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| Japanese Name | 桜流 |
| Romanized Name | Sakura-Ryu |
| Official English Name | Cherry Blossom Style |
| Meaning | Cherry Blossom |
| User(s) | Hanamura Juzo |
| Fighting Style Focus | Swordsmenship Kenbunshoku Haki |
Sakura-Ryu or "Cherry Blossom Style" is a Balanced Blade style of Swordsmanship used by the Hanamura Clan.
Overview[]
Sakura-ryu is a balanced blade style of Swordsmanship created by the Hanamura Clan of Wano Country, created long ago first as a way of life and then as a school of swordsmanship. Once called Sakurado (桜道, Way of the Cherry Blossom), the style seeks to paint the swordsman in the light of the Cherry Blossom, a thing of beauty and of death.
The sword style seeks to teach the user to act calmly with gentle footwork and swing with quick, precise strikes. Training in this form of swordsmanship begins during the spring when the cherry blossoms bloom, the user being tasked to strike the falling blossoms in a three hundred and sixty degree range around themselves before they reach the ground with the intention of setting the user down a path of omni-directional awareness.
During it's time as Sakurado, those who chose to practice this way of life were taught to live with the beauty of all things in their eyes. To find beauty in life and in death, to love ones enemy but to never hesitate to cut them down, to respect the living and to honor the dead, the way of the Cherry Blossom taught the fleeting beauty of life and to enjoy it in all of its forms.
Those who followed Sakurado were taught to be kind, generous, and live their lives to the fullest.
Many of these teachings are still passed down from sensei to pupil, but much has been lost as the Sword style changed from a Way of Life to a School of swordsmanship.
Users[]
| Sakura-Ryu Users | ||||
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| Hanamura Juzo | ||||
Techniques[]
The techniques of Sakura-Ryu are known to practioners as Ikebana (生け花, lit. Giving Life to Flowers) as the sword style seeks to imitate the fleeting beauty of the Cherry Blossom trees those who practice it compare their techniques to that of arranging flowers as their swordsmanship is just as much a form of art as a style of combat.
- Falling Blossom Emotion (落花の情, Rakka no Jō) is considered the first and most basic technique of Sakura-Ryu, based around the idea of the user becoming one with their surroundings, Falling Blossom emotion has the user visualize their surroundings under the cover of a cherry blossom tree with sakura leaves floating in every direction around them with the swordsman at its center. Using their own natural senses further enhanced through the use of Kenbunshoku Haki the user is able to sense and react to anything that enters the three hundred and sixty degree radius around the user, able to sense both physical distrubances in the "falling blossoms" as well as the intent of those entering the swordsman's field of influence which stretches from the center of the "dome" to the length of the outstretched sword the swordsman wields.
- Kikouhana (気功花, Flower Breathing) is a technique of Sakura-ryu that has nothing to do with swinging the sword at all but instead focuses on calming the user to improve their concentration. By taking slow, deep breaths the user is able to clear their mind, entering a zen state in which they are at peace and harmony with the nature around them. It is in this state that their senses are sent into overdrive. Sight, hearing, taste, touch, all of them are heightened as bloodflow is increased throughout the body and the user enters a short state of self created synesthesia which allows their enhanced senses to crossover which in turn allows them to be processed by several senses at once. This state is important for those who practice Sakura-ryu due to the style's focus on Kenbunshoku haki which cannot be used if the user is unable to remain calm.
- Sakura Zensen (桜前線, Blossom Forecast) Through the use of their enhanced senses combined with kenbunshoku haki Sakura Zensen is a technique of Sakura-ryu which allows the user to predict the movements of their oppoents, every move of the muscle, every change of intent, even the very emotions of an opponent become clear to those who can use Sakura Zensen allowing them to quickly react to the attacks of their targets.
- Ohanami (お花見, Viewing Flowers)
- Yaezakura (八重桜, Double Cherry)
- Itozakura (糸桜, Thread Cherry) Pointing the tip of the blade toward their opponent a practitioner of Sakura-ryu will unleash a quick barrage of well-aimed deadly thrusting attacks at their target with the intent of weaving the blade through several vital organs or muscle groups to either quickly kill or incapacitate threats.
- Ishiwarizakura (石割桜, Stone-Splitting Cherry Blossom) is the first of Sakura-ryu's techniques to demonstrate it's balanced blade status as Ishiwarizakura is a technique that utilizes the idea of Strong Sword (豪剣, Gōken) style within the school. The technique calls for a single, powerful upward slash toward an object or an opponent. Like the powerful cherry blossom tree that with great will grew up through the stone the user too rends their target in two from the ground up.
- Takizakura (滝桜, Cherry Blossom Waterfall) is similar to that of Ishiwarizakura in the sense that this technique of Sakura-ryu displays the usage of Strong Sword style involving the user raising their sword above their head and simultaneously taking a single step foward as they bring down the sword in a single powerful chop with enough force to rend the very ground just as the power of the waterfall crashes down upon the rocks at its base. Due to the telegraphed nature of the attack one might believe that it would be simple to dodge, however, that simple, single step forward is what makes the attack deceptively hard to avoid by giving the opponent the false sense that they are out of reach of the blade, the single step quickly closing the distance enough to bring them within striking range.
- Yozakura (夜桜, Night Blossom) is a technique that employs the usage of Iaijutsu, with the user drawing their sword from its sheath with such speed that it would appear as though they did not draw it at all with the only indication that such an event has occured being the sudden bright flash of the sword, like the seemingly glowing cherry blossoms against the dark night sky, a beautiful if not blinding light as the user swings their sword in several directions, sheathing it before anyone can notice that it was ever drawn.
- Usumizakura (淡墨桜, Thin Black Blossom)
- Sakuranomiya (桜宮, Cherry Blossom Palace)
- Sakurafubuki (桜吹雪, Cherry Blossom Blizzard)
- Senbonzakura (千本桜, Thousand Cherry Trees)