Genbukan Ninpo Bugei
玄武館忍法武芸Ninpo organisation and curriculum founded, according to its website, by Tanemura Shoto on 28 November 1984 in Matsubushi. It draws on Takamatsu Toshitsugu's lines.
Quick Facts
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Training
Who It Suits
Organisation & Competition
What the style is built from
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About Genbukan Ninpo Bugei
Genbukan ninpo bugei, 玄武館忍法武芸, is an organisation and curriculum that, according to the Genbukan, Tanemura Shoto founded on 28 November 1984 with a handful of students in his dojo in Matsubushi. The reason, according to the Genbukan, was to preserve the integrity of the ancient ninja tradition. English Wikipedia says Tanemura was a friend and student of Hatsumi Masaaki and left him after a disagreement, while the Genbukan itself does not name Hatsumi in connection with the split. The lines the Genbukan claims lead, according to its website, through Takamatsu Toshitsugu, the same teacher as the Bujinkan, and on through Hatsumi, Sato Kinbei and Kimura Masaji. English Wikipedia says neither the Bujinkan nor the Genbukan can be considered true koryu, mainly because their lineage cannot be documented before the Meiji Restoration. According to the Genbukan, the curriculum centres on ninpo sanjurokkei, 36 areas of training, that is 18 traditional Japanese martial arts and 18 forms of ninpo. According to the Belgian dojo Genbukan Chiryaku, four organisations fall under Genbukan Honbu: GWNBF since 1984, Kokusai Jujutsu Renmei since 1991, JKWF since 2004 and ATWF since 2006.
History
According to the Genbukan, Tanemura was born in August 1947 in Matsubushi in Saitama Prefecture as Tsunehisa Tanemura and later took the name Shoto, master of the sword. According to the Genbukan, he joined the Tokyo Metropolitan Police at 22 and left about fifteen years later as a lieutenant. English Wikipedia says he was vice president of the Bujinkan Shidoshi Association and that Stephen K. Hayes was his early student. According to the Genbukan, in the winter of 1989 Sato Kinbei named him soke of Takagi Yoshin-ryu, Bokuden-ryu, Gikan-ryu and Kukishin-ryu.
How it differs
English Wikipedia cites the Bugei ryuha daijiten, according to which the genealogy of Takamatsu's Togakure-ryu contains embellishments to make it look older. According to the Genbukan, Tanemura received menkyo kaiden in Shinden Fudo-ryu ju-taijutsu and dakentaijutsu from Hatsumi. The Nihon Kobudo Kyokai does not list any ninjutsu organisation or the Genbukan on its list.
Technique
The Genbukan says the foundations of Genbukan ninpo bugei come from a number of schools, among them Togakure-ryu, Kumogakure-ryu, Kukishin-ryu, Gyokko-ryu, Koto-ryu, Gikan-ryu, Shinden Fudo-ryu, Takagi Yoshin-ryu and Asayama Ichiden-ryu. English Wikipedia lists teaching of taijutsu, bikenjutsu, keishinteki kyoyo, bojutsu, yumi, naginata, yari, jutte, kusarigama and shuriken. According to the Genbukan, the name ninpo instead of ninjutsu stresses the development of character alongside technical skills.
Ranks and progression
According to the Genbukan, Kokusai Jujutsu Renmei uses a standard kyu and dan system, and after 3rd dan a student may specialise in one ryuha and receive scrolls up to menkyo kaiden. The mastership titles renshi, kyoshi, shihan and hanshi have, according to the Genbukan, their own requirements and tests, conducted personally by Tanemura. The renshi test, according to him, is to escape completely from the soke's shinai cut.
Today
Its website genbukan.org is, in its own words, the official headquarters of GWNBF, KJJR, ATWF and JKWF. According to the Genbukan, Tanemura is president of GWNBF and KJJR and holds the title soke Tanemura-ha in Togakure-ryu ninpo, Gyokko-ryu kosshijutsu, Koto-ryu koppojutsu, Shinden Fudo-ryu dakentaijutsu and Kukishinden happo bikenjutsu. According to the Belgian dojo, he opened the new Honbu dojo on his 58th birthday, 28 August 2005.
Did you know
According to its website, Genbukan means a place that nurtures martial art professionals, and gen also means black. According to Japanese Wikipedia, the identically written name 玄武館 was borne by the dojo of the Hokushin Itto-ryu school, opened by Chiba Shusaku in 1822. According to the Genbukan, Tanemura was the first grandmaster of ninpo to travel to teach in the West in 1976, to Atlanta.
Frequently asked questions
When and by whom was the Genbukan founded?
According to the Genbukan, Tanemura Shoto, on 28 November 1984 in his dojo in Matsubushi.
What is the relationship between the Genbukan and the Bujinkan?
Both draw on Takamatsu Toshitsugu. According to Wikipedia, Tanemura was a student of Hatsumi and left him after a disagreement.
Does the Genbukan have belts and dan grades?
Yes. According to the Genbukan, it uses a kyu and dan system, mastership titles and, after 3rd dan, scrolls up to menkyo kaiden.
Similar styles
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