Hi all, I am moving to the UK and would appreciate any help with regards to finding a Katori Shinto Ryu school. Thanks.
This may help. http://www.geocities.com/f.brownsword@btinternet.com/ http://www.katorishintoryucheshire.co.uk/
This place also says they teach Katori Shinto Ryu, but I can't find any further details. http://www.okabe.co.uk/
Can this be interpreted to mean it's not legitimate Katori Shinto-ryu under the auspices of the soke, Mr. Iizasa?
Regarding "Da'aboth". His real name is David Keith Heald. He was one of the early pioneers of the Bujinkan in the United Kingdom and he holds at least Judan in the organisation (I can't remember his exact grade). He is exceptionally knowledgable about what I term the auxiliary skills and his hojojutsu seminar in Chester last year was excellent. Admittedly he does have some odd ideas when it comes to stuff like "lightbody integration" and what have you but they always appear to be kept separate to his budo stuff. As for his claims of teaching Katori Shinto Ryu, Yagyu Ryu and Araki Munensai Ryu you'd have to check those details with him because I honestly don't know. However, IIRC, he studied several styles of Kenjutsu in his pre-Bujinkan days although I have no direct knowledge of what schools these may have been drawn from.
Hi Biggs If you're moving to the Midlands, then there is a Katori Shinto school in Stoke-on-Trent http://www.geocities.com/f.brownsword@btinternet.com/Katori-uk-information.html. Another one is in Cheshire http://www.katorishintoryucheshire.co.uk/.
Before you go to any school based in the UK make contact with one of ONLY TWO licensed teachers, Michael Jay & Adam Lancashire. Michael Jay is an Ex Airline pilot who travelled to Japan many, many times over his career and is a member of the TSKSR Dojo in Japan under Otake Shihan. I understand he is the senior of the two in the UK. Word of caution, there is a great deal of politics involved concerning who is and isn't authorised to teach TSKSR; a simple rule of thumb is this: For anyone to be accepted as a member of the Ryu, they would first had to travel to Japan and taken keppan (blood oath) with Otake Shihan - and secondly, would have undertaken many years of study under the authority or one of the licensed teachers below : Phil Relnick The Americas Michael Jay England Adam Lancashire England Francisco Comerón Spain Luisa Raini Italy Stanislav Loukianov Russia Jean Paul Blond France Erik Louw Holland If the school you approach doesn't have either Mr. Jay or Mr. Lancashire as its instructor, chances are you're learning from an unauthorised source which means your academic progression will be meaningless in terms of recognition from Otake Shihan in Japan. One of two things might happen. 1. You actually learn TSKSR but its from an unauthorised source 2. (more likely) You'll end up learning BS from a BS instructor. Do your research first; Contact Mr. Jay or Mr. Lancashire in the first instance.
:lol: I wondered how long it would take for that old chestnut to rear it's ugly head . It is true that if you want to learn 'legitimate' Katori, then Koryu101's quite right in what he says. I wont open the seeping wound that is this tale of woe by going into the rights and wrongs of the situation, tho' and will just assume that Biggs is aware of the whole sorry tale already.
A chestnut it might be but, it’s truthful never the less. Better to be made aware of fact before investing several years of time and effort into an art only to find out its either bogus - Kaze Arashi Ryu being a classic recent example or, that you are studying TSKSR, but you're considered an outcast by the Ryu Hombu in Japan.. People make their own choices in life, I'd much rather be in possession of fact rather than fiction.
Aye, true enough. As I said above, I'd assumed that the original poster was knowledgeable of the circumstances shrouding Katori (due to the specificity of his question if nothing else) but you're right that it's best to be clear, just in case.
Yes indeed, Tenshin Shoden Katori Shinto-ryu has a history, legacy and lineage that goes back to the Muromachi period. It was one of the most influential schools for swordsmanship beside Itto-ryu, Nen-ryu and Chujo-ryu. The offshoots of TSKSR are numerous, but the mainline and it's lineal succession remains constant. Kaze Arashi-ryu is a bunch of made up tripe that has no links to Japan and no history. There are no historical records or documentations of it, not to mention the fact that everything they do looks very suspectly like aikikai aikido and a few other things mixed in together. Real koryu are very different in mindset, technique, function, application and training methodology. Every ryuha is individualistic, depending on it's geographical origin, the founder and the period of foundation.
