Strength in swordsmanship: Why these Filipinas study samurai

Hilda Hocson, a senior lead of a multi-national company, took deep breaths to start her weekly Katori Shinto Ryu sessions. With bare feet and wearing a black robe with intricate knots, she focuses on the moment, pulls up her samurai sword, and starts her usual routine, which includes some sort of meditation, before slicing the air with her weapon.

Hocson was in the moment, as if no one was there with her. It was the type of focus the ancient martial arts required and cultivated.

TEACHER. Martin Nanawa (right) mentors female students at the Aoyama Dojo in Quezon City.

“I’m focused here, I’m here, I’m in the moment. But I’m fully aware of everything that’s going on around me,” Hocson, 44, told Rappler. 

“It’s metsuke,” she added, which means “the way of seeing things” in the Japanese language. 

Katori Shinto Ryu has been a 600-year-old martial art practice in Japan. It is founded on samurai combat to train ancient warriors to find precise weaknesses in one’s armor for combat. 

Back in ancient times, men were mostly in combat gear, doing the precision training required by the martial arts tradition. That was the case until times changed. 

Now, the practice is done by women, too. Most of them even use it to reconnect with themselves. 

“It plays a very big role in my journey to self-discovery and self-leadership. In Katori Shinto Ryu, I met the stronger, braver, more courageous version of myself,” Hocson said. 

FOCUSED. Students put reverence in every movement.

Martin Nanawa, who heads the classes inside the Aoyama Dojo in Quezon City, puts emphasis on safe space in every session. In one of his trainings, he starts by pointing out how women’s bravery made the ancient samurai tradition alive in the modern world.

“Keeping the dojo floor a safe space, I think that’s been one secret to the continuing success of the shibu (branch),” Nanawa said. 

“When people come and they train, and the presence of women on the floor signals to people that, yeah, okay, I’m good here. I’m safe here,” he added. 

Over 40 percent of his students are women, according to Nanawa. 

Importantly, it was not merely numbers. The female practitioners felt welcome, with Hocson even sharing she previously did not have any martial arts experience when she joined the sessions in 2023. 

“It’s very inclusive. It’s very welcoming. It doesn’t have judgments. We have actually more women of different ages and of different backgrounds as well,” she said. “We help each other out on and off the mat. Because we’ve developed that kind of relationship.”

PURPOSE. Hilda Hocson (right) says learning swordsmanship helps her in different aspects of her life.

The practice has a distinct tranquility in its sessions. It was mostly quiet, allowing the participants to channel their inner selves and tap into a calm state. 

Nanawa was particularly patient. Unlike the ruthless nature of modern martial arts, he does not shout, leading his students through action. 

For him, people who study Katori Shinto Ryu now do not just learn how to fight, they also learn about respect, discipline, and how to stay calm under pressure. It is about getting better, not just at fighting, but also at controlling your mind and body.

But students have to live by their traditions, which include wearing the appropriate garments, bellowing the necessary words, and utilizing the proper equipment to fully embrace the ancient practice. 

Its innate deliberateness and intentionality in all of its facets draw people to Katori Shinto Ryu sessions, Hocson believed.

“Everything has a purpose. Even the silence has meaning,” Hocson emphasized. 

The silence represented the deadly nature of the practice, Nanawa said. It highlights the predatory techniques Japanese warriors once utilized in battles. 

But the hush now has a new meaning for his students, as it allows them to be more purposive, especially in the mat, a place they revere and honor at the start and the end of every session. 

HELPING HAND. Female practitioners help each other with their robes.

“There are two things that I learned from Katori Shinto Ryu that have helped me a lot in my profession. That’s confidence and resilience,” Hocson, a mother of two, said. 

“In the corporate world, those two things that I learned here have helped me a lot. Because every single thing that I do at work needs to be with purpose. I have to communicate with intent. I think it has helped me a lot as a person, helped me a lot as a leader also. You can ask my kids, it has helped me as a mother also.”

Nanawa believes the presence of women in dojos would help eradicate the macho culture of martial arts, one that has hounded traditions and practices for centuries. 

With the Katori Shinto Ryu sessions, he reckoned the balance of both sexes would help the centuries-old practice adapt to modern times. 

“As part of my repudiation of the old toxic, fragile, macho culture, that, we’re going to be a community that is safer. And so, in my mind, it was important that women were present,” he said. 

“But you need to hit hard.”

DISCIPLINE. Samurai students are guided every session.

For Hocson, it is more than just a hobby or a sport; it is not a battle between two warriors; it is a lifestyle choice with the intention of transforming her life for the better. 

“We know the richness of this tradition so you have to want it,” she said. “You have to want to be here. You have to want to embrace the lessons of the tradition. You have to want to practice. You have to want to be part of the tradition. Or it is going to show.“ – Rappler.com