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Samurai spirit alive in HongKong

The Young Reporter (2005, October), 38(01), pp. 8.
Author: Felix Ching Ho-chi. Editor: Karie Lo Ka-wai.
Permanent URL - https://sys01.lib.hkbu.edu.hk/bujspa/purl.php?&did=bujspa0015514

Felix Ching Ho-chi

In the movie “Last Samurai”, Tom Cruise and Ken Watanabe act as the last leaders of the traditional samurai. They sacrificed their lives to fight against Meiji government to preserve the time-honored spirit of the ancient warriors from the merciless riptide of Japan modernization. Today, a group of people in Hong Kong are guarding the art of Japanese swords—Iaido.

The word “Iaido” means the split second when the sword was drawn from its scabbard. “When you fight with a Japanese sword, you don't have much time to make a decision since any mistakes can lead to your death,” Mr Lo Pui-ming, president of the Hong Kong branches of Toyama-Ryu Iaido said. “So Iaido focuses on that short period of time which you unsheathe your sword and attack your enemy quickly,” he added.

“Cleaving”|, as the major practice and basic skill of Toyama-Ryu Iaido, requires the apprentices to use their swords to split Tatami mats or bamboos into pieces by following a set of designated acts of Toyama-Ryu Iaido. “Six Consecutive Slices” is one of the preliminary acts of Iaido; they need to cleave the Tatami mats into six even pieces at one quick go.

Another advanced act is “Inazuma”, with the meaning of “thunder” in Japanese; apprentices need to cleave the mat in a shape of thunder which requires speedy and powerful slices. Mr Lo said he would jot down the result of each “Cleaving” and tell learners how they could improve their skills.

Besides practicing, Toyama-Ryu Iaido focuses a lot on the spirit and traditions of samurai. Every time before they start practicing, they need to host a worshipping ceremony. They salute the dojo (the practicing ground), the Japanese sword and the teacher. “We need to respect everything we use in our practice and apprentices need to have a serious attitude towards Iaido. This is the spirit behind.” Mr Lok Waikeung, a level two Iaido apprentice said.

“The spirit of Iaido makes me become more mature and have a serious attitude towards life,” Chan Ka-kit, another apprentice said.

There used to be many different sects of Iaido, and Toyama-Ryu Iaido is one of the youngest sects in Japan. It was founded in the period of the World War II . The martial art reached Hong Kong in 1997 when a group of local enthusiasts congregated and started practicing Iaido.

“At first, I was attracted by a poster in a Japanese sword company and I joined a training course of Toyama-Ryu Iaido organized by the Japanese headquarters. And I met my master (the founder of Toyama-Ryu Iaido) there,” Lok Wai-keung, a level two Iaido apprentice said.

Mr Lok and his classmates founded the Heng Ngai Toyama-Ryu Iaido Association in 1997. The organization was then authorized by the Japanese headquarters and became an official branch of Hong Kong in 2000.

When asked about whether they were worried about being seen followers of Japanese militarism, Mr Lok said, “The political issues don't affect us a lot,” Mr Lok explained the apparent anti-Japanese sentiment in the Hong Kong Chinese society would not affect their promotion of Iaido here. “We believe Hong Kong people are rational and they know that Iaido is just a kind of martial art... Iaido is a traditional Japanese culture and is not related to Militarism.”

Iaido apprentices are divided into eight levels. Level two is the highest grade for Hong Kong apprentices. Both Mr Lok and Mr Lo are level two apprentices; they have already practiced Iaido for 10 and 12 years respectively. To raise their level, they have to go to the Japanese headquarters to have a “Cleaving” exam. The exam is held once a year, every candidate gets two chances in it.

“Of course, we want to promote this healthy martial art (Iaido) in Hong Kong, but without government funding, its popularity is limited,” Mr Lo said. To help make sure they would not be the “Last samurai” of Hong Kong, they hoped that they could organize more promotion activities in the future to help spread the art.

Edited by Karie Lo Ka-wai

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