Shiho-Giri Kata or Four Directional Cutting Kata
By Kuseru

One of the primary kata used in many Iaido schools, this Kata also makes an appearance in many kenjutsu, sojutsu, and naginata jutsu schools. This Kata allows the character to attack multiple opponents (up to four) simultaneously in the same melee action, with all normal strike bonuses. A Strike roll is required for each target. The character must have initiative to do this, use the same attack (i.e. a single weapon, hand, or foot), and cannot engage in advanced defensive moves (like Multiple Dodge or Circular Parry), but can perform basic defenses like Dodge and Automatic Parry, with no bonuses. Also, the character can perform special attacks like Combination Parry/Attack and Combination Strike/Parry, but with no bonuses to strike or parry, and at the loss of one opponent (the character can only attack up to three opponents when using a special attack, if there are less than four opponents, then the character is only able to strike up to one less than the number of attackers). This Kata cannot be used against attackers at Long Range or further (but can be used against attackers in Grappling or Combat Range). Also remember that Kata must be used for the entire melee round. This special kata also allows the character to attack and defend against opponents to the rear with no bonuses or penalties. However, the character can only strike in the first attack of the melee round. For the rest of the melee round they can only defend (though they can still defend against opponents behind them with no penalty or bonuses) and cannot use Multiple Dodge or Circular Parry for the rest of the Melee round. Author's Note: I can already see the questions about this...if they can't use Multiple Dodge or Circular Parry, but can still parry or dodge opponent's to the rear, what's the point of having restrictions on not being able to use Multiple Dodge or Circular Parry? The answer is quite simple, they can defend against attacks from behind them, but they do so with no penalties or bonuses, using Multiple Dodge and Circular Parry allows you to defend against these attacks, with your FULL parry or dodge bonus!