Noto

Last night at Iaido class we practiced toho waza, a very simple (and very old) kata that was subsumed from another discipline.  It is a series of five simple kata involving the basic cuts.  Five kata, one hour - we got a lot of practice.  But for the first time I paid real attention to the noto.

Noto, in case you do not remember, is the simply act of sheathing the sword.  In motion, it simply consists of  wrapping the thumb and forefinger around the koiguchi (mouth of the scabbard), flipping the mune (back of the blade) over the koiguchi and the arm, pulling the ha (blade) back to the right until the kisaki (tip) drops into the koiguchi, and then inserting the blade to the tsuba (hilt).  The speed of the insertion can vary - last night, we practiced putting 2/3 of the ha in quickly and the last 1/3 in slowly.

As we practicing the kata - nukitsuke, kata, noto - I came to realize that there was something almost mystical about the noto -  a good one, anyway.

The noto in and of itself is not the main part of the attack and defense, nor is it the critical part of removing the blood from the ha (chibori); it is the final step of the kata, the end of the process.  It can be the most overlooked part of the exercise - after all, it is not a block or a cut.

But it is critical.  The angle the elbow, the hold of the hand on the tsuba (hilt), the plane of the blade and the scabbard (they should be perpendicular to the body, making a "T"), all are a part of the larger whole of the kata.  Without a good noto, the work of the rest is essentially undone.

The mystical comes from a noto well done.  There is a way the blade slides into the scabbard when the angle is just right - where it does not catch slightly on the inside of the scabbard due to a misalignment - that makes the entire move feel right.  The movement feels not so much as a separate motion as it does the completion of the entire action of the kata.  I cannot fully explain the feeling in a meaningful way - but it is something that if it is done right gives a sense like nothing else I have ever felt.

I have commented before that iaido is really just a preparation for life in a different fashion.  The same is true of noto - a reminder that every part of our lives - the ending of actions as well as the beginning - deserves our utmost attention and that an ending well done is no less important - perhaps even more so - than beginning well.