Kitakan Dojo

Takamura Ha Shindo Yoshin ryu Sogo Bujutsu

Koryu study

The koryu, quite simply, are not for everyone. They take an enormous commitment, endless patience, sincerity, pliancy, and a willingness to learn things that are completely different from what a person has done or learned in their previous experience. To begin training in the koryu is to embark on a lifelong study, knowing that one will never "finish" or "perfect" their art. There are no glory, fame, or riches to be had. It's all about the art, all about the ryu, and individuals don't count except as they contribute to a dojo's training and the vitality of the group.

Affiliation

Kitakan Dojo is affiliated with the Takamura-ha Shindo Yoshin Kai, the governing body of the Takamura ha lineage. The headmaster (Kaicho) for the lineage and Shinyokai is sensei Toby Threadgill who was issued a menkyo kaiden by Yukiyoshi Takamura sensei in 1999.

Takamura Ha Shindo Yoshin ryu

Takamura ha Shindo Yoshin ryu is correctly considered a sogo bujutsu or comprehensive martial arts tradition. Teachings of the school include both classical weaponry and empty handed applications, studies that were historically embraced by the warrior class of feudal Japan.

Shindo Yoshin-ryu, meaning "New Way of the Willow Heart School" is a traditional school (koryu) of Japanese martial arts, teaching primarily the art of jujutsu. The Shindo Yoshin-ryu tradition was founded late in the Edo period by a Kuroda clan retainer named Matsuoka Katsunosuke (1836–1898).

Shindo Yoshin-ryu is heavily influenced by two different lines of Yoshin-ryu, the Akiyama Yoshin-ryu (Tenjin Shin'yo-ryu) and Nakamura Yoshin Koryu (Totsuka ha Yoshin ryu). As a student of the teachings of Kashima Shinden Jikishinkage-ryu, Hokushin Itto-ryu, Totsuka ha Yoshin Koryu and Tenjin Shin'yo-ryu, Matsuoka incorporated many facets of these schools consolidating them into the foundational Shindo Yoshin-ryu.

Shindo Yoshin-ryu emphasizes grace and natural movement. Although Shindo Yoshin-ryu reflects the combination of the jujutsu teachings of Tenjin Shin'yo-ryu and the Totsuka-ha Yoshin Koryu, its waza demonstrate a softer, more weapon based, application of technique. The Takamura line includes further influence from Matsuzaki Shinkage-ryu Hyoho.

Shindo Yoshin-ryu contains studies in Jujutsu, Kogusoku, Katchu, Kenjutsu (dai, sho), Tantojutsu, Tetsubo, Kogai, and Torinawa.