How to hold the Japanese Sword (Katana)

A brief teaching on the proper grip of the samurai sword.

To download lessons:

For DVD's:

For training in person at The Dojo:

Speaker:
Sensei Todd Ryotoshi Norcross

[sunn-mechanic]

I'm not an aspiring swordsman, but I am an artist. I really want to accurately draw katana wielding characters and It's super hard to find references for this kind of stuff, so thanks for the awesome video!

[ickballgaming]

Just found out my grandpa has a bunch of old katanas and was a high achieving martial artist. The legacy will continue.

[morganalando]

Thank you for showing us this in first person.

[danieltiger]

I love the use of “bad guy.” This clearly isn’t just “for fun.” There is a purpose to this art and that purpose is to stop bad guys. Love it!

[ANoni-rwjb]

here all this time I was holding it by the wrong end.

[warirkng]

you have a very soothing voice while giving instruction

[inyourdefense]

I've recently obtained a very nice katana to add to my options living the armed lifestyle. I believe in training and this video lesson was excellent. I'll spend lots of time practicing just the grip.

Unfortunately there is no dojo in which to train.

[majmaj]

Thank you for teaching me, I have been holding it the wrong way until now, and have always wondered why every sword felt so heavy when I swung it, now I know how to hold it correctly and all my frustration is gone because every sword now feels so much lighter, I also wanted to mention how beautiful your sword is, especially the tsuba.

[Tk]

The Menuki inside the Tsuka-Ito is actually considered as a lucky charm, they are placed on a specific spot on the Tsuka so that the fingertips of the person holding it are touching the Menuki. It's there to bring the Samurai good luck.

[JesusLvesYu]

Thank you! Sooo much this helped me swing my katana, it’s a stick but I’m saving for a practice one, but it feels so much comfortable!

[cryptidcollector]

Very informative! And well explained! Thank you very much. It is clear you are knowledgeable in the subject and I’m glad you decided to share your knowledge.

[michelchaman]

What sword is that? It's absolutely beautiful. When I get to a higher level of swordsmanship I'd really like to buy it.

[ArcticGator]

I was told the menuki actually served as an index to tell the user which way the edge was oriented

[itskarl]

The "dead wood" bit is all depended on how you were taught to cut. If you use primarily your right hand to power the cut, then you want to utilise as much leverage of the tsuka as possible. However, if you use primarily your left to power the cut (like eg. Muso Shinden Ryu Iaido), then you want a short distance between your hand - this distance will be the same regardless of the length of the tsuka. This means that if too much of the tsuka is protruding below the left hand, it's not necessarily that you're holding it wrong, but the tsuka may be too long for your hands.

[thegamingillustrator]

My entire life i was told by people i don't know how to use a sword. This just basically told me all my life i was wielding them correctly.

[Wonderscroll]

I just bought a battle ready katana today and i need more training bc this way feels harder to swing but im glad i learned early

[grimey]

Thank yhu so much man I’ve been holding my sword so wrong now it swings so much easier and it is a lot easier thank yhu

[gungfulo]

Thank you for this through explanation . Much appreciated. When do we do the Chakin--Sabari (Wringing the cloth) Please? At the moment of impact?

[MysticaLxMagic]

Demon slayer training begins with this

[wollffinn]

I'm left handed too, I heard Miyamoto Musashi was known to be left handed, so he came up with a 2 sword style called Hyōhō Niten Ichi-ryū