Iwata-sensei
Iwata Norikazu-sensei
Iwata Norikazu-sensei was the man who trained Miki-hanshi. A scholar as well as a formidable martial artist, Iwata-sensei made his mark on iaido in a career than ran from the 1940s until his death on New Year's Day, 2011.
Iwata-sensei preserved a system that was promulgated by Oe Masamichi-sensei, the 17th master of the Eishin Ryu system of swordsmanship. This system had existed for over 300 years in various forms when Oe-sensei was born in 1852. Oe-sensei left his stamp on the art by taking over 200 disparate techniques and concentrating them into 45 waza, or forms. These waza are the fundamental forms central to the modern practice of Muso Jikiden Eishin Ryu iaido. Oe-sensei is widely considered the most direct link to the more practical and combat-oriented methods of pre-Meiji swordsmanship and his students were renowned for their martial skills.
Iwata-sensei was a pupil of two of Oe-sensei’s direct students, Yamamoto Takuji-sensei and Mori Shigeki-sensei. Iwata-sensei had trained in other forms of swordsmanship but abandoned them when he encountered the methods transmitted by Oe-sensei. He trained diligently for many years, developing his skills in this specific method of iaido, eventually known as the Roshukai (“Roshu” is an alternate calligraphy reading of Oe-sensei’s name). In addition to his physical prowess, Iwata-sensei produced many scholarly treatises on swordsmanship and wrote several books on iaido (one such book includes a 32 page description of a single technique). At the time of his death in 2011, Iwata-sensei was the 19th menkyo kaiden of Muso Jikiden Eishin Ryu famed for his strong technique, thorough knowledge of iaido, and skills as a teacher. In his latter years, he began spreading this style to students outside of Japan and traveled abroad to teach and invited foreign students to Japan to learn from him.
Iwata-sensei’s legacy is the preservation of an older, more combat-oriented form of swordsmanship than is seen in most modern iaido. He embraced what he was taught by Oe-sensei’s direct students and strove not to water down those techniques for the modern day. Miki-hanshi was one of Iwata-sensei’s direct students and he has been charged with teaching American students this old-school form of iaido. Iwata–sensei presented Miki-hanshi with the official name of his school for the United States: the Beikoku Shigetsukai. This translates roughly as "the American Shigestu School" where Shigetsu is the calligraphic reading of "Iwata", much as Roshu is the calligraphic reading of "Oe". Thus, our school is the "American Iwata School" of iaido.
We are proud to carry on this tradition of martial swordsmanship and we look forward to sharing it with all who want to learn authentic traditional Japanese iaido.
Iwata-sensei preserved a system that was promulgated by Oe Masamichi-sensei, the 17th master of the Eishin Ryu system of swordsmanship. This system had existed for over 300 years in various forms when Oe-sensei was born in 1852. Oe-sensei left his stamp on the art by taking over 200 disparate techniques and concentrating them into 45 waza, or forms. These waza are the fundamental forms central to the modern practice of Muso Jikiden Eishin Ryu iaido. Oe-sensei is widely considered the most direct link to the more practical and combat-oriented methods of pre-Meiji swordsmanship and his students were renowned for their martial skills.
Iwata-sensei was a pupil of two of Oe-sensei’s direct students, Yamamoto Takuji-sensei and Mori Shigeki-sensei. Iwata-sensei had trained in other forms of swordsmanship but abandoned them when he encountered the methods transmitted by Oe-sensei. He trained diligently for many years, developing his skills in this specific method of iaido, eventually known as the Roshukai (“Roshu” is an alternate calligraphy reading of Oe-sensei’s name). In addition to his physical prowess, Iwata-sensei produced many scholarly treatises on swordsmanship and wrote several books on iaido (one such book includes a 32 page description of a single technique). At the time of his death in 2011, Iwata-sensei was the 19th menkyo kaiden of Muso Jikiden Eishin Ryu famed for his strong technique, thorough knowledge of iaido, and skills as a teacher. In his latter years, he began spreading this style to students outside of Japan and traveled abroad to teach and invited foreign students to Japan to learn from him.
Iwata-sensei’s legacy is the preservation of an older, more combat-oriented form of swordsmanship than is seen in most modern iaido. He embraced what he was taught by Oe-sensei’s direct students and strove not to water down those techniques for the modern day. Miki-hanshi was one of Iwata-sensei’s direct students and he has been charged with teaching American students this old-school form of iaido. Iwata–sensei presented Miki-hanshi with the official name of his school for the United States: the Beikoku Shigetsukai. This translates roughly as "the American Shigestu School" where Shigetsu is the calligraphic reading of "Iwata", much as Roshu is the calligraphic reading of "Oe". Thus, our school is the "American Iwata School" of iaido.
We are proud to carry on this tradition of martial swordsmanship and we look forward to sharing it with all who want to learn authentic traditional Japanese iaido.
