How to Draw a Samurai Sword from its Sheath

Samurai swords are great as wall ornaments, weapons and for practicing martial arts, as long as you remain careful with them. These deadly weapons can turn deadly on YOU if you don’t practice proper techniques. Those techniques begin when you draw a samurai sword from its sheath. A few guidelines will help you draw the sword without injuring yourself in the process.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Samurai sword
• Sheath
• Proper dress (or at least an obi, or waist sash, for the sheath)

1. Dress properly. When practicing with a samurai sword, you’ll want to wear traditional Japanese attire. This includes wide-bottomed pants, a wrap top and--most importantly for your sheath and sword--an obi, or sash, around your waist.

2. Make sure your sword and sheath are in their proper position. This means having the sheath securely fastened with your obi at your waist, so that it stays in place when you draw the sword but can be moved up a tad when you’re about to draw. It also means making sure the blade is in the sheath face-up, so that you can draw it right into a striking position.

3. Adjust the sheath. Point the sheath down toward the ground and grasp the top of it with your left hand. Pull it up ever so slightly, so that the samurai sword is easy to remove with your right hand.

4. Pull out the sword. Grasp the handle of the sword with your right hand, keeping your left hand on the sheath to secure it. Quickly yet fluidly pull the sword from its sheath, keeping your right knuckles at the top of the handle so that you can swing the sword into a chopping motion the moment it leaves the sheath.

5. Do your chopping, cutting and whatever other techniques you are practicing with your samurai sword.

6. Put the weapon back in its sheath. This process is the reverse of taking it out. Simply pull the sheath up a bit with your left hand and gently slide the sword into place. Adjust the sheath securely under your obi and go on your way.

Tips & Warnings

• If you are using the samurai sword to practice martial-arts techniques with a partner, always bow to him before you pull the sword from your sheath and pretend to chop him up.

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[waterstar]

on 5/3/2009 So I am trying to figure out the propper grip on my sword, and this post just seems to be far from the way to do this. Granted, I have made a wooden practice one, but if I had a real one I can easily see a lot of fingers getting cut off. Who starts any weapon training out with fast yet fluid rather than slow and steady?

[ltark]

on 3/30/2009 When drawing a sword, your knuckles should not be up, but facing out away from the body. The draw has the back up, the thumb and fingers wrapped down around and under the sword to protect them during the draw. Additionally, sword sheathing is not the reverse of their draw. It is its own process, which, when done improperly, damages the blade and sheath alike, and prevents drawing potentially in the future.

[Bujutsuka]

on 11/10/2008 No one should ever draw a real sword without extensive training under a certified and professional instructor.

Furthermore, the katana never "chops" nor does it slash. It only cuts.
The pants you referred to are called hakama and the top was called the keikogi [in practice] or it if reenacting the kimono or yukata.
Also the katana, tachi, chisakatana, jintachi, and other nihonto are NOT samurai sword.
You don't call a Colt SAA a 'Cowboy Gun' or an arming sword a 'Knight Sword' do you? And it's also incorrect as it was not exclusive to the samurai nor was it the primary weapon of the samurai until the brief era of relative peace that lasted near the end of the age of the samurai called the edo jidai.

Furthermore that is not how to draw a katana at all.
You don't just pull it out. This furthers the evidence that you are in no position to be 'teaching' anyone how to draw a sword.