Extraordinary! I am especially impressed by his smooth and instinctive judgment of optimal maai/distance.

Wow, his motions were so fluid, that by the time he cut down the tree, I flinched cause I didn't even know it was there.

Man, what a great tameshigiri

he shows a certain level of mastery and dedication that you just dont see in most western tameshigiri demonstrations. anyone who practices with some effort will be able to cut, but to move so thoughtfully and deliberately while doing so, with such dignified form, takes a different kind of mastery.

Movement smooth & fluid well done !!! Unlike other demonstrations I have seen, where the performer moves like a robot incased in a block of ice and over emphasizing Zanshin.

Very nice. Great finish!

gorgeous!

Beautiful display of these rare kata. I'm always surprised by the unusual O-chiburi and wide kamae. Thankyou for sharing!

his motions are soo fluid, i are awestruck o.o

시연하시는 모습 크게 영감받고 갑니다 Grande master......bravo

Great......master

Hi GButterfly, Soga Sensei studied Toyama Ryu under Nakamura sensei in his first group of students. After he left, Soga Sensei developed a set of wakizashi kata and some other exercises and voila Soga Ryu. As far as seeing Omoto Ryu kata and the likes in Toyama Ryu, a lot of Toyama Ryu came from Omori Ryu (so i've read and been told). Thanks for the comment.

I rewatched it to count. I saw 5 waza with and 10 without the traditional flick out to the side chiburi. during practice and formal presentation of our waza we do chiburi after each kata. he does some of his notto a certain way because it looks more "kakoi." cool. thanks for the comment.

totally awesome!

I wish these Japanese Sword Compititions would contain a variety of swords.

Stay tuned true-believers! Another video coming soon!

Pretty dense damn dense. It's a piece of bamboo about the thickness of a human arm bone that's been wrapped in mats made of rice stalks until it's the thickness of a human arm. Then they're soaked in water for 16-24 hours. Then Japanese swordmasters chop them into little bits.

very good timing very good shato :) aswell its a very good set out hes very confadent with his sole aka sword aswell he controls his cuts well and very nice kata very good i must find him and get him to join dion ippon

Is 曽我義治 先生 still active and teaching class in Yokosuka?

what katana is this, who is its' maker whare was it forged

The only problem with L6 steel is that it's very expensive. The Hanwei Praying Mantis katana for example is L6, and it costs over £1000GBP

cool, thanks

14 year old video... holy shit, I'm old

@ChaosNanite hi. that series of cuts was just something to get him from his last target and across the floor to his next one. and the notto is just the left leg version of the right leg you noted. until i ask him, i want to say that Nakamura Taizaburo (Soga Sensei's teacher) employed several. This might have come to my teacher from him. I'll ask.

Avoid steels labeled 440c and 420. They are stainless and while not bad for knives are shit for swords. Most production kats use 1060 , 1070 or 1095 steel, which are good steels. Some use L6 which is a fantastic steel with regards to stress tolerance and edge keeping, but starts to stain quick and easy. Dynasty forge and Bugei make great blades. Paul Chen/Hanwei make some good starters too. Check them out.

I'm very interested to hear if somebody has more info about the kata (name, ryu, etc) with batto at 3:19 and notto at 3:27. Specifically, I am interested in the chiburi at 3:22. I have never seen anything like it before, where the blade is drawn over the left leg. Though, I am familiar with drawing it over the right leg as shown at 2:29. Any help would be greatly appeciated!

short answer: yes. demo to the public. longer answer: it was during a culture day to let foreigners (mostly U.S. servicemen and families) see and try Japanese culture.

Amazing demonstration. Does anyone know the song at the end?

Was this purely a form demonstration to the public or was it a class or a contest?

@octotango Pretty standard reiho for a lot of sword arts.

Well said!

Dude which martial art is the best? BAtoujitsu

is 1040 steel good

3:08 is so smooth

holy crap... thats one asian man you don't want to mess with.

Great! Go bring your child to a tameshigiri session

this man, uses kata from two different ryu: toyama ryu and muso shinden or eishin ryu

you go to a place that teaches iaido for the katana you go to a shaolin temple for your kung fu check your local asian community

actually he ends it with shochu...

''You sir, aren't very educated about samurai culture in centuries past. Outsiders weren't even allowed to enter Japan for centuries. The only way we were able to get into the country, and trade with them is because. At the end of the Edo period our navy threatened to lay siege to Yokohama harbor as an ultimatum. They chose to open the harbor and trade with us. The Samurai were treated with irreverence and utter respect in their culture. People were killed for a lot less back then.''

I doubt they would have beheaded visiting americans and their families for being mildly rude

I saw another vid with these guys, seems they are far more combat oriented and train "for real" on how to use a sword in a fight as apposed to kendo sport. I am not mocking anybody's skill here but good greif, I don't know how the practitioners or viewers can stay awake. I had a couple of kendo classes and decided it wasn't for me because of the ritual. I would be kicked out of the first class if I tried to train in this from falling a sleep. just teasing here, I am not trolling

It makes me angry, sad & ashamed that this man's most generous gift was soiled by the crying babies of the inconsiderate. When did it become acceptable to refrain from removing your crying child from an audience when the public experience is being disrupted by your lack of consideration? I'll answer my own rhetorical question. It happened right about the time individuals became afraid of confronting other individuals about their lack of consideration & it's impact on those around them.

I don't think you understand the definition of culture. Call me when you've gone to college, or at least read a dictionary.