Tenshin Shoden Katori
Shinto Ryu is one of Japan’s oldest extant
classical bujutsu and gives the year 1447 as
the year it was founded. This organization is
the source in which most classical Japanese martial
ryu (martial traditions) have evolved; and from
these ryu many kinds of bujutsu have appeared.
Koryu meaning “traditional school” or “old
school” are schools of martial arts once
used by Samurai in war and combat. Unique to other
schools, members from all social classes were welcome
to join and the fundamental position was “Turn
no one away, nor rope them back in”.
Curriculum
Tenshin Shoden Katori Shinto-ryu is
a comprehensive system and includes a broad
range of martial
skills. The curriculum of study includes:
Sword
Arts
•
Kenjutsu – Sword combat
•
Iajutsu – Sword drawing
•
Ryotojutsu – Two swords
•
Kodachi – Short sword
Long Weapons
•
Bojutsu
•
Naginatajutsu
•
Sojutsu
Jujutsu
Tradition
Katori Shinto Ryu has changed very
little over time either in purpose or form
from its original
nature and purpose. This is due to being
guided by a commitment of quality, not
quantity. To
pass any tradition in pristine form only
requires a
small number of superior students than
a large number of mediocre ones. Members
are
committed
to a sense of duty and service to a past
and a sense of responsibility for the
future. The
original
spirit of the classical martial teachings
is adopted as the disciplines of daily
life and
we strive
to transmit the cultural assets of the
classical tradition precisely in their
original form.
The purpose of the ryu is to keep alive
and pass
from one generation to the next the values
and principles
of the Japanese warrior tradition.
There are no competitions for award or
promotion. Students learn from each other,
like the
interdependency of yin and yang, in and
yo. We dedicate ourselves
wholeheartedly to training. The core
virtue of bushido is humility and the
martial
arts practiced
with moral or humane sentiments are the
only true budo.
Elements of Heiho
Through the spontaneity of
physical training and experience, members undergo
a remolding
of the
mind that teaches the spirit of cooperation
and tunes intuitive processes to a new
degree of
acuity. These combative skills are to
be used for the sake
of peace which is the true essence and
mindset of fudoshin. The magnanimous
and compassionate
heart is undaunted by any force in the
world. In Japanese, immovability is fudo
and heart
is shin.
A heart filled with unwavering resoluteness
is called “fudoshin”. Heiho
is the Japanese word that represents
the concepts of strategy and
tactics in combat. In the teaching of
Tenshin Shoden Katori Shinto Ryu, martial
law is ordinary law.
Or the “Art of war is the art of
peace”.
One saying that also speaks to the mindset
prescribed by Katori Shinto Ryu is “The
control of one’s
self is a far greater feat than the defeat
of a thousand enemies”. Zanshin,
the “spirit
that lingers on” is the characteristic
of maintaining a calm presence and steadfast
awareness
of all that transpires without specific
focus on one thing; perfect awareness
which is also a predictor
of success and failure. In today’s
modern world, these concepts bring value
to our daily
lives both inside out and outside the
dojo. For
More Information regarding training in Atlanta,
please contact –
Lotfi Kasraie at lkasraie@gmail.com
|
