952. Kakuseikai places the compilation of the eight happogiri cuts in 1953, and we have not found an independent source.
What is Nakamura-ryu battodo based on?
According to the IBF, it arose by adapting Toyama-ryu iaido (gunto no soho). WEB Hiden (2022) states that Nakamura added his own experience to Toyama-ryu battojutsu.
Who leads Nakamura-ryu battodo today?
According to the IBF, in 2004 Nakamura's second daughter, Tomoko Nakamura, became the second head of the school (soke) and chairwoman of the International Batto-Do Federation.
Similar styles
Selected by overlap in the style profile, not by historical lineage.