Naked Blade: A Manual of Samurai Swordsmanship

Unlike kendo, the modern sportive form of Japanese fencing, or the companion art of sword drawing known as iai-do, Batto Jutsu is the original art of unsheathing the incomparably sharp Japanese sabre, and in one continuous movement, cutting down an aggressor. To the feudal Samurai, mastery of the martial arts including Batto Jutsu, was an absolute necessity, as it was the means by which he performed his primary function of service to his master. As such, the Samurai caste and their knowledge of the martial ways, constituted the rule of law for over one thousand turbulent years of Japanese history…