Tameshigiri (試し斬り, 試し切り, 試斬, 試切) is the Japanese art of target
test cutting. The
kanjiare the Chinese characters that are used in the modern Japanese logographic writing system along with hiragana , katakana , Arabic numerals, and the occasional use of the Latin alphabet . The Japanese term kanji literally means "Han characters".- History :Chinese characters first came to Japan on...
literally mean "test cut" (kun'yomi: ためし ぎり
tameshi giri). This practice was popularized in the
Edo periodThe , or , is a division of Japanese history running from 1603 to 1868 and is the premodern era. The period marks the governance of the Edo or Tokugawa shogunate, which was officially established in 1603 by the first Edo shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu. The period ended with the Meiji Restoration, the...
(17th century) for testing the quality of
swordA sword is a long, edged piece of metal, used in many civilizations throughout the world, primarily as a cutting or thrusting weapon and occasionally for clubbing...
s and continues through the present day.
During the
Edo, literally: bay-door, "estuary", ), also romanized as Yedo or Yeddo, is the former name of the Japanese capital Tokyo, and was the seat of power for the Tokugawa shogunate which ruled Japan from 1603 to 1868...
period, only the most skilled swordsmen were chosen to test swords, so that the swordsman's skill was not a variable in how well the sword cut.
Tameshigiri (試し斬り, 試し切り, 試斬, 試切) is the Japanese art of target
test cutting. The
kanjiare the Chinese characters that are used in the modern Japanese logographic writing system along with hiragana , katakana , Arabic numerals, and the occasional use of the Latin alphabet . The Japanese term kanji literally means "Han characters".- History :Chinese characters first came to Japan on...
literally mean "test cut" (kun'yomi: ためし ぎり
tameshi giri). This practice was popularized in the
Edo periodThe , or , is a division of Japanese history running from 1603 to 1868 and is the premodern era. The period marks the governance of the Edo or Tokugawa shogunate, which was officially established in 1603 by the first Edo shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu. The period ended with the Meiji Restoration, the...
(17th century) for testing the quality of
swordA sword is a long, edged piece of metal, used in many civilizations throughout the world, primarily as a cutting or thrusting weapon and occasionally for clubbing...
s and continues through the present day.
Origins
During the
Edo, literally: bay-door, "estuary", ), also romanized as Yedo or Yeddo, is the former name of the Japanese capital Tokyo, and was the seat of power for the Tokugawa shogunate which ruled Japan from 1603 to 1868...
period, only the most skilled swordsmen were chosen to test swords, so that the swordsman's skill was not a variable in how well the sword cut. The materials used to test swords varied greatly, but the generally preferred targets were condemned criminals and
cadaverA cadaver is a dead human body.Cadaver may also refer to:* Cadaver tomb, tomb featuring an effigy in the form of a decomposing body* Cadaver , a video game* Cadaver , a Norwegian death metal band...
s. The other substances were
wara (rice straw),
goza (the top layer of
tatamimats are a traditional type of Japanese flooring. Traditionally made of rice straw to form the core , with a covering of woven soft rush straw, tatami are made in uniform sizes...
mats),
bambooThe bamboos are a group of woody perennial evergreen plants in the true grass family Poaceae, subfamily Bambusoideae, tribe Bambuseae. Some are giant bamboos, the largest members of the grass family. Bamboos are the fastest growing woody plants in the world...
, and thin steel sheets.
In addition, there were a wide variety of cuts used on the cadavers, from
tabi-gata (ankle cut) to
O-kesa (diagonal cut from shoulder to opposite hip). The names of the types of cuts on cadavers show exactly where on the body the cut was made. Older swords can still be found today that have inscriptions on their nakago (tang) that say things such as, "5 bodies with
Ryu Guruma (hip cut)".
Aside from specific cuts made on cadavers, there were the normal cuts of Japanese swordsmanship, i.e. downward diagonal (
Kesa-giri), upward diagonal (
Kiri-age or
Gyaku-kesa), horizontal (
Yoko or
Tsuihei), and straight downward (
Jodan-giri,
Happonme,
Makko-giri,
Shinchoku-giri or
Dotton-giri). These cuts would then be cut on the cadavers (ex: A swordsman would do a
Jodan-giri cut on 3 bodies at the hips. The inscription would then be, "3 bodies
Ryu Guruma").
Today
In modern times, the practice of tameshigiri has come to focus on testing the swordsman's abilities, rather than the sword's. Thus, swordsmen sometimes use the terms
Shito (試刀, sword testing) and
Shizan (試斬, test cutting, an alternate pronunciation of the characters for tameshigiri) to distinguish between the historical practice of testing swords and the contemporary practice of testing one's cutting ability. The target most often used at present is the
goza or
tatamimats are a traditional type of Japanese flooring. Traditionally made of rice straw to form the core , with a covering of woven soft rush straw, tatami are made in uniform sizes...
"omote" rush mat. To be able to cut consecutive times on one target, or to cut multiple targets while moving, requires that one be a very skilled swordsman.
Targets today are typically made from
wara or
goza, either bundled or rolled into a tubular shape. They may be soaked in water to add density to the material. This density is to approximate that of flesh. Green bamboo is used to approximate bone.
Once the
goza target in this tubular shape, it has a vertical grain pattern when stood vertically on a target stand, or horizontally when placed on a horizontal target stand (
dotton or
dodan). This direction of the grain affects the difficulty of the cut.
The difficulty of cuts is a combination of the target material hardness, the direction of the grain of the target (if any), the quality of the sword, the angle of the blade (
hasuji) on impact, and the angle of the swing of the sword (
tachisuji).
When cutting a straw target that is standing vertically, the easiest cut is the downward diagonal. This is due to a combination of the angle of impact of the cut against the grain (approximately 30-50 degrees from the surface), the downward diagonal angle of the swing, and the ability to use many of the major muscle groups and rotation of the body to aid in the cut.
Next in difficulty is the upward diagonal cut which has the same angle, but works against gravity and uses slightly different muscles and rotation. The third in difficulty is the straight downward cut, not in terms of the grain but in terms of the group of muscles involved. The most difficult cut of these four basic cuts is the horizontal direction (against a vertical target) which is directly perpendicular to the grain of the target.
There are a number of swordsmen who have recently set records in this field of tameshigiri, such as Russell McCartney of Ishi Yama-ryū, Saruta Mitsuhiro of Battodo-ryū Sei Ken, and Toshishiro Obata. In 2000 Russell McCartney set a new world record when he broke the record for Senbongiri (千本斬り, Lit. "1,000 cuts") with 1,181 consecutive cuts on
igusa goza mat in 1 hour and 25 minutes. Toshishiro Obata holds the record for
Kabuto Wari, or helmet cutting, for his cut on a steel
Kabuto (helmet). Toshishiro Obata also holds the Ioriken Battojutsu speed cutting record for 10 cuts on 10 targets over three rounds. His times are 6.4, 6.4, and 6.7 seconds respectively.
Also, there are now specific cuts that can be performed on targets to test one's ability. An example is Mizu-Gaeshi, where one cuts a diagonal upward cut to the right and then cuts a horizontal cut on the cut piece before it has fallen.
Sword Schools (Ryu-Ha)
Today, there are a number of schools, or
RyuA Ryū , or ryūha , is a Japanese word referring to a school of thought in any discipline...
, of swordsmanship that incorporate tameshigiri. These schools include Ishi Yama-ryū,
Shinkendois a martial art that teaches the way of samurai swordsmanship. The meaning of the name Shinkendo can be interpreted multiple ways. Literally, "Shin" can be translated as 'real', "ken" as 'sword', and "do" as 'way', thus one English translation of the art's name is "Way of the Real Sword". ...
, Battodo-ryū Sei Ken,
Toyama-ryūis a modern form of iai created by the Imperial Japanese Army. It is based on Gunto Soho forms developed in 1925 at the Rikugun Toyama Gakko, or "Toyama Army Academy" in Toyama, Tokyo, Japan. The original training and forms were established by a committee...
, Nakamura-ryū, Mugai-ryū, MJER under the Jikishinkai, Sekiguchi-ryū, and others.
Haidong GumdoHaedong Kumdo, also spelled Haidong Gumdo, is a name coined around 1982 and used for several Korean martial arts organizations that use swords. Spelling varies between certain organizations...
also places much emphasis on cutting.
Other Martial Arts
Chinese swordsmen would engage in test cutting called
shizhan, practicing their skills on targets known as
caoren, or "grass men". Such targets were made from bamboo, rice straw, or saplings. This practice was not formalized to the extent that tameshigiri was.
Historical European Martial ArtsHistorical European martial arts are martial arts of European origin, often commonly used to refer to arts which were formerly practised, but have since died out or evolved into very different forms. Modern reconstructions of some of these arts exist and are practiced today...
reconstructionists under the term "test cutting" (a loan translation of "tameshigiri") engage in similar exercises with various European swords. The preferred target substances are various gourds (pumpkins, squash, etc.), water-filled plastic bottles, synthetic targets, wet clay, and sometimes tatami "omote".
Further reading
- Obata, Toshishiro. Crimson Steel. Essex, UK: Dragon Books, 1987. ISBN 9780946062195
- Obata, Toshishiro. Naked Blade. Essex, UK: Dragon Books, 1985. ISBN 9780946062188
External links