Hello everyone. Thank you for reading this article. I’m Shogo, the manager of this website and the interpreter/instructor at Yushikan Kyoto’s Samurai Training Activity.
One of the characteristics of Yushin-ryu is that the rituals are different for men and women, and there is an iai kata called “Women’s Iai”, which only women can train in. Why does Yushin-ryu have these features? This is because of a certain conflict that the Soke (headmaster) who started Yushin-ryu had. Soke, who devoted most of her life to Budo, noticed a certain shortcoming in the Budo world. There are too few opportunities for women to play an active role in the martial arts. In addition, all the people who practiced iai in the past were male samurai. In other words, the techniques and movements were designed for men. However, anyone, young or old, male or female, can learn iai. If that is the case, creating a new Kata for women would be a good idea. This is how the etiquette and Kata for women were born.
In Yushin-ryu, there are various events during the year, such as dedication performances and dan promotion examinations. Generally, male teachers of high dan rank can perform in front of everyone at these events. However, in Yushin-ryu, women perform women’s iai all together, regardless of rank, in addition to such teachers. This allows women likely to stop practicing iai in the future due to marriage or childbirth to demonstrate their skills in front of a large audience, even if they are not yet very skilled. This is a rare opportunity and one of the best parts of learning iai.
Today, the topic of gender is very sensitive. However, what we would like everyone to understand is that we only want to help more people enjoy learning iai. We are not trying to deny anyone’s way of life. Please let us know your opinions in the comments section.
If you want to participate in our activities, please book through our Airbnb or TripAdvisor pages. We look forward to meeting you all.
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