Kenjutsu

I studied Jikishinkage-ryū kenjutsu at the Hōbyōkan [ 宝瓶館 ] under David Hall, reaching the level of chuden in 2018. I also trained in an unofficial line of Katori Shintō-ryū kenjutsu at Capital Aikikai, reaching the level of mokuroku in 2010. Previously, I had practiced Yagyū Shinkage-ryū in NYC in the mid 1990s, and was able to continue that practice in DC and the PNW with my Hōbyōkan sponsor.

I now mentor a small group that meets as part of Lonin League, a martial arts cooperative in Seattle, where we train in the historical kata of Jikishinkage-ryū as the foundation of our practice. Over time we incorporate free practice called jigeiko into our training. I try to inform this study through my continued work in internal martial arts.

Because we train independently and have multiple influences, I have adopted the name Gassankan Heihō Kenjutsu [ 月山館兵法剣術 ] for this activity, rather than using the name of a historical ryūha.

After moving to Seattle in 2016, I continued to work on the classical sword methods I had learned as a form of solo practice. I was fortunate to be able to pressure test my understanding in free practice, which helped me unify my perspective on swordsmanship, versus thinking in terms of separate arts. In 2019 I started mentoring a small number of people in Seattle. That activity is now Tōsha Dōjō, which meets as part of Lonin League in SODO.

More information for my Seattle kenjutsu mentorship cohort can be found below.