Fusa-Otoshi (房落)
Fusa-Otoshi(房落) is a very interesting technique.
This technique is used at a relatively close distance. Of course, if the opponent is farther away, you step forward or adjust the distance, but the basic practice begins with drawing the sword without using footwork.
At the moment the person in front of you attempts to draw their sword, you respond by drawing yours as well. However, if you draw the sword in a normal manner, there is a risk that the hilts of both swords may interfere with each other. Additionally, a normal draw takes time for the tip of your blade to reach the opponent.
To address this, in this technique, you draw your sword by raising the hilt diagonally upward to the right. This eliminates the risk of your sword’s hilt colliding with the opponent’s hilt or arm.
Furthermore, if the opponent’s draw is extremely fast, drawing straight forward puts your right fist or forearm at risk. However, by drawing as shown in the video, you can see that your scabbard and blade protect your body.
Additionally, when an inexperienced person attempts to draw a sword, their hilt tends to rise upward. If you face such an inexperienced opponent and you use this drawing method but then perform a standard horizontal cut, there is still a high chance that your sword will strike the opponent’s hilt.
To counter this, you should rise onto your toes, lean forward, and stretch your body upward. This allows the tip of your blade to move from a higher position.
The target of this technique is the opponent’s upper arms, near the elbows. You cut across both arms in a straight horizontal motion. In practice, cutting just one arm is usually sufficient. However, since you cannot perfectly predict the opponent’s movements, you extend the cutting motion over a relatively wide area, covering both arms as a precaution.
This technique requires a high level of skill in Sayabiki (鞘引き literally “drawing by pulling the scabbard”), which involves dropping the scabbard while drawing the sword. Additionally, maintaining body balance and control is crucial.
Sometimes, people who see Tenshinryu techniques claim that they lack power. If you are one of those people, I suggest you search online to see what actual blade wounds look like.
In real combat, unlike in manga, anime, or action movies, there is no need to slice an arm or torso completely in half. Instead, optimizing the initial strike to inflict the most effective damage is the key.
There are martial artists in Japan who criticize techniques in the same way. They say things like, “That wouldn’t cut a person!” To them, I once said, “Then, please stand in front of me, and I will cut you in exactly the way you criticized.” However, not a single one of them stepped forward.
Of course, I should also note that none of them have ever provided a reasonable counterargument, admitted their mistake, or apologized. They only criticize. After all, spending years sweating through rigorous training is much harder than comfortably sitting at home and posting slanderous comments on social media to satisfy their need for self-importance and validation.
Now, regarding the name Fusa-Otoshi(房落):
“Fusa (房)” refers to the tassels attached to the end of a haori-himo (羽織紐 haori cord). During the Edo period, samurai wore their haori-himo higher than the modern commercially available ones—at about the height of their nipples. This was because they constantly wore swords on their waist. If the haori-himo were positioned lower on the abdomen, as in modern styles, it would interfere with drawing the sword.
The target of this technique is slightly above the elbows on both upper arms, and the tassels of a samurai’s haori-himo would typically be at approximately this height.
“Otoshi (落)” means “drop” or “fall.”
Thus, the technique is called Fusa-Otoshi because it involves cutting the tassels and making them fall.
