Training Background
Yuèshān-guan can be read as Gassankan in Japanese. My first introduction to classical kenjutsu was in the Yagyū Shinkage-ryū taught by Kato Kazuo of NY Yagyūkai in Port Washington, NY, in the mid 1990s. I since continued a study of several lines of classical kata-based kenjutsu, including:
- Tenshinshō-den Katori Shintō-ryū at Capital Katori (opens in a new tab) [2005-2015]
- Kashima-shinden Jikishinkage-ryū (opens in a new tab) under Dr. David Hall at the Hōbyōkan [2008-2016]
- Yagyū Shinkage-ryū as part of the Hōbyōkai [2014-2022]
Related to these studies, I received a mokuroku from Sugawara Budo in 2010 and Hōbyōkai chuden menjo in 2018.
Current Activities
Since moving to Seattle in 2016 I worked with a small group to preserve a practice of aspects of what I learned at the Hōbyōkan. Two of my students, Jake Harlin and Nicky Sayah Sina, now lead an activity called Tōsha Dōjō at Lonin League in SODO.
