Okita's Martial Arts Skills

At the age of nine, Okita wandered to Edo to Tama where he met Isamu Kondo and entered Kondo's discipline as a disciple of the Natural Rishin Ryu. After only three years of training, he defeated the Shirakawa clan's sword instructor at the age of twelve. After joining the Shinsengumi, at the age of nineteen he surpassed his master, Kondo, and became the top master of the Natural Rishin Ryu. At the age of twenty, he became the first captain of the Shinsengumi and the Shinsengumi's sword instructor.

Okita's most famous move was his unique three-step variation of the Hiragana style, "Hiragashira" (Flat Green Eyes). This move is rumored to be so fast and invincible that it is impossible to avoid. The author Ryotaro Sima described Okita's swordplay as follows: "Okita often starts with a flat green eye, a difficult swordplay in which the tip of the blade is slightly lowered and tilted slightly to the right. From this position, he pressed downward to catch the enemy's blade, and then swung it upward and downward with the speed of lightning. The young man's swordsmanship is so skillful that one feels that the enemy is almost drawn to his blade to be chopped." The natural Rishinryu swordsmanship taught at the Test Guardian emphasized actual combat, so even though almost every senior cadre of the Shinsengumi had the strength of a hundred killers, they were still despised as peasant swordsmanship. It was rare for Okita's swordsmanship to produce such a magnificent show on top of its effectiveness, truly living up to its reputation as a genius.

But in stark contrast to the murderous nature of many of the Shinsengumi members, and in contrast to the swords he wields, Okita, despite his skill with the sword, has a gentle, innocent nature. Usually, he has a good sense of humor and a smile on his face, and he often plays with the children in the neighborhood of Tunsho, and even when he is in the face of an enemy, he is able to laugh and smile freely, and is calm and collected. However, when engaged in a battle, he would immediately go all out to kill the enemy. That's why when Ryotaro Sima wanted to write a work based on the Shinsengumi, he consulted an old woman who had played with Okita when he was a child (around 1960, which is quite old since the Meiji Restoration began around 1868).

There are also voices from outside the Shinsengumi regarding Okita's swordsmanship. Before the formation of the Shinsengumi in 1862, Kojima Kannosuke wrote in his "Kojima's Diary", "With his swordsmanship, this man will be perfect in his old age", and Nishimura Kanafumi, who was critical of the Shinsengumi, wrote in his "The Sword of the Imoi Rangushi". Kanafumi Nishimura, who was critical of the Shinsengumi, wrote in his "Chronicle of Nono Ronshi", "He was a subordinate whom Kondo cared for very much, and at the same time, he was the best swordsman in the team." Furthermore, Juro Abe, who was a rival of the Shinsengumi, also said in the "Historical Symposium Quick Record", "Mr. Okita, as a disciple of Kondo, was quite good." "The young men Okita and Oishi Kuwajiro were only slightly talented, but they were good at swordsmanship and the like." "Kuujiro Oishi, Shinji Okita, and Inoue are people who kill without regard to right or wrong, without regard to consequences." In particular, you can see the sense of provocation in the brush strokes of swordsmen who are on the opposite side of the fence. In addition, Chiba Yayichiro (a Shinsengumi teamster), a colleague of Okita's brother-in-law, Rintaro) said, "In our opinion, he is at best around catalog (low rank) strength." This is the only negative insight. Kanafumi Nishimura, who was critical of the Shinsengumi, commented on Soushi Okita, "A subordinate of the Kondo Collection and the first-class swordsman of the bureau. In the Japanese documentary "Shinsengumi Youth Records", although Team Sergeant Juro Abe mentioned in his autobiography that Shinpachi Nagakura was superior to Okita in swordsmanship, the expert cited Shinpachi Nagakura's record in the "Chronicle of the Shinsengumi" that "Sesso Tsuchikata, Gensaburo Inoue, Hirasuke Tondo, and Keisuke Yamanami were treated like children when they took bamboo swords (and competed with Okita), and everyone said that if this guy got real, he would be the first to fight. It was said that if this man were to get serious, even his master, Kondo Isamu, would be defeated by his sword." Okita was undoubtedly the strongest member of the Shinsengumi. At that time, Mr. Okita was already the most powerful samurai in the Shogunate. He was known as the "Heavenly Sword of the Shogunate". Okita was not only famous for his swordsmanship, but also for his swords. Legend has it that Okita's taijutsu, Kiku Ichibun Norimune, has a blade length of 78.48cm, an extremely long blade, a thin body, and a hilt engraved with a 16-petaled chrysanthemum, which is a symbol of the Japanese imperial family. The sword was made by Bizenkoku Swordsman Norimune during the Gotooba-in period, and it is also a representative work of the Ichimonji school, which is called the first sword of the Ichimonji school, and it was named "Kiku Ichimonji" because of the chrysanthemum on the hilt of the sword. The sword was named "Kiku Ichimono" because of the chrysanthemums on its handle, and was inscribed "Kiku Ichimono Norimune". This concept was later popularized in Ryotaro Sima's book, "Shinsengumi no Kaze no Kageki" (The Record of the Blood Wind of the Shinsengumi). However, the sword made by Norimune was a very valuable ancient sword for the time when Japanese swords were customarily used. From both the economic point of view and the point of view of the necessity of combat, the possibility that Okita would have possessed this sword was very slim. Therefore, among the researchers, this is not the first thing that has been said. Therefore, it is very likely that Okita's sword was the "Kiku-marked Yamashiro-mori Fujiwara Kuniyoshi", a sword with the same chrysanthemum pattern and the same "Ichi" mark (the sword for fighting). (Because Kuniyoshi's distinctive mark is engraved on the inside of the blade, it is often mistaken for a taijutsu.) Alternatively, it is thought to be one of several swords with "Kikuma Ichi" engraved on them, made by someone other than Norimune. Either way, it is highly likely that the sword was exchanged several times in the capital, just like the rest of the team.

Historical sources actually confirm that Okita's sword was the California Kiyomitsu (also known as Kaga Kiyomitsu). His sword broke irreparably at Ikeda House, and for several years thereafter, the sword used by Okita was difficult to verify.

The Yamato Shoujou Stabilizer is from a setting in the Sword & Sworcery games, and has historically been the sword of several people in the Shinsengumi team, but there is no specific record of it being Okita's sword.

Another novel records that Okita Soushi used the famous sword Sagisu Muyo (or Sagisu Akihiro), but there is no accurate information to confirm this for the time being,