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EVENTS / NEWS

The following events & news articles will give you additional insight into Mr. Sutzer's credentials.

EVENTS

In late July, Mr. Sutzer instructed two Iaijutsu / Kenjutsu (Japanese Sword) seminars again at the USMA International Training Camp.

This was the 4th year the USMA has asked Mr. Sutzer to teach at their international training camp. This year, Mr. Sutzer was able to teach with his wife, Cindy (who taught Tai Chi). This marked the first year that the USMA had a husband and wife team instructing separate seminars at the camp. All of the sessions were well attended and the students were enthusiastic as always.

NEWS

Cookeville Herald Citizen      

Looking for a new way to get fit and relieve stress? Why not try sword fighting?

Margaret Shuster
Herald-Citizen Staff

COOKEVILLE -- Today's variety of exercise classes offer all kinds of ways to get in shape and relieve stress, but only one in the area allows students to get their workout while wielding swords.

That's Dean Sutzer's iaijutsu/kenjutsu class, offered Sept. 12-Oct. 31 through the Cookeville Department of Leisure Services.

"Sword is popular and becoming more so, but one of the problems is that there are not very many instructors around for it, especially in this region," said Sutzer, who holds his fifth degree in iaijutsu/kenjutsu. "I have students who come in from Nashville, Louisville and Knoxville to learn this."

Kenjutsu (pronounced ken-JUTS) and iaijutsu (pronounced e-i-JUTS) are the sword-fighting skills used by the Samurai warriors of Japan.

"Iaijutsu is the art of drawing the sword and then the combat methods of drawing the sword," said Sutzer. "And then there's kenjutsu, the art after the sword has been drawn and what you do with it afterwards. There are significant endeavors after you pull it out."

During the class, however, students learn more than just swordplay.

"We work on more combat-oriented versions of the martial arts, so when you get into it further, it's not just sword work -- there are disarms and throws," said Sutzer.

"It's a broad spectrum of learning, and there's a fair amount of additional combat art taught with the sword also."

Sutzer says there are many benefits to sword work, such as improved fitness and hand-eye coordination.

"You learn coordination, strength, timing and all those things, but all those skills are built as part of the training; a person doesn't have to come in with that," said Sutzer, adding, "People pick it up fairly quickly."

He notes that perhaps one of the greatest benefits of the training is stress relief.

"Where else can a college student or middle-aged adult go hop around, scream and yell and take out all these aggressions and stress that's built up in them over the course of a week or a day?" said Sutzer.

So now for the big question: Do the students use real swords? Well, not really.

"In the courses we teach out in public, we always start with a bokken (a wooden sword) and put them through a multi-week course with that," said Sutzer. "They learn an awful lot, and it makes the transition from a wooden to a metal sword very easy."

For liability purposes, the metal swords used in the Leisure Services class do not have sharpened blades.

Sutzer, who also teaches a sword class and other martial arts both at Tennessee Tech University and through his own business, Martial Arts Systems, always enjoys the moment when he first hands a student the sword.

"There's a strange thing that happens with sword students -- the first time you put the sword in their hand, they get this funny little smile on their face, as if they've been empowered for the first time," he said, laughing.

Sutzer has taught martial arts for 35 years. In addition to iaijutsu/kenjutsu, he holds ranks in shingitai-ryu bujutsu, karate, kempojutsu, judo, jujutsu, kobujutsu and tai chi.

He and his wife, Cindy (also a sword instructor and a black belt in karate and kempo), will be teaching several different martial arts classes through Leisure Services this fall (see sidebar below).

The iaijutsu/kenjutsu class will meet 7:15-8:30 p.m. Wednesdays, Sept. 12-Oct. 31. Cost is $48. To register for the class or for more information, call Leisure Services at 520-5286 or Cane Creek Recreation Center at 520-5286 or 526-7393.

For more information about Sutzer and the martial arts he teaches, visit www.masinstruction. com.