The Line of Kamiizumi Ise-no-kami
I practice Jiki Shinkage-ryū, which was one of the most powerful sword traditions of Japan. Please consult my book on the art for extensive information. Writing concerned with that art can be found here. Below can be found additional research on the broader pantheon of Shinkage-ryū can be found below:
June 2026
We discuss details surrounding the martial arts and competitive practices of Matsuzaki Namishirō, master of Katōda Shinkage-ryū kenjutsu.
June 2026
Extensive documents from Kyushu in 1766 and how they relate to the Edo area Yagyū and Jiki Shinkage-ryū densho contents. We find independent corroboration of common Shinkage-ryū influence in these arts at the same time of the writings of Naganuma Kunisato in 1768. Specifically, the gokui section of Jiki Shinkage-ryū mokuroku overlap substantially with the Yagyū Shinkage-ryū Okugi, suggesting a majority of those concepts were preserved in Jiki Shinkage-ryū.
May 2026
Tracing the threads from the legendary Kyō Hachi Ryū and Kiichi Hōgen at Kurama, through the tengu pantheon of Mt. Atago, Kōyasan, and Kotohira, to the eight cipher-names Sekishūsai used to hide the Yagyū Shinkage-ryū Tengushō kata in his picture catalog.
May 2026
Examining some evidence for the genesis of upper-level Shinkage-ryū teachings based on information available about Aisu Ikōsai's founding vision of Sarutahiko, Kamiizumi's early training in Kashima, and the arrangement of Shinkage-ryū kata over time.
September 2024
Link to an essay on kata, heihō and shugyō, where I compare and contrast different surviving lines of Shinkage-ryū and reflect on my own practice.
February 2023
An essay published at Kogen Budō, where I look at some older writings from Japanese koryū that reference classical Chinese military treatises, and then examine how practices described in those works may be represented in arts surviving today.