Kaze Arashi Ryu

[Tom Campbell]

Kaze Arashi Ryu (www.kazearashiryu.org)claims a lineage and tradition going back to the yamabushi (mountain warrior monks) of Tokugawa Japan. This ryu appears to have several dojo in the United States, primarily in the East (New York and Florida). The ryu's "Shinan" is Nishiyama Atemi.

Is Kaze Arashi Ryu (not to be confused with the gendai budo art of Arashi Ryu, founded about 1958 and currently headed by Richard Tolson)considered to be a "true" koryu budo? Has anyone on this discussion board trained in this ryu? Finally, are there any other koryu budo that share the practice of "electing" the headmaster of the ryu?

I'm just curious. I rather enjoy their website. Any information or comments will be much appreciated.

Tom Campbell

[Mark Raugas]

Hi Tom,

I'm glad you like the new website.

The current shinan of our system is Nishiyama Akemi--you have spelled her name incorrectly. The word shinan means "one who points south", and is a term meaning leader or instructor. I think there was some past discussion on e-budo about usage of that term in general.

Kaze Arashi Ryu was practiced at the Dewa Shrine complex, and that is where Nishiyama's great-grandfather learned its arts (at that time our system was called Yama Arashi Ryu). It was not the only system practiced at that shrine complex. Another ryuha which was practiced by people in attendance at the Dewa Shrine was Gassan Ryu. I believe it had an emphasis on naginatajutsu.

Best Wishes,

Mark Raugas
Department of Mathematics
Columbia University

[Rennis]

Hi Mark,

When you say Dewa Shrine Complex, I assume you are referring to the Complex of buildings on Haguro-san. Would you happen to know which building training was carried out it? I manage to get down to Haguro-san fairly often as I am in the next prefecture, and I am currently trying to do some additional research into Tohoku budo so any info you could share would be most helpful.

Also, I seem to recall from your site that several of the previous headmasters were involved in the Shugendo activities and such on Haguro and were Shugendo priests. Is the current headmaster also involved in these practices as well?

Thanks and best regards,
Rennis Buchner

[Mark Raugas]

Hi Rennis,

When I said shrine complex, I was referring to the areas of all three sacred mountains. Some people read the word Dewa Shrine and mistakenly think there is only one building there. Training was conducted outdoors in a variety of locations on all three mountains.

To answer your second question, our tradition views the daily practice of its teachings as a form of shugendo, in that their practice is an austerity, and one which leads to physical and mental development in the part of the student. All that being said, I believe all the menkyo-kaiden have participated in various shugendo practices over the years, in terms of the sort you are speaking of. In the past, the shinan of our system was responsible for maintaining order amongst the various groups in attendence at the Dewa Sanzan, so that various groups desiring to practice in those locations would not bully one another. This sometimes causes hard feelings, but was necessary so that one sect would not dominate other's access to these sacred areas.

Mark

[John Lindsey]

Mark,

I too like the new website.

BTW, is one of the Dewa mountains the one that people go to dip their feet in the red liquid (muddy?) that flows out of it? I think the opening resembles the female sex organ and thus the mountain has strong ties to fertility, or so I recall.

[Mark Raugas]

Hi John,

That is Yudonosan. Boulder, Colorado, has a sister city project with Yamagata prefecture, and they have a website will some geographic details like that, and a description of the Yudono Jingu, which mentions the red rock and the sulfuruous spring. Thankfully, after you dip your feet in the sulfuruous spring, you go down to purify yourself under a waterfall.

http://bcn.boulder.co.us/community/yamagata/sister.html

Best,

Mark Raugas
Department of Mathematics
Columbia University


[Edited by Mark Raugas on 09-12-2000 at 01:47 PM]

[Earl Hartman]

Mark:

I have a question regarding yamabushi/shugendo that perhaps you can help me answer. This is not directly related to Kaze Arashi Ryu, but since the subject of yamabushi came up, I thought I would ask it here.

Photos I have seen of modern yamabushi show them wearing a black hexagonal box of some sort on their heads, secured to the center of their foreheads with a cord. I have been told that these boxes contain various sutras or sacred writings. Pictures of Tengu also show them wearing this accoutrement.

This intrigues me since (if my information is correct) it seems to be almost identical in nature to the teffilin (phylacteries) that Jewish men wear when they pray. In the Jewish tradition, the teffilin are square leather boxes, one for the forehead and one for the upper arm, which are secured in place by leather cords. The boxes are hollow and contain various Biblical passages written on parchment, containing important articles of the faith. The teffilin themselves, the pattern of the knots on the cords, and how the cords are wrapped on the arm and forehead all have deep mystical meanings (Jewish mikkyo, so to speak).

In any case, the coincidental resemblance (if it is coincidental) between the "sutra hat" (no offense intended; I don`t know what it is called) of thre yamabushi and the teffilin is extremely intriguing to me, and I was wondering if you could supply more information about it.

Earl

[Mark Raugas]

Hi Earl,

You are, I think, confusing two of the shugendo articles, the tokin and the oi. They are two of the traditional ritual items the yamabushi were known to carry with them.

The round or hexagonal pointed skull cap is called a tokin (originally read as zokin, meaning hood). Originally thought to be a long hood, it is now generally a small black cap which rests on the forehead, tied in place under the chin with a cord. There are several kinds of tokin in use; for example, the leader of the fall peak ritual pilgrimage (dai-sendatsu), wears a different version of this head covering, called an ama-dokin. The tokin are believed to protect the wearer from evil, and are constructed out of twelve folds signifying the Buddhist twelve-fold chain of causation (juuni-innen).

The oi is a portable altar. It is a box carried on the back, in which are contained Buddhist scriptures. It symbolizes the cosmos, or universe, and has a feminine aspect (representative of the mother). It is covered with the katabako (shoulder box), which is its mate, and is of a complementary, masculine aspect (representative of the father).

As to their being analogues with the use of the teffin in Judaism, I too have been struck by the visual similarities. I don't have enough knowledge of the Judaic faith to be able to draw any parralels between these ideas. Do the teffin serve a protective role?

Hope this was of some help.

Mark

[Richard A Tolson]

The Yamabushi also transported small shrines similar to the Ark of the Covenant in concept. The parallels are quite interesting!

[Bill1979]

I know that there are organizations that keep track of Koryu. Is Kaze Arashi Ryu recognized by these organizations as a legitimate Koryu?


-Bill Callahan