PUBLIC MARKS with tags iaido & zanshin

n many iaido ryuha, chiburi is a fundamental part of kata. Chiburi, usually written 血振 in Japanese, literally means “shaking off blood,” and the image presented is that of flinging the blood of a defeated enemy off the blade with a deft movement before resheathing. Perhaps mainly due to the prevalence of Muso Shinden-ryu and Muso Jikiden Eishin-ryu, some people believe that chiburi is a universal aspect of iai. However, many ryuha do not practice chiburi, and there is the opinion – which has become more widespread recently, thanks to the sharing of knowledge via the internet – that shaking off blood in this way is in fact impossible. If this is the case, then what purpose does chiburi serve? Is it pointless? Why do some ryuha practice it? And was it really ever intended to remove blood from a blade?

Le zanshin est la notion de vigilance utilisée en combat dans les arts martiaux et marque souvent l’état d’esprit devant être conservé à la fin d’une action. D’une façon plus générale, c’est la qualité, la puissance, la profondeur de l’attention que l’on porte aux choses, à notre présence dans nos actes…, de sentir, de pressentir les gens, l’environnement, une situation.