12 essays on spear/Hōzōinryū written by Kagita Chūbee (1957 - 2011), 20th sōke (headmaster) of the Hōzōinryū.

First published in the Nara town magazine Ubusuna, 2009.

Essays by the 20th sōke of the Hōzōinryū

Written by Kagita Chūbee, 20th sōke of the Hōzōinryū

The Techniques of the Hōzōinryū Sōjutsu

As I already wrote in the March issue one of the characteristics of the Hōzōinryū Sōjutsu is the use of a spear called Kamayari1 which has a blade in the form of a cross which sets it appart from the standard Suyari2. Thanks to its cross-shaped blade the Kamayari can not only be used for thrusting but in a lot of ways. One can beat down an opponent's spear in a cutting movement3 or in a rotating movement4 or slide5 along the shaft of the opponent's spear. The Hōzōinryū became Japan's largest spear style because the effectiveness of these techniques were recognized. In this issue I would like to deal with the techniques in more detail.