Kiritsuke
切り付け
Literally: applied cut
Horizontal cut across the chest in iaido, performed with sayabiki (drawing the scabbard back); distinct from the vertical kiri-oroshi.
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Kiritsuke (切り付け) combines the characters for to cut (切る) and to apply or set (付ける), so literally a set cut. The Southern California Kendo Federation (SCKF) defines it in iaido as a cutting movement. In its warm-up it is practised together with sayabiki, drawing the scabbard back, as a horizontal cut across the chest, in 20 repetitions. In the SCKF material kiritsuke is a separate kihon item, distinct from kiri-oroshi, the vertical finishing cut from above after furikaburi; they are not the same movement. The SCKF grading rules for 6th to 2nd kyu require five ZNKR iaido kata chosen by the examination panel, which build on this kihon. Most iaido styles and schools do not practise test cutting (tameshigiri), so kiritsuke is trained without a real opponent and without a physical target. We have not been able to document who gave the movement this name. The development of iai is linked to Hayashizaki Jinsuke Shigenobu in the 16th century, founder of Hayashizaki Shin Muso-ryu.