TMJER Iwata lineage
MJER Schools of Tosa
Iwata hanshi lineage
Why MJER of Tosa?
If we enter Iaido or Iaijutsu as the search expression into our internet browser, we get lots of information. There are many federations, associations, and styles to join and follow. A beginner might be quite uncertain about it; how to decide which one is good, which one is authentic.
Anyone of them can be good and authentic, if it has a lineage back to Japan. How good are they? It depends on the person who looks for them. Someone might like the style that is taught in the next street, others might be interested in the fame and reputation of the teacher. Also the precision, strength, and internal logic of the techniques might be a good reason to choose this or that one, not to mention the stimulating sight of the Japanese Katana.
We follow the lineage of the Muso Jikiden Eishin Ryu school of Tosa (today it is called Kochi prefecture) that is taught by Iwata Norikazu sensei (TMJER). There are several other branches of the MJER school in Japan, connected to the teacher who passed on the techniques developed in Kochi in the 20. century. Iwata sensei calls his MJER lineage the MJER of Tosa, because the great reformer of this school, Oe Masamichi sensei was born in Kochi, and that is the place where all the currently practiced MJER schools came from. I give you below a short summary of the MJER of Tosa, its meaning and importance for us.
- It has a direct and ceaseless line from Oe Masamichi sensei.
- It is a thoroughly and deeply refined school of Iai. Its internal logic is totally rational, and covers even the smallest details of the way of thinking, use of the body and the sword.
- It is objective, complex and wise. Its basic principle is that no human being is able to become perfect in Iaido.
Therefore the MJER of Tosa applies such criteria that constitute a stand-alone, objective system of knowledge, that is: the MJER of Tosa is universal, and everybody can understand it.
Iwata hanshi is not only a well-known and excellent master of Iaido, but also a researcher of TMJER, who used to collect Oe sensei’s secret teachings.
- Iwata hanshi was our ideal, because of his personality, his unlimited well-meaningness, and his strength as well. Even in his 90s he could lead a one-week training camps so powerfully, that the participants were filled up with his vitality.
author: Hunor Mihalik sensei
