Nakamura Tomoko - Toyama Ryu Battodo

Toyama Ryū Battōdō was created in 1925, from the urge to teach military officers of the Imperial Japanese Army the basics of sword-drawing and cutting techniques. It was part of the curriculum of the Rikugun Toyama Gakkō, a military academy of that time. The practice was established by selecting five out of the sword techniques of many ancient schools, which were then simplified in order to make them easier to understand. Real “Tameshigiri” cutting training was also added. Those techniques are all fundamentally performed standing. After World War II, the Imperial Army disappeared and with it the original Toyama Academy, but the school survived, although it was divided into 3 different branches, due to a disagreement between different teachers.