it would be interesting to see the breakdown of votes for MJER alone.... I see many 'variants' due to the fragmentation of the ryu (due mostly to the sheer numbers of people who practise).
Muso Shinden Ryu
Muso Jikiden Eishin Ryu
Tamiya Ryu
Hoki Ryu
Mugai Ryu
Katori Shinto Ryu
Shinkage Ryu
Suio Ryu
Tatsumi Ryu
Toyama Ryu (or other Nakamura Ryu)
Shindo Munen Ryu
Take No Uchi Ryu
Sekiguchi Ryu
Seigo Ryu
Other
it would be interesting to see the breakdown of votes for MJER alone.... I see many 'variants' due to the fragmentation of the ryu (due mostly to the sheer numbers of people who practise).
Tim Hamilton
Why are you reading this instead of being out training? No excuses accepted...
Ooh, that's an interesting idea, Chikodan! I know the two main MJER branches are Tanimura-ha & Shimomura-ha, but have also run into students who train in Yamanouchi-ha & Sekiguchi-ha, although from what I've seen the kata differences are pretty manini (small). Maeda-Sensei trains us in Tanimura-ha, BTW.
Are there any more branches/twigs?
Ken Goldstein
--------------------------------
Judo Kodansha/MJER Iaido Kodansha/Jodo Oku-iri
Fencing Master/NRA Instructor
"A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it'll annoy enough people to be worth the effort."
Yamauchi-ha is a subset of Tanimura-ha, and Sekiguchi-ha is a subset of Yamauchi-ha. I believe Harasuke-ha (the late Haruna sensei, now Oshita sensei, Ohmi sensei, etc.) and Masaoka-ha (Jikishinkai, etc.) are also offshoots of Tanimura-ha. There are also parallel lines of Tanimura-ha (Hokiyama-ha/Seitokai, Iwata sensei/Roshukai, etc.). Does anybody besides Iwata sensei do Shimomura-ha? Does Iwata sensei even teach it anymore?
The differences vary between teachers let alone branches and range from minor to "Are you sure that's Eishin Ryu?" What I have been shown of Shimomura-ha is quite interesting and helps shed some light on where MSR derived some of their techniques.
無雙直傳英信流・日本古武道居合研究会 - Muso Jikiden Eishin Ryu ・ Nihon Kobudo Iai Kenkyukai
東京蘆洲会 - Tokyo Roshukai
I have found one old guy in Kochi who still practises shimomura ha, and we are trying to find out if he will teach a class. I had Iwata sensei show me the differences a few years ago... they are quite interesting and you can see how MSR has picked up these points, although they are not exactly copied, but the roots of the ideas are there. One in particular I do like is the way the saya is handled. By flipping it totally upside down during nukitsuke, the kurigata doesnt stick out, so if you don't position the saya correctly, you don't run the risk of hitting your arm on it. The reach during nukitsuke is emphasised, so lots of hanmi and a slight hip twist, and you need to cover a lot of ground. Some of the 'variants' I had actually previously learnt as kae waza, so now I practise them all with the relevant points as a seperate 'exercise'.
Tim Hamilton
Why are you reading this instead of being out training? No excuses accepted...
The trouble is that the more granular you make the survey, the less results you will get back (in absolute number) and the less accurately representative will the survey be.
As it stands it is hardly an accurate representation now as it only captures:
a) those people that read Ebudo or Kendoworld forums AND
b) could be bothered to take part in the survey AND
c) practice one art more dominantly than others thus allowing them to tick only one
As they say, there are lies, damned lies and statistics...
Just a lickle bump up in case people hadn't noticed this poll...
As soon as i have my Iaito i will start with Iai-Jitsu.
These are the styles practiced in the Dojo where i also practice Jiu-Jitsu:
- Muso Jikiden Eishin Ryu
- Tamiya Ryu
We also use Ken No Kata as a base for other techniques but i have yet to learn what that means and/or Is.
Can't wait to gather the money for my Iaito and order it from Japan.