A man who goes by Waka online has been teaching himself how to do Iai: White Purity Style, an incredibly eccentric and difficult style of Japanese swordfighting, just because characters from the Kagurabachi manga use it.
As Japanese media has become more and more popular in the West, people have tried to immerse themselves in the culture and discover their love for niche things like how to wield a katana.
And, while there are many people out there who own a katana and have no clue how to use it, Waka’s been mastering swordsmanship in his backyard. He’s been honing his skills with the blade for a while now, but was inspired after reading a chapter of Kagurabachi that introduced Iai: White Purity Style, as a way to wield your sword.
He’s taken it upon himself to not only learn the style, but master it.
Man teaches himself Kagurabachi sword style
Kagurabachi started its manga run as a bit of a meme, but it has only gotten better as chapters went on. It has now built a healthy fandom and is one of the most popular manga running in Shonen Jump.
For those unfamiliar with the series, it revolves around the power of “Enchanted Blades” and the power struggle to obtain these swords. In other words, swordsmanship is front and center in the series, and the story is often set dressing for incredibly detailed sword fighting action panels.
Iai: White Purity Style has its roots in Iaido, a methodology of Japanese sword fighting focused on drawing the sword quickly and ending battles fast. It was taught in a time of peace for samurai, and is often viewed as being a form of artistic expression and performance moreso than a genuine combat art. But Waka brought this style
Iai: White Purity Style has plot reasons for being so powerful that only three characters in the series actually use it, but the technique itself is physically difficult to pull off. It requires the user to have a reverse grip on the sword and to flip the blade 180 degrees before hitting the target. In other words, it’s wildly impractical.
Waka hasn’t let that stop him from using it, and it’s hard to deny that he’s cooking something here. Sure, it’s not exactly practical, but who’s going to be doing actual sword combat in 2025? Any mastery of the blade is purely an art at this point.
He’s posted several videos of him practicing, with him showing improvement over time and developing his skills in the unconventional style.
That said, Waka does have some detractors. He’s not the only one in the fandom trying to figure this out, even if he has the best-looking clips of it in action cutting real objects.
chihirofan529, someone who’s been openly critical of Waka’s technique, has written detailed diagrams of why he believes his usage of the fictional sword style is incorrect, as well as a video demonstration that quotes the manga panels.
And, though the fandom has their disagreements, they mostly keep it civil and have the goal of getting more people interested in reading Kagurabachi.
Content shared from www.dexerto.com.