The Importance of a Proper Grip
By using the batto grip we have had very few if any incedents of any of our students (or instructors) losing the grip on their sword.
Robert Steele
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| TENOUCHI The Importance of a Proper Grip |
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| All legitamate Japanese Sword Schools agree on the importance of the fundamentals. Fundamentals begin with the correct grip when using the sword. In my experience with various Japanese Sword Schools I have discovered there are two basic "styles" of the sword grip. (I have encountered a third style of grip described to me by an instructor after I had expressed concerns after watching his students perform tameshigiri. He called it the "living grip" and said there was a chapter on it somewhere in some samurai book. Since this is the same individual who has dropped his sword at least two different times in public demos, I feel no need to explore this technique. See the previous article as well as one I posted some time ago on Demos). | |||||||||||||||||||||
| This first grip is the one used most often by many schools of Iaido. The tsuka is gripped in a way which allows it to run from the web between the pointing finger and the thumb to between the two pads at the base of the palm. While this is a natural and comfortable grip, it is very dangerous if used during cutting. Elder Sensei has continually stressed to his students that anyone who has taken any | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| martial art will be shown that the thumb is the weak link in a grip on someone else. This holds true with the grip on a sword. | |||||||||||||||||||||
| In Toyama Ryu Iaido and the US Federation of Batto Jutsu, we teach what we simply call the batto grip. While similar to the Iaido grip there is one major difference. We palce both pads of the palm on the top of the tsuka. To begining students this seems unnatural and uncomfortable. However, with time and constant practice the muscles of the wrist and forearms become accustomed to this | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| hand position. With the batto grip you have the added safety of the sword being held by both pads of the palm, not just the one at the base of the thumb. As with the iaido grip, it is the bottom two fingers of each hand that "hold" the sword. The grip is kept relaxed. During the actual cut the palms are slightly twisted inwards creating the "wringing" motion called tsuka no nigiri kata, which tightens the grip on the sword and insures proper control.. By using the batto grip we have had very few if any incedents of any of our students (or instructors) losing the grip on their sword. Robert Steele |
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