I have been studying Jikishinkage ryu naginata for 2 years in Seki, Japan. The club focuses mainly on Atarashii Naginata, but I have only been learning the koryu, as that is where my interests lay. I have been trying to delve more deeply into the history on the ryu, but my teacher doesn`t seem to know much about it. I feel like I have read everything available on the internet in English (and some in Japanese). I have Ellis Amdur's book (which is the most detailed history I have been able to find), but I'm wondering if there is anything else out there. The official party line is that the history goes back 450 years to the founder of Kashima Shinden Shinkage Ryu, Matsumoto Bizen no Kami Naokatsu (1467-1524), at the end of the Muromachi era, but I can`t really see any similarities (especially after reading "Old School"). I know there are some very experienced naginataka on this forum (I`ve also searched here pretty extensively, and I think that I`ve read most of the posts that mention Jikishinkage ryu), and I would really appreciate any information they could offer.
Also, in "Old School" Mr. Amdur states that "In the 1860s, Satake Yoshinori, a student of the Jikishin and Yanagi Kage-ryu, developed a new naginata school with his wife, Satake Shigeo. She had studied martial arts since she was six years old and was famous for her strength with the naginata." Does anyone know what school(s) Satake Shigeo studied. I have seen several other naginata schools perform embu, and I have not noticed any glaring similarities to Jikishinkage ryu (but then again, I`m not very experienced).
Thank you in advance for your help!