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John Seavitt wrote:
but I've seen a deep angle (i.e., well below 45 degrees and fairly close to the back) in at least one or two koryu sword arts.
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I was corresponding with someone who had (in his opinion) studied some with 'the best swordsman in Japan' and who did one of the koryu sword arts. He described his teacher's ability to discern his balance, etc., clearly through their two swords touching. That ability is called "listening" and is a natural offshoot of kokyu/jin skills. Which implies to me that some (probably all) of the sword koryu's have a level of practice that involves ki and kokyu. That being the case, I would easily accept the idea that suburi training in some of the koryu arts would involve exercises, at times, as an adjunct to "proper martial swinging" at other times.
My opinion, FWIW.
Mike