The type of person we recommend learn Nito

It is generally believed that only people who are physically strong and naturally talented like Musashi Miyamoto can effectively use Nito.

However, Nito Ryu advocated by Musashi is a training method that helps people perform at their best.

In other words, the real meaning of "Niten Ichiryu" Musashi tried to convey is that everyone will be able to perform at his/her best through Nito practice.

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Those who don't have physical strength

People tend to believe that if you are not strong enough, you can't do Nito because you have to handle a sword with one hand. In fact, you don't need strong muscles to handle a sword with one hand.

In Iaido, a sword is always drawn (Nukitsuke) with one hand. In other words, Iaido people instantly draw the sword from the saya (scabbard) and cut an opponent with one hand. It means that even old people and women who don't have enough physical strength can draw the sword (Nukitsuke) with one hand quickly through keiko.

Nito kamae has better defense than other kamaes, so a Nito player can strike an opponent from a closer distance. In other words, people who don't have enough leg muscle are given more opportunities to strike an opponent if they take Nito.

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Those who have a strong right hand

Many people may be instructed "not to strike with the right hand" or "relax the right hand". Typically, right-handed people tend to strike with too much right hand, which prevents them from improving their kendo. In fact, those people probably don't know how to use the left hand, or are not conscious of the left hand.

A function of the left hand in Itto kendo is "seme (putting pressure on your opponent)". Put pressure on the center of the opponent and then strike with the help of the right hand. An effective way of learning "seme" and "striking" is "Sei-Nito (holding a daito/long sword in the right hand)".

Once you learned proper seme and strikes through practicing "Sei-Nito", your skills in Itto kendo will improve dramatically.

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Those who don't pull the left foot towards the right foot when striking

　打突時に、左足の引きつけが遅れたり、左腰が残った半身姿勢になってしまう人も多いようです。これは、体幹の使い方が間違っているからです。

　しかし、一刀の場合は、両手で１本の竹刀の柄を握って打突するため、打突時に左腰が残ってしまっても、柄を握った左手が右手に引っ張られて、上半身に左腰や左足の遅れが伝わりません。 　そのため、自分自身で半身打ちになっていることに気がつかないでしまっていることも多くあります。

　こういう人は、二刀を執って片手での打突を行うと、それがバランスの崩れとなって顕著に現れます。そこで、このバランスの崩れを矯正するような打突姿勢を学んでゆくと、自然に一刀の打突姿勢も良くなってきます。

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【間合がうまくつかめない人】

It seems that many Itto kendo players with chudan no kamae (middle guard position) pay particular attention to the tip of the shinai, especially where two shinais cross to find proper "ma-ai (spatial distance between players)".

However, we have to be able to find the proper ma-ai by a relative sense of distance between two players, not by judging from where the shinais cross.

Especially for Nito-players, it is very important to determine the proper ma-ai because they wield two different length of shinais simultaneously. Once you have learned the basics and the benefit of ma-ai through practicing Nito, you will easily find the proper mai-ai when you take Itto.

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Those who don't understand the concept of "seme" and how to keep the center

It seems difficult to grasp the idea of "seme" if Itto players keiko each other all the time because whoever has better leg strength, arm strength and speed scores a point even if he/she didn't use enough "seme". Those who score the points without "seme" tend to get the wrong idea that they win because they use effective "seme", and misunderstand that they're doing proper kendo. Those people will never be able to enjoy the best part of kendo that is based mainly on "seme" between players.

Nito kamae has good defense, therefore, to defeat the Nito player, you will have to learn "Ri-ai (a rational relationship of motion between you and your opponent)" of "seme-te kuzusu", which means that you have to put pressure on your opponent to break his/her kamae. Learning Nito is not only learning Nito techniques but also learning the basic theory of "seme", which is difficult to understand through practicing Itto.

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Those who can't pass a promotional exam

Some of Musashi-Kai's members took the All Japan Kendo Federation promotional exam using Nito and passed. Others, even though they are Musashi-Kai members, didn't feel pressure to take the exam using Nito. So they took the exam using Itto and passed as well.

As stated above, learning Nito helps you break bad habits, maintain good kamae with proper left hand position to exercise effective "seme", strike with proper posture, understand proper "ma-ai" and "seme". Therefore, the pass rate of exam takers who practice Nito is very high.

If you are having trouble passing a promotional exam, you may be practicing the wrong way so that it takes a while to pass the exam. In that case, you may want to take a closer look at your kendo through different viewpoints, through practicing Nito.

Musashi-kai has many members who enjoy kendo more than before they started Nito. They used to be at a loss of what to do with kendo, but Nito helped them open up their minds to new views of kendo.

Why don’t you start Nito today?

Techniques you can learn from Nito

As stated above, there are many cases in which Nito can help you improve your kendo techniques or fix bad habits that you couldn't fix thought practicing Itto.

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Tenouchi (proper grip or snap) for one-handed and both-handed strikes

Let's talk about the biggest difference in men strikes between beginners and advanced players of Itto kendo.

Beginners swing the shinai using big and slow rotational motion generated from the axis located at the "Tsukagashira" (end of the handle) in the left hand. On the other hand, advanced people swing shinai as beginners do, however, at the moment of strike, they add small and quick rotational motion generated from the axis located at the shinai's center of gravity.

This is called "Datotsu no Sae (sharpness)", which is a result of subtle "Teno-uchi" when striking with both hands.

Usually, it takes time to understand "Teno-uchi" because the most common way to start practicing kendo is using both hands on the shinai and use those hands as leverage. As a result, it takes forever to fix right handed strikes which uses the left hand as a fulcrum point and pushes the shinai with the right hand.

In Musashi Kai, you learn the wrist motion to swing the shinai at it's center of gravity, then repeat the motion until you can swing the shinai in the same manner with the right hand and the left hand. Once you master the one-handed strike with proper wrist motion, you will be able to perform proper "Tenouchi" when you strike with both hands.

You can wield the shinai in either hand and one hand should not be overstrained. If you practice Nito with Musashi Kai at least one year, you won't be feeling any stiffness when you take Itto kamae, also you will be able to perform very straightforward strikes.

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Bad habits in Itto appear in Nito Kamae

When taking Nito kamae, it truly reflects habits of Itto.

For example, when somebody takes Sei-Nito kamae, the position of the shoto held in the left hand will gradually comes down. This is reflected in the person's left hand not properly positioned when taking Itto kamae. Meanwhile, when a person rushes to strike, holds the daito with the right hand too tightly, then the daito will stand up. Also, the right arm is getting tired.

Especially for those who leave the left hip and turn their upper body to the right at the moment of striking, and those who cannot maintain a proper posture, trying Nito should help identifying some bad habits of Itto since those habits are even more emphasized in the Nito kamae.

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Breaking bad habits in Itto kendo through Nito practice

When those who have the bad habits described above practice Nito with a Itto player, the Itto player helps them break the bad habits.

For example, those who don't use the left hand effectively, the position of the shoto gradually comes down so they make a big target around the chest or the throat. And then the Itto opponent aims and strikes Tsuki (throat). By practicing to protect the throat with the shoto, eventually understanding "Seme" through using the left hand effectively.

Also, those who grip the shinai too tightly so the shinai stands up, their right-side kote is an easy target and they are getting tired from holding the shinai up high. Therefore, they will eventually learn the proper way as they keep practicing, which is snapping the wrist at the very moment of striking, otherwise the arm should be relaxed.

If you correct wrong kamae, teno-uchi and posture through Nito practice, results will be visible in Itto kendo.

Usually, people think that Nito has a negative effect on Itto if you practice Nito all the time. However, if you keep practicing Nito in accordance with Niten Ichi Ryu's proper "Ri-ai", Nito definitely has a positive effect on Itto.

Niten Ichi Ryu's true purpose is to improve kendo regardless of kendo style.

二刀を一刀に遣う

The basic of Nito technique in Musashi-kai is described as "Wielding two swords as if wielding one sword". This explains that techniques and mental attitude in Nito can be applied to Itto.

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Kiriotoshi (Cutting down) using Nito

A basic method of Nito men strike is often explained as pressing down the tip of the opponent’s shinai with a shoto and then striking men with a daito as an opponent initiates motion to attack. However, a basic of Niten Ichi Ryu men strike is striking two difference places with two swords at the same time.

In other words, proper "Ri-ai" of men strike in Niten Ichi Ryu is swinging the shoto and the daito at the same time (not pressing down the opponent’s shinai with the shoto first), and as a result, the shoto strikes the opponent’s shinai and the daito strikes the opponent’s men. This technique is also referred to as a “Kiriotoshi (cutting down)” technique that is cutting down with the shoto and the daito as the opponent initiates motion to attack.

Therefore, this technique is applied to “Kiriotoshi” using Itto as well. In other words, the left hand works as the shoto - cuts down the shinai, and the right hand works as the daito - strikes the opponent's men.

Many Itto players strike with the right hand as if they cover up something without using the left hand as the shoto - cutting down the opponent's shinai - because it is difficult to learn the role of the left and the right hand through Itto practice. However, you will be one step closer to mastering this difficult "Kiriotoshi" technique by being conscious of this role through Nito practice.

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Ki-gamae (mental posture) for Nito and Gobu-no-Mikiri (immediately determining the moment of opponent's attack and dodge the attack with minimum motion)

The essence of "seme" in kendo is how much you can withstand attacks from your opponent while the match goes back and forth. It's probably fair to say that whoever is moved by the opponent first loses in a high rank player's match. However, it is difficult to understand the essence of "seme" through Itto practice.

We use two shinais to do Nito. Therefore, if we think about just receiving an opponent's shinai, Nito's defense is twice as stronger as Itto. In fact, this creates a big emotional lift while the match goes back and forth.

When your high rank opponent's "seme" is very strong, you will most likely not be able to withstand the seme and start striking. However, with Nito, you can endure a little longer. This little moment helps you find the absolute proper moment to attack. This is called 'Gobu-no-Mikiri" (immediately determining the moment of opponent's attack and dodge the attack with minimum motion.)

This "sense" can be applied to Itto kendo and helps you build strong mental power to withstand an opponent's attack to find the absolute proper moment to strike.

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Wielding the sword as you wish

Training of Sei-Nito and Gyaku-Nito (holding a daito/long sword in the left hand) helps you master every single kamae and techniques of Itto including Itto chudan no kamae, a variety of katate-waza (single-handed strike techniques), morote migi jodan (high guard position with one sword in which the right foot is advanced) and hidari jodan (high guard position with one sword in which the left foot is advanced).

Eventually, you will feel comfortable wielding the sword with either hand and from any kamae, which is the ultimate purpose Niten Ichi Ryu is searching for.

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