Three Sword Style/One Sword Style

Over the course of his journey, Zoro has been in situations where his techniques have had to adapt for one reason or another. In addition to his primary fighting style, he has several other related fighting styles that form the greater part of his Santoryu fighting abilities. Ittoryu (一刀流) is one of them.

Ittoryu Attacks
These are the attacks he uses with one sword. As Zoro is left-handed, his Ittoryu techniques have nearly always been executed with his left hand. He usually uses Wado Ichimonji for them but after the timeskip he seems to be proficient in using each of his three swords for his one-sword techniques. He mainly fights with one sword when not fighting seriously or when he is using a specialized cutting technique. However, early in the series (when Sham stole two of his swords and Zoro had to fight him and Buchi with just one), Zoro himself says he is "not that good at one-sword techniques". Over time, he seems to have worked on this weakness and becomes proficient with one. In fact, all his Ittoryu techniques are very powerful finishing techniques.


 * Ittoryu Iai: Shishi Sonson (一刀流 ｢居合｣　獅子歌歌): Placing the sheathed sword upright and listening to the "breath" of his opponent, the attack rapidly unsheathes, attacks, and sheathes the sword. An interesting note is that Zoro does the technique back-handed as opposed to from the waist with a standard grip on the sword. "Shishi Sonson" (子子孫孫) is a four-word proverb meaning one's offspring. This was first seen being used to finish off Mr. 1. Zoro uses this technique only when he needs to cut metal like Mr. 1's steel body or Kaku's Tekkai technique. This move was his very first Ittoryu attack. This attack is as powerful as Kaku's Rankyaku Roudan. In the 4Kids dub this is called Single Sword Lion's Strike and in the FUNimation dub this is called Single Sword Style: Lion's Strike. Also in the FUNimation dub, "breath" is referred to as "rhythm".


 * Sanjuroku Pound Ho (三十六煩悩（ポンド）鳳): This attack uses the air itself to slash the target from a distance. To initiate it, Zoro first holds one of his swords horizontally above the shoulder of his sword arm, and then performs a circular swing that launches the air compressed projectile spiraling towards the target. Zoro introduced this technique as a very powerful Flying Slash Attack. This was first seen being used to finish off Braham in Enel's Survival Game. The attack's name is actually a very heavy pun, it's written out as "Phoenix of the 36 Earthly Desires" in the manga with a skewed reading attached that makes it "36 Pound Ho" when read out. Ho means both Cannon and Phoenix, however the attached kanji is for Phoenix, making that the literal translation and the "Cannon" reading a Pun on that, both of which are correct. The "Pound" part is a skewed reading of the Kanji "Bonnou" for Earthly Desires, and it is referring to the Caliber of a Cannon. (a 36 Caliber Cannon would fire a 36 Pound Ball) This technique is known as 36 Pound Phoenix in the Viz Manga, 36 Caliber Phoenix in the FUNimation dub (and sometimes the Viz Manga) and Single Sword Rising Phoenix in the 4Kids dub.


 * Hiryu: Kaen (飛竜火焔): Using one sword wielded in his left hand with his right hand gripping his left wrist for support (or vice-versa), Zoro jumps high up into the air and slashes his opponent. After slashing them, Zoro's opponent then bursts into flames (in the anime, the color of the fire is blue instead) from where they were slashed. This was first seen being used against Ryuma. The animal or creature that usually accompanies Zoro in the background when performs powerful techniques is an occidental dragon. The dragon bares an uncanny resemblance to the dragon killed by Ryuma the King from Oda's earlier work, Monsters. The scene where Zoro slashes Ryuma with this technique also resembles the scene from Monsters, in which Ryuma slays the dragon. In the Viz Manga, this is called Flying Dragon Blaze, a translation of the original name.

After Timeskip
This is a list showing the attacks Zoro used for his Ittoryu after his two years of training with Dracule Mihawk. The techniques he uses after the two years are mostly enhanced versions of his old ones.


 * Yakkodori (厄港鳥): Zoro launches from his sword a crescent moon-like projectile of compressed air to the opponent with great speed, similar to 36 Pound Hou. "Yakko Odori" is a traditional Japanese dance. It was first seen used against Hody Jones. It was powerful enough to critically injure one of Hody's subordinates whom he used as a shield. This is the only technique shown after the time skip so far that seems not to be the enhanced version of one of Zoro's original techniques. In the Viz manga this is called Single Sword Style Bird Dance, while in the FUNimation subs, it is simply called Bird Dance.
 * Sanbyakurokuju Pound Ho (三百六十煩悩鳳): Zoro delivers the stronger version of his 36 Pound Cannon, which is apparently 10 times stronger than the original. It was first seen used against a big fish the Straw Hats Pirates caught in their voyage to the New World.
 * Ittoryu Iai: Shi Shishi Sonson (一刀流｢居合｣ 死・獅子歌歌): A stronger version of his original "Ittoryu Iai: Shishi Sonson". Zoro swings his sword in a very speedy and strong unsheath move to slice his opponent. This attack is strong enough to easily decapitate a legendary beast like a dragon. It was first shown to decapitate the Punk Hazard dwelling dragon. In the Viz Manga, this is called Iai Death Lion Song.

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Santōryū Ittoryu