Ninja show (tameshigiri)

Part of ninja show in Iga-ryu Ninja Museum near Iga Ueno Castle in Japan. Battojutsu and tameshigiri technique. Tameshigiri (試し斬り) is the Japanese art of target test cutting. The kanji literally mean “test cut“ (kun’yomi: ためし ぎり tameshi giri). This practice was popularized in the Edo period (17th century) for testing the quality of Japanese swords. It continues to the present day, but has evolved into a martial art which focuses on demonstrating the practitioner’s skill with a sword.