■Content: Participate in a lesson of Tate, the Japanese sword martial art used in samurai films. In the lesson you will learn: how to handle the bokuto (wooden sword, commonly mistakenly called “bokken” in English), kata forms, and participate in short battle scenes. The battle scenes will be filmed with a camera or smart phone, and you can even use your own device to record your scene. (Recorded scenes will be uploaded to YouTube so you can watch them later also)

■Materials: Wooden sword (bokuto) and sash (obi) will be provided for your training. Please bring workout clothes that are easy to move around in. Please note the lesson will be barefoot. Watches, jewelry, and accessories should be removed during training.

■Location: Momoi Jidokan, 2 Chome-10-9 Momoi, Suginami, Tokyo (in between Ogikubo and Nishi-Ogikubo). *Subject to change, please confirm the location when you sign up.

■Schedule: Every Tuesday and Saturday from 7:00pm *Subject to change, please confirm the schedule when you sign up.

■Workshop Time: approximately 2 hours

■Number of Participants: no minimum (participants will join the usual Tate class)

■Cost: 2,000 yen per person (tax included) for one training session

■Instructor: Daigo Ishimatsu-sensei, 38+ years experience in Tate. As a samurai actor he has been in many major theatrical productions, on TV dramas, and has experience training others for such roles.

■Sign up/schedule/inquiry: Please contact by sending an email to: newone@dai.nifty.jp

Experience a martial arts class like a true resident of Japan would– head to a local gymnasium and practice with locals! It is in Japanese only, but even if you cannot speak the language at all you will be welcomed. You will  just need to be very patient to follow along with the visuals. You might want to learn at least how to count to 10 in Japanese (ichi-ni-san-shi-go-roku-shichi-hachi-kyu-juu) as you will be repeating this phrase a lot!

Tate (pronounced “tah-tay”) is an interesting martial art that is used in samurai films, and this workshop is recommended for those with martial arts experience who might want to try their hand at a sword art, but anyone with patience who is in decent shape can give it a try. You will get tired very quickly repeating the sword exercises, but luckily you will get breaks when the more advanced students tackle their agenda, and these are great opportunities to watch some skilled tate martial artists. As a great souvenir and memory, you will even get to be in a short video for YouTube showing techniques you learned in a mock battle scene, which you can then show off to your friends and family about what you got to learn while in Japan, that you may not be able to learn in any other country!