Tanren (鍛錬) means forging, a process in which heat and pressure are applied to raw material in order to dissolve impurities and increase strength and flexibility.

For those of us looking to go deeper in our study of the sword, our Western lifestyle — from how we work and move to our learned intellectual, emotional, and dietary habits — presents major barriers. Many of us sit at desks all day, hunched over keyboards. The tanden (丹田 / body center) never develops, rendering it inaccessible, and the lower body weakens. The joints that should be the most flexible when wielding the sword, like the shoulders and hips, are often the most frozen and blocked.

The tanren combines specialized breathing practices with static positions and slow, loaded movements (sometimes using tools like heavy wooden clubs or short steel rods) to increase sensitivity and integrate inner and outer power, allowing for much greater freedom of movement, more effective breathing, and the cultivation of zanshin (残心), or mental stability.

Zentokan Dojo offers a tanren class once per week, and the practice is open to everyone, including those who are not practicing the sword.

You can learn more about the tanren by reading 30 Months of Tanren.

John Evans sensei teaches Kurikara Ryu Heiho and Nakamura Ryu Battodo in London.