Higo Ko-ryu Naginatajutsu
Old naginata school from Kumamoto. According to Nihon Kobudo Kyokai, it uses a four-shaku blade and shaft, and women have led it since the Taisho period.
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About Higo Ko-ryu Naginatajutsu
Higo Ko-ryu is an old Japanese naginata school from Kumamoto Prefecture. According to Nihon Kobudo Kyokai, it began when Matsumoto Genjiro, a ronin of the Kumamoto domain in Higo, met the founder Kamei Terushige in Hine in Izumi Province while travelling, trained with him and received the school's secret teachings. Nihon Kobudo Kyokai estimates he brought it to Higo around the mid-18th century, and the domain school soon took it over. Koryu.com places its origin, with a question mark, in the early Edo period. We have not found the year of its founding. According to Nihon Kobudo Kyokai, the name Higo Ko-ryu has been used only recently. According to Nihon Kobudo Kyokai, the blade and the shaft each measure four shaku, about 1.2 meters, and the weapon is about 20 centimeters longer than today's naginata. As the weapon is heavy and long, a single cut is meant to decide. Movements are therefore few and the forms simple, but the practitioner must master quick movement of body and feet. When no male teacher remained at the end of the Meiji period, according to Nihon Kobudo Kyokai, the wife of one of them took over the school, and women teachers have held the tradition since the Taisho period. Today Nihon Kobudo Kyokai and Nihon Kobudo Shinkokai both lead the school, each with a different name at its head.
History
Nihon Kobudo Kyokai describes the school's beginning as the meeting of Matsumoto Genjiro, a ronin from Higo, with the founder Kamei Terushige in Hine in Izumi Province, today Izumisano in Osaka Prefecture. Nihon Kobudo Kyokai estimates that Matsumoto brought the school to Higo in the mid-18th century. It bases this on the fact that an official from Kawashiri received the full teaching only after leaving office, and that one of the later holders died in 1782. The school soon became part of martial arts instruction in the Higo domain school. The English Wikipedia, citing Ellis Amdur, states that according to the school's records the founder received the art from unknown teachers. The Japanese Wikipedia knows the school under the original name Ko-ryu naginata. According to Nihon Kobudo Kyokai, calling it Higo Ko-ryu is only a more recent habit.
How it differs
Ellis Amdur states that naginata-against-naginata forms are unusual among classical schools and that besides Higo Ko-ryu, Toda-ha Buko-ryu and Seiwa-ryu focus on them, while most schools practice naginata against sword. Koryu.com lists Higo Ko-ryu only as a naginatajutsu school, whereas for Tendo-ryu it also lists kenjutsu, jojutsu and kusarigamajutsu.
Technique
According to Nihon Kobudo Kyokai, the naginata used has a four-shaku blade, about 1.2 meters, and a four-shaku shaft. The whole weapon is about 20 centimeters longer than today's naginata. The technique is aimed at real combat and is based on six basic techniques. Because the weapon is heavy and long, a single cut is meant to decide. There are few movements and the forms are simple, but the practitioner must master quick movement of body and feet. The English Wikipedia, citing Amdur, writes that the weapon the school studies was already archaic in the 16th century.
Training
Koryu.com lists naginatajutsu with the onaginata and tachi as the content of the school. According to Ellis Amdur, Higo Ko-ryu is among the schools that practice naginata against naginata. Nihon Kobudo Kyokai reports irregular training at the Ryujokan dojo in Kumamoto, training every Sunday morning at a branch in Kumamoto Prefecture, and branches in Australia and the United Kingdom.
Ranks and progression
Nihon Kobudo Kyokai's genealogy lists several holders after the founder and Matsumoto. When no male teacher remained at the end of the Meiji period, Makiko, a teacher's wife, took over the school, and women teachers have held it since the Taisho period. In 1916, according to the same source, Makiko gave her successor, who today bears the name Kino Shizue, a document of eight poems on the school's techniques. The school has two other documents.
Today
Nihon Kobudo Kyokai states that the school performs every year at the Kumamoto Prefecture kobudo demonstration and at the Kumamoto castle festival, and alternately with other schools at the festival of the shrine connected with the Hosokawa clan. As the representative, Nihon Kobudo Kyokai and Nihon Kobudo Shinkokai give two different names from the last links of the genealogy, while koryu.com gives the older Kino Shizue. The Nihon Kobudo Kyokai data date from 2007 and 2008.
Did you know
According to Nihon Kobudo Kyokai, women teachers have held the school since the Taisho period, as no male teacher remained at the end of the Meiji period. The image on its website describes the school's weapon as an eight-shaku naginata.
Frequently asked questions
Who founded Higo Ko-ryu?
Both Nihon Kobudo Kyokai and koryu.com name Kamei Terushige from Izumi Province. His pupil Matsumoto Genjiro brought the school to Higo.
How long is the naginata of Higo Ko-ryu?
According to Nihon Kobudo Kyokai, blade and shaft are four shaku each, about 1.2 meters, and the weapon is about 20 centimeters longer than today's naginata.
Why do women lead Higo Ko-ryu?
According to Nihon Kobudo Kyokai, no male teacher remained at the end of the Meiji period. A teacher's wife took over, and women have held the tradition since the Taisho period.
Similar styles
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