Nakamura Ryu Battodo Gauteng

Batto, like iai, is a 'drawing sword' art that begins and ends with the sword in the saya. Nakamura Taizaburo was born in 1912 in Yamagata prefecture.

He began his study of kendo at the age of 15 and when he joined the Japanese Army in 1932 held the rank of 3rd Dan in both kendo and judo. After teaching kendo to the members of his regiment he was assigned to a junior military academy as a fencing instructor. He served in Manchuria in the elite Yamash*ta Special Attack Force and was assigned to the Toyama Military Academy in Tokyo where he became

an instructor of combat swordsmanship, bayonet and knife fighting. He dedicated his life to the study and teaching of the life giving sword - katsujinken. However for the way of the sword to be effective in the spiritual forging of its practitioners Nakamura sensei taught that it must remain rooted in the realities of combat. For this reason he helped to maintain the tradition of Toyama Academy swordsmanship by founding the All Japan Toyama Ryu Iaido Federation and continued his lifelong research into the practices of Japanese swordsmanship. The outcome of these efforts was the founding of Nakamura Ryu Battodo in 1952. Among many other titles and ranks he was awarded 10th Dan Hanshi Battodo by the International Martial Arts Federation, 7th Dan Kyoshi by the All Japan Kendo federation, 8th Dan Hanshi Jukendo And 8th Dan Hanshi Tankendo. He continued to study, practice, teach and inspire until his death in Tsurumi on the 13th of May 2003. While teaching kenjutsu in northern China he was inspired with the thought that EJII HAPPO, the eight rules of calligraphy, could be applied to swordsmanship. As Nakamura Taizaburo practiced the ei character (this is to calligraphy what do-re-mi is to music), he saw in his mind that the eight strokes of the brush traced the trajectory of the word when cutting. The first brush stroke, soku, is the thrust of the sword tip, the second stroke, roku, is the left and right horizontal cut; the third stroke, do, is the vertical cut; and so on. Eiji Happo transformed to happo giri, which is lucky since the Chinese character ei means eternal. In addition, the number eight is a favourable symbol in Chinese mythology, indicating both prosperity and good fortune. Therefore, the eight ways of cutting are innumerable and unending. Nakamura Taizaburo began to organize his realization and ideas into a system of practical swordsmanship devoid of meaningless techniques. Source:

* Essential Principals of Nakamura Ryu Iaido by Nakamura Taizaburo.

14/05/2025

Though rooted in older styles, Nakamura Ryu battodo is a modern martial art, developed by Nakamura Taizaburo and founded in 1952. Like iaido, it is the art of drawing the sword, and begins and ends with the katana (sword) in the saya (scabbard). Practitioners also train with a yari (a spear with a straight, double-edged blade atop a wooden handle). They practice individual and paired kata as well as tameshigiri, which is checking the quality of the blade by test cutting. Come see this demonstrated by members from Nakamura Ryu Battodo Gauteng at the Japanese Festival on Sunday afternoon at Central Square Menlyn Maine.

Photos from Embassy of Japan in South Africa's post

06/05/2025

Come along and see a wide variety of displays, including one from us, with some tameshigiri.

Reacting To Jazza! Does He Know His History?

16/06/2024

Beautiful art, and fascinating topics.

Reacting To Jazza! Does He Know His History? Link to the video I'm responding to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bo-0Oi8Dxw8 If you like my work please consider supporting it on Patreon! https://www.pat...

Assassin's Creed Shadows Trailer Reaction - The TRUTH About Yasuke The Black Samurai

17/05/2024

https://youtu.be/ETeuxTqwzS4?si=7zqM0AnUr9W_5re0

Assassin's Creed Shadows Trailer Reaction - The TRUTH About Yasuke The Black Samurai On this video we are watching and reacting to the trailer of Assassin's Creed Shadows. This trailer has created a lot of controversy and backlash with people...

01/01/2024

To all my Japanese friends, I hope you and your loved ones are all safe 🙏

24/03/2023

If anyone would like to see what it is we do, our demo is at 3pm on Saturday.

15/03/2023

Some of our members had the privilege of attending a reception for the Emperor of Japan's birthday, at the Japanese Embassy today.

01/03/2023

We're doing a demo at 3pm on the Saturday for anyone who wants to see what the style is all about, so come along, have a look, and we'll gladly answer questions afterwards.

We are delighted to announce that the annual Japan Cultural Expo will be returning to Brooklyn Mall this month. This free event organized by the Embassy of Japan will showcase Japanese Culture on 24 – 26 March 2023. Please join us for three fun-filled days of demonstrations, talks, exhibits, Japanese films and more. See flyer for more details.

Photos from Nakamura Ryu Battodo Gauteng's post

20/11/2021

It is with deepest sorrow we mourn the passing of a great man. Sensei Gordon, you will be missed dearly by those who were privileged to be taught by you.