Iaido in South Carolina?

[chizikunbo]

I have to admit to being curious as to the rank of individual in question. Specifically as to the organization. 4th dan isn't really an instructors rank within my the MJER branch that I am part of. 5th dan is really the lowest rank for an instructor and that's pretty bottom fo the totem pole. The first teaching certificate comes AFTER 6th dan.

That said, a 4th dan has a LOT to offer brand new students in the way of instruction. And as time goes by, presumably the 4th dan would advance in rank, and hold an instructors rank by the time it really became an issue for students.

Now all of that is predicated on ranks awarded by the ZNIR and Seitokai. It's entirely possible, indeed likely, that the individual in question achieved his 4th dan in MJER as part of another organization, many of which rank a bit slower than we do and that changes the equation more than a bit. That's why I was curious what organization issued his rank.

And Carolyn,
MJER is a convenient abbreviation online, but not all that easy to say outloud. The traditional shorthand for MJER when spoken is just Eishin Ryu. It's a pretty safe bet that when someone is referring to Eishin Ryu, they mean MJER.

Hello, I am guessing he would have been granted his rank by not an organisation but an individual, but this is only a guess, being that his teacher in Iaido and Aikido was Hikitsuchi Michio-Hanshi (whom was a 10th dan under O'sensei).
--Joshua

[Charles Mahan]

Hello, I am guessing he would have been granted his rank by not an organisation but an individual, but this is only a guess, being that his teacher in Iaido and Aikido was Hikitsuchi Michio-Hanshi (whom was a 10th dan under O'sensei).
--Joshua

So this individual's Muso Jikiden Eishin Ryu rank was awarded by an Aikido instructor and he is not associated with one of the MJER branches? How sure are you that Shintaku-sensei is ranked in MJER and not an Aikiken form of Iaido?

[chizikunbo]

Let me et in contact with him, and see, im sorry for the delay and misunderstnding in some parts.
I will get a oncrete answer asap, but I was pretty sure it was Eishin Ryu :-)
--Josh

[Chidokan]

its quite possible for him to have been awarded a MJER grade, although he would not have got it through aikido. I have come across a lot of aikidoka in the UK who study various iai ryu and all have so far been legit. There is an MJER dojo quite close to the Honbu dojo, although Honbu have quite senior iai people there anyway.... From talking to the guys I know, they study to help their focus, and also help relate their moves back to its origin. The other main ryu I see in the UK related to aiki is Mugai ryu (FWIW...)

[Charles Mahan]

That's kinda what I suspect happened. Do you happen to know which branch the MJER dojo close to the hombu dojo belongs to?

[ShuriHayakawa]

Hi there,

I tried the link, but it was broken. It said, "Not found." Could anyone else get through?

It is called MJER - Muso Jikiden Eishin Ryu. Unless there is something called Eishin Ryu that I haven't heard about yet.(Quite possible. Guys? Please?)

A Master's in Education doesn't matter. It is the qualifications in his Ryu to teach that matter. What is the 4 dan for? Aikido or MJER? Dan rank does not come as a package deal. He'd have to have Dan or Kyu in each art. How long has he studied Iaido? And, has(and is he still) he trained consistantly with a sensei? Who is his sensei currently? Just curious...

Bummer I can't get this stuff from the site. Because I can't open it, I have to ask...

Sorry for asking so many questions.

Has anyone else here of this person? If he is the real deal, I'd love to add him to my list of Koryu dojo.
__________________
Carolyn Hall



Carolyn san,
I'm sorry, the entire URL was http://www.Tenshinichiryu.com for Doshu Shintaku's web site.
His education level is merely an indication of his devotion to his teaching skills, and his dan level might be more than fourth dan, we rarely discuss it.
He is going to be in Kansas this weekend, at the Midland Ki dojo in Mirriam, but he often visits South Carolina. He has a student that has a dojo there, at the Fowler dojo(?). Anyway, he has studied Eishin Ryu Iaido since the 70s, but I also have never asked him exactly what month and year he started to study it. He was in Japan when he began, and the level of his instructors as well as his skill and understanding are far more important for a student, than the mere dan rank and so forth.
I only mentioned him as someone that might be of interest to you, for an instructor worth studying from. He has no ties to Muso Jikiden Eishin Ryu as far as I know. Certainly none in the States. He is Japanese, Iaido is Japanese. It is not American and so having that advantage is another quality I think might be an advantage to the student. His English is excellent, as well as his understanding of American cultures.
His study was in Wakayama, Japan, with his Aikido Instructor, Hikitsuchi Michio, now deceased, but the bo and sword are the major influences that enabled Ueshiba O'Sensei to develope Aikido, as I understand it. Hikitsuchi Hanshi was given tenth dan by Ueshiba while Ueshiba yet lived, and he was a devoted student to him. Doshu Shintaku (Do meaning "the way" and "Shu" meaning master) is exceptionally qualified to teach and doesn't mind the beginner's mistakes and questions, unlike some more advanced instructors especially from Japan. He is very tolerant of American perseptions of Japanese arts and explains what he teaches. I like that about him, a lot.

In any case, it's nothing to me whether anyone prefers to study with him or another, I was just responding to the person that asked for an Iaido instructor in South Carolina. (Quite a while ago. ) :-)
I'm only able to be online occasionally, and don't devote my entire time to any one site when I am online, so please excuse my taking so long to address your questions and correct the URL. It simply must not have been written right when I typed it, so I hope the correction will allow you to reach it if you want to, now.
What Josh has stated is correct, and it does matter about someone's teaching skills, when you are paying them to teach you. The subject you study is not going to mean as much if you don't understand what you are studying, I think. Also, most instructors from Japan get testy when questioned much during their class. I have never known him to be impatient and he often has called just to discuss a problem he's having teaching one student or another, trying to find an approach they will understand better.
Teaching skills really matter!


sincerely
Sharon Hayakawa

[Charles Mahan]

Well that page lists the Iaido at that dojo as Tenshin Ichi Ryu which was apparently founded rather recently by Doshu Shiro Shintaku. http://www.tenshinichiryu.com/founder.htm

So whatever his origins. He is not teaching Muso Jikiden Eishin Ryu now. It is not mentioned anywhere on the website that I could find.

Sharon do you know why Shintaku-sensei found it necessary to create his own system? This subject has always fascinated me.

[Gyokkushin]

Greetings,

Sharon Hayakawa emailed to tell me that there was someone looking for an iaido school in South Carolina. While I cannot help with iaido, my batto and kenjutsu school may.

We just opened the school today and are having our first kenjutsu seminar this Saturday at 3pm. This seminar will focus on the very basics of the Kyushin Ryu style after a cutting demo.

I hope this helps and feel free to contact me if there are any questions.

Thank-you for your attention and thank-you Sharon Hayakawa for letting me know about this site.

John Dzikowski
Kyushin Ryu Kenjutsu
803-556-7267

[pgsmith]

Hi John,
Welcome to e-budo. Can you tell us more about the origins of Kyushin ryu kenjutsu?

Thanks,

[socho]

A quick google search produced this article. The banner links to his website. Not much information there.

The link to the ten shin site is interesting. Philosophy and politics, not much content. Am also curious about the drive to create one's own style.

There is an authorized study group of the Mugai Ryu line under Niina Gosoke through Tony Alvarez in the southern part of North Carolina that may be worth checking out. PM for details if interested.

Dave

[pgsmith]

A quick google search produced this article. The banner links to his website. Not much information there.

The link to the ten shin site is interesting.

Thanks Dave,
I thought both links were interesting, but almost completely uninformative. Couldn't find anything on what sort of sword either one has studied.

Hopefully both people will come back and fill us in.

[ShuriHayakawa]

Well that page lists the Iaido at that dojo as Tenshin Ichi Ryu which was apparently founded rather recently by Doshu Shiro Shintaku. http://www.tenshinichiryu.com/founder.htm

So whatever his origins. He is not teaching Muso Jikiden Eishin Ryu now. It is not mentioned anywhere on the website that I could find.

Sharon do you know why Shintaku-sensei found it necessary to create his own system? This subject has always fascinated me.
__________________
Charles Mahan

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

Making a list of all the suffixes for Iai in my Sig. Let me know if I've missed any.

Iai-do/jutsu/heiho/hyodo/kenpo/kendo/koshi/batto-jutsu


Mahan Sensei,
Drawing from our discussions concerning his reasons for it, he has told me that part of his reason is that he feels he has a chance to leave more to the future, through creating his own System, and that there is little emphasis, in the States in particular, on the mental goals and developement in the life protection arts. He would like to help change that somewhat, if he can. For the most part, the emphasis is usually toward the superficial and more tangible goals, such as becoming a better fighter and (in quite a few cases) competitions, for the better looking forms or tough fighters. His art is developed following his years with his Aikido instructor, who was also a qualified Shinto and Buddhist priest, and with his training with Oyata Sensei, who also has genuine skills unsurpassed, but designed to damage or even kill another person. Shintaku Doshu wished to develop the more peaceful strength he found in his studies, and therefore went on to develope Ten Shin Ichi Ryu, for this purpose. His understanding of natural techniques and the energy practitioners can develope are difficult to express verbally, but one can see the difference when given a chance to watch him demonstrate. Since he can do more to further these qualities by founding his system rather than continuing in another, this was his choice.
Also, just to stay on the subject of Iai for a moment, it might be of interest to know that Oyata Sensei does teach karate, but studied Iaido in the time when he was forced to be in the Japanese military during the WW2. His Iaido was for his survival, therefore very direct and deadly, at the time.
Also, he found it necessary to ask Shintaku Sensei to teach his son, Masaki Oyata, Iaido, as he found it difficult to teach Masaki without upsetting him. He would never have asked Shintaku Sensei to teach his own son, had he not considered the skills in both the teaching and the art to be very advanced. I know them both very well, and this is just something of interest I thought I'd mention. For his part, Masaki was an excellent student. I've known Masaki since the day he was born. He is a good kid, and was interested in martial arts from his toddler stage onward.
Shintaku Doshu seeks to make the goals of mental strength and skill as well developed and sought after as it would be in Japan.
He has told me that it was one of the goals of the Samurai of old times to develope their skills mentally and spiritually, as well as physically.
I have not reached the level of skill he is seeking to teach, but I understand his motives and vision, and I think that is an excellent question that you have raised. What does inspire, or motivate an individual to begin their own art as opposed to inheriting his instructor's art? But I suspect that it is an individual case by case question, as each person I've known that did that, did it for their own reasons.

Shintaku Sensei is only in South Carolina once a month, usually, but since his daughter lives there, he is sure to be there at least that often. I know his wife does the web site, and he is reluctant to even try e mail, preferring to write things out by hand or have another do the e mails, but he is accessable and worth the bother to look into. Hikitsuchi Michio Hanshi did promote him, as well as teach him, the Iaido, bo and Aikido. I did ask him about that, the last time we talked on the phone.
As I said, he will be at the Midland Ki dojo in Kansas tomorrow, and anyone that wants to can call him there, to ask more questions about his arts or other relevant conversation. He talks soft, so you might want to be rid of outside noise, to be able to hear him well.
I hope that answers the questions, I do get wordy sometimes.

sincerely
Sharon Hayakawa

[ShuriHayakawa]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Greetings,

Sharon Hayakawa emailed to tell me that there was someone looking for an iaido school in South Carolina. While I cannot help with iaido, my batto and kenjutsu school may.

We just opened the school today and are having our first kenjutsu seminar this Saturday at 3pm. This seminar will focus on the very basics of the Kyushin Ryu style after a cutting demo.

I hope this helps and feel free to contact me if there are any questions.

Thank-you for your attention and thank-you Sharon Hayakawa for letting me know about this site.

John Dzikowski
Kyushin Ryu Kenjutsu
803-556-7267
__________________
"When lives are at risk, leave nothing to chance."


Dzikowski Sensei,
You're welcome. :-) Doitashimashite.
I think the people on this forum are much more motivated to discuss the martial arts and the people that practice them, than on some of the other lists I've been on. Also, more courteous. I like that.
I'm glad you joined.

[Gyokkushin]

Hi John,
Welcome to e-budo. Can you tell us more about the origins of Kyushin ryu kenjutsu?

Thanks,

Sure I can:

The Kyushin Ryu was founded in the Eiroku period (around 1565) by a man named Inugami Sakon-no-shokan Nagakatsu. He received the transmission of "Reiken" swordsmanship (descending from Heaven) with his father, Inugami Hyogonosuke Nagatsugu, later studying with a Hayamizu Nagakado-no-kami Enshin, from whom he received a license of transmission in Enshin-ryu kumiuchi (grappling with weapons).

He went on to found his own ryu, the curriculum of which was completed by his son, Inugami Kyushinsai Nagatomo. The ryu was widely spread in Kyushu, where it was known by a number of variant writings (of the first character, "kyu") and contained techniques for grappling, swordsmanship, and other weapons (yari, jo, tanto, naginata, etc).

I hope this helps!

John Dzikowski
Kyushin Ryu Kenjutsu

[Charles Mahan]

This is a style I haven't heard of, although that means little To satisfy curiosity, who is the current soke and where is the hombu dojo?