Iaijutsu is the classical Japanese art of drawing and using the sword in combat. Its distinction from Iaido, with which it shares its origins and many basic techniques, is fundamental: Iaijutsu is a jutsu, a technique focused on martial effectiveness; Iaido is a do, a path of personal refinement that emphasizes formal precision and the correct execution of kata. Two distinct approaches to the same practice, with different aims and criteria.
The school practised at KenYuShinKan is Ryushin Shouchi Ryu — the new name of Ryushin Jigen Ryu, founded by Kawabata Terutaka drawing on the teachings of Ueno Yasuyuki Genshin, headmaster of the Tenshinsho Jigen Ryu — a tradition of iaijutsu and kenjutsu tracing back to the Sengoku period (15th–16th century).
The Ryushin Shouchi Ryu curriculum is comprehensive and includes, alongside the iaijutsu kata series (performed with the sword), the study of bokken (wooden sword) and kodachi (short sword) organised into its own series of kihon and kata. It is a complete system in which the different practices integrate and illuminate one another.
Training is structured around kata that simulate real combat situations, comprising the draw, the cut and the resheathing of the sword. The starting conditions are codified: in seiza, standing in the iaigoshi position, stationary or in motion — the aruki waza, kata performed while walking. A defining characteristic of Ryushin Shouchi Ryu is the speed of the action: a movement that begins and concludes without warning, giving the opponent no margin for reading or anticipation.