Practice Drills for Japanese Swordsmanship
To become an expert swordsman, one must pay close attention to detail, be highly self-critical, and practice diligently every day under the guidance of a good teacher. Unfortunately, contact time with a worthy mentor is limited for most. <i>Practice Drills for Japanese Swordsmanship</i> fills this obvious gap in the training of the modern swordsman by providing <i>bokuto</i> (wooden sword) drills to supplement the formal class activity of forms practice. Both single and two-person drills are presented, some common to <i>iaido</i> and <i>kenjutsu</i>, others extracted from <i>iaido</i> forms by the author and used to teach his own students the proper ways of drawing, parrying, and cutting. Each drill is illustrated with step-by-step drawings to help students hone their techniques; together they provide a comprehensive system of general skills development for anyone interested in using the Japanese sword.