Quote:
Christian Moses wrote:
Could you elaborate on this? [happo-giri -- transition through the center -- passing through hassō-gamae] I cannot picture what you're talking about here at all.
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Happo giri typically is begun in kihon with a "step-pivot" at each cycle and the sword lifting fully to jo dan kamae. The point of happo giri is of course to make recovery of the sword flow into the following cut and to integrate the movement of the body in that flow to change direction without effort or thought. Once this fluidity becomes dominant in the movement the sword hilts do not rise much above the eyes for each cut. To raise it further places the mass of the sword more off-center which slows the turns.
As the step-pivots become more accelerated or more sudden, they have to tighten up (like a skater's spin) and the sword thus passes through hassō gamae instead of jodan kamae at each turn. The sword comes only to the center just before again cutting in the new direction. This becomes even more apparent in doing the "step-pivot-tenkan" happo-giri variants (which are draw cuts rather than advancing cuts). In either case, we are practicing in the happo giri the ability to pivot and strike 270 degrees in either direction from that center pivot hassō. Like spokes on the wheel.