The posture lets you squat down when wearing armour. The skirt part of Japanese armour was not so flexible. Look at http://www.iz2.or.jp/english/fukusyoku/busou/3.htm (the Kyoto costume museum) and you can see the skirt is made of essentially joined plates of protective material. The higher status you were the less flexible the armour.... http://www.iz2.or.jp/english/fukusyoku/wayou/36.htm being a general.
It is also a crouching position from which you can leap in all four directions which is not at all easy from seiza. It can also be used if one leg is injured. regards koyo Tate seiza is used in the katori Shinto Ryu.
No, I am afraid tate-hiza in the Seitei iaido & MJER/MSR sense, is not used in Katori Shinto-ryu. This is tate-hiza as used in the disciplines mentioned above. Tenshin Shoden Katori Shinto-ryu utilise a posture called iai-goshi, where both balls of the feet are on the floor and the left buttock is seated on the left heel, while the right leg is stood to, supporting the body weight and enabling mobility. This is a poor quality photo of Otake shihan from TSKSR in iai-goshi. Big difference in position and how the hips are used when moving.
Absolutely! Sekiguchi ryu lands in iai-goshi after tobiichigai. However, I firmly believe that both tate-hiza and iai-goshi were created for the sole purpose of causing immense pain and anguish to gaijin that have the audacity to attempt to learn the Japanese sword arts!!
I suspect that the use of the stances for causing pain and anguish doesn't only apply to gaijin; I've never seen even one modern Japanese use the stance in daily life, so I doubt they'd have any easier a time. Leaping? How is tate-hiza suited to mobility? It seems to my (ignorant and clumsy ****) in some ways even clumsier than seiza! (Hell, I even have an easier time rising-and-drawing from the Takamatsu-den style fudo-za-gamae than with MSR tatehiza! But that could be because I'm more used to it, and not because it's easier.)
I had confused the posture with iai goshi. We use iai goshi in our unarmed arts rather than tate seiza if we are favouring an injured leg or being used as uke for the vey reason you have posted. regards koyo
Yup! I split the skin under my little toe, and it was a year before it finally healed completely cause it kept splitting back open no matter how tight I wrapped it! I've seen quite a few instances of people using iai-goshi outside of the dojo in Japan. I've only seen a couple of instances of tate-hiza being used. Then again, I tended to pretty much hang around with sword art types when I was there, so that could account for it.
