Inspired by Disney Plus’ Shōgun, I trained as a samurai for a day

It’s not often that an email will land in your inbox asking if you’d like to be a samurai for a day. But that’s exactly what happened to ShortList recently. This opportunity was all thanks to Disney Plus’ brand-new historical epic Shōgun.

Based on James Clavell’s superb novel of the same name, the show translates the story to the small screen magnificently, transporting you to 1600s feudal Japan, where a civil war is breaking out.

In the series we see, both brutally and balletically, the way of the samurai - warriors known for the ferocity with a blade but also for their utmost loyalty, and what happens when this is questioned.

Skip 400 or so years and here I am in a leafy area of West London, entering a dance studio and greeted by massive banners for the show and a group of samurai, lead by legendary samurai artist Tetsuro Shimaguchi.

Although Shimaguchi San isn’t affiliated with the show - which stars Hiroyuki Sanada, Cosmo Jarvis and Anna Sawai - he is the perfect teacher for the day.

Born in Japan, in the Saitama prefecture, he graduated from Nihon University College of Arts and soon gained several years of experience in kabuki (theater). It was here he established the samurai sword performance group, Kengishu KAMUI, of which he is leader.

Shimaguchi San has also been an actor, performing as Crazy 88’s MIKI, as well as directing the choreography in Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill Vol. 1. Yep, all of that frenetic action was born from his mesmerising martial arts mind.

He is quite the presence. Speaking through an interpreter he explained Bushido to me and the rest of the class, the seven codes a warrior adheres to: Righteousness, Loyalty, Honor, Respect, Honesty, Courage and Consistency.

We were then lead through a routine of his which showcased his talents, where he is eventually overcome by his apprentice, set to music, and it was jaw-dropping stuff.

I could have watched it for hours but then came the kicker: it was our job to learn a similar routine by the end of the lesson.

Thankfully, there was some prep to be done first. The group was put through the paces of a normal 'warm-up', which consisted of 100 or so overhead cuts, where I was told to lift the practice katana I am given (made of wood, thankfully no sharp edges) above my head move forwards and backwards while striking down.

It's hard work. Bloody hard work. There is a lot of rotational strength you need to manoeuvre these far-lighter training swords, which are no match weight wise for the average katana which is some 1.2kg.

By the end of it, I am a sweaty mess with my forearms burning and heart pumping.

And that's just the start. We are all given a samurai trainer to help us with the basic sword work and that's when I encounter a slight issue: the fact I am left handed and all the training is built for right-handed swordsmen.

This means that every strike I try and do tends to go the opposite way that it should, as does my body movement.

While Shimaguchi San paces the floor and sorts out our positioning where needed, it's others in his academy really try and train us. The first trainer for me is Jon. He was one of the key figures of helping to bring this type of Samurai Art to the UK and is trained in Shaolin Kung Fu, Taekwondo, Wing Chun and Kick Boxing.

His resume certainly beats my red belt in karate.

He's patient and can clearly see that I want to shift to a left-handed style but he persists and I finally get the hang of some of the moves, including overhead slashing (Kesi Giri) and making sure my starting position (Nukitsuke) is not just right but intimidating enough to make sure I mean business.

And that's a big part of 'samurai art' - the drama of the moves, elongating them and pausing to make sure that you aren't going too fast.

There's a fascinating operatics at work and I had to make sure I was looking good for the crowd, as well as being intimidating enough to make sure that when I struck my opponent they knew I meant business.

Then it's the turn of the final fight, the choreography of which we learned throughout the lesson. A few people went up before me and did fantastically well, striking their opponent in such a way that the camera loved them.

I tried, I really did. But looking in the eyes of my next samurai trainer I knew he wasn't going to take any of my left-handed nonsense. And while I stumbled near the end, he was eventually 'slain' and I looked 'alright' during the fight.

Despite my own ego given a bit of a bashing it was a fantastic whistle-stop tour of Japanese history and humbling to be in the presence of masters of the art form.

As I left, achy but happy I went through the training I had one thing on my mind: sitting down on the couch and watching how the real experts do it in the show - my appreciation of the skill growing with each sword slice Shōgun showcases.

The first two episodes of Shōgun are streaming now on both Disney Plus and Hulu, with the rest arriving weekly. If you want to learn more about Samurai Kendigo, then head to the official website.