Tameshigiri – 試し斬り
Tameshigiri – cutting through rolled straw mats, bamboo, etc. are a real test of the skill of a sword practitioner. It is not an art to swing a sword in the air (especially if it is a light, training iaito with a blade made of soft alloy)
Only cuts with a real sword – sharp katana, now called shinken (living blade) by swordsmen, give a sense of strength and self-confidence. The Japanese sword was a tool of fighting the enemy, it served to defend oneself, family, clan, homeland. In batto-jutsu training, we cut the substitute of the human body – soaked straw mat. Sword training, as many years ago, still serves the pursuit of perfection of the practitioner, for the development of body and spirit; Although the practical dimension is not so cruel – the cutting strength and quality of the sword are checked on dead objects
The samurai sword is not used to take life or destroy it. Battodo training helps to enrich the life of a swordsman, overcome your own weaknesses and fears through hard, systematic practice. Sensei Tomasz Piotrkowicz is a tameshigiri expert throughout Europe. He and his sons, Michael and Jacob, were among the first samurai-style swordsmen from outside Japan to be able to perform the most advanced cuts during tameshigiri. For example, the famous mizu-gaeshi („receding water”) cut was taught by master Piotrkowicz already in 2004, when no one in Europe could perform this double cut on the mat. Hanshi Piotrkowicz learned from the best in this field and passes on his knowledge to students who want to deserve the name of modern samurai, specialists in tameshigiri – shizanka. According to the tradition of Japanese martial arts.
