Heihō Kenjutsu
Here you will find my published work on Kashima-shinden Jikishinkage-ryu heihō kenjutsu. Please also visit jikishinkageryu.org (opens in a new tab) for further information, including links to active training groups I am aware of.
The Truth of the Calm Spirit
The Truth of the Calm Spirit (opens in a new tab), Inner Dharma, 2025. 368 pages. An examination of the practice of Jikishinkage-ryū kenjutsu through the lens of internal martial arts.
I began training in Kashima-shinden Jikishinkage-ryū kenjutsu in 2008. In 2025, my kenjutsu instructor passed away suddenly. Later that year, I started collating and expanding my writing on Jikishinkage-ryū (opens in a new tab) kenjutsu, which resulted in my first book, which I dedicated to his memory.
This work contains my research and notes on Jikishinkage-ryū through the end of 2025, including a summary of its early history, including the travels of Ogasawara Genshinsai to Ming China, its kata, and descriptions of its philosophical content drawn from available Japanese language scholarship and library holdings.1
Contents Includes: Introduction (Origin Myths, Broader Context of Transitional Arts, Free Practice), Lineage, Philosophical Context (A-Un Kokyū, Shunkashūtō, Unpō, Kiai, Kuraidori), Kata (Hōjō, Tō no Kata, Kodachi, Habiki, Older Kata), Advanced Matters (Koto, Gokui), and the Ryū no Maki.
The Truth of the Calm Spirit is my companion volume on Kashima-shinden Jikishinkage-ryū kenjutsu. My subsequent writing on Jikishinkage-ryū can be found at jikishinkageryu.org (opens in a new tab).
End Notes
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Some information on research methods and conventions is available, including the use of automated tools for optical character recognition, translation, search, and proofreading. ↩