In our traditions, when a deshi receives a certificate in recognition of what they have done, and perhaps what they are capable of being, they are guided to observe it, celebrate the accomplishment, and then place it in their sock drawer.

While the majority of techniques from the Ittō Tenshin-ryū® are what you might expect from a school of kenjutsu, there is one group of kata that most newcomers to the art find frightening, foreign, and fascinating: Gekken, the “Severe Sword.”