Sekiun Harigaya
Founder of Mujushin Kenjutsu
Arrowhead 2010
Who is Sekiun Harigaya?
• Founder of Mujushin Kenjutsu
– Mujushin kenjutsu = “Sword of
Heavenly Reason” or “Sword of No
Abiding Mind”
• Short Biography
– Born: 1593 (est.) in Harigaya, near
modern Saitama Prefecture
– Died: 1662 at the age of 70
– Pupil of Shinshinkage-ryu master
Ogasawara Genshin, one of the
foremost swordsman of his time
– Created Mujushin kenjutsu based on
insights he gained through his study of
zen when he was about fifty years old.
Sekiun as Ogasawara’s Student
• Sekiun Harigaya was among Ogasawara’s two or
three top students
• Endowed with great physical strength and skill
and a fierce fighting spirit, he is said to have
survived as many as fifty-two combat
engagements
• As Japan became more peaceful in the Tokugawa
era, he began becoming deeply introspective
about the nature of his own sword skills.
Sekiun’s Attraction to Zen
• Studied Zen under the Zen priest Kohaku
• After one period of intense introspection, he realized
existing sword techniques used “beast-like spirit”
through which the best that could be expected was to
defeat one’s inferiors, be defeated by one’s superiors,
and achieve mutual destruction or stalemate with
one’s equals.
• In response, Sekiun began purging his swordsmanship
of various movements and studying how to achieve
victory naturally, based on the inherent capabilities and
resources of all human beings
Sekiun’s Awakening
• Sekiun was able to let go of his attachment to
the generally accepted principles of
swordsmanship
• His discovery was the path to victory was in
taking advantage of a person’s inner strengths
• The secret to this strength was in the calmness
created by independence from worldly
attachments.
Sekiun’s Sword
• Sekiun is said to have carried an unsharpened
sword in his youth. Two explanations from
Sekiun appear on his reasoning:
– To avoid a nick in the blade that might catch during a
battle with multiple opponents
– Because of his bad temper, he feared rushing into a
duel, and was more likely to injure an opponent with
an unsharpened blade
• It is claimed at the time of his awakening he
switched from a 2.5 shaku ( 30 inch) sword and
1.6 shaku wakizashi to carrying only a 1.3 shaku
(15 inch) wakizashi
Mujushin Kenjutsu the art
• To treat the art of sword as combat was a
corruption of its purity.
• Mujushin Kenjutsu is not about conflict , but a
fusion of breath, spirit and power.
• It was said that the three things one must
forget completely in Mujushin Kenjutsu were
his own body, his sword, and the existence of
his adversary.
Post Awakening
• Sekiun engaged in contests with swordsmen
from various other traditions, but when he
applied his new insights none were able to
match him.
• Sekiun discussed his discoveries with his own
teacher Ogasawara and the two arranged a
match, but Ogasawara was defeated in an
instant
Ichiun Odagiri
• Sekiun’s successor and senior student was
Ichiun Odagiri
• Ichiun Odagiri is considered by many as the
greatest swordsman ever – better even than
Musashi
• Sekiun and Odagiri are mentioned in Sensei
Kim’s Classical Man and Don Warrener’s The
20th Century Samurai
Credits
• Sekiun Harigaya, by Yoshinori Kono, Aikido
Journal #114, 1998