Samurai Combat Stances - A New Way of Thinking

#samurai #samuraicombat

[@AntonyCummins]

Samurai Day 2024 with Antony Cummins Date: 30th November 2024. Venue: Insert Cost: $125 Special offer: instructors who bring five students are free. How to book: Payment to [e-mail] PayPal. PLEASE MARK AS FRIENDS AND FAMILY. Email contact: [e-mail] Event address: Bob Aldis bushido Martial Arts, 33801 32 Mile Rd Richmond, MI 48062, USA. Yelp link Directions - Bob Aldis’ Bushido Martial Arts - Richmond, MI - MI (yelp.com) Samurai day 2024 Join us for Samurai Day 2024 with Antony Cummins, where you can immerse yourself in an authentic samurai experience. The day will be filled with engaging activities such as traditional swordsmanship and Samurai ways. Antony will guide you through the techniques and philosophies that define the samurai way of life. The day will have its foundation in kenjutsu swordsmanship but go on to feature many samurai arts. Whether you are a history enthusiast or a martial arts practitioner, this event offers a unique opportunity to step into the shoes of a samurai and gain insights into their disciplined way of living. Do not miss out on this captivating journey into the past. Book your place. Where to stay Hotels in the Chester field, make sure to be there Friday and Saturday night. Tru by Hilton 45301 Marketplace Blvd, Chesterfield, MI 48051•[phone] www.hilton.com/en/hotels/yzrccru-chesterfield-township-detroit/ Hampton inn 45725 Marketplace Blvd, Chesterfield, MI 48051•[phone] www.hilton.com/en/hotels/dttcfhx-hampton-suites-detroit-chesterfield-township/ Fairfield inn by Marriott 45800 Marketplace Blvd, Chesterfield, MI 48051•[phone] www.marriott.com/en-us/hotels/dtwmb-fairfield-inn-and-suites-detroit-chesterfield/overview/

[@hamishjansen-warriorcodex]

One of my sensei once said, "you have a 3 foot razor, you don't need to use force" so the quick hand movements make sense. I have always viewed stances as transition snapshots between movements as another way of thinking about it.

[@galenhawkins1459]

Exaggerated movements in training ensure that the body adopts the proper joint angles and positions at speed, under the influence of adrenaline. Adrenaline creates a certain amount of tension in the body - no matter how diligently you train to relax, when it's life and death you're gonna be at least a little tense. So we exaggerate our posture in training to create those postural/alignment habits and teach good positioning and footwork relative to the opponent (your 45s and 90s) and allow ourselves "room" our our movement to get smaller in real life application. Just my 2 cents. Might change my mind after another 25 years of training and application, but this seems to me to be the most reasonable explanation for now.

[@preparedsurvivalist2245]

The wider lower stance with the blade forward instead of overhead could serve a useful purpose. The tip is already pointed at the opponent's throat. A quick thrust with minimal telegraphing movement could result in a lethal stab to the neck if the opponent enters your blood circle in a careless manner or with wasted motion.

[@user-bs4mp8de3c]

I love that you address the way you wear the sword in times of peace and war love it mate!!!

[@randallpetroelje3913]

Love your crocs and swordsmanship. Good taijutsu. I like how you bring life into a otherwise extinct school.

[@brandonh4527]

Based on my long history of learning and teaching, you are correct. You don't use a front / forward stance like what you see in Karate. It defeats the purpose of the sword or other weapon in most circumstances. The bladed footwork gives you more reach, makes you more nimble, and gives you a lot of driving power. Not to mention, it gives your opponent less target area, and when in battle, you are exposing your strong points of your armor more than the holes in the armor. The cross step is something that was also done because it creates a smooth footwork transition. It keeps your weapon on point, you also see similar footwork done in modern tactical shooting because of the same thing. The added bonus for melee weapons is you still get a lot of driving force from this cross step as well.

[@athenry]

So then... prior to the 1600s, Japanese swordsmanship was geared more towards what actually works, whereas after the 1600s the instruction became more philosophical and stylized. Would that be a fair assessment?

[@AntonyCummins]

To a degree but 1860s swordsmanship was used in many street fights

[@albinoasesino]

Also it is worth to note that prior to 1600s (that is to say, prior to Edo period), within Japan itself, wars were pretty common. When Edo period begun, at around 1600, it was a slightly more peaceful and stable times, and the ideologies from Buddhism and Shintoism influenced various forms of education. ((Note that when I mean education, I do not mean education merely in the way that we understand it today through a formal institution like primary schools. By education I mean things like teaching a child how to behave, how to practice mindfulness, how to discipline your child etc etc. Of course there would be some who will have more access to formal institution education too))

[@poetsrear]

Used to train kōryu iaido (lineage to 1600s) And the way I now think of it is: the people who laid down the practice, knew their shit and it was combat proof. But japanese are systematic traditionalist-nerds, meaning they do conservatism for it's own virtue and not for a functional purpose, so the succeeding generations quickly lost touch to the "heart of battle" and a vision of implementing these traditions. And because that society rewards for "grinding the tradition", no matter how impractical & inefficient performative arts these traditions become, the people still have a firm belief in them. I believe this unhealthy deluded 'ancestrality' is what they are paying now in the disintegration of their society and it's population structure. A nation-wide mental health issue whose main symptom is utter and foundational incapability of assessing cultural traditions rationally and honestly. They are people who want to believe in a beautiful lie.

[@ZeroFucksLeft]

I love to see someone training in the way that Mushashi said to train. Preach that shit like the bible I do. Very rare to see someone cutting right when left and maintaining a "void" spirit as Musashi put it, not only from people in HEMA, but from people in Kenjutsu as well. One note when you're executing the switch step technique; I recommend watching a few videos on the Cus D'Amato shift. You do not want to jump when executing that technique, because as Musashi said, "When he jumps, time his attach at Ju-". Its not at all a jump, the shift. You don't want your hips to elevate when executing it, rather you want your hips to get lower. I have no better word to describe the technique than a switch step/ shift and so I must insist that you find a few videos that put an emphasis on not jumping when executing the technique. And if ya knees are hurtin, I recommend switching to barefoot shoes. Crocks fuck my knees up something good. There are some downsides to barefoot shoes (less ankle/calf/knee/ hip/ injuries, more feet injuries. Namely in the arches for me, though those are rare now that I'm 3 years into the BF shoes). All in all, great stuff amigo. Hope to see more of it in the future :)

[@philipcrocker4835]

Excellent video look forward to the time when you can draw positive conclusions on the early sword fighting styles good work

[@serpnta1267]

I've been wondering about the footwork for awhile. I don't have much room to practice so I'm always thinking about space. If you are use to having lots of room, what happens when you are in a fight in closed spaces? Seems to me that you need to be able to adjust accordingly and I don't see many people talking about that. Great video!

[@AntonyCummins]

Good point. We have some info but I will add to next video.

[@strtmnky]

Briliant Ant! Really glad you are happy to say that you have not arrived at your conclusion yet. Really valuable to be able to say that! I have no opinion on Crocs. A couple of opinions; First, I studied Wng Chun and we stood face on to ensure all my weapons were avaliable to me. Not sure how that may play for you but I do the same in my fencing. Of course with dagger or buckler it is valuable, with the longsword it is not as much. Second there is a source (Pallas Armata I think but I am not currently sure. If you want to know let me know and I'll dig it out) on English fencing from the Italian style that says you can teach front on or to the side. There is no real offensive advantage and a minor defensive advantage but in the end it makes no real difference so teach whichever you like. I'd say play with both and see if it is the same for your system. Could ahve been personal choice or both used. Third a treatise on German longsword once attributed to Hanko Dobringer says that many small steps are often done more quickly than one large step Finally, look again to Roland Warsecha. He looked at a lot of margin illustrations and other sources to come up with his 'hip hinge' so it might be worth looking at as much old imagery of Samurai fighting as you can to interpret the same Another finally because I was writing this when you mentioned the bending thing... William hope has a very forward hanging guard in his smallsword fencing and Silver mentions that his hanging guard is performed standing bolt upright, which suggest that he is not always as such. Those same sources Roland uses show certainly something of the sort.

[@AntonyCummins]

Keep the info coming and please support crocs 😂

[@peterchristiansen9695]

@@AntonyCumminsNNNEEEeeeeeevvvvaaaaaarrrr!!! !! !!! (Regarding the crocs, I mean…) 🚫🐊 😁

[@doctorlexington517]

Amazing work!!!

[@kishfoo]

The leaning foward stance was primarily utilized by ashigaru when defending a position. This was due to their lighter armor and the foward stances' ability to slip out of range and counter more effectively. Equally matched samurai in duels, and those fighting in offensive situations primarily preferred the straight back stance as it is more maneuverble. I personally prefer the straight back stance as I utilize a heavier and longer blade and angle-switch and counter-snap using my shoulders and back, as well as quite frequently kick after deflects, or fake kick and use the landing weight for heavy strikes. But then again, that is with bokuto. If I were fighting with real swords, for my life, I would most likely lean forward and fight defensively after pissing myself, of course.

[@shoundaryan9422]

Am an mma fighter but I feel like this shit geniune and will work I have no idea on swordsmanship but I feel like this is not akido thing ,I feel like this is an geniune thing which might work if u get a system around this have attacks, attacks counter, counters counter, exiting, entering, finish blow 😅 this how we think in bjj and striking hope i helped in same way

[@TRS-he4hb]

5:07 reminds me of the way basketball defense is classically taught. Look up Michael Jordan teaches basketball and that footwork is what he teaches for defense. Step and slide. I don't know anything about fencing or swordsmanship so I just related it to basketball

[@KarlKarsnark]

European longsword folks move similarly. That bokken seems huge too.

[@AntonyCummins]

It’s a tachi

[@colterknebel]

Good points. I'd love to see a continuation of this subject where you go into detail about how Hasso no Kamae might have looked in the old/pre-change days.

[@hedhunta52]

That stance makes A LOT of sense when wearing armor. From ankle to the top of your head you are exposing not a single fleshy bit in that stance from a straight on perspective except perhaps the hands. If you consider swords to be a secondary weapon pre-1600 and polearms and bows/firearms to be the primaries it makes even more sense to have a smaller profile AND to expose armor to the front... Samurai arm armor to me looks a lot like a built in shield when turned to face the opponent. I do rattan fighting in a Samurai kit and I have found that sort of profile works very well against other polearms to slip blows plus it keeps your weapon on the center line very easily even when moving around. Just my opinion and experience of course! Love that little single leg jump block strike move @ about 7:17 I am going to put that to use!!

[@jamesdevine6452]

Very possible the fixed stance come from simple formulation of style but your thoughts are very similar to concepts of no stance within FMA rather they are simply chambering positions and there for fluid. Look at Decampo 123 footwork and stick moved is similar. Not the same but definitely similar.

[@erichwebb8312]

Thanks for the share brother ….. Take care ✝️

[@user-bs4mp8de3c]

"One for all all for one" what the scrolls say, is what I look up. all the time know the translation is another story, but I also refer to the bujinkan, genbukan, jininkan, I dont know why but the combat is the key 🗝️ to the other stuff weird huh idk but ko ryu has made your natori ryu alot more clever

[@StephanieJackson100]

I REALLY admire your passion for Samurai and Shinobi history.

[@tochiro6902]

Very very good video thank you.

[@CraigAB69]

So what is the goal of the stance? I personally would think that it is to reduce the amount of targets for the opponent, whilst enabling me to strike fast and accurately. That being said, I have seen a lot of those lunging stances before. I do wonder about the back foot and where it points. Does it point out to the side or pointing slightly back for more balance on rearward movements? Where is the optimal direction of the rear foot to enable the most flexibility for attacking and retreating? How much lean forward on the front leg is too much? Was there 2 styles of stances? One for Armour and one for duals with normal clothes? Given the weight and protection of Armour.

[@AntonyCummins]

These are the questions we are working on.

[@Dreaded_Wolf]

It would be an honor to finally meet in person and train with some of the Natori members. If I can make it out from Hawaii I will! Flights are expensive from here but if not this one I will definitely make it in the future 🥷🏽⚔️

[@ludusferocia8696]

Very thoughtful! This is really interesting

[@InsaneDemonSlayer67]

Thinking about this from a purely human perspective... youd want the pointy end of your sword as far forward as possible and your body as far away from your opponents pointy end as possible without sacrificing mobility and structure. Youd also want to become a smaller target, hunker down and use your armor to cover as much as possible, which could lead to some of the hunkered down stances youve shown with arms outstretched. However, it happens alot in modern hema and and kendo also, where the opponent rushes past the guard as fast as possible to tackle or get in a fast strike. Id imagine one would want a lower center of gravity to prevent being knocked down. Idk just tossing out ideas.

[@flyingfox09]

Makes sense biomechanically to stand side on. You can generate a lot of force through your feet quickly that way to move fast and stable. Not the exact same thing but if you look at running 2 foot basketball jumps (like for a dunk) they almost always turn side on for the final plant before the jump because that is how they can generate the most force.

[@Yoda2422]

Aha… im gonna stick to the teachings of my Koryu tho, because that works.

[@AntonyCummins]

I can not believe you have won so many sword fights. That’s great news. Jk

[@deadchivalry1698]

Do you spar? Because you can't really tell what works unless you spar.

[@Yoda2422]

@@deadchivalry1698 i do spar, im practicing a Koryu and part of that school is also shiai which is fighting in Bogu and with Shinai (bamboo swords) and there we use the techniques we learn against our opponents

[@deadchivalry1698]

@@Yoda2422 Which Ryuha do you train? I did Katori Shinto Ryu for a few years and one of my main criticisms of it is that we didn't spar to test our techniques. If you know of a koryu system that has gekiken as part of it's system that I'm interested to see if there's a school near me.

[@akademiacybersowa]

Interesting video. Please remember that old drawings without transmission on how they should be interpreted can be misleading. So be careful with that!

[@AntonyCummins]

Most of my understanding come from text mostly the kadensho

[@akademiacybersowa]

@@AntonyCummins Understandable. I'd suggest practicing kenjutsu under reputable ryuha to gain more insight how written texts and drawings were used and interepreted. But truth be told, a lot of ryuha's watered down their teachings. For example, they stoped practicing gekiken or they reintroduced it later, loosing continuity in the transmission and thus in complete understandings of the strategy and techniques. Issue that also HEMA faces. TL;DR You have a hard nut to crack :D

[@roycehuepers4325]

4:46 I wonder if it's because the 1st method would be better in duels while the way Musashi said it was for the battlefield. Tachi being used not too differently from German Longswords while later uchigatana were similar to the rapier. Musashi was in that wierd middle period of Sengoku Jidai and Edo period. At least with my experience, unless I'm only dealing with one opponent, I really find Stepping more useful in a fight. We also might be dealing with the Japanese equivalent of the Weaver vs isosceles stance in firearms. Neither are incorrect but have different advantages. Weaver is more stable and in body armor actually much safer. But Iscosceles is more mobile. (Structurally, it's basically Chudan and Seigan no kamae respectively) Here the thing about both stances though. You want to lean into the stance a little bit.... hmmm... gonna try it with my sword and see

[@davechopin6788]

Makes sense not to be in a static stance or stand in a pose for any amount of time and become a target in a fluid situation.

[@davidhoogenboom3344]

I had a tought about teaching en reality. that extreem moves is for learning with out armor en because of restrictions and weight automaticly change way of moving en because of feeling of stabilitiy. pleace mister cummins what doe thing about it?

[@AntonyCummins]

I’m. It sure to be honest. I do not think there would be too much difference we know people can move well in armour

[@JorgeUribe]

things is... they should be tabi crocs to be historically acurate.

[@AntonyCummins]

Correct haha

[@jlinscott5174]

Crocs are the tabi of the modern shinobi no mono. The question: are they an appropriate Natori-crimson color?!

[@peterchristiansen9695]

@@jlinscott5174Try scaling steep castle walls wearing crocs, though… 😁

[@jlinscott5174]

Taisho, Based upon your previous discussion of the work of Bok Kyu Cho (Japanese kenjutsu in Korea - kzbin.info/www/bejne/boq3eItjaNGcoM0), may I recommend giving consideration to the modern application of swordsmanship from the MuyeDoboTongji known as 해동검도 (Haidong Gumodo / Haedong Kumdo) and their interpretation of stances? Though I know better to say "This is how it was 400+ years ago", it may prove to be one helpful source among many. Some of the stances are as follow: 자연세 (自然勢) Natural stance Chayôn-se 대도세 (大跳勢) Long/high/big stance Taedo-se 소도세 (小跳勢) Low/Small stance Sodo-se 기마세 (騎馬勢) Horseback riding stance Kima-se 조천세 (朝天勢) Upper ready stance Choch'ôn-se 팔상세(八相勢) Eight phase stance P'alsang-se 금계독립팔상세 (金鷄獨立八相勢) Golden rooster/pheasant Kûmgye dongnip p'alsang-se 지하세 (地下勢) Lower ready stance Chiha-se 범세 (凡勢) Tiger/back stance Pôm-se 복호세 (復虎勢) Crouching tiger stance Pokho-se With respect, and thanks, NRS144

[@AntonyCummins]

Email me please

[@jlinscott5174]

@@AntonyCummins Sent.

[@nickbonk2569]

Looks like you've been studying hema. German and Italian longsword stances look exactly as you demonstrate.

[@AntonyCummins]

I know but this is all from actual Japanese texts which makes me think they fought the same.

[@nickbonk2569]

@AntonyCummins it makes a certain amount of sense, that people would come to similar conclusions about using similar weapons, against similar armour, and while fighting under similar conditions.

[@tatumergo3931]

​@@nickbonk2569. Beat me to it..... I was just thinking the same thing! Having some experience in TSKSR and Fiore as well as Meyer, I'm finding that there are more similarities than differences.

[@mulli032]

So, more akin to spear methods?

[@mulli032]

If you are delving into Chen Zongyou, you should look at his spear and Shaolin staff works, too. They all refer to one another, and most of the dao things are analogous to some things found in the staff and spear manuals. E.g., the “Brace Knee Dao Postures” have staff and spear “brace knee” analogues.

[@user-nm5bd4rs3f]

Did you include in your research the history of Toda family? Are they also fake and overrated? If they are legit, so Takamatsu was one of there students so it got to add him some reliability.

[@AntonyCummins]

Toda is a real family yes.

[@user-nm5bd4rs3f]

????

[@MZONE3D]

Looks like a shotokan back stance

[@tatumergo3931]

Do you mean kokutsu-dachi?

[@scorpzgca]

This is awesome I would like to learn and train Yagyū Shinkage-ryū with you sensei

[@stevepark2643]

😶😐😄😆😂🤣🤣🤣