Writing on Shinkage-ryū
Below are some of essays and updates from the Inner Dharma project that are concerned mostly with my ongoing practice of kenjutsu and my research and analyses of older Japanese martial traditions.
☰ Comparing Classical and Modern Methods and Mindsets
October 2025
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.
☰ Modern Masters of Jiki Shinkage-ryū
September 2025
Survey of contemporary research on the modern transmission of Jiki Shinkage-ryū kenjutsu.
☰ From Kodachi to Kogusoku
June 2025
Examining the role of kodachi kata in the progression of skill in Jiki Shinkage-ryū kenjutsu, with a description of application to close quarter armed grappling.
☰ Raito and Sente
June 2025
Examining the relationship between combative posture and initiative in a portion of Jiki Shinkage-ryū. What is first observed may be quite different from hidden layers of meaning and practice.
☰ Koryu-wa Koryu-nari
May 2025
The title is a pun on a famous saying associated to Shinto-ryu, the art of war is the art of peace. Old traditions are small traditions — it is the content that matters.
☰ The Shin-no-shinkage heihō of Ogasawara Genshinsai
March 2025
Review of contemporary research on the formation & transmission of Jiki Shinkage-ryū.
☰ Enren: Circling Continuously
February 2025
An example of the deconstruction of kata. Kuzushi is the name for the activity of pulling apart and analyzing kata in Shinkage-ryū, making connections between different parts of its curriculum. It also at times can refer to sudden, spontaneous, change.
☰ Inyō, Gogyō, and Shinkage-ryū
December 2024
Discussing our study of Japanese swordsmanship in the context of internal martial arts principles and esoteric Buddhist practice.
☰ Hōjō ken Kokoro-e sho
December 2024
Text on Jiki Shinkage-ryū Hōjō (foundational) swordsmanship, provided for reference based on Jiki Shinkage-ryū Sōhonbu and Hōbyōkan material. This is typically chanted or recited before performance of the Hōjō kata of Jiki Shinkage-ryū.
☰ Divergence and Unification in Shinkage-ryū
September 2024
Link to an essay on kata, heiho and shugyo, where I compare and contrast different surviving lines of Shinkage-ryū and reflect on my own practice.
☰ General Qi Jiguans's Jixiao Xinshu and Reflections on Claims of Martial Virtue
February 2023
An essay published at Kogen Budo, where I look at some older writings from Japanese koryū that reference classical Chinese military treatises, and then examine how practices described in those works may be represented in arts surviving today.
☰ Pressure Testing in Classical Budō
February 2020
A description of some of my efforts to keep my practice of kenjutsu intact after moving to the Pacific Northwest. After moving, I decided to focus solely on Shinkage-ryū and pause my study of Shintō-ryū. I trained initially alone and over time tested my skills in unscripted environments. This is some of what transpired.
☰ Gogyō Exegesis
October 2019
An essay describing my experience, thinking, and choices regarding attempting to practice multiple koryū and then deciding not to.