Ilaria Montagnani - Forza The Samurai Sword Workout: Kick Butt and Get Buff with High-Intensity Sword Fighting Moves

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Table of Contents

part one

GETTING STARTED

The Sword an the Warrior

There are many types of martial arts. Ive studied several, drawn from traditions that originated in Japan, China and South America, but never has anything made me feel the way I did the first time I held a sword.

Ive also trained in many sports and fitness disciplines, including swimming, rowing, running, weight lifting, diving and ballet. None of them compares to training with a sword.

It isnt that swordsmanship (or swordswomanship) is better than other martial arts, nor is it the ultimate fitness challenge. Its just that, as you will discover, there is something uniquely magical and very powerful in training with a sword.

Although both the philosophy and the practice of kendo, the way of the sword, have their origins in the feudal Japanese military societies known as samurai, the method I teach in my classes and in this book has nothing whatsoever to do with violence or bloodshed. Indeed, if your main purpose in studying martial arts is self-defense, youre better off studying kickboxing, because walking around on city streets armed with a samurai sword can get you in trouble.

Instead, sword training is all about integrating mind, body and spirit. It is mentally intense, physically tasking and, ultimately, spiritually rewarding. Through this practice, you will develop great strength and stamina as you learn a whole new dimension of speed and precision. A sword will teach you how to focus, to concentrate and at the same time to let go, to be in the present moment.

A sword will also teach you to have no fear. To be successful with a sword, you must find in yourself the desire to overcome fear. You will learn how to push past your limits, to be fully committed to your actions, and to find the determination in yourself to strive for more.

It is said that to be a successful swordfighter you must be calm, without fear, ready inside your heart and accepting, so that your actions can be natural and effortless. This means you must also learn not to try too hard, or you will never get there. Skill with a sword comes from the inside as well as the outside. Physical training alone wont do it. The mind alone wont do it. Both must work together. They unite in the sword, an instrument that represents both the journey and the destination.

The journey is a long one. I have chosen to take this journey with my sword and show many others the way. I want to show themand youhow to push themselves, measure themselves, believe in and commit to what they want, find the determination, erase fear and ultimately achieve their dreams.

ABOUT THE INSTRUCTOR

Okay, by now you may be thinking that I sound like Yoda in The Empire Strikes Backfull of martial arts philosophy. But does it work in the real world? Let me start by telling you a little about myself.

I began studying and practicing martial arts almost fourteen years ago. After getting my black belt in Karate, I became interested in the study of the sword, Japanese style. I devoted a lot of time to learning Aikijujitsu and Iaido, traditional Japanese swordfighting disciplines.

In 1995 I founded Powerstrike Inc., a fitness company designed to bring the essence of martial arts to fitness professionals and exercise enthusiasts across the world through unique workouts and training systems. Soon after, I harnessed the techniques I had mastered to create a modern sword fitness course which I have called Forza (strength in Italian, my native language). Drawing on samurai tradition, I teach a series of authentic sword sequences and movements including all the basic cuts and strikes.

Forza has begun to gain recognition as a powerful and unique form of training. I have traveled to many countries to teach it to instructors and fitness enthusiasts. Forza has given me the opportunity to meet people in Canada, Mexico, Sweden, Russia, Italy, Spain, Germany, Brazil and even Japan. Yes, thats rightJapan, where the Way of the Sword got its start so many centuries ago.

A LITTLE HISTORY

The samurai were a fearless, powerful force of warriors who ruled Japan for six centuries. The word samurai originally meant to serve and was first used to describe the personal servants of wealthy landowners in feudal Japan. As the central government of the country weakened, many of the landowners became warlords, protecting their subjects by the force of the sword. Thus, in the 12th century, the warrior class of samurai was born. Although the samurai and their masters faded away with the industrialization of Japan in the 19th century, their code of honor and their swordsmanship remain the source of the greatest Japanese legends, living on in the national spirit.

Although most samurai were men, women were also trained in the martial arts. The favored weapon for women warriors was the naginata, a swordlike weapon made of wood with a steel blade on the end, which was used in similar fashion to a sword but weighed less. Japanese legends tell of a number of female samurai warriors whose sense of honor and fighting spirit matched those of any man. Among the women samurai remembered in Japanese legend are Tomoe Gozen, wife of the famous samurai leader Minamoto Yoshinaka, and Hojo Masako, known as the general in a nuns habit. Through most of the samurai era, Japanese women enjoyed more rights than women in most other cultures, including an equal right of inheritance.

In later periods, women warriors arose in time of need. For instance, in 1868, during the fighting between supporters of the Japanese shogunate and samurai loyal to the emperor (the era depicted in the recent film The Last Samurai), a group of 20 armed women stood up against an army of 20,000 men laying siege to Wakamatsu Castle. A monument to their leader, Nakano Takeko, stands in the Hokai temple in Aizu Bangemachi, Fukishima province. In 1877, the women of Kagoshima also rose up to fight against the imperial army when the male warriors were hopelessly outnumbered.

Today, though women train and fight as warriors in the United States and several other armies around the world, the sword has become obsolete as a weapon of combat. Yet the mystique of the sword lives on as a symbol of power, discipline and skill. It is these qualities, rather than violence, that form the basis of Forza.

THE LIVING SWORD

The sword was the samurais most treasured possession. It was part of him. Swords were awarded by the Shoguns like medals for bravery, and legends even tell of samurai sacrificing their lives in battle to recover particularly powerful swords for their masters.

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