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Online Articles P. 1

Yagyu Shinkage-ryu Kenjutsu

The Yagyu Shinkage-ryu is one of the premiere swordfighting styles of old Japan. It was developed when Kamiizumi Ise No Kami, a master of the Shinkage-ryu style, encountered Yagyu So'uemon No Jo Muneyoshi (Sekishusai). When Muneyoshi lost to Ise No Kami in several bouts with training swords, he asked to be a student of Ise No Kami. Afterwards, Muneyoshi was certified as a master of the Shinkage style. As a provincial lord in the Yamato area, Muneyoshi became embroiled in the battles and wars of that time. He presented his family style of the Shinkage-ryu to Tokugawa Ieyasu at Takagamine, a hill in Northern Kyoto. Supposedly, Ieyasu had a go at the barehanded Muneyoshi, who was in his 80s, after the regular demonstration. Muneyoshi disarmed the wooden sword from Ieyasu's grasp and threw him to the ground. Elated at the expertise of the old warrior, Ieyasu asked to have him serve the Tokugawa family. Muneyoshi declined, citing his age, and instead sent one of his sons, Munenori, to serve Ieyasu.

At the Battle of Sekigahara (1600), Munenori was at the main encampment, with Ieyasu. Accounts say that a raiding party burst upon the camp and attempted to assassinate Ieyasu and the generals. Munenori leapt into the battle and quickly dispatched some tens of the the enemy before the rest ran away. For his skill, Munenori's fortunes rose rapidly. He became a fencing master to the Tokugawa shoguns. Later in his life, he became Soh-metsuke, or overseer of the "outside" daimyo, those not originally allied to the Tokugawa. Munenori founded the Edo Yagyu branch, the side of the Yagyu family that resided in the shogun's capitol of Edo (present-day Tokyo). Another brother, Yagyu Shinjiro Toshikatsu, went to serve the Owari Tokugawa, and Toshikatsu's son Hyogo No Suke Toshiyoshi Myounsai founded the Owari Yagyu.

Toshiyoshi's son Renyasai was a famous swordmaster and artist. Likewise, Munenori's son Jubei was a famous swordmaster and became immortalized in many fictionalized pulp stories shortly after his death.

The QuickTime video was taken during the International Jodo Jamboree held in Hawaii in 1995 (?). Facing the camera is Meik Skoss, a senior member of the Yagyu-kai organization, which practices Yagyu Shinkage-ryu.