The fact that Mugai-ryu only has 13 techniques excluding variations shows Sukemochi’s opinion on teaching what actually works in battle rather than excess and “untruthful” forms. Like most other sword fighting styles, Mugai-ryu is an art filled with kenjutsu techniques and is mostly fought with the katana. Mugai-Ryuįounded by Tsuji Gettan Sukemochi in 1680, Mugai-ryu is an unlikely but successful method of sword fighting since its founder was a zen buddhist who reached enlightenment aged 32. Musashi was even known to throw the wakizashi to finish duels when necessary, a tactic that was not widely used at all. When performed successfully, the opponent has no defense as they’re only using a single sword. An example of this would be using the wakizashi to defend whilst counter-attacking with the katana. Many styles of Japanese swordsmanship use only the katana, but Niten Ichi-rye uses both. A rough translation of this style is known as “two heavens as one”. The 8 Styles Of Samurai Sword Fighting Hyoho Niten Ichi-RyuĬreated by the most famous samurai in Japanese history and the author of “The Book Of Five Rings” Miyamoto Musashi, Niten Ichi-ryu is a style based around the use of 2 swords at once. If the last of a samurai family died, their techniques often died forever with them, whilst the victor’s styles still live on today. These samurai families were the rulers of Japan and many had their own styles of swordsmanship.Īs expected, some styles died out, whilst others thrived under the most brutal test of effectiveness.

Once upon a time there were millions of samurai from hundreds of thousands of families, which equated to roughly 5% of the population. Some styles of Japanese sword fighting favor two swords, whereas others are more geared towards the use of the single longer katana blade. Samurai warriors always carried two swords, a katana and a wakizashi which are noticeably different in length (the katana being the longer of the two). From 1185 until 1868, Japan was ruled by samurai, some of which would roam around Japan fighting one another in battles to the death. All of these styles contain techniques from ancient samurai martial arts such as tojutsu, kenjutsu, iaijutsu and iaido. There are eight traditional styles of Japanese sword fighting.

Flying dragon katana