less movement

Niina-gosoke himself ran the seminar. He started with the basics: how to put the sword properly on the hip -- though most of us where only one sword, we train in samurai arts, not as yakuza, so we wear the longsword as if we had two swords. This means the longsword goes over the top belt of the hakama (the belt from the front), then under the top two layers of the obi, and under the middle belt of the hakama (from the back), then over the last belt of the hakama (from the back). The short sword goes in front of the stomach, sideways, under the hakama and first layer of the obi. I don't have a short sword, but have started wearing my tessen (steal-edged fan) to approximate the feel of having a second sword. Having something in that position forces the right hand to properly move under and take the tsuka from below/behind when drawing. It also helps keep the back straight to keep the pressure off the stomach.
For three hours he ran us through all 20 kata, highlighting the general points the pretty much everyone screws up.


After the seminar we went to an izakaya for drinks and snacks and Naganuma-sensei told the story about the first time he cut from a seated draw in front of everyone, and talked to me about his kobudo and karate study, and the importance of taisabaki, which most translate as "body movement" but in this case he meant minimizing movement. The idea is to move from a state of readiness; no wind up, no telegraphing. To move back, you don't push off with the forward foot, resulting in a slight sway before moving. You just move back. You keep the head still, and the body moves effortlessly as one. Very tough to do, but if done right, that slight minimization of unnecessary movement makes your technique that much faster.