Muso Shinden-ryu
夢想神伝流An iai school that Nakayama Hakudo organised in the nineteen-thirties from the Tosa lineage of Eishin-ryu. One of the largest iaido schools, technically close to Muso Jikiden Eishin-ryu.
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Training
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About Muso Shinden-ryu
Muso Shinden-ryu is an iai school that Nakayama Hakudo organised in the nineteen-thirties. A 2017 study in a Japanese journal of sports anthropology lists it, together with Muso Jikiden Eishin-ryu, as the two largest iaido schools. According to the study, both derive from a single Tosa school: Muso Shinden-ryu from the Shimomura-ha branch, Eishin-ryu from the Tanimura-ha branch, and their technique hardly differs.
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According to the Nipponica encyclopedia, Nakayama Hakudo (1873–1958) studied the iai of Omori-ryu and Hasegawa Eishin-ryu under Hosokawa Yoshimasa and another Tosa teacher. According to a 1968 article in the journal of the Japanese Academy of Budo, he used the school's name publicly for the first time in May 1933 at demonstrations of the Dai Nippon Butokukai. Nipponica likewise gives 1933 as the year Nakayama compiled 42 kata and named them Muso Shinden-ryu. English Wikipedia gives 1932 for the school. The Daijisen Plus dictionary writes that the name became established only after Nakayama's death, when his students agreed on it. According to Nipponica, the 1933 set had three stages: shoden from Omori-ryu with eleven kata from seiza, chuden from Hasegawa Eishin-ryu with ten kata from tatehiza, and oku-iai with eight kata of zawaza and thirteen kata of tachiwaza. Later sources give the numbers slightly differently. According to Nipponica, Nakayama was at that time the only holder of the hanshi title in iaijutsu from the Dai Nippon Butokukai, and his influence therefore extends to today's iaido.
History
According to the Nichigai biographical dictionary, Nakayama Hakudo was born in 1873 in Ishikawa Prefecture and died on 14 December 1958. Nipponica also gives 1873 as his year of birth. According to Nipponica, he worked at the Yushinkan dojo in Tokyo and studied the iai of Omori-ryu and Hasegawa Eishin-ryu under the Tosa teachers Hosokawa Yoshimasa and a second teacher whose name the sources give differently. From the Dai Nippon Butokukai he received the hanshi title in kendo and iaijutsu in 1920 and in the art of the staff in 1927.
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An article in the journal of the Japanese Academy of Budo from 1968 states that from 1916 Nakayama invited Hosokawa to research iai techniques, and that Hosokawa was the foremost student of the teacher who correctly transmitted the Shinden-ryu lineage. According to the article, in May 1933 Nakayama, at Dai Nippon Butokukai demonstrations and on his own initiative, publicly demonstrated and named Muso Shinden-ryu battojutsu for the first time, and from then on the school spread across Japan. Nipponica states for the same year that Nakayama compiled a set of 42 kata and named it Muso Shinden-ryu. English Wikipedia gives 1932 for the school. Martial Arts of the World places the emergence of iaido as a new art in 1932 and ranks Nakayama with Muso Jikiden Eishin-ryu. According to the Daijisen Plus dictionary, the school's name was not at first settled. Nakayama also called it Hasegawa Eishin-ryu or Omori-ryu, and his students unified the name Muso Shinden-ryu only after his death. The 1968 article adds that all the partial names of the lineage derive from the swordsmanship of Hayashizaki Jinsuke Shigenobu. English Wikipedia considers it probable that the name comes from the designation Muso Shinden Eishin-ryu, which Hosokawa gave to the Shimomura branch.
How it differs
Muso Shinden-ryu differs from Muso Jikiden Eishin-ryu in lineage, not origin. A 2017 study in a Japanese journal of sports anthropology states that both schools are today's branches of one Tosa school, Eishin-ryu from the Tanimura-ha branch and Shinden-ryu from the Shimomura-ha branch, and that their technique hardly differs. According to the same study, six of the ten kata of Hasegawa Eishin-ryu are performed in a way also found in Omori-ryu. English Wikipedia gives as the most visible differences the raising of the sword overhead, where in Muso Shinden-ryu the sword stays above the shoulders and does not drop behind the back, and the return of the sword to the scabbard, noto, performed horizontally, edge outward. Japanese Wikipedia adds that some lineages also transmit the kata of Muso Jikiden Eishin-ryu in oku-iai, so the order and number of techniques differ. According to the 2017 study, iaido differs from kendo in that practitioners usually belong to a particular school, whereas in kendo the notion of a school has almost vanished.
Technique
The set that Nakayama compiled in 1933, according to the Nipponica encyclopedia, had 42 kata in three stages. Shoden takes over Omori-ryu, is practised from seiza and had eleven kata. A 2017 study in a Japanese journal of sports anthropology states that Omori-ryu was, by tradition, compiled by a swordsman of Shinkage-ryu. Chuden takes over Hasegawa Eishin-ryu and is practised from tatehiza. According to the same study it has ten kata: yokogumo, toraissoku, inazuma, ukigumo, yamaoroshi, iwanami, urokogaeshi, namigaeshi, takiotoshi and nukiuchi. According to Nipponica, oku-iai had eight kata of zawaza and thirteen kata of tachiwaza. Later sources count differently. English Wikipedia gives twelve kata in shoden, because Nakayama, according to his memoirs, added one variant, and nine seated and twelve standing kata in okuden. Japanese Wikipedia states that the names, numbers and order of techniques differ according to the teacher. The 1968 article in the journal of the Japanese Academy of Budo describes iai as always attacking first and having no defensive techniques. As a solo exercise without a partner it is, according to the article, hard to understand from outside, but in terms of paired swordsmanship it fully agrees with kendo.
Training
The core of training is solo kata without a partner in three stages, from seiza, from tatehiza, and in oku-iai both seated and standing. English Wikipedia states that the syllabus also includes paired kumitachi exercises, but these are rarely taught today, most often two series, Tachi Uchi no Kurai and Tsume Iai no Kurai, of ten forms each. Japanese Wikipedia writes that Nakayama taught iai only to advanced students and high-ranking persons, and therefore only few of them received the full transmission.
Today
According to a 2017 study in a Japanese journal of sports anthropology, Muso Shinden-ryu is, together with Muso Jikiden Eishin-ryu, one of the two largest iaido schools. Martial Arts of the World (2001) calls them the two most popular. We have not found, in the specialist sources, a separate organisation that would lead the school. The 2017 study states that iaido practitioners usually belong to some school. Japanese Wikipedia writes that Muso Shinden-ryu strongly influenced the creation of the iai of the All Japan Kendo Federation after the war, has the most practitioners in iaido today, and is strong mainly in the Kanto region. According to the Nipponica encyclopedia, Nakayama was in 1933 the only holder of the hanshi title in iaijutsu from the Dai Nippon Butokukai and his influence extends to today's iaido.
Did you know
According to the Nichigai biographical dictionary, Nakayama Hakudo held three hanshi titles, in swordsmanship, iaijutsu and the art of the staff, unparalleled since the Meiji period. The 1968 article in the journal of the Japanese Academy of Budo calls him a sword saint and says he practised with the sword late at night and at dawn. The 2017 study states that the tradition by which Hayashi Rokudayu Morimasa (1662–1732) took over Omori-ryu because it hardly differed from his school is supported by the similarity of six of ten kata.
Frequently asked questions
Who founded Muso Shinden-ryu?
Nakayama Hakudo (1873–1958). According to the 1968 article and the Nipponica encyclopedia, he named and presented the school in 1933, while English Wikipedia gives 1932.
What is the difference between Muso Shinden-ryu and Muso Jikiden Eishin-ryu?
According to the 2017 study, both schools are branches of a single Tosa school, Shinden-ryu from the Shimomura-ha branch and Eishin-ryu from the Tanimura-ha branch, and their technique hardly differs.
How many kata does Muso Shinden-ryu have?
According to Nipponica, the 1933 set had 42 kata in three stages. Later sources give the numbers slightly differently, and Japanese Wikipedia writes that they differ according to the teacher.
Similar styles
Selected by overlap in the style profile, not by historical lineage.