Tying a Cho Musubi Knot

This knot can also be found in Japanese Swordsmanship: Technique and Practice by Gordon Warner and Donn F. Draeger, published by Weatherhill, which is a valuable reference for iaido students. The book goes into the history of iaijutsu and iaido in detail, as well as describing some of the pertinent techniques in exquisite detail. As at least one of the authors is long dead - Donn Draeger died in 1982 - it is not certain how long this book will remain in print. I ordered by copy from Barnes and Noble - http://www.bn.com

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Lay the sword with the kurigata, the cord retaining knob, up, with the hilt to the left. Bring the sageo toward you and out to the left. I have left the knot which secures the sageo tied, as it will be behind the saya when the cho musubi is tied, and does not impede tying the cho musubi. If your knot is in a different place, it may be necessary to untie it.

Lift the saya, and pass the sageo under it, so that the tail end goes away from you, as shown.

Form a loop, by bending the tail back on itself as shown.

Insert the loop toward you underneath the portion of the sageo which lies to the left of the kurigata and passes behind the saya, as shown.

Now pull the tail toward you, and trail it off to the right of the kurigata, being careful not to disturb the first loop. If necessary, you may hold the first loop in position while you do this.

Now, lift the saya, and pass the tail underneath the saya, extending it away from you, as shown.

Form another loop from the tail by bending it back on itself, as shown.

Insert this second loop under the portion of the sageo which emerges from the first loop passing to the right of the kurigata then underneath the saya.

Holding the second loop in place with your left hand, form a third loop from the remaining tail. This loop will be inserted from right to left through the second loop, then through the first loop.

In the picture above, the third loop has been passed through the second loop, and will now be passed through the first.

In the picture above, you can see the third loop has been inserted through both the second and first loops. The short tail extends to the right.

Now, starting carefully back with the cord at the kurigata, follow the cord and tighten up all sections of the cord, being careful to retain the structure of the knot. This, frankly, takes a little practice. It is basically a process of starting at the beginning of the knot, tensioning the first section of the knot, then holding that section in place against the saya while tightening up the next section.

The finished knot.