Inner Dharma
Below you will find articles, essays, and updates concerning classical and traditional martial arts and culture. Inner Dharma has grown into a significant body of work, please use the search function to find pages of interest.
Site Planning and Updates
An update on my writing activities.
2026 Pilgrimage
Reflections on recent travel to Japan to visit sacred sites in Kumano and Mie and reconnect with formal Jikishinkage-ryū practice.
Important Kenshi from 1850 to 1950
Swordsmen, spearmen and jūjutsu teachers of the late Edo, Meiji and early Shōwa periods: the fuller records from my register of practitioners, with pointers to the rest.
Finding Jikishinkage-ryū Swordsmen in the Bakufu Registers
Three documents for Odani Seiichirō and Amano Shōshō, and a worked example of finding Jikishinkage-ryū swordsmen in the printed bakufu registers of 1860 to 1864 held by the National Diet Library.
Late Bakumatsu Military Units
Some details on the Yūgeki-tai, Seiei-tai, and Shōgi-tai, late Bakumatsu military units that some Kōbusho figures were attached to.
The Kenpō Ryakki of Kubota Sugane
We provide a translation of eight technical sections detailed from the Kenpō ryakki of Kubota Sugane (1839), with an extended note on the nagamaki.
Kūkai’s Secret Key to the Heart Sūtra
A working translation of Kūkai’s Hannya-shingyō hiken (般若心經祕鍵, 818) — the esoteric reading of the Heart Sūtra as the mantra-samādhi of Prajñā Bodhisattva, divided into five sections each keyed to a bodhisattva.
Haguro Shugendō
Haguro Shugendō, its Tengu and Gongen, and the Dewa Sanzan area.
Yamada Ippūsai Mitsunori
Yamada Ippūsai Mitsunori (山田一風斎光徳) studied Jikishin Seitō-ryū as a youth and then studied Yagyū Shinkage-ryū heihō in a faction of the Edo line of that art. Later in life he returned to his first training, and eventually inherited that line of practice.
Shinkage-ryū in Kyushu
The Kyushu area Shinkage-ryū densho and the Tsuki no Shō of Yagyū Mitsuyoshi both provide descriptions of gokui and kuden level Shinkage-ryū teachings, the first in the form of makimono that list topics and the second in commentary by Mitsuyoshi.
The Shinkage-ryū Sotomono of Nabeshima Naotomo (1705)
We provide a translation of a text on military strategy by Nabeshima Naotomo, as related to Yamazaki Jinzaemon in 1705 when Nabeshima was ninety years of age. From Fukui 1937’s multi-volume work on the Tokugawa.
Analysis of Jikishinkage-ryū Densho Commentary
Using NDL cursive OCR models Waseda University Jikishinkage-ryū densho holdings allows us to better gloss commentaries in cursive script as well as small block character notes.
Drifting East, Mooring West
A short translation of a matching-rhyme quatrain, brushed on a slip and bound into the front matter of the 1898 Takuan Zenshū, likely by Takuan, that turns on Zen imagery of drifting with conditions and remaining untouched by the world.
Matsuoka Yorozu
Matsuoka Yorozu (松岡万, 1838–1891): shogunal retainer, sonnō-jōi activist, and swordsman who led the Seiei-tai guarding the retired Yoshinobu.
Chūjō Kinnosuke
Bakumatsu bannerman (1827-1896) and one of the few Kōbusho men to teach in two disciplines, kenjutsu and jūjutsu; after the Restoration he headed the Seiei-tai guard and led the former retainers who reclaimed the Makinohara plateau for tea.
Taisha-ryū, Denrinbō Raikei, and Hikosan Shugendō
Ming Chinese master of Taisha-ryū and Shugendō practitioner. Some contrasts between Hiko Shugendō and Dewa Shugendō and a digression to a famous school of sword smiths.
Evolution of Jikishinkage-ryū Densho
Summarizing Karukome’s research into the composition of written densho of Jikishinkage-ryū, especially where Kashima-centric claims enter the art.
From Kokugaku to the Ketsumeidan: Nativist Shintō and the Budō World
How the nativist undertow inside Edo Sinophilia grew through kokugaku — Motoori Norinaga and Hirata Atsutane — into the kokutai/Kōdō ideology of Imaizumi Sadasuke and the early-Shōwa nationalist milieu of the Ketsumeidan Incident that the budō world brushed against.
From Ming to Meiji: The Declining Status of Chinese Influence in Japanese martial culture from 1600-1900
One thread that affects multiple articles here, whether on kobudō or Japanese religion, is the early Edo importance of Ming Dynasty culture in Japan as being desirable as an influence and the mid-to-late Edo scorn for Qing Dynasty China. This is only amplified in Meiji and beyond.
Memorial Steles of Jikishinkage-ryū
A survey of Jikishinkage-ryū memorial steles across Kashima Jingū and Chiba — their texts, and the succession dispute they record.
The Dai Nippon Butokukai
The Dai Nippon Butokukai (大日本武徳会), founded in 1895, is where the two survival channels of the preceding sections — the commercial gekken-kōgyō and the state police-gekken — terminate in a single standardized kendō, and where the office, not license, logic traced through the Kōbusho and the Keishichō reaches its institutional form as a national shōgō (称号) system of grades and titles that led to modern budō.
Matsuzaki Namishirō and Katōda Shinkage-ryū
Matsuzaki Namishirō (松崎浪四郎, 1833–1896) of Kurume: his training in Katōda Shinkage-ryū, his musha shugyō and gekken years, the Shunpūkan, and his place in the early kendō world.
The Battō-tai, the Keihōkan and the Keishichō
After the exhibition matches of gekken-kōgyō kept swordsmanship alive commercially, the Battō-tai at Tabaruzaka in 1877 reopened it as a matter of state: the Keishichō’s gekken sewakari of 1879, its cross-school Keishi-ryū kata, and the earlier, failed police adoption of 1868 at the Keihōkan.
Ōshima-ryū Sōjutsu Densho
We examine a densho from 1792 of Ōshima-ryū, a spear tradition stemming from Ōshima Hanroku Yoshitsuna who studied methods passed down from Yuasa Shinroku. Its signature weapon was a long suyari and it held a long-time rivalry with the Hōzōin-ryū.
Ibaraki area Jikishinkage-ryū
Hakomori Yosaburō (箱守与三郎祐郷) taught Jikishinkage-ryū in Makabe-gun, Ibaraki, founded the Genbukan at Shimotsuma in 1904 and was the later Jikishinkage-ryū teacher of Nakayama Tatsusaburō (中山辰三郎).
Takahashi Deishū
Takahashi Deishū (高橋泥舟), spear master of the Kōbusho, head of the Yūgeki-tai and one of the three ‘Shū’ of the Bakumatsu.
Overview of the Kōbusho
The Kōbusho was the late Tokugawa martial academy that operated between 1856 and 1867 just before the disestablishment of the samurai (haitōrei 廃刀令, 1876; chitsuroku shobun 秩禄処分) when kenjutsu nearly died. Its senior teachers were instrumental in the later survival of Japanese swordsmanship, which persisted through two separate channels, one civil and one martial, that then later converged: Gekken-kōgyō and the Battō-tai.
Fixed measurement and the three accordances
Sōjaku-no-koto (相尺之事; mutual distance or measure) is one of the formal matters listed in historical mokuroku of Jikishinkage-ryū kenjutsu. We examine its relationship to Sino-Japanese philosophical concepts.
Eight Phases and Eight Extremes
Detail of Hassō Happa from the 1800 Kashima-shinden Jikishinkage-ryū Hōjō densho of Naganuma Tadasato, copied by Ogawa Yashichi, its place in Hōjō swordsmanship, and how the eight phases may relate to the eight extremes of Daoist Huainanzi geography.
Late Ming Chinese Influence on Ogasawara Genshinsai
The writings and practice of Ogasawara Genshinsai, his travels in late Ming China, and what Wú Shū’s 1662 preface shows about the direction of sword transmission between Japan and China.
A-Un, Gogyō, Godai and Beyond
A brief discussion of the seasonal mappings of kata in Jikishinkage-ryū kenjutsu and how those relate to Daoist complementarity, five phase theory, and partially to Mikkyō concepts.
Teaching Internal Ideas
A poem by Yu Xin (513-581) evokes some thoughts on training and teaching — the importance of solo practice, the results of different experiments in teaching, why it is best to be cautious before taking on new obligations.
On Researching Gokui
Reflections on researching and writing about inner principles of Japanese swordsmanship and relating those back to philosophical topics.
An Overview of Wú Tàijíquán Practice
Tàijíquán, along with Xíngyìquán and Bāguàzhǎng, forms the core of the internal martial arts, distinguished by their grounding in Daoist philosophy and Nèigōng practices.
Kiai is not a sound
Reflecting on twenty years of writing on martial arts, the integration of internal principles into classical swordsmanship, and a concluding pilgrimage to Japan.
The Evolution of Kata
A short essay adapted from some correspondence where I examine the evolution of kata over time and how that relates to free practice, and the original combative intent of older martial traditions.
Contrasting Modern and Classical Mindsets
We examine some features of armed and unarmed grappling and small weapon styles from the medieval period to modernity and draw some parallels and distinctions between them, especially as related to combat sport and contemporary military practices.
In Memoriam: David A. Hall (1947-2025)
On 26 July 2025, the world lost one of its most knowledgeable teachers and scholars of classical Japanese martial culture.
Layers of Training
Stages of training and how that relates to internal martial arts principles and the organization of older martial traditions.
Comparing Patañjali’s 8 Limbs with Buddha’s Noble 8-fold path
Last year I began additional training in the union of Yoga and Buddhism offered through Tibet House. A short essay comparing the Astanga of Patañjali with the Buddhist Noble Eightfold path.
Hōjō ken Kokoro-e sho
Text, with a translation, on Jikishinkage-ryū Hōjō (foundational) swordsmanship, provided for reference based on Jikishinkage-ryū Sōhonbu and Hōbyōkan material. This is typically chanted or recited before performance of the Hōjō kata of Jikishinkage-ryū.
Divergence and Unification in Shinkage-ryū (opens in a new tab)
An essay on kata, heihō and shugyō, comparing and contrasting different surviving lines of Shinkage-ryū, with reflections on my own practice.
General Qi Jiguang’s Jixiao Xinshu and Reflections on Claims of Martial Virtue (opens in a new tab)
A look at some older writings from Japanese koryū that reference classical Chinese military treatises, and how the practices described in those works may be represented in arts surviving today.
Kenpō at the Gassankan
I provide some information on the organization, goals, and overall training context of my efforts at preserving a practice of Jikishinkage-ryū kenjutsu (heihō) and related arts as part of the Gassankan.
Rationales for Training
I’ve written about intensity in training and the role pressure testing can play in personal development, but what about the cultural aspects of older martial arts? They are fascinating, inspiring, and important — but secondary to the mental and physical components of training.
YCGF Weapons Practices
The Tàijí, Bāguà and Xíngyì taught as part of Yin Cheng Gong Fa includes an extensive curriculum of jian (sword), dao (saber), and qiang (spear).
Pressure Testing in Classical Budō
On solo practice, free sparring, entering HEMA competition, and the waning intensity of classical martial arts. Reflections on what it means to keep kenjutsu practice alive.
Gogyō Exegesis
Reflections on a decade of practice in Tenshin Shōden Katori Shintō-ryū and an analysis of what may lie hidden beneath its surface.
Proper Training Intensity in Traditional Martial Arts
A discussion of what constitutes proper training intensity in traditional martial arts.
Tàijí Classics
An important translation of the Tàijí Classics has been published. Highly recommended.
Aiki and Internal Training
Collected thoughts on the historical influence of Chinese martial arts on Japanese jūjutsu and how they relate to the topic of aiki in Aikidō and Daitō-ryū.
NAMT Night of Budō 2013
Reflections on a demonstration of Araki-ryū and Tenshin Bukō-ryū at the NAMT 2013 Night of Budo by Ellis Amdur.
On the cultivation of skill
A brief discussion of power generation in internal martial arts.
