Muso Shinden Ryu Iaido Lineage 血統

The San Shin Kai has a direct lineage to the founder of

Muso Shinden Ryu Iaido, NakaYama Hakudo

The three levels of Koryu Kata are passed down through direct instruction from the founder of Muso Shinden Ryu Iaido Nakayama Hakudo to his pupil Mitsuzuka Tekeshi, Sensei (Founder of The San Shin Kai Organization) to his pupil Roger Wehrhahn, Sensei who is the Chief Instructor of The North American Branch of the San Shin Kai. Daniel Rominski, Sensei is the direct student of Roger Wehrhahn, Sensei. He also had the great privilege to study with his Teacher’s Teacher Mitsuzuka Sensei in Japan and at various camps, seminars and visits Mitsuzuka Takeshi, Sensei made to Roger Wehrhan’s, Shihan’s Dojo.

家筋

Nakayama, Hakudo

(1872-1958)

Founder of Muso Shinden Ryu Iaido

MitsuZuka, Takeshi Sensei

(1926–2008)

Founder of the San Shin Kai 三辰会 and direct student of Nakayama, Hakudo Sensei

Roger Wehrhahn, Shihan

(1950- )

三辰会

Direct Student (Uechi Deshi) of Mitsuzuka Takeshi, Awarded Shihan Title and Shihan Menkyo Directly from Mitsuzuka, Takeshi Sensei and is the Chief Instructor of The San Shin Kai in North America.

Mitsuzuka Munehiro, Shihan

(1956- )

三辰会

Son of Mitsuzuka Takeshi, Sensei Awarded Shihan Title and Shihan Menkyo Directly from Mitsuzuka, Takeshi Sensei and is the Director of The San Shin Kai in North America.

HISTORY

Created by Jinsuke Shigenobu in 16th century Japan, this unique tradition of defensive swordsmanship (iai) was preserved in an unbroken line of headmasters through the centuries; codified by Nakayama Hakudo (1869 - 1958), and taught worldwide by Mitsuzuka Takeshi Sensei.

Muso Shinden-ryu means an iai school developed according to a divine vision given in a dream.

Muso Shinden-ryu traces its roots back to Hayashizaki Minamoto no Shigenobu (1546 - 1621). At the age of 21 he went to a Shinto shrine and stayed there for 100 days. According to a vision he received in a dream, he developed the batto-techniques, where one draws the sword and strikes with a single motion. He called his style Shimmei Muso-ryu. This was the first systematized iai school, although similar fast-draw techniques were already used in some of the older schools of kenjutsu.

Later, his students named the style Shin Muso Hayashizaki Ryu. It is believed that Hayashizaki himself stressed the spiritual side of training. There is a temple, Hayashizaki-Iai-Jinja, dedicated to him.

Muso Shinden Ryu as we know it today was born in the early 1900's from this foundation of spiritual practice. Nakayama Hakudo Sensei, a man who had dedicated his life to the study of kendo and iai, came to the conclusion that the classical arts should be reinterpreted and opened to the general public in order for them to survive in the changing world. He reorganized the Muso Shinden-ryu kata using techniques from Omori Ryu and Eishin Ryu. He stressed the importance of sword training, no longer as a just a practical art, but as a method of improving oneself. The sword is no longer a tool for cutting down your enemy, but a tool for cutting your ego as well.

Sensei's Passing

Mitsuzuka Takeshi Sensei, 1926-2008
Mitsuzuka Takeshi Sensei lost his battle with cancer on March 6, 2008 at 10:29 AM. Sensei was born on September 15, 1926, to mother Hisayo and father Mounya in Miyagi-ken, Furukawa Shi Sakura no me, the middle son of five. In May of 1943 he entered service in the Japanese navy, at seventeen years of age. After the war, he joined the Tokyo Metropolitan Police, retiring in 1970 with the rank of sergeant. Mitsuzuka Sensei married his wife, Hiroko, in 1953; in 1956 they had their only son, Munehiro.

Mitsuzuka Sensei began his training in Iaido on March 1st, 1955 under the watchful eye of Nakayama Hakudo Sensei. Nakayama Sensei was 85 years old at the time and would only live for another three years. Mitsuzuka Sensei continued his training and modeled the Seiteigata in Gordon Warner and Donn Draeger's well-known book, Japanese Swordsmanship. Later, he founded the San Shin Kai and began teaching Iaido throughout the world.

Listed below are his many accomplishments in budo.

Iai

'56 3/18: 3 dan in Iai from Nakayama Hakudo Sensei (Yushin-kai Iaido Renmei)
'59 8/15: 5 dan in Iai from Danzaki Sensei and Omori Sensei (Dai Nippon Iaido Kenshukan)
'67 5/17: Iaido Kyoshi Certificate (All Nippon Kendo Federation)
'79 5/5: 8 dan in Iai (All Nippon Kendo Federation)

Kendo

'72 4/24: 5 dan in Kendo
'75 5/8: Kendo Renshi Certificate (All Nippon Kendo Federation)

Jodo

'77 3/15: 5 dan in Jodo from Shimizu Sensei (Shindo Muso-ryu)

Judo

'76 11/26: 4 dan in Judo (Kodokan)

Other

'61 4/13: Judo Seifukushi (Bone Setter)

Definitions

Menkyo Kaiden

Menkyo kaiden (免許皆伝), (めんきょかいでん) is a Japanese term meaning "license of total transmission." Kaiden (皆伝) means "initiation into an art or discipline." It is a license that is used by a school, koryu meaning that the student has learned everything and passed all aspects of his/her training within the koryu.

In the menkyo system of licenses, the menkyo kaiden is the highest level of license that exists under the menkyo system. Advancement of license is not determined by years spent learning, but how well one masters the discipline. However, the transition from menkyo to kaiden require usually at least thirty years' experience. A holder of menkyo kaiden is often, but not always, the de facto successor to the soke of the koryu.

Shihan

Shihan (師範) is a Japanese term that is used in many Japanese martial arts as an honorific title for expert or senior instructors. It can be translated as "master instructor".

The use of the term is specific to a school or organization, as is the process of becoming a shihan. In aikido, the title shihan often is granted to teachers when they reach 6th dan. It is sometimes associated with certain rights, such as the right to give out black belt (dan) ranks. However, the title is distinct from the black belt ranking system (段位 dan'i).

Sensei

Sensei (can be pronounced "Sensai" as well), Sinsang, Sonsaeng, Seonsaeng or Xiansheng (先生) is an honorific term shared in Chinese honorifics and Japanese honorifics that is translated as "person born before another" or "one who comes before".[1] In general usage, it is used, with proper form, after a person's name, and means "teacher";[2] the word is also used as a title to refer to or address other professionals or persons of authority, such as clergy, accountants, lawyers, physicians, and politicians.[3] or to show respect to someone who has achieved a certain level of mastery in an art form or some other skill, e.g., accomplished novelists, musicians, artists and martial artists.

Kyoju Dairi

Kyoju Dairi (教授代理, "representative instructor") is a teaching certificate employed by various Japanese koryu, or traditional martial arts.

Employed by Sokaku Takeda in the early part of his career to designate a high level of understanding of the Daito-ryu aiki-jujutsu system, later he added a higher level designation known as the menkyo kaiden. Thus his earliest high-ranking students such as Sagawa Yukiyoshi (who was once asked to serve as the inheritor of the art and so we must assume had a very thorough understanding of the art), were only awarded the kyoju dairi. Some of those known to have received this certificate from Sokaku were Yukiyoshi Sagawa, Taiso Horikawa, Kodo Horikawa, Kotaro Yoshida, Morihei Ueshiba and Takuma Hisa.

Uchi-deshi (内弟子, lit. "inside student") is a Japanese term for a live-in student/apprentice who trains under and assists a sensei on a full-time basis. The system exists in kabuki, rakugo, shogi, igo, aikido, sumo, karate and other modern Japanese martial arts.

Lifestyle[edit]

Uchi-deshi usually live in the dōjō or the home of the teacher, or in separate accommodations near the dōjō. He serves the teacher all day, every day. Duties may include cleaning and secretarial work. In contrast to uchi-deshi, students who live outside are referred to as soto-deshi (外弟子, lit. "outside students"). Some dojo have uchideshi rooms right in the dojo.

Historically, an uchi-deshi was typically chosen and groomed to become the next head of a school of martial arts when a direct family member was not available. Nowadays, the term is used synonymously as an apprenticeship.

Related terms[edit]

In modern times, the role is also referred to as tsukibito (付き人, lit. "attached person"). Other terms include senshūsei (専修生, "specialized student") and kenshūsei (研修生, "intensive training student" or "research student"), although these terms are more general and do not necessarily indicate a live-in apprentice. Senshūsei and kenshūsei often refer to set training programs or goal-oriented training rather than students who have a special relationship with a teacher. For example, kenshūsei of the Kodokan dojo began training for Olympic Judo competition in 1960.[1] The term renshū-sei (練習生) is used in Japanese pro wrestling. The term jikideshi translates to "personal pupil" and is a term used for students who show dedication and commitment to their master and/or school.

Sources

1 Generation Transmission

2 Wikipedia