Memorium

遍路

Dr. David A. Hall (遍路; 1947-2025) was attached to the Third Marine Division as a Navy Hospital Corpsman during the Vietnam War Era. In 1978 he was ordained as a Tendai Buddhist priest and integrated his religious training in Japan with graduate research at U.C. Berkeley, earning a doctorate in Buddhist Studies with a related field in Military history in 1990. Dr. Hall practiced three vibrant classical Japanese martial traditions:

1. Shindō Muso-ryū jo at the Rembukan under Donn Draeger and later with Draeger's senior student Karunakaran, from whom he received important teachings (menkyoden and hiden) in 1989. He later received gokui transmission and menkyo-kaiden in Shindō Muso-ryū from Quentin Chambers in 2014.
2. Kashima-shinden Jikishinkage-ryū kenjutsu under Namiki Yasushi and Itō Masayuki, reaching the level of jomokuroku in 1981.
3. Yagyu Shinkage-ryū heihō at the Yagyukai under Yagyu Nobuharu, 21st generation headmaster.

After returning to the United States, Dr. Hall founded the Hōbyōkan, where he taught these arts for almost thirty years, deepening the understanding and brightening the lives of many people. His published works, including the Encyclopedia of Japanese Martial Arts (Kodansha) and the Buddhist Warrior Goddess Marishiten (Brill), are lasting contributions to the field of hoplology.