月山剣法

Gassan Kenpō

I moved to Seattle in 2016 and have had the privilege of working with a few talented individuals on both Chinese internal martial arts (mostly Taijiquan and Xingyiquan) as well as classical Japanese swordsmanship (specifically Jiki Shinkage-ryu). I appreciate those opportunities greatly as each person I worked with was a talented martial artist in their own right.

While I prefer Jiki Shinkage-ryu to other arts, there are very good sources of instruction in the Seattle area for koryu that have continuing associations with lineal heads of their respective arts inside or outside of Japan ( or in some cases, are those heads themselves ). I want to take care to recognize that I am continuing a practice, but not preserving a tradition like Jiki Shinkage-ryu unchanged. That responsibility falls onto others who are in formal lineages of the art. At the same time, my teacher taught us the art as he learned it, in a traditional manner.

I have taken to using the name Gassan Kenpō to refer to my ongoing practice of Japanese sword methods in a manner that I feel is compatible with internal martial arts principles:

  • The characters 月山 are a reference to the Gassankan, which is the name I use for my ongoing training activities in the Pacific Northwest.
  • The characters 剣法 are read as "sword methods", a term more commonly used in Chinese martial arts than Japanese martial arts today.

I want to clearly indicate the influence internal martial arts has had on my practice, and highlight the fact I am not part of a specific ryuha with a direct connection to a surviving group (or teacher) in Japan.

Gassan Kenpō includes:

[1] A practice of the kata of traditional Jiki Shinkage-ryū. This practice is conducted as handed down to us in the line of Kawashima Takashi, Onishi Hidetaka, Namiki Yasushi, and Ito Masayuki, through the training I received at the Hōbyōkan dojo led by Dr. David Hall.

I diverge somewhat from these sources in that my katageiko is over time more and more directly informed by the cultivation of body mechanics and mental aspect driven by Chinese internal martial arts principles.

[2] The analysis and deconstruction of kata in a process called kuzushi, informed by my broader experience in Shintō-ryu and Shinkage-ryu, as the tactical curriculum of Jiki Shinkage-ryu has been pared down over the previous generations. It is helpful I believe to examine Jiki Shinkage-ryu in a broader context to better understand its application.

[3] A practice of pressure testing called tameshi-ai, now more commonly found in modern martial arts. I am inspired by the teachers of the few older traditions that still keep a practice of pressure testing alive.


Practice at the Seattle Budōkan, 2021

The strengths of this approach I owe to the teachings of others. The weaknesses of this approach are mine alone to take responsibility for. In both cases, Gassan Kenpō is an independent practice. For those interested more broadly in the historical and contemporary Jiki Shinkage-ryū, especially as it is today practiced in Japan, I have collated a list of film footage available representing some of the surviving groups

Where To Train

I list a number of training groups I recommend on this site. Two of my swordsmanship students, Nicky Sayah Sina and Jake Harlin, who I have been working with since 2018, have progressed to the point where they have a firm understanding and practice of Jiki Shinkage-ryu Hōjō and To no kata, and now lead a practice of their own, which I call Tōsha ( 闘者 ) Dōjō.

The name Tōsha is comprised of the third and fourth characters used in Kuji-in, and refers to the lion dog guardians used in shrine complexes. One, the outer guardian, has its mouth open, representing the sanskrit character 'a' and the other its mouth closed, representing the sound of 'un'. Aun kokyu is an important concept in Jikishinkage-ryu, symbolizing yin and yang.

If you are in Seattle and find yourself drawn to the idea of training in portions of Jikishinkage-ryu, please visit Jiki at Lonin for training opportunities.