History of Iaijutsu

History of Iaijutsu

Iajutsu is the art of swordsmanship in face-to-face combat, as practiced by the samuri of feudal Japap. The samurai caste arose around the twelfth century. In 1549, Hayashizaki Jisuke was born to a samurai family under the ruling Minamoto clan. After his father was killed in a duel, young Hayashizaki was determined to avenge his father's death. Knowing he would need a significant advantage to defeat his father's killer, Hayashizaki entered the local Shinto shrine. There he spent 100 days in prayer and practice to develop the techniques of drawing and cutting in a single motion that we now call Iaijutsu or Iaido. Hayashizaki prevailed in avenging his father's death, and his style of swordsmanship came to be known as Hayashizaki-Ryu.

Less than fifty years later, the most significant development in the history of Iaijutsu occured. The sword design began to change,making the blades shorter and slightly straighter in shape and were worn with the cutting edge upward.

Hasegawa Eishin, the seventh-generation successor to Hayashizkai-Ryu, widely considered to be nearly equal in skill with the tachi to the style's founder, adapted Iaijutsu techniques to the shorter sword.

Because of his great skill and his modification of sword techniques for the newer design, the style thereafter became known as Hasegawa-ryu of Eishin-ryu in his honor. His fame was such that Toyotomi Hideyoshi, the supreme military commander who realed a recently unified Japan from 1582 to 1598, invited Hasegawa to demonstrate Eishin-ryu Iaijutsu in Edo (present-day Takyo). Toyotomi was so impressed with Hasegawa's sill that he bestowed on him the title Muso Ken, "Sword Without Equal."

Eishin's style is considered unmatched and has been passed down through an unbroken succession of grandmasters to the present time. 

Currently, the Dai-Nippon Butoku-Kai, Japan's oldest and most prestigious martial arts organization, recognizes Miura Takeyuki Hanshi, and the 20th grandmaster of Muso Jikiden Eishen- Ryu Iaijutsu.