Rurouni Kenshin Forum FAQ

i actually lost track of the name...so when i find it again ill write it up.

 

sure^^ thanks anyways
ill be waiting

 

the Kodachi Master's name was Sasaki Tadasaburou. He would later become the Kyouchou of the Kyoto Mimawarigumi, or the Kyoto Sentry Group.

 

Where can I learn about...

Shiranui-ryu and Furanui Kenjutsu and can I learn them or is that not posible?

 

Shiranui Kenjutsu is i suspect, a made up art. as for Furanui Kenjutsu, Gensai never had any disicples so, im almost certain that he took Furanui Ryuu to the grave when he was beheaded after the Bakumatsu.

 

My search continues

I will just have to keep searching then. By the way what was the sword style he learned and where can I learn about it?

 

Oooo...Hitokiri_Gensai, I'd luv to take yur test! I've taken quite a few over the internet already, but, they aren't very challenging. Can you kinda' give me a clue to where it is...*don't really wanna go searching everywhere*Oh, yeah, I wanna' know. Okita Souji was a real person, correct. So that means that Seta Soujiro was truely based of a real person. But is his sword technique also real, or is it like Gensai's, no one knows.....or is it just made up? Oh, and, what was Seta-san's favorite sword, named again?

Help me!

 

the quiz is here http://www.mangatoanime.com/forums/showthread.php?t=6314&highlight=Rurouni+Kenshin+Quiz

as for Gensai's actual style but he learned a form of Kenjutsu from Todoroki Muhe.

as for Seta, he didnt have a named style, rather he just used what he had learned from Shishio and to begin with he was a natural at the sword. he had one named technique which he called Shun Ten Satsu (Heavens Instant Kill) it begins with a charge using Shukuchi and follows by a Battou-jutsu waza. The technique is said to be so fast that the victim doesnt feel the pain because hes dead before he realizes it.

as for Shukuchi, i dont know if its real or not, but his actually style isnt real. Gensai's style is real tho and rumored to be lightning fast.

Soujirou didnt have a favorite sword but he did use two famous blades. he used the Nagasone Kotetsu which was used by Kondo Isami of the Shinsengumi and the Kikuichi Monji Norimune which was used by Okita Souji.

 

But what form of Kenjutsu did he learn?

 

its not told what style he used, what is listed is the style he created called Furanui Kenjutsu.

as a side note, ive read your signiture and i have to point some stuff out.

firstly, Shiranui Kenjutsu is purely fiction. so learning it is pretty much impossible. secondly, Furanui Kenjutsu is a lost art not to mention not one recorded in anyway so, like Shiranui Kenjutsu its thuroughly impossible to learn.

thirdly, yes you can study Kenshin's Hiten Mitsurugi Ryuu and imitate his techniques, but i can garuntee that no matter how well you can preform them, you will lose any duel you fight. seeing a move and fighting are two completely different things. you may be able to imitate his move, but the second your opponent does something that you didnt expect, youll be defeated. ive practiced kenjutsu now for almost 9 years and ive fought numerous duels and ive lost many more than ive won because my opponent did something i didnt expect. as you fight more you insight will become better and you will be better able to predict your opponents moves. but that takes many years of practice and understanding "Kenjutsu...The Way of the Sword". you musnt only learn moves, you must understand the very concept of what kenjutsu is. you must see life in the moment of death, you must understand why the sword is considered holy, you must understand that you must respect your sword, your skill, and most importantly, respect you opponent, for without any of this you have learned nothing.

another thing to keep in mind is, that although Kenshin has many techniques and such, Kenjutsu isnt about using special techniques, its about using basic defensive and offensive swordswork. every movement is different and unless you learn this as well as waza youve only learned a very little bit of what really makes a set of ryuha a school.

 

I changed my sig thanks for telling me that sword style wasn't real, I would have wasted a lot of time searching if you hadn't.

 

THANKS Hitokiri_Gensai!

Like many have said before, your vast knowledge is to our pleasure!

I'll be sure to tell you how much I liked the quiz

T.H

 

Ummm hi ^^
I was just wondering if anyone knew what sort of sword Kawakami Gensai used? As in, swordsmaker, type, etc... like if it was a Masamune, or Muramasa, or whatnot. Or if he used all different types...
Thanks in advance ^.^
~Tsu

 

Hey guys. Do any of you know how to make a personal avatar? If so, can you tell me? Thankyou

 

yuuto, please post these questions in a more apporpriate thread.


as for Kawakami Gensai's sword. its unknown. Born under the name Komori Genjirou in 1834 he changed it to Kawakami Gensai, and finally to Takeda Genbe. his appearance was described as short with long black hair. from what ive gathered, he was in his early 30's at the time of the Bakumatsu and most likely kept his hair in Chonmage, or a samurai topknot, however, some records say that he was somewhat feminine in his appearance which suggests that his hair may have hung free. He was probably of typical height, between 5' 2" and 5' 5". his sword judging by his height was probably between 26 and 28 inches long. its maker, origin, wieght and true length are all lost to history. his swordsmenship was called Furanui Ryuu and was a style he created. his starting stance was a very low iai stance. This suggests that Furanui Ryuu was a iai school, but this isnt certain.

he was one of four Hitokiri of the Bakumatsu, and was considered to be the most fearsome of all of them. He is most well known for cutting Kuma Shouzan in broad daylight, whether or not hes resposible for the numerous other assissnations that took place is unknown. When the transition of power came, his ideals of Isolationism conflicted with the Meiji Government and he was tried on false charges and beheaded sometime in 1871.

he definitly wouldnt have used a Muramasa or a Masamune. firstly, even as little as 100 years after Masamune's death his blades were considered the finest ever made and were sought by all and during the Bakumatsu were considered national treasures. as for Muramasa, at the begining of the Tokugawa Shoganate, Tokugawa Ieyasu banned all samurai from carrying Muramasa blades. he had a deathly fear of them, he had relatives that had been killed by them and he himself had been seriously wounded with one. his first son whom he ordered to commit seppuku, was beheaded with a Muramasa blade. because of this ban hundreds of Muramasa blades were destroyed and anyone who was associated with Muramasa such as Masatoshi was also banned. but the cutting ability of Muramasa's blades were legendary, they didnt have the "spirit" that Masamune had but from a technical standpoint they were the best blades ever created.

as for using different "Types" most samurai were presented with a sword from their lord when they came of age and began serving him. while this may have been the case with Gensai, most likely he was a ronin, but nothing is sure. eitherway, he would have used on blade and only one blade. The Nihontou is considered to be the soul of Japan and it was considered to be the soul of the Samurai, so they blade they used was respected above all else, even their wives and family. when a samurai returned home his wife would slide the sleeves of her kimono over her hand so she wouldnt touch even the scabbards. so, he probably carried only one blade his whole life, but again this is all not verified.

 

Hello everyone, I have recently found this website, and have found it to be quite amazing. I want to be able to learn as much as i can, and maybe help anyone, if i can, as well. I'm delighted to have found someone, who knows so much. So with all this said, this post is for Mister Kawakami Gensai.

I wanted to ask you, where you found your information, on Sasaki Tadasaburou, the Kodachi master, because i put in a search on the internet and nothing came up.
And
Of the nine years, of your Kenjutsu training, have you ever seen a Hirasuki being performed? i am a big fan of Saitou Hajime, and it would be such a wonderful thing, to see his best attack being done before me. I wanted to know sir, if you have ever seen it.

Thank you all, I hope i can contribute knowlegde to this website.
Thanks you all once again, and i look forward to talking in the future.
-Saitou_Hajime

 

hmmmmmm....you know, now that i think about it, i kind of forget. i believe it was a page on the Shinsengumi or something similar to that. your best way of searching for "rare" info such as that is best sought on the Japanese google or something of that sort haha.

well the Hirazuki was invented by Hijikata Toshizou, but im not entirely sure if the Tennen Rishin Ryuu was ever passed beyond the Shinsengumi. Actually, Saitou's technique was a simple left handed forward thrust based upon the Hirazuki.

 

Ah, i see. Well, thank you for your help. I love the Kodachis. but i don't know to much about the people in history that used them.
As, for the Hirazuki, i guess then the answer is no. I had a feeling it would be, but my curiasity got the best of me. I was just wondering, if that is a technique, that is still being taught today. I love those "one" attack type techniques, such as Battou-jutsu, and or Iaido, the Hirazuki, and the Shiden Blade,(i'm not sure that ever existed, but i still like it anyway.) You would need great accuracy and speed, and i love that. I would love to learn it, but well(i already have alot i'm doing already, and money won't allow.) So i dream everyday, of being able to learn.(Kind of sad i know) but its all i have to look forward to, when it comes to sword-fighting. Because i don't know to much about all different techniques, and the names in Japanese and such. But i still love it, despite all that.
well, i apologize for the very long post. I just started typing and i, well, wasn't paying attension of all long it was.
My Apologizes. Thank you for the help once again.
-Saitou_Hajime

 

Ok i have a question i have been lookin for a long time for the dong in the smaurai x trust ova where tomoe tell kenshin that he made the rain bleed, what song is playin in the backround??? if someone could help me out i would be extremly grateful!!!!!

 

The Kodachi is a very interesting sword. broken down, the Japanese sword is divded into three catargories. The first is the Tanto, this term refers to any blade that is under 1 shaku (1 shaku is 11.93 inches and commonly converted to a foot), the second is shoto, this term refers to any blade over 1 shaku but under 2. and the last is the daitou, which is any blade over 2 shaku. The Kodachi is a borderline case lying between between shoto and daitou. The blades are generally just a hair over 2 shaku up sometimes up to 25 inches in length. This makes for a very fast blade with decent range and weight. Its one major downfall is that its range is limited because its only 24 or 25 inches long.

Unfortunetly, as far as my research shows, the Tennen Rishin School of Kenjutsu disappeared after the death of its members. However, forms of Saitous school still exist, however the Hirazuki was strictly a Tennen waza. However, hailing from Aizu Saitou began to study Kenjutsu in one of the many Ittou Ryuu school branches. Aizu in particular practiced Mizuguchiha Ittou Ryuu so its a very fair chance that he practiced this too and its widely accepted that he did.

as for "one hit one kill" techniques like that, its a fairly important factor in Japanese swordsmenship. Where fencing relies heavily on parrying and feinting and the such, Japanese swordsmenship is aimed at one purpose: To Kill with as little movement as possible. Thus giving birth to such techniques.