The longest sword ever used in battle (to the best of my knowledge) is a nodachi named Tarōtachi (length: 221.5cm) and can be found at the Atsuta shrine in Nagoya. Tarōtachi was owned by the renowned samurai Makara Naotaka, a giant of a man who famously died at the Battle of Anegawa in 1570. The Asakura forces were in bad shape and retreating to the northern bank of the Anegawa river. Makara, with his son, had the brilliant idea of stalling for time by challenging the samurai from the opposing Oda/Tokugawa army to duel the father son team. Supposedly, they killed many Oda/Tokugawa samurai before a group of 4 Mikawa samurai (Kosaka Shikibu, Kosaka Gorojiro, Kosaka Rokurogoro, and Yamada Muneroku) came forward and, along with a 5th unacquainted samurai (Aoki Jozaemon), finally killed the two gigantic men. This would become one of the most famous rearguard actions in samurai history. Two men forestalling an entire army by craftily tricking their enemies into using their own lust for glory against their cause. The Asakura lost the battle, but thanks to the sacrifice of Makara Naotaka and his son Naomoto, the lives of thousands of Asakura men were saved. Folding screens made after the battle depict Makara Naotaka wielding his nodachi *from horseback*, and steering his mount with his knees, in the East Asian style of 'no hands' horse riding usually used by samurai wielding yari (which is also depicted in the folding screens and prints). Thanks for the video, Metatron. Keep up the great work!
Fun fact: The nodachi named Tarōtachi (length: 221.5 cm) is actually longer than the longest great sword ever used in battle (to the best of my knowledge), which would be the great sword belonging to the famous Frisian rebel and pirate Pier Gerlofs Donia (length: 213 cm), and is on display at the Fries Museum in Leeuwarden, Netherlands.
Chandler H Shorter swords are more compact and easier to hide, also an advantage a shorter sword offers you is when your opponent gets too close you can still attack him. Example, your opponent has a Katana and you have a Gladius. You can rush the Katana wielding guy fearlessly and because of adrenaline you will not feel his strikes. What I mean is you can rush the Katana guy and deliver a lethal stab, but gets you killed in the process
Great video. The similarities between the no-dachi and the greatsword are very intriguing. Even the comparative fact that these weapons were both used to combat polearms. I suspect the no-dachi has greater cutting capacity and is more top heavy for that purpose, to take out horses that would be needed. The greatsword to my knowledge was never used to combat cavalry but outside of the battlefield where we suspect it was used to break up pike formations it was also used by bodyguards in more duelling environments, meaning having better balance would be advantageous.
I think that No-dachi being used against horses would have been considered wasteful, considering the time and expense that went into making them, especially when a spear between the horses front legs could have done a similar job. And that besides, it's not overly hard to break a horse's front legs, if they are moving, even a moderate blow is enough to shatter the thin bones there, especially so if the horse is a hot-blood. If I recall correctly, horses are why solid square formations were used by the Romans. That, and a horse won't charge into a solid wall, which you can make appear with skilled shield-wearing soldiers. When it come to the use of No-dachi, I believe I remember reading an account where a group of warriors using No-dachi blew apart the morale of their enemies when they were ridden into a battle on horses, dropped off, and went to work hewing into the flank of the main formations. Their enemies were bound into formation from arrow fire, but the men wielding the no-dachi were free to move around (relatively) unscathed. Two or three were downed by friendly fire, but most of them survived. I'm sure this wasn't the only way the no-dachi was used, but it certainly makes for terrifying mental imagery.
Shadiversity hey shad, havent watched the video yet so maybe it tets mentioned, but would it be more like a claymore, because that was more used for cavalry and is a bit heavier than a longsword?
1 the greatsword was probably used against cavalry. It wouldnt make sense not to 2. the nodachi was made so the user didnt have to stand directly in the path of a charging horse thereby making it much safer and esaier. Also a cutting action is far easier to do when hitting a moving target . 3. romans adopted square formations in their early days bcause of their original battle formation namely the phalanx whether macedonian or greek im not entirely sure. They moved away from phalanx because of how the mounatnous terrain of italy broke up their formations as well a skirmishers and cavalry 3. a claymore assuming you arent talking about the baskethilt type is a type of greatsword
"3. a claymore assuming you arent talking about the baskethilt type is a type of greatsword" What are you on? Claymores generally weren't longer than 140cm. That's only a little longer than a longsword. Granted, it wasn't used much for thrusting, due to it's shape, but that doesn't mean it was a greatsword. I'll grant that it's name in Gaelic means "Great sword", but that does not mean it was a greatsword, by European standards. True greatswords (namely the Doppelhander and Beidhander) have no noticable taper between the guard, the tapering only occuring near the tip of the weapon. The Claymore has a distal taper from the guard, all the way to the tip
The weapons were slings Atlatl and clubs. Maquatl are not swords but 2 sided razor implanted bats. The impact was lime a mace and the stones would dislodge into the steel armor like tomahawks on steroids cause massive bleeds. They would saw the heads and arms off of Slain opponents. I studied SW and ancient American tribal warfare. The Arizona mountain Apache and the Incas are the ones to study for warfare. The Aztec were religious control by terror and trading hub and agricultural marvels. They were however more often subjected than the rulers. They had political power but military wasn't as strong. Spanish had an easy time of submitting them. Mostly using other tribes
@@tenlugggaming2341 you beat me to it lmfao I can only imagine someone running stark naked into the heat of battle screaming bloody murder brandishing a nodachi in the hand and one twixt his cheeks XD style name ichi-ken Mugen ass ryu- one sword infinite ass XD
Jigen Ryu is NOT for the Nodachi. It is for ANY sword, and no sword. Jigen Ryu is about using "One Cut" to kill the enemy. Literally and figuratively. One technique, charging balls out at the enemy and cutting down at the enemy's neck diagonally from your right to your left. And using "One Cut"... i.e. killing the enemy with one blow. Holding nothing back. And howling like a banshee while you do it. The founder used to train on the peach trees in his yard, sprinting from tree to tree, and hitting them as if he were fighting in a mad melee... until he eventually killed all his peach trees... Jigen Ryu is about taking as many of the enemy with you as you can, before you are killed. And that is why it was so feared. Jigen Ryu is not about the weapon, it is about the spirit. Any weapon can be used in Jigen Ryu... And they trained with plain old sticks, not with any fancy and expensive bokken... getting a new stick when they broke the old one, which was frequent. Jigen Ryu is not a "Nodachi style". That being said, there is a SEPARATE, new style called "Nodachi Jigen Ryu"... that is NOT Jigen Ryu. Jigen Ryu is so simple that it can literally be taught by a few paragraphs. But that is why it is so profound.
@@KakeiTheWoIf Jigen Ryu is for the standard katana, but any sword or stick can be used if it what you have. Nodachi Jigen Ryu was created by someone who wanted to "improve" Jigen Ryu by vainly imagining that it specializes only in nodachi. It is a false school. Jigen Ryu is a VERY simply style. No kata. Only insanely hard work on ONE very basic technique (Kesa giri)... no defense... and cultivating a Kamikaze mindset. Any kata and weapon specializations are later innovations created by people who did not want to do the boring hard work on only one technique... and who wanted to make money teaching kata dances to suckers/cash cows. There is a Jigen Ryu book on Amazon. There are a few dojos of later "innovative" Jigen Ryu schools in Japan, America, and Europe.
@@KakeiTheWoIf Odachi/Nodachi is just a big sword... Like a Kanabo...there is no art to it. Simply get strong... and hack away. That is Jigen Ryu... Train Kesa Giri ten thousand times a day for years... until it is unstoppable. And be "crazy to die". You will then be strong enough to wield an Odachi/Nodachi and steamroll over everybody... or die trying. Katana and Nodachi are just weapons that you can use to do that. You could use an axe. Oh yeah... and howl like a demon while doing it. There is no defense in Jigen Ryu... just simply charging in and trying to cleave the enemy in two. And keep hacking away until the enemy is dead. The only "rank" or license" in Jigen Ryu is "if you can cut a man in two with a single blow, then you pass the license." But this way is too simple and miserable for most people. "I do not fear the ten thousand techniques you have practiced once. I fear the one technique you have practiced ten thousand times." But like I said, there are several later offshoots of Jigen Ryu that have dojos. The ones in Europe and America are wimps who dance. Embarrassing. Just google, "Jigen Ruy dojo". You are better off setting up your own striking log/post or bundle of sticks in your backyard.... then grab a heavy branch and start whacking away.
@@gatocles99, I feel I must clarify here. I am interested in seeking out something that specializes in the odachi. It is a weapon that needs special understanding. A different mindset, a different philosophy from a katana.
this is clearly comparable to the very late medieval german "gassenhauer". a very long two handed sword, designed especially for combat in close lines vs. polearms. soldiers carrying one where called " doppelsöldner" "double soldiers" cuz they earned double the money in combat for fighting in the first row.
Around 2:00, you say "secondary, or even third". There's technically nothing wrong with this, just thought that as a linguist you might like to know (if you didn't already), the word "tertiary" would generally be used there.
I have a nodachi, which I appropriately named 馬切り (umakiri) which translates to Horse Cutter. I actually did the wrapping myself for it as the wrapping it came in was loose and shitty pleather. But it’s one of my favorite blades to use.
As far from I know, nodachi literally means "field sword", where "field" means "battlefield". There are other two ryu that maybe you want to check, Kage Ryu and Shinmuso Hayashizaki Ryu. Both are iai ryu and the second one focus on close distance and tate hiza standing. Yes, they do iai with a really long sword from tate hiza and very close to the enemy. Also, there are some branches of other koryu that use long katana, not a nodachi, like the one I practise of Muso Jikiden Eishin Ryu.
In the martial arts I'm learning, we NEVER strike vertically down with the big sword. It has multiple reasons: a) there's a big risk that the momentum keeps going and you hit with the blade the ground b) diagonal and horizontal strikes allow smoother transitions to follow ups, almost maintaining the momentum c) What do you seek by striking down like in so many movies? You'd hit the helmet, the breastplate or whatever the target is wearing. It's easy to doge the strike and there's no need to split someone in half to kill him. Moreover, with the other strikes, you can threaten multiple opponents.
Hey Metatron, could it be possible to to do a video that focuses on the Tachi next? You know, what it is, how it may have been used, and most importantly, the distinction between it and the Katana?
Actually forexjammer, the tachi continued to be the main battlefield sword of the samurai class for pretty much it's entire existence. The uchigatana was used mainly by ashigaru. While the tachi would also be worn by samurai in daily life as well, some began at some point to prefer wearing a higher quality version of the uchigatana day to day when not on the battlefield. The eventually became the more famous katana of the Edo Period. Even in the Edo Period though, samurai would usually still wear tachi when they were wearing armor. Of course, these statements are not absolute, and there are always exceptions to the general trend.
Do you think you can do a video about the Miao Dao? What is the real history about the weapon? Is it a Chinese weapon based on a Japanese design (in this case a katana or maybe nodachi)? How would it historically be used? What styles would it be present in? And most importantly, How does it differ in comparison to the Katana in construction, tactics and scenarios? Ever since I discovered it I've become a big fan of this sword. So much so that I have acquired a polypropylene bokuto from Cold Steel and I'm planning to train with it using techniques indicative of the Miao Dao.
I think it's relevant to bring up the Miao Dao, even though it's Chinese it's virtually the same, a single edged long two handed sword with a disc guard. They used it mostly as a battlefield implement to, but its system of use is vastly different from Enshin Ryu or Jigen Ryu.
Fun fact, there's actually a Jigen-ryu school/dojo in my city. I haven't been inside myself, but I looked them up and they seem legit. Also, Jigen-ryu isn't EXCLUSIVE to odachi or no-dachi, but it certainly suits them.
I always thought that the No-Dachi was used in a very similar way as a zweihander, like a anti-polearm weapon used by high-trained troops to break the line of polearms troops and their moral
I really like this style of commentary: sitting in a dark room with a red lamp. It's somewhat sinister but at the same time very appealing to me. Keep it up!
So… I found this video absolutely informative. I’m currently animating my own anime short about a Samurai that uses an oversized Nodachi and I’ve been scouring the internet to look at different ways it was implemented, how it was wielded and what fighting arts would be used while wielding a nodachi. I want these animations to be authentic in form so I thank you for this video.
If someone want to learn more about the japanese Nodachi techniques, a good idea might be to do a little research about chinese Zhanmadao (Ming or Qing dynasty type) and maybe about Changdao/Miaodao (which are more of a Odachi deal). There are many techniques that survived in many traditional chinese martial arts and are worth checking out.
3:50 Obviously it's not true history, but we can see at times in the television series "Musashi", the character Kojiro drawing quite a very long sword from his back (supposedly a Nodachi, known as The Drying Pole). He does this by pulling the front end of the scabbard down over his shoulder with his left hand while drawing with his right. Hard to describe in words but quite a beautiful movement and credit to the actor for how well he performs it. This would not work in a tight space or if blocked from behind, preventing the scabbard end from raising up.
If I was going to actually use a nodachi I think it would have to be with Ji Gen Ryu kenjutsu. It seems more direct and more biomechanically sound than Enshin Ryu, taking advantage of the nodachi's size and center of mass. Love the nodachi videos.
That last blade reminds me a bit of the high elf warswords from tLotR, in that it has a handle that's a similar length to the blade. The ones you see in the prologue at the Battle of the Last Alliance, wielded by the noldor elves. I'd love to see someone do an analysis on those blades ant talk about how sensible they are, or if they're just meant to look exotic.
Nodachi is terrifying. Imagine someone enlightened in the way of bo-staff using a nodachi in such a manner. Sword or staff. The ability to fend or split.
If you can find someone who does European great sword and have him try the nodachi while you try out a great sword then compare and contrast I would love to see it. In fact a western practitioner use similar eastern counter parts, and vice versa would be interesting. Maybe see how saber techniques work with a katana, and how katana techniques work when applied to saber.
You could do a hip scabbared and have leeway so the sword dangles just a little bit from the belt. then you can hold the hilt down below your hips and hold the sword straight up like a flag bearer. So the sword is straight up and down but attached at your hip.
This is interesting regarding the focus on over head strikes being so important in this style, in For Honor the Kenesi class combos focus alot of over head strikes and finishers. I wonder if Ubi saw those videos as well?
Thanks for clarifying the difference between Nodachi and Nagamaki. They mislabeled the sword's name on that video that was shown often on the Angel Sword website.
I don't know about anyone else, but I find it really interesting that sword sizes and uses have so much correlation across both Eastern and Western civilisation. It's beautiful, and could almost be called convergent evolution in it's complexity.
Biomechanically, a higher stance makes sense. Compared to a spear, the hands are much closer together with less leverage. Because of this, there is a risk of the opponent knocking the sword to the side if the lower stance is used. So, it makes sense to keep the blade raised, and snipe from above, not allowing the opponent to bind the weak of the blade.
Hey Metatron, how's it going? I practice Pa-Kua, and one of our weapons is the Miao Dao/Dandao. Its story is very cool, related to japanese pirates in the chinese coast, and its main usage is against spears. I strongly recommend you the Dandaofa Xuan, the original manual of the weapon, translated to english by Scott Rodell (with the chinese parts intact, maybe you can use it to practice your language skills even further :3 ). You can find it on Amazon! (I can't post links here) Another amazing video. Never stop. You're my favorite youtuber currently.
Baguazhang is an unarmed system which is why the original recorded teachings speak about specifically not needing weapons, and about using your body. The big Dao of Baquazhang was an invention by a later teacher. All the weapons of Baguazhang were invented by later teachers, most likely because Wushu dance competitions require weapons dance routines.
I've been fascinated by the Nodachi and Jigen Ryu for ages. Definitely what I would like to learn, though I think the Nagamaki would be my first pick. Thanks for covering this topic. Always love your points on historical weaponry, especially since not a lot of RUclipsrs cover Japanese weapons in so much detail. Cheers!
A lot of correctors here, but I will share some of what the Sasaki-Rokkaku clan scrolls say. The Rokkaku clan was the guardian clan of Omi controlled by Sasaki-shi. The Rokkaku are Omi-koka Shinobi with genealogy going back to the Kinda with the clans activity becomes shadowed in the Heroic age or Segoku, mostly due to operation within Tokugawa control of Japan. The scroll talks. About tye original settlement in Omi of Korean origin peoples of Baekje. They were capable of calvery archery and also brought martial arts of large Sino-korean Polearms and oversized battlefield arms. This is the origin of the longer Nodachi Odachi swords in Japan. The 2 clans brought them and the techniques shared over time especially with the Koka Shinobi and any aikijujutsu ryuha explains why these other arts have similar techniques. The techniques for the 2 clans are confirmed to date at least back to 8th century which makes. The Sasaki-Rokkaku the progenitors of all the oversized tachi variety techniques. I myself exchanged techniques with Jack Hoban of Bujinkan in the 1990s and ever since the Bujinkan has claimed to be users of Nodachi. I am Makurimaru Iemoto of Sasaki-Rokkaku-shi Shinobi-kai. We are not an open school. I am not a historical museum. We are and have remained the longest active Shinobi. I must inform you most of the others are impostera and not very good ones. They are reenacting a lost culture. We however have been active in government and warfare even training Hollywood well after the Sengoku and into the Meiji under Internal. operations and even left Japan due to falling out with the extreme nationalists. We remained in SE Asia from then on and eventually spread to the US.
I definitely agree with your sentiment regarding Nodachi-use style - letting gravity assist your cut or parry from a high stance is definitely most effective - and going for tippy cuts along the outermost 1/3 length of the blade, if not outer 1/5 length of the blade, would yield the most devastating cuts. I would therefore be most interested in the second form, in which the Nodachi is used in similar manner to a Yari or pseudo-polearm/sword. However, it should not be understated that Katana skills have their place in Nodachi applicaitons. All in all, the Nodachi most certainly was a specialist's weapon, and it's interesting to see its martial schools represented. May you have good studying and practice, and a safe journey in your endeavors.
I've always wondered how it works with the Nodachi. The only one I have seen personally,was at the Renaissance Fair at Shelby Farms.I pulled it out of a barrel full of different sword types. My gosh,I can tell you it was one heavy, massive sword,even outside the sheath, itself! I just couldn't say just how long it would take to condition the arm muscles, since I'm better with the traditional Katana Sword. Took me more than Ten Years to condition my arm muscles for the Katana!
Hey Metatron I have a question about tachi: I was re-watching a Japanese drama (Nobunaga Concerto [based on the manga/anime]) and in the series some characters such as the main character have a tachi (that's my guess as they are on horseback and the edge is face down also it seems longer) and the scabbard is suspended from two points (near the scabbard and further up the blade, the character is also wearing kozane armour (if that makes a difference). Is this suspension accurate???
Well... If nodachi its a "battle only", the probabilties of this weapon to be carry on the back is high. Because its easy to carry, when the battle begun or come close, just remove from the back and do the draw, it will get a 2 or 3 seconds to do this. Its this, carry on the horse attached some where in the saddle or in a cart.
One thing to note is that you have shown three ryuha with those videos, not two. The "Jigen-ryu" depicted here are in fact two different schools, the original Jigen-ryu (sometimes called Jigen-ryu Hyoho, with the dark clothes) and the Yakumaru Jigen-ryu (also called Nodachi Jigen-ryu, with the white clothes), the second one being a descendant of the first naturally. But then, only the Yakumaru Jigen-ryu uses a nodachi or some sort of oversized long sword, Jigen-ryu Hyoho uses mostly your typical katana. Typical of those schools is that they train primarily with wooden sticks instead of bokken, probably because of their intense striking trainings which would certainly break waaay too much bokken for it to be viable. Those styles were born in the Satsuma domain, where beefier, longer katana were common. Jigen-ryu is using hasso no kamae rather than jodan btw... Probably already mentioned but other styles that are using oversized long swords are Kage-ryu (check out Hyakutake Colin for this one) and Shin Muso Hayashizaki-ryu, another iaijutsu style, but it does most of its kata seated and having nodachi facing kodachi, very peculiar, now it's only done alongside Ono-ha Itto-ryu as it was incorporated as an integrated style (same as Chokugen-ryu O-Naginatajutsu).
very interesting and just one note about video. maybe try ti put the red light closer to the wall behind. not really parallel. having the full face red looks too intense but having it a bit back so half the face is red might create a neater effect.
I would probably prefer to study Enshin Ryu, as I currently have no formal martial arts training and feel that it might provide me more versatility. Though perhaps the more specialized, Daijodan no Kamae-oriented style would be more approachable and quicker to pick up.
So after 30 minutes of looking around the internet i have come to the conclusion no one does videos on Odachi except showing them off :/ Still this is a very entertaining video.
Can the focus higher stance be partly because of the very limited space you would often have on a battlefield? I imagine it is pretty troublesome to swing that long blade around while all sorts of obstacles pop up constantly, be it friend or foe.
Nodachi are pretty much Japanese greatswords. Shadiversity talks about greatswords a bit, and the usage also seems to be similar as greatswords were also used to defeat polearms. It seems to me that a rising cut wouldn't be effective with a Nodachi because you'd have to lift that weight which would make your cuts slower and therefore less effective. It may also be too long and touch the ground.
interesting idea, but remember, that after they cut down with the high cut, they have to lift the sword back up over their head in order to cut again, like they did in the video. And they have to do it fast as not to be vulnerable. Personally I think circular motion would be best. but I've never handled a nodachi. As for the rising cuts being ineffective, I'm sitting on the fence, on one hand, I know from using friends greatswords that its difficult to get power out of most rising cuts, however they feel really good on the body if you keep the sword moving. And they are in greatsword manuals. honestly I'm surprised none of the styles had continuous circular motions, perhaps the nodachi, has really good leverage and isn't as heavy as it looks, metatron said his one is only 1.9 kg. compared to the average greatsword from around 2.8-3.5 kg.
I personally have grown up with a love for the two handed sword styles and have found that practicing with spears and greathammers that focusing the rotation point roughly at the balence point instead of strong-arming or baseball-swinging grants better control allowing you more variety of technique then the axe chop motion you show the Ji Gen Ryu class practicing. Not owning my own Nodachi I would like to hear from one who has that option how the "wobble" of the blades' springy-ness effects you in multiple swings, assuming you have tried lining up multiple tatami-mats or tried swinging your way through a sparse bamboo patch or similar test to simulate combat against multiple opponents to get a feel for the actual blades' feel rather than a Bokken of similar size?..
I've also heard of the nodachi being used as a cavalry sword. Considering that samurai did most of their battle from horseback, this makes some sense to me. What do you think?
those guys are extremly predictible. if you wanna learn how to be skill cap IRL, learn to "gigle step" on for honor. basicly you make your body mass glide using "shuffle steps" (like shufledancing) you are OVERBOARDING . cats in my garden were looking so intrigued on that new godlike mechanic :D really it feels so good doing it, you dont waste energy and you are never of balance AND so you can have the sharpest timings/counters since it took you 0.3 sec to change direction. you can do almsot what ever you want with you arms keeping full power :) enjoy. if you got that trash tier english ofc
First i want to say i love your channel. Having listened a good proportion of your videos, and having finished all videos you have on respect to the katana i realized that, even the usual comment that people say about "katana is like the japanese longsword" i have to say that in use, and i mean how did samuray use it, it´s not near to be a longsword. Let me explain myself, you always say that even samuray always carried their katana with them, usually in the battlefield used another weapon as their main weapon, a naginata, a nodachi or whatever they choose, and you said in another video they tipically use it in town, when "out of service". Here i realised that the way they used it its mostly like in spain (i am spanish btw) we used the "espada ropera". Becouse it´s too inconvenient to carry a longsword or other big warfare weapon while you are not in a war you use a weapon you could carry easily everywhere, and that is (i think) the use samuray gave to the katana, a weapon to carry always independently of the situation, a personal defense weapon of that age.
Is there any ways to use nodachi on horseback? I checked wikipedia and it saids that samurai once used them on horseback, but it's hard for me to imagine how you wield such a long weapon on horse back.
Thank you so much for posting this video.. I am looking into getting a long 78 in Odachi. I recently welded up a 17.5 Giant 69 inch sword. I train with it daily on my channel for muscle and stamina generation. I try to do 1000 strikes a day. I'd love to collab with you. I just swing giant heavy swords for stamina and muscular hypertrophy. I look foreward to more of these videos.
Honestly I would be more interested in Enshin Ryu. Because following that style would allow me not to deviate from the other weapons too much. I prefer if weapons I wield have a sort of common core mechanics. The closest example I can think of right now is pistol. There are many different manufactures with different features but almost every modern pistol has a magazine release in similar place and can be power stroked while magazine change occurs. But that's my point of view.
omg a way of the samurai mention, thats one of my fave game series ever, idk anyone that knows about that game besides the friends i introduce it to XD
Hmm, I can't help but think the second style looks somewhat awkward and lacks a certain finesse, but I've little doubt that it would be the more effective in combat. Whilst I think the first style technically looks 'cooler', it also seems quite obvious that such a large weapon isn't designed to be drawn like that - at the end of the draw, all of the practitioners looked like they were straining a bit to fully unsheathe the blade. I also can't help but think using such a large blade like that could cause battlefield complications for your allies...
just a little observation, the jigen ryu is diferent to the Nodachi jigen ryu... the was a little piece of both in your video.I think the correct name of the kamae is tombo no kamae in both jigen ryu. In kendo is a mix of hasso and jodan, and other ryu like tenshin shoden katori shinto ryu (i've practiced for 6 years) it's like a high In no kamae.Nice video, really like it.Can you explain the difference between a tachi and a katana? In my ryu, it's like they're the same beacuse the name of the katas are like:hakka no tachiitsutsu no tachi... etc.but we do them with a bokken... maybe both can be equally used?
Hey Raf why don;t you do a video about books and manuals?i think that we all are interested to hear what you read and where your knowledge comes from :)
The longest sword ever used in battle (to the best of my knowledge) is a nodachi named Tarōtachi (length: 221.5cm) and can be found at the Atsuta shrine in Nagoya. Tarōtachi was owned by the renowned samurai Makara Naotaka, a giant of a man who famously died at the Battle of Anegawa in 1570. The Asakura forces were in bad shape and retreating to the northern bank of the Anegawa river. Makara, with his son, had the brilliant idea of stalling for time by challenging the samurai from the opposing Oda/Tokugawa army to duel the father son team. Supposedly, they killed many Oda/Tokugawa samurai before a group of 4 Mikawa samurai (Kosaka Shikibu, Kosaka Gorojiro, Kosaka Rokurogoro, and Yamada Muneroku) came forward and, along with a 5th unacquainted samurai (Aoki Jozaemon), finally killed the two gigantic men.
This would become one of the most famous rearguard actions in samurai history. Two men forestalling an entire army by craftily tricking their enemies into using their own lust for glory against their cause. The Asakura lost the battle, but thanks to the sacrifice of Makara Naotaka and his son Naomoto, the lives of thousands of Asakura men were saved.
Folding screens made after the battle depict Makara Naotaka wielding his nodachi *from horseback*, and steering his mount with his knees, in the East Asian style of 'no hands' horse riding usually used by samurai wielding yari (which is also depicted in the folding screens and prints). Thanks for the video, Metatron. Keep up the great work!
Fun fact: The nodachi named Tarōtachi (length: 221.5 cm) is actually longer than the longest great sword ever used in battle (to the best of my knowledge), which would be the great sword belonging to the famous Frisian rebel and pirate Pier Gerlofs Donia (length: 213 cm), and is on display at the Fries Museum in Leeuwarden, Netherlands.
I prefer shorter blades such as Ninjato and Wakizashi, than long blades, cuz long blades are clumsy
found the weeb
X Infinity clumsiness depends on the user.
Chandler H Shorter swords are more compact and easier to hide, also an advantage a shorter sword offers you is when your opponent gets too close you can still attack him. Example, your opponent has a Katana and you have a Gladius. You can rush the Katana wielding guy fearlessly and because of adrenaline you will not feel his strikes. What I mean is you can rush the Katana guy and deliver a lethal stab, but gets you killed in the process
Great video. The similarities between the no-dachi and the greatsword are very intriguing. Even the comparative fact that these weapons were both used to combat polearms. I suspect the no-dachi has greater cutting capacity and is more top heavy for that purpose, to take out horses that would be needed. The greatsword to my knowledge was never used to combat cavalry but outside of the battlefield where we suspect it was used to break up pike formations it was also used by bodyguards in more duelling environments, meaning having better balance would be advantageous.
I think that No-dachi being used against horses would have been considered wasteful, considering the time and expense that went into making them, especially when a spear between the horses front legs could have done a similar job. And that besides, it's not overly hard to break a horse's front legs, if they are moving, even a moderate blow is enough to shatter the thin bones there, especially so if the horse is a hot-blood.
If I recall correctly, horses are why solid square formations were used by the Romans. That, and a horse won't charge into a solid wall, which you can make appear with skilled shield-wearing soldiers.
When it come to the use of No-dachi, I believe I remember reading an account where a group of warriors using No-dachi blew apart the morale of their enemies when they were ridden into a battle on horses, dropped off, and went to work hewing into the flank of the main formations. Their enemies were bound into formation from arrow fire, but the men wielding the no-dachi were free to move around (relatively) unscathed. Two or three were downed by friendly fire, but most of them survived. I'm sure this wasn't the only way the no-dachi was used, but it certainly makes for terrifying mental imagery.
Shadiversity hey shad, havent watched the video yet so maybe it tets mentioned, but would it be more like a claymore, because that was more used for cavalry and is a bit heavier than a longsword?
1 the greatsword was probably used against cavalry. It wouldnt make sense not to
2. the nodachi was made so the user didnt have to stand directly in the path of a charging horse thereby making it much safer and esaier. Also a cutting action is far easier to do when hitting a moving target .
3. romans adopted square formations in their early days bcause of their original battle formation namely the phalanx whether macedonian or greek im not entirely sure. They moved away from phalanx because of how the mounatnous terrain of italy broke up their formations as well a skirmishers and cavalry
3. a claymore assuming you arent talking about the baskethilt type is a type of greatsword
"3. a claymore assuming you arent talking about the baskethilt type is a type of greatsword"
What are you on? Claymores generally weren't longer than 140cm. That's only a little longer than a longsword. Granted, it wasn't used much for thrusting, due to it's shape, but that doesn't mean it was a greatsword.
I'll grant that it's name in Gaelic means "Great sword", but that does not mean it was a greatsword, by European standards.
True greatswords (namely the Doppelhander and Beidhander) have no noticable taper between the guard, the tapering only occuring near the tip of the weapon. The Claymore has a distal taper from the guard, all the way to the tip
Shadiversity Is there actually any primary sources for this "anti-pike" thypothesis?
The nodachi is in fact a three handed sword.
So Zoro could use it alone, just about?
Why did I laugh so hard at this?
If thats the case, then a spear is a 10 handed dagger
I can wield them one handed easily. But I am trained and very strong :)
Fuck. I only have 3 legs
*teleports behind you* you afraid of my nodachi, mate?!
t. weebatron
Power Reef Nothing PERSONNEL kiddo
Summons ligbtning from the sly, shocking you to death.
"you what? BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD!!!"
*murders the entire town*
S.A. Smith HERETIC!!!
Was a hologram.
Can you talk about the Native American weaponry? Like the obsidian blades
I second this. Native-Americans have some interesting sling variations as well :)
The weapons were slings Atlatl and clubs. Maquatl are not swords but 2 sided razor implanted bats. The impact was lime a mace and the stones would dislodge into the steel armor like tomahawks on steroids cause massive bleeds. They would saw the heads and arms off of Slain opponents. I studied SW and ancient American tribal warfare. The Arizona mountain Apache and the Incas are the ones to study for warfare. The Aztec were religious control by terror and trading hub and agricultural marvels. They were however more often subjected than the rulers. They had political power but military wasn't as strong. Spanish had an easy time of submitting them. Mostly using other tribes
I'd make my own style
With TWO nodachi!
Because what can be better than a nodachi, if not two of them!
gh0strec0n141 make it five, hold it with your toes and start breakdancing!
use the force and as much swords as you want
@@frosenbhai make it 6. It’s amazing how strong your sphincter is.
@@tenlugggaming2341 you beat me to it lmfao I can only imagine someone running stark naked into the heat of battle screaming bloody murder brandishing a nodachi in the hand and one twixt his cheeks XD style name ichi-ken Mugen ass ryu- one sword infinite ass XD
Jigen Ryu is NOT for the Nodachi. It is for ANY sword, and no sword. Jigen Ryu is about using "One Cut" to kill the enemy. Literally and figuratively. One technique, charging balls out at the enemy and cutting down at the enemy's neck diagonally from your right to your left. And using "One Cut"... i.e. killing the enemy with one blow. Holding nothing back. And howling like a banshee while you do it. The founder used to train on the peach trees in his yard, sprinting from tree to tree, and hitting them as if he were fighting in a mad melee... until he eventually killed all his peach trees... Jigen Ryu is about taking as many of the enemy with you as you can, before you are killed. And that is why it was so feared. Jigen Ryu is not about the weapon, it is about the spirit. Any weapon can be used in Jigen Ryu... And they trained with plain old sticks, not with any fancy and expensive bokken... getting a new stick when they broke the old one, which was frequent. Jigen Ryu is not a "Nodachi style". That being said, there is a SEPARATE, new style called "Nodachi Jigen Ryu"... that is NOT Jigen Ryu. Jigen Ryu is so simple that it can literally be taught by a few paragraphs. But that is why it is so profound.
Do you happen to know where Nodachi Jigen Ryu is taught?
@@KakeiTheWoIf Jigen Ryu is for the standard katana, but any sword or stick can be used if it what you have. Nodachi Jigen Ryu was created by someone who wanted to "improve" Jigen Ryu by vainly imagining that it specializes only in nodachi. It is a false school.
Jigen Ryu is a VERY simply style. No kata. Only insanely hard work on ONE very basic technique (Kesa giri)... no defense... and cultivating a Kamikaze mindset.
Any kata and weapon specializations are later innovations created by people who did not want to do the boring hard work on only one technique... and who wanted to make money teaching kata dances to suckers/cash cows.
There is a Jigen Ryu book on Amazon.
There are a few dojos of later "innovative" Jigen Ryu schools in Japan, America, and Europe.
@@gatocles99, ah. I was hoping to find out where to learn a martial art that specializes in odachi, but... oh well.
@@KakeiTheWoIf Odachi/Nodachi is just a big sword... Like a Kanabo...there is no art to it.
Simply get strong... and hack away.
That is Jigen Ryu... Train Kesa Giri ten thousand times a day for years... until it is unstoppable.
And be "crazy to die".
You will then be strong enough to wield an Odachi/Nodachi and steamroll over everybody... or die trying.
Katana and Nodachi are just weapons that you can use to do that. You could use an axe.
Oh yeah... and howl like a demon while doing it.
There is no defense in Jigen Ryu... just simply charging in and trying to cleave the enemy in two. And keep hacking away until the enemy is dead.
The only "rank" or license" in Jigen Ryu is "if you can cut a man in two with a single blow, then you pass the license."
But this way is too simple and miserable for most people.
"I do not fear the ten thousand techniques you have practiced once. I fear the one technique you have practiced ten thousand times."
But like I said, there are several later offshoots of Jigen Ryu that have dojos. The ones in Europe and America are wimps who dance. Embarrassing.
Just google, "Jigen Ruy dojo".
You are better off setting up your own striking log/post or bundle of sticks in your backyard.... then grab a heavy branch and start whacking away.
@@gatocles99, I feel I must clarify here.
I am interested in seeking out something that specializes in the odachi. It is a weapon that needs special understanding. A different mindset, a different philosophy from a katana.
this is clearly comparable to the very late medieval german "gassenhauer". a very long two handed sword, designed especially for combat in close lines vs. polearms. soldiers carrying one where called " doppelsöldner" "double soldiers" cuz they earned double the money in combat for fighting in the first row.
Around 2:00, you say "secondary, or even third". There's technically nothing wrong with this, just thought that as a linguist you might like to know (if you didn't already), the word "tertiary" would generally be used there.
coryman125 Holy fuck..
Yes, of course I'm aware of that, I just forgot it while I was infront of the camera ;)
Throughly following Matt Easton's advice and going full anal. Can't blame him, though. I thought the same thing. :)
i avoid "tertiary" because i always fail to pronounce it properly.
forget words happens more often than yiu think when you are a polyglotte.
I have a nodachi, which I appropriately named 馬切り (umakiri) which translates to Horse Cutter. I actually did the wrapping myself for it as the wrapping it came in was loose and shitty pleather. But it’s one of my favorite blades to use.
As far from I know, nodachi literally means "field sword", where "field" means "battlefield".
There are other two ryu that maybe you want to check, Kage Ryu and Shinmuso Hayashizaki Ryu. Both are iai ryu and the second one focus on close distance and tate hiza standing. Yes, they do iai with a really long sword from tate hiza and very close to the enemy.
Also, there are some branches of other koryu that use long katana, not a nodachi, like the one I practise of Muso Jikiden Eishin Ryu.
Yes I think they used them on horseback
Don't know why I'm thinking this now, but Metatron needs a theme song, don't know what it would be though
Survivor eye of the tiger maybe?
gladomi I was thinking the same thingy
+gladomi Excellent choice
Shiroyama is a great choice
Caramelldansen (FIAB Remix)
Darude Sandstorm
Smash Mouth - All Star
In the martial arts I'm learning, we NEVER strike vertically down with the big sword. It has multiple reasons:
a) there's a big risk that the momentum keeps going and you hit with the blade the ground
b) diagonal and horizontal strikes allow smoother transitions to follow ups, almost maintaining the momentum
c) What do you seek by striking down like in so many movies? You'd hit the helmet, the breastplate or whatever the target is wearing. It's easy to doge the strike and there's no need to split someone in half to kill him. Moreover, with the other strikes, you can threaten multiple opponents.
Hey Metatron, could it be possible to to do a video that focuses on the Tachi next? You know, what it is, how it may have been used, and most importantly, the distinction between it and the Katana?
bit late, Katana were made because Tachi couldn't cut leather that Mongols used back then.
Actually forexjammer, the tachi continued to be the main battlefield sword of the samurai class for pretty much it's entire existence. The uchigatana was used mainly by ashigaru. While the tachi would also be worn by samurai in daily life as well, some began at some point to prefer wearing a higher quality version of the uchigatana day to day when not on the battlefield. The eventually became the more famous katana of the Edo Period. Even in the Edo Period though, samurai would usually still wear tachi when they were wearing armor. Of course, these statements are not absolute, and there are always exceptions to the general trend.
Do you think you can do a video about the Miao Dao?
What is the real history about the weapon? Is it a Chinese weapon based on a Japanese design (in this case a katana or maybe nodachi)? How would it historically be used? What styles would it be present in? And most importantly, How does it differ in comparison to the Katana in construction, tactics and scenarios?
Ever since I discovered it I've become a big fan of this sword. So much so that I have acquired a polypropylene bokuto from Cold Steel and I'm planning to train with it using techniques indicative of the Miao Dao.
I think it's relevant to bring up the Miao Dao, even though it's Chinese it's virtually the same, a single edged long two handed sword with a disc guard. They used it mostly as a battlefield implement to, but its system of use is vastly different from Enshin Ryu or Jigen Ryu.
Can you recommend me some books about Miao Dao, please ?
Fun fact, there's actually a Jigen-ryu school/dojo in my city. I haven't been inside myself, but I looked them up and they seem legit. Also, Jigen-ryu isn't EXCLUSIVE to odachi or no-dachi, but it certainly suits them.
That Nagamaki cut gave me chills, so cool.
i agree. that is a nagamaki. enshin is using the same size sword as kage ryu as well i thought.
I always thought that the No-Dachi was used in a very similar way as a zweihander, like a anti-polearm weapon used by high-trained troops to break the line of polearms troops and their moral
3:37
I theorize that on the back is just travel carry.
I really like this style of commentary: sitting in a dark room with a red lamp. It's somewhat sinister but at the same time very appealing to me. Keep it up!
So… I found this video absolutely informative. I’m currently animating my own anime short about a Samurai that uses an oversized Nodachi and I’ve been scouring the internet to look at different ways it was implemented, how it was wielded and what fighting arts would be used while wielding a nodachi. I want these animations to be authentic in form so I thank you for this video.
If someone want to learn more about the japanese Nodachi techniques, a good idea might be to do a little research about chinese Zhanmadao (Ming or Qing dynasty type) and maybe about Changdao/Miaodao (which are more of a Odachi deal). There are many techniques that survived in many traditional chinese martial arts and are worth checking out.
Hey Metatron today I signed in for a Kenjutsu course! I'm telling you because about 33% of my choice is thanks to your channel.
Thank you!
3:50 Obviously it's not true history, but we can see at times in the television series "Musashi", the character Kojiro drawing quite a very long sword from his back (supposedly a Nodachi, known as The Drying Pole). He does this by pulling the front end of the scabbard down over his shoulder with his left hand while drawing with his right. Hard to describe in words but quite a beautiful movement and credit to the actor for how well he performs it. This would not work in a tight space or if blocked from behind, preventing the scabbard end from raising up.
If I was going to actually use a nodachi I think it would have to be with Ji Gen Ryu kenjutsu. It seems more direct and more biomechanically sound than Enshin Ryu, taking advantage of the nodachi's size and center of mass. Love the nodachi videos.
The nodachi, my personal "weapon" of choice and the one I practice with the most as far as blades go :). Great video :D
That last blade reminds me a bit of the high elf warswords from tLotR, in that it has a handle that's a similar length to the blade. The ones you see in the prologue at the Battle of the Last Alliance, wielded by the noldor elves. I'd love to see someone do an analysis on those blades ant talk about how sensible they are, or if they're just meant to look exotic.
METATRON. . . the edge in the beginning omg the edge i love it
Ji Gen Ryu really appeals to me for some reason. Plus I love the additional use against polearms.
Nodachi is terrifying. Imagine someone enlightened in the way of bo-staff using a nodachi in such a manner. Sword or staff. The ability to fend or split.
If you can find someone who does European great sword and have him try the nodachi while you try out a great sword then compare and contrast I would love to see it. In fact a western practitioner use similar eastern counter parts, and vice versa would be interesting. Maybe see how saber techniques work with a katana, and how katana techniques work when applied to saber.
You could do a hip scabbared and have leeway so the sword dangles just a little bit from the belt. then you can hold the hilt down below your hips and hold the sword straight up like a flag bearer. So the sword is straight up and down but attached at your hip.
This is interesting regarding the focus on over head strikes being so important in this style, in For Honor the Kenesi class combos focus alot of over head strikes and finishers. I wonder if Ubi saw those videos as well?
Hey Metatron Ik this vid is 4 years old but have been wondering what a modern version of Sasaki Kojiro’s Ganryu style would be and where to look
Thanks for clarifying the difference between Nodachi and Nagamaki. They mislabeled the sword's name on that video that was shown often on the Angel Sword website.
I don't know about anyone else, but I find it really interesting that sword sizes and uses have so much correlation across both Eastern and Western civilisation. It's beautiful, and could almost be called convergent evolution in it's complexity.
The Chinese have similar long swords that they wore on their waist. They would draw it from their waist. It's pretty trippy
i would honestly choose the high up style because to me using the blades momentum to take out as many enemies as possible just makes sense to me
Biomechanically, a higher stance makes sense. Compared to a spear, the hands are much closer together with less leverage. Because of this, there is a risk of the opponent knocking the sword to the side if the lower stance is used. So, it makes sense to keep the blade raised, and snipe from above, not allowing the opponent to bind the weak of the blade.
Hey Metatron, how's it going?
I practice Pa-Kua, and one of our weapons is the Miao Dao/Dandao. Its story is very cool, related to japanese pirates in the chinese coast, and its main usage is against spears.
I strongly recommend you the Dandaofa Xuan, the original manual of the weapon, translated to english by Scott Rodell (with the chinese parts intact, maybe you can use it to practice your language skills even further :3 ). You can find it on Amazon! (I can't post links here)
Another amazing video. Never stop. You're my favorite youtuber currently.
Baguazhang is an unarmed system which is why the original recorded teachings speak about specifically not needing weapons, and about using your body. The big Dao of Baquazhang was an invention by a later teacher. All the weapons of Baguazhang were invented by later teachers, most likely because Wushu dance competitions require weapons dance routines.
Your intros have improved significantly. Kudos, noble youtuber.
I've been fascinated by the Nodachi and Jigen Ryu for ages. Definitely what I would like to learn, though I think the Nagamaki would be my first pick.
Thanks for covering this topic. Always love your points on historical weaponry, especially since not a lot of RUclipsrs cover Japanese weapons in so much detail. Cheers!
A lot of correctors here, but I will share some of what the Sasaki-Rokkaku clan scrolls say. The Rokkaku clan was the guardian clan of Omi controlled by Sasaki-shi. The Rokkaku are Omi-koka Shinobi with genealogy going back to the Kinda with the clans activity becomes shadowed in the Heroic age or Segoku, mostly due to operation within Tokugawa control of Japan. The scroll talks. About tye original settlement in Omi of Korean origin peoples of Baekje. They were capable of calvery archery and also brought martial arts of large Sino-korean Polearms and oversized battlefield arms. This is the origin of the longer Nodachi Odachi swords in Japan. The 2 clans brought them and the techniques shared over time especially with the Koka Shinobi and any aikijujutsu ryuha explains why these other arts have similar techniques. The techniques for the 2 clans are confirmed to date at least back to 8th century which makes. The Sasaki-Rokkaku the progenitors of all the oversized tachi variety techniques. I myself exchanged techniques with Jack Hoban of Bujinkan in the 1990s and ever since the Bujinkan has claimed to be users of Nodachi. I am Makurimaru Iemoto of Sasaki-Rokkaku-shi Shinobi-kai. We are not an open school. I am not a historical museum. We are and have remained the longest active Shinobi. I must inform you most of the others are impostera and not very good ones. They are reenacting a lost culture. We however have been active in government and warfare even training Hollywood well after the Sengoku and into the Meiji under Internal. operations and even left Japan due to falling out with the extreme nationalists. We remained in SE Asia from then on and eventually spread to the US.
I definitely agree with your sentiment regarding Nodachi-use style - letting gravity assist your cut or parry from a high stance is definitely most effective - and going for tippy cuts along the outermost 1/3 length of the blade, if not outer 1/5 length of the blade, would yield the most devastating cuts.
I would therefore be most interested in the second form, in which the Nodachi is used in similar manner to a Yari or pseudo-polearm/sword. However, it should not be understated that Katana skills have their place in Nodachi applicaitons.
All in all, the Nodachi most certainly was a specialist's weapon, and it's interesting to see its martial schools represented.
May you have good studying and practice, and a safe journey in your endeavors.
The nodachi is a heavy weapon thats why there is no rising cuts
I totally wanna train in Nodachi Kenjutsu styles now...that's so awesome!
Like a true samurai I am interested in both styles.
I like the second kenjutsu style looks brutal and effective.
both styles; I think you would want to learn to draw the blade very quickly and the jigen ryu repeat slashing seems pretty good.
I think I'd like to study both of them, actually.
I just saw a video titled "Tenshin Ryu PV Nodachi". They also use a shorter Nodochi, starting with a rising cut from the draw.
I've always wondered how it works with the Nodachi. The only one I have seen personally,was at the Renaissance Fair
at Shelby Farms.I pulled it out of a barrel full of different sword types. My gosh,I can tell you it was one heavy, massive
sword,even outside the sheath, itself! I just couldn't say just how long it would take to condition the arm muscles, since
I'm better with the traditional Katana Sword. Took me more than Ten Years to condition my arm muscles for the Katana!
Metatron-san , I think you should open your own Ryuha.
I wish Jinmukai International practiced nodachi. We don't go that far, but we do study things such as sojutsu and ryotojutsu.
0:11 omg your face looks like a tengu mask with that red highlight 😂😂😂😂
Makes total sense that they would be used against polearms. After all European Zweihander swords were often employed to break up pike formations
Badass vid man. Nodachis are so cool.
Search for Shin Muso Hayashizaki Ryu Iaijutsu, you will find some impressive nodachi techniques
One thing about a sword people forget.... YOU CAN GRAB YOUR OWN SWORD... while you hold the handle AND the blade. And use it as a lever.
I would like to try both and see which feels more right to me. They both look impressive.
Great stuff, thank you :)
Hey Metatron I have a question about tachi:
I was re-watching a Japanese drama (Nobunaga Concerto [based on the manga/anime]) and in the series some characters such as the main character have a tachi (that's my guess as they are on horseback and the edge is face down also it seems longer) and the scabbard is suspended from two points (near the scabbard and further up the blade, the character is also wearing kozane armour (if that makes a difference). Is this suspension accurate???
Just as the Zweihander is to pikes I suppose. kind of interesting to see that parallel development across the world.
Well... If nodachi its a "battle only", the probabilties of this weapon to be carry on the back is high. Because its easy to carry, when the battle begun or come close, just remove from the back and do the draw, it will get a 2 or 3 seconds to do this. Its this, carry on the horse attached some where in the saddle or in a cart.
One thing to note is that you have shown three ryuha with those videos, not two. The "Jigen-ryu" depicted here are in fact two different schools, the original Jigen-ryu (sometimes called Jigen-ryu Hyoho, with the dark clothes) and the Yakumaru Jigen-ryu (also called Nodachi Jigen-ryu, with the white clothes), the second one being a descendant of the first naturally. But then, only the Yakumaru Jigen-ryu uses a nodachi or some sort of oversized long sword, Jigen-ryu Hyoho uses mostly your typical katana. Typical of those schools is that they train primarily with wooden sticks instead of bokken, probably because of their intense striking trainings which would certainly break waaay too much bokken for it to be viable. Those styles were born in the Satsuma domain, where beefier, longer katana were common. Jigen-ryu is using hasso no kamae rather than jodan btw...
Probably already mentioned but other styles that are using oversized long swords are Kage-ryu (check out Hyakutake Colin for this one) and Shin Muso Hayashizaki-ryu, another iaijutsu style, but it does most of its kata seated and having nodachi facing kodachi, very peculiar, now it's only done alongside Ono-ha Itto-ryu as it was incorporated as an integrated style (same as Chokugen-ryu O-Naginatajutsu).
Fuck I love this channel! PLEASE MORE VIDEOS ON ANCIENT DAILY MEALS
Thr drawing style .... also can you make an in depth video about spathas?
very interesting and just one note about video. maybe try ti put the red light closer to the wall behind. not really parallel. having the full face red looks too intense but having it a bit back so half the face is red might create a neater effect.
I would probably prefer to study Enshin Ryu, as I currently have no formal martial arts training and feel that it might provide me more versatility. Though perhaps the more specialized, Daijodan no Kamae-oriented style would be more approachable and quicker to pick up.
As an Iaidoka id take the first example draw cutting a nodochi BAD ASS
So after 30 minutes of looking around the internet i have come to the conclusion no one does videos on Odachi except showing them off :/
Still this is a very entertaining video.
Can the focus higher stance be partly because of the very limited space you would often have on a battlefield? I imagine it is pretty troublesome to swing that long blade around while all sorts of obstacles pop up constantly, be it friend or foe.
You're literally becoming a modern day William Addams.
Nodachi are pretty much Japanese greatswords. Shadiversity talks about greatswords a bit, and the usage also seems to be similar as greatswords were also used to defeat polearms. It seems to me that a rising cut wouldn't be effective with a Nodachi because you'd have to lift that weight which would make your cuts slower and therefore less effective. It may also be too long and touch the ground.
interesting idea, but remember, that after they cut down with the high cut, they have to lift the sword back up over their head in order to cut again, like they did in the video. And they have to do it fast as not to be vulnerable. Personally I think circular motion would be best. but I've never handled a nodachi.
As for the rising cuts being ineffective, I'm sitting on the fence, on one hand, I know from using friends greatswords that its difficult to get power out of most rising cuts, however they feel really good on the body if you keep the sword moving. And they are in greatsword manuals. honestly I'm surprised none of the styles had continuous circular motions, perhaps the nodachi, has really good leverage and isn't as heavy as it looks, metatron said his one is only 1.9 kg. compared to the average greatsword from around 2.8-3.5 kg.
Could you make a comparative video? European vs Japanese castles? European vs Japanese polearms?
That super red lighting though. xD Fun watch, thanks for the info! Maybe using some white balance next time. ^-^
keep up the nodachi stuff its my favorite stuff youve done
Thank you very much monsieur Megatron, umm, Metatron. I found it quite well researched, since i learned kenjutsu myself.
I personally have grown up with a love for the two handed sword styles and have found that practicing with spears and greathammers that focusing the rotation point roughly at the balence point instead of strong-arming or baseball-swinging grants better control allowing you more variety of technique then the axe chop motion you show the Ji Gen Ryu class practicing. Not owning my own Nodachi I would like to hear from one who has that option how the "wobble" of the blades' springy-ness effects you in multiple swings, assuming you have tried lining up multiple tatami-mats or tried swinging your way through a sparse bamboo patch or similar test to simulate combat against multiple opponents to get a feel for the actual blades' feel rather than a Bokken of similar size?..
Probably Ji Gen Ryu for me, seems like an interesting take for a sword
I've also heard of the nodachi being used as a cavalry sword. Considering that samurai did most of their battle from horseback, this makes some sense to me. What do you think?
those guys are extremly predictible. if you wanna learn how to be skill cap IRL, learn to "gigle step" on for honor. basicly you make your body mass glide using "shuffle steps" (like shufledancing) you are OVERBOARDING . cats in my garden were looking so intrigued on that new godlike mechanic :D really it feels so good doing it, you dont waste energy and you are never of balance AND so you can have the sharpest timings/counters since it took you 0.3 sec to change direction. you can do almsot what ever you want with you arms keeping full power :) enjoy. if you got that trash tier english ofc
btw your british accent is incredibly seductive, i would highly love having you as a personal spy back then^^ nice vid
First i want to say i love your channel. Having listened a good proportion of your videos, and having finished all videos you have on respect to the katana i realized that, even the usual comment that people say about "katana is like the japanese longsword" i have to say that in use, and i mean how did samuray use it, it´s not near to be a longsword. Let me explain myself, you always say that even samuray always carried their katana with them, usually in the battlefield used another weapon as their main weapon, a naginata, a nodachi or whatever they choose, and you said in another video they tipically use it in town, when "out of service". Here i realised that the way they used it its mostly like in spain (i am spanish btw) we used the "espada ropera". Becouse it´s too inconvenient to carry a longsword or other big warfare weapon while you are not in a war you use a weapon you could carry easily everywhere, and that is (i think) the use samuray gave to the katana, a weapon to carry always independently of the situation, a personal defense weapon of that age.
Is there any ways to use nodachi on horseback? I checked wikipedia and it saids that samurai once used them on horseback, but it's hard for me to imagine how you wield such a long weapon on horse back.
Yes. Some schools have mounted forms, such as the Kageryu: www.koryu.com/library/chyakutake1.html
Thank you so much for posting this video.. I am looking into getting a long 78 in Odachi. I recently welded up a 17.5 Giant 69 inch sword. I train with it daily on my channel for muscle and stamina generation. I try to do 1000 strikes a day. I'd love to collab with you. I just swing giant heavy swords for stamina and muscular hypertrophy. I look foreward to more of these videos.
So, nodachi against polearms. Looks quite familiar to those german greatswords, zweihanders, agains pikemen formations.
Love the photography in this video.
Dear Metatron. Can you make a vid on the proposed scenario of Nodachi vs Zweihander?
You are right about the Nagamaki... and the rest of the analysis. Good video!
Honestly I would be more interested in Enshin Ryu. Because following that style would allow me not to deviate from the other weapons too much.
I prefer if weapons I wield have a sort of common core mechanics. The closest example I can think of right now is pistol. There are many different manufactures with different features but almost every modern pistol has a magazine release in similar place and can be power stroked while magazine change occurs. But that's my point of view.
omg a way of the samurai mention, thats one of my fave game series ever, idk anyone that knows about that game besides the friends i introduce it to XD
There was a famous Japanese dulists who use this sword. I think his name was Kojiro Saski, he fought against Musashi.
The big Nodachi look cumbersome as hell
Great video mate, would love to see more vids covering Kenjutsu 'styles', or even their HEMA equivalents.
Hmm, I can't help but think the second style looks somewhat awkward and lacks a certain finesse, but I've little doubt that it would be the more effective in combat. Whilst I think the first style technically looks 'cooler', it also seems quite obvious that such a large weapon isn't designed to be drawn like that - at the end of the draw, all of the practitioners looked like they were straining a bit to fully unsheathe the blade. I also can't help but think using such a large blade like that could cause battlefield complications for your allies...
Your lighting makes you look like a Sith Lord.
just a little observation, the jigen ryu is diferent to the Nodachi jigen ryu... the was a little piece of both in your video.I think the correct name of the kamae is tombo no kamae in both jigen ryu. In kendo is a mix of hasso and jodan, and other ryu like tenshin shoden katori shinto ryu (i've practiced for 6 years) it's like a high In no kamae.Nice video, really like it.Can you explain the difference between a tachi and a katana?
In my ryu, it's like they're the same beacuse the name of the katas are like:hakka no tachiitsutsu no tachi... etc.but we do them with a bokken... maybe both can be equally used?
Hey Raf why don;t you do a video about books and manuals?i think that we all are interested to hear what you read and where your knowledge comes from :)