| Martial art Koryu古 流 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Tenshin Shoden Katori Shinto-ryu天 真正 伝 香 取 神道 流 | ||
| Founder | ||
| Iizasa Choisai Ienao飯 篠長威 斉 家 直 | (years of life 1387 - 1488 ) [1] | |
| Established | ||
| The middle of the Muromachi period (from 1336 to 1573 ) | According to the school, founded in 1447 | |
| Head of school at the moment | ||
| Patriarch Iizas Yasusada | Twentieth Founder Heir | |
| School representative and technical director | ||
| Shihan Otake Risuke (b. 1926 ) | Received Gokui Kaiden Certificate in 1967 | |
| Arts studied in the Katori Shinto-ryu tradition | ||
| Tachi-jutsu - sword | ||
| Japanese name | Description | |
| Kenjutsu剣 術 - odati , kodati | Sword Fencing - Long and Short Sword | |
| Iaijutsu居 合 術 - Odati | The Art of Instant Sword Exposure - Long Sword | |
| Ryoto 両 刀 - odati , kodati | The art of fighting two swords (long and short) at the same time | |
| Bojutsu棒 術 | The art of fighting pole vault | |
| Naginatajutsu (長刀 術) | The Art of Naginata Combat (Japanese Halberd) | |
| Sojutsu槍 術 | The art of spear fighting | |
| Shurikenjutsu手裏 剣 術 | The art of throwing blades | |
Tenshin Shoden Katori Shinto Ryu (天 真正 伝 香 取 神道 流) is one of the oldest existing schools of traditional Japanese martial arts and the oldest of the complex martial arts systems in Japan. The founder of the school, Iizasa Choisai Ienao, was born in 1387 in the village of Iizasa (currently the city of Takomati in Chiba Prefecture). The school itself calls the date of its foundation 1447 , but some researchers claim that 1480 is a more accurate date [2] .
Iizasa Choisai Ienao (飯 篠長威 斎 家 直) was an outstanding warrior, expertly wielding a spear and sword. After the fall of the Chiba family he served, Iizasa Jenao became a hermit. According to legend, at the age of sixty, Iizasa Ienao decided to conduct an uninterrupted thousand-day service in the Katori Temple, devoting himself to training in martial arts. During this service, the patron of the temple, Futsunushi-no Kami (経 津 主 之 命), appeared to him and handed the scroll of Heiho no shinsho (the divine scripture about heiho). Iizasa Choisai Ienao died in 1488 at the age of 102.
The current head of the school (2007) is the heir to the 20th generation founder, Iizasa Shurinosuke Yasusada (飯 篠 修理 亮 快 貞). The school’s representative and official technical director is Otake Risuke (大竹 利 典) (born 10.03.1926) (a dojo in Narita , Chiba Prefecture ).
Tenshin Shoden Katori Shinto-ryu was the primary source for many Japanese martial arts schools, and is the first martial art to be recognized by the government as the National Treasure of Japan (this happened in 1960). Throughout its history, the school has never adjoined any political forces, always remaining independent. This allowed the school to maintain its integrity throughout its more than five hundred year history. Unlike many martial arts traditions, Tenshin Shoden Katori Shinto-ryu has never been privileged, including in her ranks representatives of all classes, both warriors and merchants or peasants. The school’s policy in this aspect is “to persecute not those who came to study, but those who do not train.”
The enormous role in the fact that the school became famous outside of Japan was played by the educational activities of Sugino Sensei, who had been organizing demonstrations in Europe since the mid-20th century, as well as by the active propaganda that his student Alan Floquet was engaged in. The books of the famous martial arts researcher Donna F. Draeger also contributed to this.
Content
Training Course
Tenshin Shoden Katori Shinto-ryu is a comprehensive martial arts system. This means that unlike many modern budo, such as Kendo or Iaido , which focus on one aspect of martial arts, the school provides knowledge of many martial arts.
The main emphasis in training is on kenjutsu (sword fencing techniques). Many other weapons are also being studied, but all of them are auxiliary to the study of sword possession techniques.
The list of learned techniques includes:
Tachi-jutsu
- Kenjutsu (剣 術; sword fencing techniques)
- Omote-no tachi - (fencing technique in armor, 4 kata )
- Gogyo-no tachi - (sword fencing technique without armor, 5 kata )
- Gokui Shichijo no tachi - (closed section fencing with a sword, 3 kata )
- Iaijutsu (居 合 術; the art of exposing the sword with a simultaneous strike, learning techniques while sitting and standing)
- Omote-no iai - (open section, techniques are performed sitting, 6 kata )
- Tati Iai Batto-Jutsu - (open section, techniques are performed while standing, 5 kata )
- Gokui-no iai (Okuden iai) - (closed section, techniques are performed while sitting, 5 kata )
- Ryoto (両 刀 術; fencing techniques with two swords at the same time)
- Ryoto - (4 kata )
- Kodati (小 太 刀 術; fencing with a short sword)
- Gokui no kodati - (closed section, 3 kata )
Bojutsu (棒 術; pole fighting techniques)
- Omote-no bo - (open section, 6 kata )
- Gokui-no-bo - (closed section, 6 kata )
Naginatajutsu (長刀 術; Naginata combat techniques)
- Omote-no naginata - (open section, 4 kata )
- Gokui Shichijo no naginata - (closed section, 3 kata )
Sojutsu (槍 術; Japanese spear fighting techniques)
- Omote-no yari - (6 kata )
Shurikenjutsu (手裏 剣 術; throwing blades)
Kata gogyo and gokuy are taught only to experienced school students after a certain number of years devoted to open section techniques.
Other aspects of the school include:
- Jujutsu / Yavari-jutsu (techniques without weapons)
- Ninjutsu (intelligence and espionage)
- Chikujujutsu (the art of fortification)
- Gumbai-heiho (strategy and tactics)
- Tammon tirigaku (astronomy and predictions)
- Ommyo (philosophical and mystical aspects inherited from esoteric Buddhism).
Grade and System
In Tenshin Shoden, Katori Shinto-ryu is not accepted division into any degrees ( kyu , dan , etc.). Otake Risuke Sensei himself in the book “Deity and the Sword” provides the following explanations: “Tenshin Shoden Katori Shinto Ryu has no ranking system for her representatives, which would be assigned based on the results of an artificial match. She does not hold championships either, since the latter were completely absent in the classical methodology of military training. Teachers and students are only required to devote themselves to training and help each other. However, during the training process, taking into account such factors as mental maturity, the student may be given a catalog of mokuroku confirming his achievements, and much later, if the trainee reaches a certain degree of technical excellence, a master certificate of menkyo . ”
Thus, the Mokuroku certificate confirms that this student has reached a certain level in the development of his military equipment. However, the right to teach the disciplines of the Tenshin Shoden Katori Shinto-ryu is given only by Kyoshi Menkyou - a teacher’s license.
Literature
- Risuke Otake Katori Shinto-ryu: Warrior Tradition. - Koryu Books, 2009 .-- 317 p. - ISBN 1890536210 .
Notes
- ↑ The Tenshin Shoden Katori Shinto-ryu tradition indicates 1387 as the founder’s birth year (see Volume One of Deity and the Sword , p. 16-17). Researcher Watatani claims (1967) that 1417-1420 are more likely dates.
- ↑ Watatani, Kiyoshi (1967). (Zusetsu) Kobudōshi, Tokyo