Niten Ichi-ryū

Niten Ichi-ryū is a Japanese swordsmanship school founded by Miyamoto Musashi. It is distinguished by techniques that use a long sword and a short sword simultaneously.

Niten Ichi-ryū nitojutsu: The paired-sword method associated with Niten Ichi-ryū, using a long sword and a short sword together. This is the school’s defining two-sword practice.
Edo period: The period of Japanese history from 1603 to 1868, when the Tokugawa shogunate ruled. The school’s formation belongs to the early decades of this period.
Kata: A prearranged sequence of movements practiced to transmit technique and principles in Japanese martial arts. Niten Ichi-ryū preserves its techniques through paired forms.
Itto-ryū: A family of Japanese swordsmanship schools centered on techniques with one sword. Its emphasis on single-sword technique contrasts with Niten Ichi-ryū’s paired-sword identity.
Katana: A Japanese curved, single-edged sword traditionally worn with its edge upward. The katana serves as the long sword in the school’s paired-sword practice.
Miyamoto Musashi's duel with Sasaki Kojirō: A famous 1612 duel between Miyamoto Musashi and the swordsman Sasaki Kojirō on Ganryū Island. The duel is a prominent episode in accounts of Musashi’s career before the school’s mature teachings.
Tachi seiho: A set of Niten Ichi-ryū forms performed with the long sword. These forms train the school’s use of the long sword as a weapon in its own right.
Kendo: A modern Japanese martial art of swordsmanship practiced with bamboo swords and protective armor. Kendo is a modern sporting discipline, unlike Niten Ichi-ryū’s classical school and kata transmission.
Wakizashi: A short Japanese sword traditionally worn alongside the katana. It supplies the shorter blade in the school’s two-sword method.
Hyoho Niten Ichi-ryū: A traditional Japanese martial school tracing its lineage to Miyamoto Musashi’s Niten Ichi-ryū. Its name and transmission preserve the school’s strategic tradition.

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The Book of Five RingsRelated: The text explains the two-sword method central to the school’s practice.