Reference : Bujinkanshugyo website

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附込 Tsukikomi – attach and push in

Tsukikomi – to resolve a little confusion.

Here we are talking about the first sword technique in the kukishin
bikenjutsu

附 the base, kun, readings of this kanji are ‘tsuku’ and ‘tsukeru’. When this
kanji is typically read as part of a word it is pronounced tsuke or -zuke, and
will be read as so by the typical Japanese person. In the case of this
technique there is some disagreement as to the pronunciation, many say
‘Tsukekomi’, which is perfectly acceptable/understandable – I also have this
written in some of my notes.

However, Hatsumi sensei has used the pronunciation ‘Tsukikomi’ on various

occasions and in various media. Other factors that may influence this
pronunciation (as is the case with many budō terms) is the use of archaic
kanji and outdated pronunciations, combined with homonym word plays – as
tsuki is often understood as the more common 突 ‘thrust’ which is the
principle aim of the action in the tsukikomi technique. I won’t speak for
others but I prefer to go with what I have learned from Hatsumi and the
various Japanese Shihan that I have been privileged to train under.

I have also updated the translation to ‘attach and push in’, before I had
‘attach and hold’, not sure why as my other notes are different (wordpress
editor has led to a little monkeying around of text on occasion).

As with needing to practice a technique 10,000 times to perfect if – this blog

is an evolving work in progress. 10,000 in Japanese is 万. In reality this
means infinite or eternal – so this blog will never be finished and you will
never finish practicing – keep going.

突掛 Tsukigake – thrust trap

Tsukigake is the second technique from the kukishin bikenjutsu.

突 – tsuki – usually translated as ‘thrust’, can also refer to stabbing or

piercing. As with the punch in taijutsu, tsuki, means to thrust in or through
the target. You can also see the connection in origin here with the sōjutsu,
the yari techniques, of kukishin ryū where the thrust is aimed at penetrating
through armour.

掛 – kake/gake – has various meanings, typically in martial arts it means ‘to

trap’ or ‘to hook’. Other translations can be catch, hang or suspend. For
example in taijutsu there is uchigake 内掛 the inside leg hook.

Tsukigake can be variously translated as thrust-trap, thrust and trap, thrust-

hook, thrusting catch and so on.

突入 Tsuki iri – entering thrust or thrust and enter – this is an alternate name
for this technique.

Hopefully you will understand from this that translation from Japanese to
English is no simple feat – it is difficult to say what is a ‘correct’ translation.
There are ‘good’ or ‘better’ as well as bad translations (not to mention
deceptive translations).

The same series of kanji can also have differing better translations
depending on the situation or context they are referring to, this translation
could be literal or referential. Eg. 左右 sayū (or sayuu) literally means left-
right. We can alter the meaning in English subtly by translating it as left-
AND-right or left-THEN-right. The first may be better translated as both-
sides, whereas the second is indicating a sequential pattern.

Each of the bikenjutsu techniques have 左右逆 sayūgyaku – so you could

translate this as left, right and opposite forms. There are indeed three
variations to each base technique – 三本あり sanbon ari – but this shouldn’t
be thought of as one variation on the left, one on the right and a reverse
form. Sayūgyaku, while handily having three kanji, may be better translated
as ‘a number of changes to both-sides’.
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斬上 Kiriage – rising cut

Kiriage is the third technique of the kukishin bikenjutsu

斬 – kiri – means to kill, slice or cut with a blade

上 – age – has numerous related meanings and pronunciations – up, upwards, to lift, to rise, to ascend, the top

or upper level.

In the simplest sense kiriage is ‘to cut up’ or ‘cutting up’ and is used as such to describe the movement of a

blade (katana, naginata and so on) in an upwards direction – eg. gyaku kesa giri is a form of kiriage, cutting
upwards at an angle.

To describe the bikenjutsu technique I have used the translation ‘rising cut’ as I feel this best summarises the
technique, which is more than a simple upwards cut.

斬下 Kirisage – dropping cut

Kirisage being the fourth technique

斬 – kiri – to kill, slice or cut with a blade

下 – has numerous related meanings and pronunciations – down, downwards,
below, under, to descend, to lower, to drop, the bottom or lower level

Kirisage as the opposite of the previous technique, kiriage, means ‘to cut
down’ or ‘cutting down’. Again this is a good description of a directional
action, but not a reasonable translation of the bikenjutsu technique.

Kirisage is meeting the opponent’s sword and maneuvering so as to lower, or

drop, the blade onto the neck for a pushing cut. This movement is utilising
leverage and body movement/angling, to pivot the blade to cut uke. Think
of the action that occurs during the technique – tori meets uke’s cut and
then maneuvers to an advantageous position to ‘drop’ the blade on/in to
uke. ‘Drop’ here fits better than ‘lower’ or descending’ as it summarises and
acts as a translation of the technique.

The use of ‘drop’ here is different from the meaning of ‘to drop’ as seen in
the kanji 倒 – otoshi, where this implies a strike leading to a plummeting
drop, fall, topple, collapse. The ‘drop’ of kirisage is the descent of the
blade, assisted by gravity, as part of the technique as opposed to the ‘strike-
resulting-in-a-fall’ as implied with 倒 otoshi.
Now you may be able to see why the bikenjutsu 斬下 technique is best
translated as ‘dropping cut’. ‘Descending cut’ or ‘lowering cut’ are
alternative translations, but lack the dynamic implication of the act.

Translation is not the simple transfer of one language to another, translation

is the art of rendering into another language, requiring interpretation. One
of the best translators I know is Bruce Appleby – he is able to give succinct
translation for Hatsumi sensei, he will happily not translate more than
necessary, this being a fault of those that need to add their own perspective
and embellish whilst translating. The task undertaken by Bruce, Doug, Craig
and a many others for Hatsumi sensei is no easy one – it is not a case of
simply translating into English as so many assume, their task is to render
Soke’s speech/ideas into a generic form that can be understood by people
who speak/understand English not as a first language.

鎹止 Kasugaidome – bind and stop

Kasugaidome the fifth technique.

鎹 – to bind, clamp or crimp.

止 – to stop, to halt, to prevent from moving.

鎹止 Kasugaidome is also known as 金指 Kinshi. 鎹 has an alternate form 銯.

Looking at the various kanji there is an interesting connection between the
two names.

鎹 Kasugai is frequently written just using hiragana かすがい. The reason for
this is that the kanji 鎹 is kokuji 国字, meaning that the kanji was developed
in Japan and has not been borrowed from the Chinese. Kokuji kanji usually
have a specific pronunciation, often this is the Japanese ‘kun’ reading.
These kanji are often not in common use and are not easily identified by a
Japanese speaker, hence the use of hiragana in the written form. The kanji
鎹 has the radical for gold/metal 金 hinting that the character has something
to do with metal, this may lead to a guess as the pronunciation as ‘kin’.
鎹 Kasugai, as seen above, is a special clamp or staple used in the
construction of timber framed structures or constructions. The noun is a
physical metal binding object, and the verb derived from this is ‘to bind, tie
or clamp’. This kind of binding notion can be used to describe the
metaphorical bond between people.

An alternative kanji for 鎹止 that has been used by Hatsumi-sensei is 銯止.

銯 is also pronounced ‘kasugai’ and again is a very little know kanji, but
sharing the same meaning. If you split 銯 into its constituent elements you
get 金糸 ‘kinshi’… Kinshi here means gold or metal thread – so a relation may
be seen to the binding nature of the first kanji.

金指 Kinshi is often used as the alternative form for Kasugaidome. The

characters mean gold and finger. 金 whilst being the kanji for gold is often
used to refer to metal (as in the five elements). 指 is most commonly seen as
finger, it can also refer to a measure of distance and putting into. Don’t just
think of a finger as a straight object, it can also be curved or hooked. Here
you can see the connection between a ‘metal finger’ and ‘a metal staple’

止 the ‘on’ reading (Chinese) of this kanji is ‘shi’ as opposed to the ‘kun’
reading of ‘tome or dome’ (amongst others). 止 is generally used to mean
stop or halt. More than the physical act of just coming to a stop, think of this
as meaning that movement or progress has been halted or curtailed, possibly
by some kind of barrier – eg. a cul-de-sac stops progress, an end cap stops
water flow in a pipe, a police cordon halts the progress of a crowd – 止 is
used in these situations.

止 is also used to describe a stop end in carpentry – so another connection to

鎹 the metal staple in construction.

So you can see 鎹止 Kasugaidome as the idea of pinning or binding uke,

trapped with nowhere to go, nailed in place.
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四方斬 Shihō Giri – cutting in four directions

Shihō Giri – the seventh technique

四 – four
方 – directions, alternatives
斬 – to cut with a blade

Cutting in four directions or four-directional cutting would be the most

direct translation, also cutting in every direction.

The kanji 四 shi is made up of two parts 囗 and 儿 (radicals for box and legs)
– interestingly in this technique the two rising cuts, 逆袈裟切り gyaku-
kesagiri, resemble the shape of the strokes for 儿 as made by a right-handed
double-grip on the sword.

四方 – shihō – is a common Japanese term meaning four directions or every

direction, often seen as front-back-left-right or north-south-east-west (or
more correctly as 西南北 tōzainanboku – east-west-south-north). The 四天王
Shitennō, the four heavenly deva-kings, are the guardians of the cardinal
points as well as the center (five cardinal points and five deva-kings in
truth), they are also the guardians of the marital arts, so can be seen as
protecting an individual in a desperate situation when being attacked from
every direction.

Shihō can also be understood as killing directions (死方 shihō) or killing

methods (死法 shihō).
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八方斬 Happō Giri – cutting in eight

directions/all sides

Happō giri – the eighth technique

八 – eight
方 – directions, alternatives
斬 – to cut with a blade
While 八方 can be directly translated as eight-directions, it can also be read
as all sides. Instead of thinking as with 四方 of the four cardinal directions,
八方 is the entire circumference around tori, tori is the the centre. So this
technique is associated with being surrounded by adversaries.

Hachi 八, the kanji for the number 8, has various significances in Japanese
language and history. In buddhism there are the 八部衆 Hachi bushū – the 8
deva guardian legions, of which the Shitennō are part of the first legion – and
八幡 Hachiman – the Shintō deity that adopted buddhism, protector of
warriors, god of archery and war.

The downwards diagonal cut of kesa giri 袈裟切り can be seen in the kanji 八
. The kesa refers to an over-robe worn by Japanese buddhist monks and
nuns, hanging from the left shoulder and wrapped around the body,
describing a diagonal line form the left shoulder toward the right hip.

Kesa giri is sometimes called ‘collar’ or ‘lapel cut’, although this is a little
misleading as the angle is a little different from the lapel of a kimono.
‘Monk’s over-robe cut’ is a little unwieldy to use, so best stick with calling it
what it is – Kesa giri. Initially this is a cut from the upper-right to lower-left
/ which can be performed in reverse \ as in writing the kanji 八

* Picture courtesy of the web somewhere…

月之輪 Tsuki no Wa – full moon

Tsuki no Wa – tsukinowa – the ninth technique

月 – moon
之 – of – indicates possessive
輪 – ring, circle, loop, hoop, wheel

月之輪 is an older Japanese term for the moon and more specifically the full
moon.

You could use a literal reading of the kanji to say circle of the moon, moon
circle, moon ring, moon disc and so on, or a more creative version such as
the circle (of light) formed by the shape of the moon.

The moon is an emotive image in Japanese culture, mythology and

literature. The moon is one aspect of the beauty of nature and the seasons
as captured in the phrase 雪月花 setsugekka. Tsukioka Yoshitoshi, the C19th
ukiyo-e artist, produced a famous series entitled ‘100 aspects of the moon’
many of which may be familiar.
The technique itself involves thrusting (through) with the sword at the neck,
side and abdomen. This is thrusting at a specific spot/point. There is the
idea in budō of practicing a thrust at a point of light – a shaft of sunlight or
moonlight – with the katana, yari or other weapon.

Tsukinowa is an alternative name for the wooden ring on a zen monk’s

clothing – 絡子環作務 rakusukansamu where 環 kan is the common kanji for
ring. This ring secures the kesa and so is another interesting link to monk’s
clothing, as seen with kesa giri (ref. happō giri), in the sword techniques.
This ring has evolved from a functional to a decorative item in modern day.
The ring itself is small and can be seen as an indication to accurately strike a
small target.

– many thanks to Oguri-san, shihan and sōtō zen monk, for his discussions and
input on this.

When thrusting at the abdomen in this technique bear in mind the kyushō 五
輪 gorin – 稲妻 inazuma and 月影 tsukikage – lightning and moonbeams. The
kanji 月影 tsukikage is also read as getsuei and is on the right side of the
abdomen. Also on the right side and associated with the moon is the liver –
hopefully this demonstrates the connection with with technique.

月之輪 alternately written 月の輪 or 月輪. 之 is a more archaic kanji,

commonly replaced by the hiragana character の no in the modern written
form. の is often omitted altogether when the reader knows it should exist –
a good example being the Yamanote train line around Tokyo, everyone
knows it is pronounced Yama-NO-te and not Yamate as the characters may
suggest 山手.
‘Ring around the moon’ – this translation appears to have been popularised
through Anime and the Final Fantasy series, a more Jinglish approach. As a
translation/interpretation for the budō phrase it may be a little misleading.
之 no indicates the possessive ‘of’, whereas the spatial preposition ‘around’
may use the kanji 回, 廻 or 周. The ‘ring of the moon’ (the full moon) brings
to mind a different image to ‘ring around the moon’, the former is the moon
itself or the ring/wheel shape formed by the light of the full moon, the
latter indicates something separate from or enclosing/encompassing the
moon. If the latter was the case being described then a more suitable
interpretation would be along the lines of ‘moon halo’, ‘corona’ or ‘nimbus’
(each of which have various kanji forms).

Tsukinowa ‘full moon’ is also a brand of sake from Iwate.

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