Kashima Shinto-ryu
鹿島神道流A Japanese school of the sword associated with Tsukahara Bokuden. His best-known victory came without a weapon: he left his opponent on an islet and rowed off.
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About Kashima Shinto-ryu
Kashima Shinto-ryu is a Japanese school of the sword associated with Tsukahara Bokuden, who lived from 1489 to 1571 and is among the best-known swordsmen of the Warring States period. Bokuden came from the neighbourhood of the Kashima shrine, the same milieu as several other old schools, and is documented as a real historical figure of extraordinary reputation. A great many duels are ascribed to him, along with a series of stories, the best known of which tells how he defeated a boastful swordsman without drawing: he let the man step onto an islet and rowed away, then called his method the school of winning without a weapon. The anecdote cannot be verified, but it captures well what Bokuden''s contemporaries valued in his art. Technically it is single-sword fencing with an emphasis on one decisive cut and on the student avoiding the duel altogether where possible. The ambiguity of the names must be pointed out. Several schools with similar names were active around Kashima — besides Kashima Shinto-ryu also Kashima Shin-ryu and Kashima Shinden Jikishinkage-ryu — and their mutual relations and the attribution of founders differ between sources. The Japanese spelling recorded here therefore needs verification.
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