From the Kōbusho to the Butokukai
From the Kōbusho to the Butokukai: Swordsmanship in Transition (opens in a new tab), Inner Dharma, 2026. 402 pages. The late Edo period Kōbusho, the martial academy of the Tokugawa, its swordsmen and their styles, and the institutions that followed it into the modern era.1
The work covers over 20 traditions and 45 practitioners from this time period.
In this work, I examine details of many late Edo practitioners of Jikishinkage-ryū, the bakumatsu Kōbusho many of them taught at, and important traditions that had lasting impact as Japan modernized, including important 19th and 20th century Japanese martial figures.
Mountain, Sword, and Mind: Volumes I and II
Inner Dharma began because of my interest in Shugendō, a mountain practice blending aspects of Mikkyō, Daoism, and native Japanese religion. This led to several pilgrimages and two volumes on how mountain asceticism relates to older martial traditions from Japan.
Volume I: Shugendō and Heihō
Shugendō and Heihō: Sacred Space and Martial Practice (opens in a new tab), Mountain, Sword, and Mind: Volume I. Inner Dharma, 2026. 407 pages.
In this work we begin by examining the practice of peak entry, discuss the Buddhist ten realms, the concept of tengu and their relationship to gongen, and provide a brief overview of two important early Shugendō figures: En no Gyōja and Rigen Daishi (Shōbō).
We provide an inventory of the tengu and yamabushi-related material in the Bujutsu Sōsho and then discuss historical sacred sites in Japan and the martial traditions attached to them, drawing from the Honchō Bugei Shōden (本朝武藝小傳) and Bujutsu Ryūso-roku (武術流祖錄) and other sources. This includes Kuramadera, Atago, Kashima, Katori, Mt Haguro and Dewa Sanzan, Kumano Sanzan, Udo, and Hikosan.
We then translate Kūkai’s Secret Key to the Heart Sūtra commentary and examine the Shugendō canon’s pantheon, including Mañjuśrī (Monju), Fudō Myōō, the Five Wisdom Kings, Zaō Gongen, Sanbō Kōjin, Māra, Marishiten, Mahākāla (Daikoku) and Bishamonten. We close with a discussion on military Shugendō including the kuji (nine syllables), goshinhō (protective rites), and the concept of the diamond (vajra) body.
Volume II: Mikkyō, Zen, and Daoist Sources in Shinkage-ryū
Mikkyō, Zen, and Daoist Sources in Shinkage-ryū: Reading the Heihō Kadensho, Tsuki no Shō, Honshiki Sanmondō, and Shinpishō, Mountain, Sword, and Mind, Volume II (opens in a new tab). Inner Dharma, 2026. 422 pages.
In Volume II we examine core Yagyū-ryū writings from the 17th century, including the Heihō Kadensho of Yagyū Munenori and the Tsuki no Shō of Yagyū Mitsuyoshi, which records oral teachings (kuden) of Munenori and writings of Sekishūsai. For completeness, we provide new translations of several works by Takuan, including the Taiaki and Fudōchi Shinmyōroku.
The gokui of Yagyū Shinkage-ryū at the time are examined in relation to Zen and Mikkyō concepts. We then provide an overview of early Owari Shinkage Yagyū-ryū and the changes introduced into its curriculum, examine the gokui concept of seikōsui in the Honshiki Sanmondō of Kimura Kyūho (senior student of Yagyū Munenori who was given the name Unchū-ryū), examine the Edo Yagyū-ryū Shinpishō of Sano Yojizaemon, and compare to surviving Kyushu area Shinkage-ryū densho.
End Notes
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These volumes attempt to be precise but are not academic histories. Instead they are close readings of historical sources. In doing so, we relate the statements made about many older martial traditions by their witnesses and practitioners, but each surviving faction or group will have their own in-tradition orthodoxy ↩