The Brush, the Sword, and the Principles of Eight
By Anthony Deen
In his book, The Spirit and the Sword, the sword master Nakamura Taizaburo relates an epiphany he experienced while teaching in Northern China during the Great Pacific War. In his epiphany Nakamura sensei correlated sword study with the Eiji Happo of Japanese calligraphy (Shodo).
Toyama-ryu Battodo is a modern sword art, developed in 1925 for Japan’s Toyama Army Academy (Rikugun Toyama Gakko) with the input of several Japanese sword masters, primary among them the venerable Nakayama Hakudo. Nakayama sensei came from a background in several sword arts including Shindo Munen-ryu and Muso Jikiden Eishin-ryu and is well known for creating his own sword art, Muso Shinden-ryu.
In Muso Shinden-ryu, Nakayama sensei attempted to create an art which could be taught beyond the samurai class to new, post-Meiji era audiences. For the Toyama military academy, their new sword art needed to be even more pared down. It had to be efficient, effective, and most of all had to be taught quickly to officer trainees about to go into battle. The result is what we know as Gunto Soho. Over the next several years Gunto Soho evolved through the expertise of Yamaguchi Yuuki, Morinaga Kiyoshi, and Nakamura Taizaburo into what we now popularly study as Toyama-ryu.
The Toyama Academy sword instructors constantly explored ways to better instruct their students. In his epiphany, Nakamura sensei determined that the eight brush strokes of the Eiji Happo could be applied to sword cutting and set about creating the Happo Giri. In the Happo Giri, eight sword cuts are executed while turning in eight directions. Over time the Happo Giri has expanded into variant kata that include the addition of batto and chiburi, and performing the cuts in only four directions.
Happo Giri
Tsuki
Migi gyaku-kesa
Migi suihei
Migi kesa
Jodan
Hidari kesa
Hidari suehei
Hidari gyaku-kesa
Eight elements or principles are considered lucky in Chinese philosophy. The Eiji Happo is known in Chinese as the Eight Principles of Yong (Yongzi Ba Fa), and eight became an important organizing number for Nakamura sensei as he developed the eight kata of Toyama-ryu, and then later in Nakamura-ryu which also contains eight kamae and eight chiburi. Nakamura sensei’s Happo Giri has been adopted by practitioners of Muso Jikiden Eishin-ryu, Muso Shinden-ryu, Shinkendo, and is used in Aikido for the study of aiki-ken.
There are of course more than eight brushstrokes in Shodo as there are more than eight sword cuts in Battodo. The Eiji Happo are more than ordinal brush strokes. Yong means permanence or forever in Chinese, with this in mind the strokes that make up the Eiji Happo are considered fundamental to the study of Japanese calligraphy. While drawing the Eiji Happo does not provide a complete education in Shodo, it does provide a firm foundation for further practice and is considered necessary in learning to write beautiful calligraphy.
It’s understandable to think that there is a literal correspondence between the ordinal directions of the brush strokes in the Eiji Happo and the cuts of Happo Giri - Nakamura did explain it in this way. In my estimation, this is not the case. The logogram of Yong (pictured above) has eight distinct brush strokes, but they do not reflect the exact directions of the cuts in the Happo Giri. Rather some of the strokes repeat what might be interpreted as kesa and gyaku-kesa more than once.
While the Eiji Happo was Nakamura sensei’s inspiration for Happo Giri, I believe that what was of greater importance to the study of Battodo was a correlation between strokes needed to create a single logogram or kanji with sword cuts performed in a kata. As with multiple brush strokes in creating a kanji, within a kata one must likewise transition smoothly and properly between cuts. Nakamura sensei later created the Shoden kata and Chuden kata of Seitei Battodo Toho; kata that contain eight cuts and today provide both a foundation and an augmentation, of the study of Toyama-ryu.
In my experience, there are other correspondences between Shodo and Battodo: preparation before practice for example; the rituals, the cleaning of the instruments after use, and care of one’s brushes and swords all relate directly.
Another is the use of the body. When drawing a pure horizontal stroke or a pure vertical stroke, one is taught to move from one’s center or hara. Rather that drawing from the wrist, which would cause an angular stroke, moving one’s entire upper body allows for a straight brush stroke. We may use the same movement when cutting suihei or practicing Toyama Happonme.
The most important concept I find to be central to both arts is Iai — translated as to dwell in the present.
The word Iai comes from the phrase Tsune ni ite, kyuu ni awasu and can also be interpreted as being constantly prepared. This use of Iai and this meaning were popularized by Nakayama Hakudo specifically for Japanese sword study.
As sword practitioners using shinken (sharpened swords), we are acutely aware that we must concentrate completely during kata and test cutting. Not only to produce correct form and cutting angles, but also to avoid mistakes that might lead to injury. In this way, a sharp blade is a great motivator to be present and in the moment.
While no aspect of Shodo should lead to an injury, a similar concentration is required to control the brush and the flow of ink to produce correct kanji. To quote from Dave Lowry’s Sword and Brush, “Once the brush has touched paper, the ink cannot be retrieved … The calligrapher must concentrate and commit himself completely into the execution of the kanji.”
As meditative experiences, I find writing calligraphy and practicing sword kata to be complementary. I heartily recommend both to those who study one or the other.
Note: Interestingly the translation of the final stroke, Na, is pressing forcefully or dismemberment. Very similar to the final kata of the Toyama-ryu.
The Eiji Happo or
Eight Principles of Yong
1. Dian
2. Heng
3. Shu
4. Gou
5. Ti
6. Wan
7. Pie
8. Na
