An
Historical Overview 
Shinto
Muso-ryu jo is said to be the oldest style
in Japan for using a stick (jo) in combat. It was founded
in the early 17th century by Muso Gonnosuke Katsuyoshi,
an exponent of Tenshinsho-den Katori Shinto-ryu. Shinto
Muso-ryu oral tradition maintains that Gonnosuke once fought
Miyamoto Musashi, one of the most famous swordsmen of the
time, with a staff (bo) in a training match and was defeated
by Musashi's cross-block (jujidome) technique.
According
to legend, Gonnosuke was dissatisfied with this outcome
and retired to Mt. Homan, in what is now Fukuoka Prefecture,
in Kyushu, where he engaged in a series of religious austerities,
all the while contemplating the reasons for his defeat.
Finally, he received "divine" inspiration about
a new method of using a staff-like weapon, making it shorter
(128cm) and thinner (26mm) for more rapid manipulation.
He devised a number of techniques for this new weapon, which
he called a stick (jo) (as opposed to staff or bo), that
included the use of the thrust of a spear, strike of a sword
and staff and sweep of a naginata. Factual documents of
the style (ryu) are quite rare. It is said that there is
a record at Tsukuba Shrine, in Ibaragi Prefecture, that
reports that Gonnosuke was able to defeat Musashi in a rematch.
Traditional
curriculum
Training
is conducted in formal two person pre-arranged kata. In
Shinto Muso-ryu jo there are a
total of 64 techniques which are divided into a number of
sets, each with a different character. Training is systematic
and develops the exponent's technical skills and psychological
abilities, from body movement and weapons handling to the
proper use of targeting, distancing and timing, and intense
mental or spiritual training, all originally aimed to enable
the exponent to successfully use the weapon in mortal combat.
Exponents begin their study of jo by learning a set of twelve
basic techniques (kihon waza), which contain all the essential
movements of the style. They then proceed through different
sets of techniques of stick versus sword(s): omote, chudan,
ran-ai, kage, samidare, gohon-no-midare, and okuden. A final
set, the gokui hiden (also called go-muso-no-jo), consists
of techniques that are taught only to exponents who have
received a menkyo-kaiden, the highest level of license in
the system.
Also
included in the curriculum of the Shinto Muso-ryu jo are
twelve techniques of the swordsmanship system called Shinto-ryu
kenjutsu. The first eight techniques are long sword v long
sword, followed by four techniques that are long sword v
short sword.
There
are five levels of recognition in Shinto Muso-ryu jo. They
are the okuiri-sho certificate, and the sho-mokuroku, go-mokuroku,
menkyo and menkyo-kaiden scrolls. Holders of menkyo-kaiden
are the only people qualified to teach and promote exponents
of Shinto Muso-ryu jo.
In
addition to Shinto1
Muso-ryu jo and Shinto-ryu Kenjutsu, a number of separate
arts are taught at various points in an exponent's training.
These are considered assimilated arts, and include
-
Uchida Ryu Tanjo-jutsu (short stick)
- Isshin
Ryu Kusarigama-jutsu (ball, chain and sickle)
- Ikkaku
Ryu Jutte-jutsu (truncheon)
- Ittatsu-ryu
Hojojutsu (Rope tying & restraining)
1
Both "Shinto" or "Shindo" are correct
Text
adapted from Meik & Diane Skoss "Field Guide to
the Japanese Classical Martial Arts" in Sword &
Spirit: Classical Warrior Traditions of Japan, volume two.
©1999 Koryu Books.
Embu video clip of the first Kata in Shinto Muso-ryu Jodo - Click Here
