THE GIFT OF THE GODS TENSHIN SHODEN KATORI SHINTO RYU
According to Japanese tradition the oldest extant
system in Japan is Tenshin Shoden Katori Shinto Ryu. It is a Samurai system, teaching the
ancient arts of combat needed by warriors to survive on the battlefield. According to the
late Donn F. Draege r,
In 1387, the founder of the Katori Shinto Ryu, Ienaoko, was born in the village of Iizasa. It is told that at an early age he was already a master of the sword and the spear (yari). As a samoerai (knight) of the daimyo (lord) of Chiba he took part in several battles. The ruling house of Chiba fell from power after a conflict with the Shogun. In this conflict the fortified homestead of the Iizasa-family was levelled with the ground, together with a number of villages in the family domain.
Sad and masterless, Ienaoko travelled to the Katori-shrine, hoping to attain satori (enlightenment) by a combination of prayer, meditation and rigorous training. At this time, he was 64 years of age. He went to live in a plain home at the gate of the Katori-shrine, near his present grave. He rose every morning before dawn, in summer and winter, and practised with sword, naginata (halbard) and yari untill late in the evening. Before he returned to his home he took for purification an icecold bath.After that he recited for an hour his prayers at the Katori-shrine. Coming home he studied, physical exhaustion notwithstanding, till late at night religious and philosophical scriptures. He lead this life for one thousand days.
Then one night there appeared to him in a dream the god to whom the Katori-shrine was dedicated: Futsunoshi no Mikoto. The god had taken the form of a young man and was sitting on a branch of an old tree near the place where Ienaoko performed his daily exercises. The vision beckoned Ienaoko to come near him and presented him with a scroll, the Mokuroku Heiho Shinsho, uttering the words: ‘Choisai, thou shall be the tutor of all the great swordfighters under the sun!’ After this utterance the young man jumped out of the trea and disappeared. As Ienaoko woke up he had the sroll clasped to his breast. The Mokuroku contained the divine descriptions of martial techniques and strategy. Following this revelation Ienaoko changed his name in ‘Choisai’ and founded his school of sword fighting. He named it Katori, after the Katori-shrine. To honor Futsunoshi no Mikoto he added the words Tenshin shoden (transmitted by the Gods). He added further the word Shinto: immaculate (pure) sword. .
The present headmaster of the Katori Ryu has in his possession a large number of manuscripts, mostly written by Choisai, that show how he studied and elaborated in an exhaustive way the techniques given to him. When the Gods let him pass away, in the second year of Sho-Kyo (1488), at the fifteenth day of the fifth month, Choisai had reached the high age of one hundred and one year. Starting with Choisai’s eldest son, Wakasaka no Kami Morichika, his descendants continued for generation after genera-tion the school. After the foundation of the school by Choisai it became tradition that it only served the emperor, or the country in situations in which it was in danger. Each person who wanted to practice the martial arts in a serious and devoted manner could be admitted to the school. In the registers in the archives of the Katori Shinto Ryu are the names of famous sword fighters in Japanese history, such as Nobut-suna, the founder of the Kage Ryu, the renowned Tsukuhara Bokuden, founder of the Kashima Shinto Ryu, the famous generals Oda Nobuna-ga, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, Takenaka Hanbei Shigeharu and many others. Even the legendary Miyamoto Musashi visited the Katori-shrine in his quest for enlightenment. Till the present day there is held every year at the fourteenth of April a memorial service in the Katori-shrine. This service inclu-des a gohei: a Shinto-ritual in which the Gods are invoked with a holy staff, embellished with strips of paper folded in a complex way. Every twelfth year, the Year of the Horse, a great feast is held for two days, the Jinko-Sai. In the 35th year of Showa (1960) the Tenshin Shoden Katori Shinto Ryu was declared to be an ‘intact (i.e., authentic) national cultural treasure of Japan’, as the first and only one of the martial disciplines.
Traditionally, every pupil that entered the Katori Shinto Ryu had to make the following blood oath (keppan):
1. When I become a member of the Tenshin Shoden Katori Shinto Ryu, which has been handed down
by the Great Deity of the Katori Shrine, I therewith affirm my pledge of absolute secrecy about
matters of this ryu.
2. I will not have the impertinence to discuss or demonstrate my martial technique to non-members.
3. I will never engage in any kind of gambling nor frequent disre-putable places.
4. I will not cross swords with any followers of other martial traditions without a certificate of full
proficiency in my art.
I will now pledge to firmly keep each of the above articles. Should I break any of these articles I will submit to the punishment of the Buddhist deity Marishiten. Herewith I solemnly swear and affix my blood seal to this oath to the Great Deity.
Marishiten is originally the Brahman figure of Krishna. In later Chinese Buddhist mythology she became the heavenly queen who lives in one of the stars of the Great Bear. She is mostly depicted with eight arms, two of which are the symbols of sun and moon. It is the disciples of the Katori Shinto Ryu not allowed to engage in arbitrary contest, not even in friendly contest. The drawing of a sword is considered a grave matter, decisive of life and death. The sword may never be drawn rashly. Even when the blade is only drawn one centimeter from the scabbard this is considered an invitati-on to a duel. A friendly contest is called in Japanese shiai. In Katori Shinto philosophy this is synonymous to shi ni ai, fight till death. As a consequence of this there is traditionally no dan-grading in the Katori Shinto Ryu as in Kendo or Judo, because these grades are obtained in competition. This competition is possible because of the limitations on the fighting techniques in modern sports, aiming at prevention of bodily harm.
In the Katori Shinto Ryu a disciple could traditionally receive a certificate of appreciation (mokuroku) after generally fifteen years of intensive training. Much later, on achieving a certain level of proficiency, he could also receive a menkyo (teaching license). The highest degree is the gokui kaiden (master of the seret techniques). Only a few individuals will achieve this.
Summary
| Founder: | Iizasa Choisai Ienao |
| Date Founded: | ca.1447 |
| Present Headmaster: | Lizasa Shuri No Suke Yasusada |
| Loacation in Japan: | Chiba |
| Martial Curriculum: | 1. Kenjutsu
( Tachi , Kodachi , Ryoto) 2. Iaijutsu 3. Bojutsu 4. Naginatajutsu 5. Jujutsu 6. Shrikenjustu 7. Sojutsu |
| Auxillary Curriculum: | 1. Senjutsu (tatics) 2. Ninjutsu (espionage) 3. Chikujojutsu (field-fortification art) 4. In-Yo kigaku ( yin-yang of chinese philosphy) 5. Mikkyo ( esoteric religon e.g Ku-Ji the finge incartations ) 6. Astronomy & Geography |
| Speciality : | A very comprehensive curriculum dating back since it's founding. |
