Ikkaku-ryu juttejutsu
Encyclopedia
Ikkaku-ryū juttejutsu is a school of juttejutsu
(or jittejutsu) that, as the equivalent to its sister variant Chūwa-ryū tankenjutsu (中和流短剣術), is taught alongside traditional school (koryu
) of Japanese martial arts
, Shintō Musō-ryū
. It is composed of 24 forms (kata) divided into two series. It was created by the third Shintō Musō-ryū (SMR) Headmaster, Matsuzaki Kinu'emon Tsunekatsu in the late 1600's.
Ikkaku-ryū juttejutsu utilizes the jutte as a way of self-defense for use against an attacker armed with a sword
(katana).
-branches of New Just (Shintō) Musō-ryū, was merged and streamlined into what would become the modern day Way of the Gods (Shintō) Musō-ryū system led by Shiraishi Hanjiro. Of the original seizing-arts of the Ikkaku-ryū only the jutte and tessen arts was incorporated into the new system.
made of iron
with a small tine or prong fitted just above the handle. The gripspace of the handle is wrapped with a cord that hangs down from underneath the handle with a tassle at the end. The jutte was mainly used by police-forces of the Edo
-period of Japan
and is known to have had over 200 variations.
Ikkaku-ryū fields a truncheon about 45 cm in length with a weight of about 550 gram
s. It has a smooth shaft ending in a handle wrapped in a coloured cord ending with a hanging tassel. A small tine is attached just above the grip. Originally the colour of the wrapping-cord indicated the social level of the wielder. The original design of the Ikkaku-ryū jutte had a hexagonal shaft cross-section with the tine attached to one of the corners instead of the flat surface. The inside of the tine was also sharpened which enabled the wielder to use it for cutting if applicable.
The fan (tessen) used in Ikkaku-ryū is about 30 cm in length. The fan was designed to look like a regular folding-fan carried by samurai and other nobles in the samurai-era when they did not have access to their swords. These special tessens were in some cases either made totally of iron or had iron-edges thus enabling it to be a small self-defence weapon if required.
. The jutte is made of iron and it can block and parry swordattacks either on its own or in tandem with the tessen. The jutte can be used to catch a sword between the main shaft and the tine thus controlling the sword or even snapping it in two if applicable. After deflecting or avoiding the sword, the wielder gets within arms-length of the opponent in order to successfully strike at any part of the opponents body such as hands, wrists and head.
). The tessen is normally made of wood for safety-reasons even in advanced levels as the tessen is discarded in some of the forms and can present a risk when thrown.
Omote series
Ura series
Juttejutsu
is the Japanese martial art of using the Japanese weapon jutte . Juttejutsu was evolved mainly for the law enforcement officers of the Edo period to enable non-lethal disarmament and apprehension of criminals who were usually carrying a sword...
(or jittejutsu) that, as the equivalent to its sister variant Chūwa-ryū tankenjutsu (中和流短剣術), is taught alongside traditional school (koryu
Koryu
is a Japanese word that is used in association with the ancient Japanese martial arts. This word literally translates as "old school" or "traditional school"...
) of Japanese martial arts
Japanese martial arts
Japanese martial arts refers to the enormous variety of martial arts native to Japan. At least three Japanese terms are often used interchangeably with the English phrase "Japanese martial arts": , literally meaning "martial way", , which has no perfect translation but means something like science,...
, Shintō Musō-ryū
Shinto Muso-ryu
, most commonly known by its practice of jōdō, is a traditional school of the Japanese martial art of jōjutsu, or the art of wielding the short staff . The technical purpose of the art is to learn how to defeat a swordsman in combat using the jō, with an emphasis on proper combative distance,...
. It is composed of 24 forms (kata) divided into two series. It was created by the third Shintō Musō-ryū (SMR) Headmaster, Matsuzaki Kinu'emon Tsunekatsu in the late 1600's.
Ikkaku-ryū juttejutsu utilizes the jutte as a way of self-defense for use against an attacker armed with a sword
Sword
A sword is a bladed weapon used primarily for cutting or thrusting. The precise definition of the term varies with the historical epoch or the geographical region under consideration...
(katana).
History
The original tradition of Ikkaku-ryū did not specialize in the jutte, but was a system of seizing/capturing arts (toritejutsu) with the jutte being one of several weapons and skills used. These weapons and arts included the war-fan (tessen), grappling (jujutsu), short-stick (tebō) and short-sword (kodachi). Originally the complete Ikkaku-ryū was taught in the New Just (Shintō) Musō-ryū branch and the Ten'ami-ryū as an arresting/seizing-system for the local security force of the Kuroda domain. After the Meiji-restoration the two largest surviving branches of the Kuroda-no-jo tradition, Jigyo and HaruyoshiHistory of Shinto Muso-ryu
is a traditional school of the Japanese martial art of jōjutsu, the art of handling the Japanese short staff . The art was created with the purpose of defeating a swordsman in combat using the jō, with an emphasis on proper distance, timing and concentration...
-branches of New Just (Shintō) Musō-ryū, was merged and streamlined into what would become the modern day Way of the Gods (Shintō) Musō-ryū system led by Shiraishi Hanjiro. Of the original seizing-arts of the Ikkaku-ryū only the jutte and tessen arts was incorporated into the new system.
The Jutte and tessen
The (jutte) is a truncheonTruncheon
Truncheon may refer to:*Baton *Cutting , means of plant propagation used by gardeners*HMS Truncheon , a British submarine commissioned during Word War II and later sold to Israel...
made of iron
Iron
Iron is a chemical element with the symbol Fe and atomic number 26. It is a metal in the first transition series. It is the most common element forming the planet Earth as a whole, forming much of Earth's outer and inner core. It is the fourth most common element in the Earth's crust...
with a small tine or prong fitted just above the handle. The gripspace of the handle is wrapped with a cord that hangs down from underneath the handle with a tassle at the end. The jutte was mainly used by police-forces of the Edo
Edo
, 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 of Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
and is known to have had over 200 variations.
Gram
The gram is a metric system unit of mass....
s. It has a smooth shaft ending in a handle wrapped in a coloured cord ending with a hanging tassel. A small tine is attached just above the grip. Originally the colour of the wrapping-cord indicated the social level of the wielder. The original design of the Ikkaku-ryū jutte had a hexagonal shaft cross-section with the tine attached to one of the corners instead of the flat surface. The inside of the tine was also sharpened which enabled the wielder to use it for cutting if applicable.
The fan (tessen) used in Ikkaku-ryū is about 30 cm in length. The fan was designed to look like a regular folding-fan carried by samurai and other nobles in the samurai-era when they did not have access to their swords. These special tessens were in some cases either made totally of iron or had iron-edges thus enabling it to be a small self-defence weapon if required.
Jutte methods
Ikkaku-ryū applies the jutte, either alone or in tandem with the tessen, in response of an attack made by a swordsman armed with a katanaKatana
A Japanese sword, or , is one of the traditional bladed weapons of Japan. There are several types of Japanese swords, according to size, field of application and method of manufacture.-Description:...
. The jutte is made of iron and it can block and parry swordattacks either on its own or in tandem with the tessen. The jutte can be used to catch a sword between the main shaft and the tine thus controlling the sword or even snapping it in two if applicable. After deflecting or avoiding the sword, the wielder gets within arms-length of the opponent in order to successfully strike at any part of the opponents body such as hands, wrists and head.
Training
The jutte is for the most part taught only to advanced students who have achieved a high level of proficiency in the Shinto Muso-ryu Jodo forms, though the level required is not standardized and different Jodo-organisations have different requirements. Modern exponents of Ikkaku-ryū normally use all-wooden weapons in order to reduce risk of injuries during training, though this is heavily dependent on which Jodo-organisation he/she belongs to. In some groups, when a student has attained the necessary level of skill, the wooden-jutte is replaced by a real one made of metal, and the attackers wooden-sword is replaced by a metal non-sharpened sword (iaitoIaito
is the name given by practitioners of iaido to , literally meaning "mock" or "imitation sword", an imitation katana used for practicing some Japanese sword arts. A real or "live" Japanese sword is often called a shinken.-Materials and manufacture:...
). The tessen is normally made of wood for safety-reasons even in advanced levels as the tessen is discarded in some of the forms and can present a risk when thrown.
Ikkaku-ryū jutte forms
The modern Ikkaku-ryū system fields 24 training-forms (kata) divided between 2 series called Omote and Ura. Some of the kata uses a war fan (Tessen) in tandem with the jutte. The forms of the Omote and Ura-series share the same name but are different in application.Omote series
- Uken
- Saken
- Zanken
- Keageken
- Ichiranken
- Irimiken
- Ippuken
- Meateken
- Utoken
- Gorinken
- Isseiken
- Kasumiken
Ura series
- (Identical names and number of forms as the Omote-series)
See also
- Edo PeriodEdo periodThe , or , is a division of Japanese history which was ruled by the shoguns of the Tokugawa family, running from 1603 to 1868. The political entity of this period was the Tokugawa shogunate....
- Jittejutsu
- Tokugawa shogunateTokugawa shogunateThe Tokugawa shogunate, also known as the and the , was a feudal regime of Japan established by Tokugawa Ieyasu and ruled by the shoguns of the Tokugawa family. This period is known as the Edo period and gets its name from the capital city, Edo, which is now called Tokyo, after the name was...
- The military dictatorship of the Tokugawa family that dominated Japan for the duration of the Edo-period.