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Thread: Kenjutsu dojo

  1. #1
    isby Guest

    Default Kenjutsu dojo

    Are there any kenjutsu dojos in or near Atlanta? Kobudo Atlanta ( http://www.kobudoatlanta.com/index.html ) has kenjutsu classes once a week, but I was hoping to find something more frequent than that.


    Thanks,
    Andrew Hammond

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    Default Shinkendo Dojo in Atlanta

    There are several Shinkendo dojo in the Atlanta area. For a complete dojo listing, go to www.shinkendo.com and use the link for authorized branch dojos.
    Michael Mason
    Shinkendo New York @ Brooklyn Dojo
    www.brooklyndojo.com/shinkendo

  3. #3
    isby Guest

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    I'm not familiar with martial arts, this will be my first. What is the difference between shinkendo and kenjutsu?

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    Shinkendo is a modern sword art founded by a gentleman named Obata Toshishiro. Denfinitely a better alternative if you're interested in learning the sword arts, since the dojo you were looking at teaches Bujinkan arts. The focus in Shinkendo is most definitely swordsmanship, whereas the focus in the Bujinkan is taijutsu.
    Kevin Ly

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    The Shinkendo guys can tell it better, but I feel it should be noted now. While Obata-sensei did found the style relatively recently, he was a very accomplished JSA practitioner before founding his style. This isn't a McDojo kinda place, with Joe Average reading a few books and drawing inspiration from Anime to create his own style.
    Charles Mahan

    Iaido - Breaking down bad habits,
    and building new ones.

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    Mmmm...that's right, I forgot. Also, the Shinkendo dojo I originally trained at in Michigan also taught Toyama ryu as well. I was introduced to the first three kata, although, I must admit my training time was a little less than a year.
    Kevin Ly

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    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by isby
    I'm not familiar with martial arts, this will be my first. What is the difference between shinkendo and kenjutsu?
    Shinkendo is a "brand" of swordsmanship, while kenjutsu means "sword method." So Shinkendo is a type of kenjutsu. That's a rough explaination.

    Getting more technical, kenjutsu is often used to describe the methods of swordsmanship once the sword is drawn, and iaijutsu/iaido or battojutsu/battodo to the methods of drawing the sword (as well as the initial cuts, resheathing, etc.). Shinkendo also includes this.

    As mentioned by the others, Obata Toshishiro founded Shinkendo to express his understanding of swordsmanship after many years as a senior student and instructor of Toyama Ryu and Nakamura Ryu. I also understand that he has experience in Aikido, Karatedo, and Ryukyu Kobudo.
    Yours in Budo,
    ---Brian---

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    Smile Shinkendo information

    Thank you for all the very helpful follow-ups. (I wasn't monitoring this thread closely tonight) You will find specific information about Shinkendo and Obata-Kaiso's background on the Shinkendo homepage... www.shinkendo.com
    I have been a student at the New York dojo for nearly 2 years now and enjoy it very much. I have also had the pleasure of training with many of the Georgia area instructors at seminars. All of them are top notch and great folks to boot. Those of you who take the time to look may chuckle a bit at the (unintentional I'm sure) rather vast understatement made above regarding Obata-Kaiso's Aikido 'experience'... (see http://www.aiki-buken.com/)
    Michael Mason
    Shinkendo New York @ Brooklyn Dojo
    www.brooklyndojo.com/shinkendo

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    Indeed many people round up Obata's experience to Nakamura/toyama ryu. But he also trained in many koryu several years under some people as the like of Yagyu Nobuharu soke. Many of our sparring forms come from koryu. He also was an Uchi deshi of Shioda Gozo for 7 years.

    Even if Shinkendo is very well spread, at least in the US, I find that many don't have a clear idea about what it is and make an idea from what someone else wrote on another forum. Some people never saw anything (or at least never saw a training session) of shinkendo and are really misinformed to a point where it becomes laughable...

    I've had the experience here in Quebec where shinkendo is making it's first steps, as well as some koryu styles who are slowly spreading, and heard some people practicing some well respected arts like iaido saying that kenjutsu was dead and buried since the end of the 19th century! I don't know if the situation is the same in other parts of the world?

  10. #10
    isby Guest

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    I read that a lot of the Kenjutsu dojos in the US aren't authentic. Is there a source to find legitimate Kenjutsu dojos across the US? I saw one listing but it was on a badly made webpage, and most of them were in Delaware.

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    Your posting on it.

    Tell us where you are, perhaps we can help? Better yet, make use of the Search option at the top of the page to search for neary cities and state names. Don't bother looking for the term kenjutsu. Frequently styles are listed by their style name, so the term kenjutsu may never appear in the body of a thread. Just look for your location.
    Charles Mahan

    Iaido - Breaking down bad habits,
    and building new ones.

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    Hello Mr. Hammond,


    You've asked quite a heavy question there. The easy answer is that there is no central database of "legitimate" koryu teachers available.

    I would suggest that you head over to koryu.com to do some reading about legitimate extant (and non-extant) koryu styles.

    Finding a legitimate teacher can be a matter of serendipity or (much more likely) hard work and sacrifice. One of my teacher's summed it up in an essay she wrote awhile back entitled “You want koryu? Come to Japan." She was living in Japan at the time, and has since returned, as have many other Western exponents. The landscape here isn't as bleak as it was a decade or so ago, but it's still a minefield.

    You need to know what questions to ask and what signs to look for that someone is "gilding the lily," so to speak. There are some essays, again, on koryu.com to help with this sort of thing. This site (e-budo) has also done an admirable job in exposing frauds and educating potential students on what to look for in a legitimate dojo. There is legwork, research, and possibly relocation involved in finding legitimate koryu here in the West.

    It should also be mentioned that there is a bit of an issue with the word "legitimate" itself. What exactly are you looking for in a dojo? There are many legitimate gendai arts that don't go back centuries; a fact that in no shape, way, or form detracts from their "legitimacy" as a martial art. Then there are the koryu, which must, by definition, meet certain standards of pedigree. Then, of course, there are the backyard bozos, who watch films or read a book, or go to a one-day seminar and invent their own brand of samurai goodness. Educate yourself by doing some reading here and you'll spot these guys a mile away.

    Hope this helps.

    Kevin Cantwell

  13. #13
    isby Guest

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    I used legitimate to mean koryu battlefield arts, sorry for being unclear. I'll buy some of those books recommended on koryu.com and do some research, thanks.

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    This link here Atlanta Martial Arts has all the martial arts that are practiced in the Atlanta area.

    There is one other place that does teach Kenjutsu in Atlanta and it is the Candler Park Mixed Martial Arts Academy. I am not sure of the credibility or anything, but this is what I found.

    I also live in the Atlanta area so I know your plight. I have been trying to find an iaido dojo but there aren't any in the area. There is Toyama-ryu and I am looking into that. There is also Iaijutsu, but the place that teaches it (Just for Kicks Atlanta) doesn't have a page up about it. At least there is Kendo since that's what I do.
    Christopher George
    Purdue Kendo Club
    My Kendo Blog

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    Default Anyone Near Kennesaw?

    A simple inqury. Any of you Georgians near Kennesaw?

    Brian Stokes

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