The Old Secrets of Shindō Musō Ryū The koryū martial arts of Japan–arts that were established prior to the Meiji Restoration of 1868– seem to be surrounded with mystery, magic, fable, and secrets. Origin stories often involve days or weeks or months or even years of sacrifice and self-disclipline by a founder, with visits to …
This video shows a practice I call “the sticking game.” It is designed to give the jo player experience in “feeling” what the sword is doing. We use kuritsuke, tai atari, and kurihanashi as exercises for developing a jo that is able to appropriately respond to the sword’s movement. Underlying the game we play is …
Video: Feeling the movements of sword through the jo Read More »
It would be impossible to exaggerate the importance of Shimizu Takaji Sensei in popularizing Shindo Muso ryu. The essence of his story is that he receives Menkyo kaiden in his early 20s, moves to Tokyo in 1930 with encouragement from Kano Jigoro, Nakayama Hakudo, and Suenaga Misao. In Tokyo, he teaches jodo full-time, becomes an instructor …
Shimizu Sensei and “Shin Budo” Magazine, 1941-1945, part 1 Read More »
https://youtu.be/lBDsLZXR_6Y Cut a video with Darin Cox (uchidachi) of the Portland group showing the first five kata of our kenjutsu. This is the style of shidachi that Kaminoda Sensei taught me. Will probably do a second video explaining a few points in Aisun, Sarin, and Chibarai Email Dan
My art, Shindō Musō ryū, is a koryū Japanese martial art. “Koryū” is a term used to indicate a martial school established before the fall of the Tokugawa shogunate in 1868.1 As a general matter, all koryū arts contained some material that was considered a secret–inner teachings reserved for a select few. This reliance on …
