Date: Wed, 13 Aug 1997 11:53:31 -0400 Reply-To: Japanese Sword Art Mailing List <IAIDO-L@LISTSERV.UOGUELPH.CA> Sender: Japanese Sword Art Mailing List <IAIDO-L@LISTSERV.UOGUELPH.CA> From: Karl Friday <kfriday@UGA.CC.UGA.EDU> Subject: Re: Shinkendo (was IAIDO-L Digest - 11 Aug 1997 to 12 Aug 1997) Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" At 10:59 PM 8/12/97 -0700, G. Hauenstein wrote: >Shinkendo is not based upon Toyama Ryu so therefore your analogy is >incorrect. Shinkendo is again, the culmination of Obata Sensei s lifetime >study of the martial arts. . . . and he also >studied Kashima Shin ryu under Master Tanaka. As long as we're picking nits here, I think that it's important to point out that Obata Sensei could NOT have studied Kashima-Shinryu under any "Master Tanaka," because there has not been anyone named Tanaka licensed to teach Kashima-Shinryu at any time during the last century. I assume that Mr. Hauenstein's reference is to Obata's having trained at some point under Tanaka Shigeho at the Meiji Grand Shrine. This is entirely possible, but Tanaka is an aikido teacher, not a teacher--or even a member--of the Kashima-Shinryu. Tanaka's KSR experience comes through Inaba Minoru, who studied KSR briefly (about a year) under Kunii Zen'ya, the previous generation *soke*, at the behest of his (Inaba's) teacher, Tanaka Mizuho (who, I believe, is Shigeho's father). Inaba left the ryuha after Kunii's death, without receiving any sort of license or diploma from Kunii, but later was given an untitled diploma by Kunii's widow. He continues to teach sword techniques *derived from* KSR kenjutsu as part of his aikido instruction, but this is no more KSR than rock music is jazz. Inaba's (and his students') timing, application of power, style of movement, strategic approach, and underlying philosophy are all aikido, not KSR. Before I get anyone too excited, let me hasten to add that there is ABSOLUTELY nothing wrong with taking kenjutsu techniques from any koryu and adding them in this way to aikido, to another koryu, or to any other art. But doing so is something quite different from actually teaching the koryu itself. Nor am I in any way impugning Inaba's (or Tanaka's) swordsmenship per se; but it's very important to clarify that it is NOT Kashima-Shinryu--it is aikido. (In this sense, Mr. Hauenstein's statement that shinkendo is not aiki-ken is incorrect; if Inaba studied kenjutsu under Tanaka, he studied a form of aikido sword--i.e. aiki-ken.) Inaba has been asked on many occasions not to use the name KSR or the title of KSR shihan, and has always agreed to refrain from doing so. Of late, however, I've noticed that a number of his students and the students of his students have been describing him publically as a legitimate teacher of KSR. Koryu belong absolutely to one man--the current generation soke or shihanke--and his authorized representatives. Only those who have been initiated to the level of menkyo-kaiden have the right to use the name of the school (that's what the "menkyo" part of the rank means) under circumstances other than those specifically authorized by the soke/shihanke. A long post, but if we're going to talk lineages and origins, we need to be precise. Karl Friday Dept. of History University of Georgia Athens, GA 30602 ph. (706) 542-2537 kfriday@uga.cc.uga.edu Back to: Top of message | Previous page | Main IAIDO-L page