title: Strategy in Japanese Swordsmanship
author:  Nicklaus Suino 
description: &lt;p style="line-height: 150%;"&gt;Nicklaus Suino is a sixth-degree black belt in Muso Jikiden Eishin Ryu iaido. He is codirector of the iaido division and director of the judo division of the Shudokan Martial Arts Association, and is a regional director of the North American branch of the International Martial Arts Federation. He lives in Traverse City, Michigan, and teaches iaido and other martial arts at seminars throughout North America. Information on his seminars can be found at www.artofjapaneseswordsmanship.com.
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  There was one more attacker
  
  Annja whirled, expecting her final opponent to be closing the distance between
  them while her attention was elsewhere.
  
  But that wasn’t the case. The other man hadn’t moved.
  
  He stood watching her, hands held behind his back, like an instructor
  evaluating her performance.
  
  “Who are you and what do you want?” Annja asked, and was surprised at the
  depth of anger she heard in her voice.
  
  Her opponent said nothing.
  
  “I’ll give you one last—”
  
  She never finished the sentence.
  
  One second her opponent was standing in front of her with both hands behind
  his back, and in the next he was leaping forward, a Japanese long sword
  suddenly appearing in his hands.
  
  Annja just barely managed to deflect the strike as she brought her own sword
  up.
  
  Where the hell had that sword c