Shindo Muso-Ryu Jojutsu

Muso Gonnosuke Katsuyoshi was born in the 16th century in Japan. It was an age when the Shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu was in the process of unifying the entire nation under his domain, a time when feudal lords fought viciously among themselves, a time when the martial arts underwent a dramatic trans formation that resulted in an unprecedented refinement of technique and training methods. Numerous ryu were founded, based mostly upon improving the concepts of more ancient schools, and others were more fully codified. It is not coincidence, considering the violence of the era and the opportunity for fighting, that a majority of Japan's martial arts masters lived during this period.

 

Gonnosuke must have been extraordinarily able with the bo, for he met a number of exponents of assorted ryu and was not defeated in any matches. He also took the opportunity to train in several of their dojo, always refining his art. It was during this period of musha-shugyo that Gonnosuke met the swordsman Miyamoto Musashi.

 

 

Gonnosuke referred to his art as Shindo Muso, or the Divine Way of Dream Thought. Training alone, he amassed a body of strategies with the shorter stick which were specifically designed to counter the strengths of the other weapons of the bugeisha (particularly the sword) and to exploit their weaknesses.

 

 

The full curriculum of Shindo Muso Ryu

 

Omote (12 Kata)*

Chudan (13 Kata)*

Ran Ai (long and short swords) (2 Kata)*

Kage (14 Kata)

Samidare (or Satsuki Ame) (6 Kata)

Gohon no Midare (5 Kata)

Okuden (or Shiaikuchi) (12 Kata)

Gokui Kata (Menkyo Kaiden only) (5 Kata)

Matsumura no Jo (25 Kata)

 

 

The Shindo Muso Ryu curriculum has evolved to include the following assimilated martial art schools, called Fuzoku Ryuha:

　

Kasumi Shinto Ryu Ken Jutsu, Sword

Uchida Ryu Tanjo Jutsu (12 Kata)*

Isshin Ryu Kusarigama Jutsu (18 Kata)*

Ikkaku Ryu Jutte Jutsu (12 Kata)*

Matsubayashi Ryu Jujutsu (52 Techniques)

 

 

Kasumi Shinto Ryu Kenjutsu (12 Kata)

Ittatsu Ryu Hojo Jutsu (25 Ties plus several undocumented ties)

 

We do train the techniques marked * .