Customer Reviews

Iaido Sword: Kamimoto-Ha Techniques of Muso Shinden Ryu

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Iaido Sword : Kamimoto-Ha Techniques of Muso Shinden Ryu is in itself a work of art. In less than 250 pages it covers all aspects of Iaido ; historical, philosophical, the etiquette, description and care of the sword and clothing, the different stances and cuts, warm-up exercises, a glossary, references. The 12 katas of the Zen Nihon Kendo Renmei Iai (SeiTei Iai) and the 4 series of the Muso Shinden Ryu are precisely described in the text and abundantly illustrated with clear photos and graphics as are all the corresponding bunkais. Even if you are a practitionner of another style of Iaido this is a must. A precious learning and teaching tool. The best all around manual on Iaido yet.

As a student of Dr. Babin's iaido instructor, Harry Dach sensei, this book is close to home for me. It covers the techniques of the kamimoto-ha of muso shinden ryu iaido just as I'm learning them, in great detail concerning not only the mechanics of the technics, but the mindset behind them, and their martial roots. The photographs are clear, and the flow clean and concise.
This book serves as a prime companion to proper dojo training.

I found this book extremely helpful but found it lacking in fine discription. The words describe the moves well but the pictures make it somewhat confusing. If you have basic knowledge of how to tie your obi, sageo, and hakama then you have nothing to worry about, because it doesn't explain those details. But overall a very good book.

I dont study MSR, I study Mugai Ryu, but to find GOOD books in english on Mugai Ryu is extremely difficult(only so many ways you can cut). As a reference guide, this book is really good, it's all there, history, philosophy, etiquette and technique etc. The only issue I have, is that 90% of the text from page 217 is missing, as that is a judging guide, it doesn't bother me too much. All in all, a good book for any iai practitioner

Like any physical skills text, it is difficult to actually learn how to perform sword techniques without an instructor. What this great text does is show the basic history and basic techniques of Muso Shinden Ryu Iaido. For those not involved in the sword arts, Iaido is the art of drawing out the sword and cutting in one smooth flowing manner. It is important to train under a competent Iaido/Iaijutsu instructor to learn the finer points. Swords are sharp and one should not practice these movements without expert guidance. This volume is organized into five sections: Section one covers the history, section two deals with preparation, section three shows how to bring your sword into action, section four teaches basic movements, and section five, which is the longest, covers the various Iaido katas of Muso shinden Ryu.

In conclusion, this is a book that will be of interest to students of Kenjutsu and Iaijutsu or Iaido.

Rating: 5 Stars. Joseph J. Truncale (Author: Tanto-Jutsu & Wakizashi-Jutsu Manuals- Bushi Satori Ryu).

Una Guia Excelente y bien estructurada, con muchos detalles que a veces escapan en la practica del iaido.
de verdad un libro que todo iaidoka debe tener.

This books is excellent. The language that is using is easily understanable even for a non-native english speaker, and there are many photos that are used to clarify many points.

This book is very comprehensive and helpful, but don't think it can be relied upon totally. I must agree with L. Vassallo, in that the teaching of a sensei is indispensible. This book is best suited for students who need to have a reference to look at so they can keep up with the training they recieve at intervals in the dojo. I do believe it is possible to learn a great deal from this book in conjunction with a good video guide on MSR, but I won't recommend trying it unless you have no possibility of joining a dojo. Some of us might live in a region where Iaijutsu is not practiced anywhere nearby. If that is the case, I won't discourage anyone from doing what they can. However, mastery in this case would be an unrealistic goal.

This book has become my text book for iaido. It saves note taking and helps memory from class to class. While it is not exhaustive, if I had to choose only one book, this would be the one.

It's a nice book. I highly recommend it to every Muso Shinden practicioner, not only because it's maybe the only book that dares to show how the MS ryu katas are performed, but also because it feels it was made with great disposition and love for Iaido.

A nice plus I found in this book was the explanations on Sei Tei Iai, which I am also a student. Please do not atempt to learn Iaido by only using this or any book. It just makes no sense. Not even with a video !!! The presence of a sensei it's a must !!

Finally, one of the things I learned from this book, it's that MUSR it's not as homogenous as I tought. There are variations in some positions, which I found to be expected. On the other hand, I would be amazed if it wasn't, even tough it's a koryu, etc. Each master tries to leave a fingerprint in the art which he has mastered. Each master seem to have a different theory of what works and what doesn't. I personally feel grateful that we don't have the scenario to prove the techniques right or wrong!.

I also recommend Japanese Swordmanship, from Draeger.