Originally Posted by
Nathan Scott
In other words, when a new headmaster is designated, a special ceremony is conducted. But when densho, or a Menkyo Kaiden is issued, the recipient historically kept the issuance of it in-house until well after the teacher's death. It can be assumed that, aside from humility, keeping the issuance of densho/ranks private reduces the amount the teacher has to deal with jealousy and bickering from among their students.
That's a very interesting quote, Nathan, especially in the context of some of the Daito Ryu discussions going on today. I'd just like to note that I suspect that things might have been a bit different in schools that traditionally practiced a shihan system (Araki Ryu and Jikishinkage Ryu come to mind) as opposed to those that have a soke system (like Daito Ryu or Yagyu Shinkage Ryu). In the latter, the quote you give above probably applies. In the former, however, a menkyo kaiden was expected to go set up shop elsewhere and teach-- that probably made keeping who had menkyo kaiden quiet rather a moot point.
David Sims
"Cuius testiculos habes, habeas cardia et cerebellum." - Terry Pratchet
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