Ono Ha Ittō Ryū
Ono Ha Ittō Ryū (小野派一刀流) is the Kenjutsu (剣術) school developed by Ono Jirōemon Tadaaki (1565–1628), himself student and immediate successor of Itō Ittōsai Kagehisa, who was at the origin of Ittō Ryū (一刀流).
Ittō Ryū (一刀流) stands for “one sword school” (or “one stroke school”) and Ono Ha Ittō Ryū (OHIR) can be translated as the Ono fraction of Ittō Ryū.
Ono Ha Ittō Ryū was chosen as one of the official sword schools of the Tokugawa shogunate (together with Shinkage-ryu). Many of the feudal domains in Japan adopted it as their official system. The main line however, would move from Edo (Tokyo) to the Tsugaru domain, until Sasamori Junzō (16th Sōke), brought it back to Tokyo.
The aim of this school is to defeat the opponent with one stroke, hence the name “Ittō” (一刀) which should be interpreted as “one stroke” or “one beat (flow)”. The reference to “one” is also philosophical and indicates that everything starts with one and ends with one. “One” refers also to Kiri-otoshi (cut to drop), which is the basic technique in the school. Nevertheless it is said that the thrust or Tsuki (突 き) is the most feared technique in Ittō Ryū.
More information can be found in the next article: Ono Ha Ittō Ryū, an introduction
