Shinkage-ryu clarification...
I was just bopping through some older threads and came across this exchange:
Originally Posted by
Nathan Scott
To demonstrate further levels of diversity within an art like Shinkage-ryu, look also at the line of Shinkage-ryu taught within Owari kan-ryu and the "original" Shinkage-ryu (according to Kuroda Tetsuzan) of Komagawa kaishin-ryu. BTW, it is my understanding that "Kage-ryu" was succeeded by the Yagyu family, who re-named it "Shinkage-ryu" (and later "Yagyu shinkage-ryu") have been passing it down within through family transmission since. While Shinkage-ryu may have changed over the generations, it's my understanding that Yagyu shinkage-ryu is respected as the mainline tradition.
Christopher Covington then offered the following clarification:
Originally Posted by
Kendoguy9
Dear Nathan, et al,
There are and were many lines of Shinkage-ryu and they all seem to claim they are the "mainline." Shinkage-ryu is really the product of Kamiizumi. Kamiizumi studied Aisu Kage-ryu and later changed it to Shinkage-ryu. Two of his sons had lines of Shinkage-ryu, one just called Shinkage-ryu (I think?) and the other Kamiizumi-ryu. Both are dead ryu so who knows what they're like. They have a claim to the mainline because of family connection. Many people believe the Yagyu line to be the most complete, or the closest to the finished product of what Kamiizumi wanted to do with his art. Kamiizumi's nephew Hikida is said to be his strongest follower. The Okuyama line (Jikishinkage-ryu) is the oldest, as Okuyama studied with Kamiizumi before any of the other major line's founders. Anyway, just about all the lines when you ask them what art they study they'll say "Shinkage-ryu."
I've just been reading Shoden Shinkage-ryu, the history of (Yagyu) Shinkage-ryu written by Yagyu Toshinaga, as well as some of the historical volumes by Imamura Yoshio, such as Shiryo Yagyu Shinkage-ryu, which is a collection of Sengoku and Edo period documents related to YSR, so I thought I'd offer further clarification. A lot of this stuff isn't in English, and what is is often slightly muddled or mistaken.
As Christopher notes, Kamiizumi Hidetsuna, practitioner of Shinto-ryu, Nen-ryu, and Aisu Ikosai's Kage-ryu, developed Shinkage-ryu and named it thus because he felt his breakthrough came chiefly from Kage-ryu. This is attested is the Empi-no-Tachi scrolls that he wrote and gave to Yagyu Munetoshi (Sekishusai), and Marume Kurando.
"Yagyu Shinkage-ryu" has never been the name of Shinkage-ryu as passed through the Yagyu family. In the densho written by Munetoshi, Munenori, and all of the Owari-line, it has always simply been "Shinkage-ryu Heiho". The first time the term Yagyu Shinkage-ryu was ever used by a Yagyu was when Yagyu Nobuharu-sensei used it in the title of a lecture, purely as a concession to popular nomenclature (and for the same reason, the official site uses "Yagyu Shinkage-ryu"). However, as far as practitioners are concerned, it's simply Shinkage-ryu.
In many Owari-han documents, it's referred to as "Yagyu-ryu" by non-practitioners, likely as a way of distinguishing it from other "Shinkage-ryu" (of various kanji combinations) also being taught in the han. In early pre-war lectures, 20th soke Yagyu Toshinaga used the term to refer to concepts developed and handed down by the Yagyu family to distinguish them from "Shoden Shinkage-ryu Heiho" -- Shinkage-ryu as believed passed down by Kamiizumi.
While Shinkage-ryu has passed down through the Yagyu family, the position of head of the school has been also passed down among certain Lords of Owari-han. The 4th soke in the lineage, for example, is Tokugawa Yoshinao, first lord of Owari-han. His son, Mitsutomo, was highly skilled in Shinkage-ryu and was later named 6th soke. The Owari Tokugawa family continued to study Shinkage-ryu with the Yagyu family up until the war.
Interestingly, in a number of very early Hikita Kage-ryu documents, the lineage begins with Aisu Ikosai, rather than Kamiizumi as most Shinkage-ryu documents do. One might surmise that Hikita's training was primarily in Kage-ryu, before Kamiizumi made his changes and began calling it Shinkage-ryu.
Shinkage-ryu "official" history in the Yagyu family (as detailed in Shoden Shinkage-ryu) is that Kamiizumi made Munetoshi his successor with the ichikoku-ichinin inkajo, and all other "Shinkage" and "Kage" ryus are off-shoots. In my personal opinion, though, historically it's probably more likely that Munetoshi was one of a number of high-level students, and there wasn't really the concept of a "mainline" or "soke" at the time for Munetoshi to inherit.
Josh Reyer
Swa sceal man don, žonne he ęt guše gengan ženceš longsumne lof, na ymb his lif cearaš. - The Beowulf Poet