Toda Seigen (富田 勢源, 1519?- ca. 1590s?) a renowned swordsman during the Sengoku Period in 16th century Japan. Seigen was reputed as a master of the Chūjō-ryū style of sword fighting, excelling in the kodachi art. It is thought that Toda Seigen was the teacher of the famous swordsman Sasaki Kojirō. However, it is not truly known if such information is true, with some rather believing that Kojirō was trained by one of Seigen's students, Kanemaki Jisai. However, one account has said that during Kojirō's childhood, he "...received the instruction of Toda Seigen, a master of the school of the short sword, and having been the partner of his master, he excelled him in the wielding of the long sword. After having defeated his master's younger brother he left him to travel in various provinces. There he founded his own school, which was called Ganryū."
Sometime after training Kojiro, Seigen became blind, but it has been theorised he knew he was losing his sight, reason for why he developed a short sword skill, with the intent to overcome warriors with good eye sight using katana, Nagamaki and Ōdachi. After he became completely blind, Seigen's lord was wondering if he had actually succeeded, so he ordered a sparring with a disciple of Shintō-ryū called Umezu, fighting with a staff over 3 feet. As soon as the fight started, Seigen jumped to him and repeatedly struck him with his wooden kodachi, hand, face, torso, everywhere Umezu was beaten wildly and indiscriminately until his head was broken and he fell bloody. As a blind warrior and using a wooden weapon instead of a Shinken, Seigen had to fight this way, because he couldn't see his opponent's blade and actual state.
Seigen followed in his own death during some year in the 1590s.
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A bokken is a Japanese wooden sword used for training in kenjutsu. It is usually the size and shape of a katana, but is sometimes shaped like other swords, such as the wakizashi and tantō. Some ornamental bokken are decorated with mother-of-pearl work and elaborate carvings. Sometimes it is spelled "boken" in English.
Miyamoto Musashi, also known as Shinmen Takezō, Miyamoto Bennosuke or, by his Buddhist name, Niten Dōraku, was a Japanese swordsman, philosopher, strategist, writer and rōnin, who became renowned through stories of his unique double-bladed swordsmanship and undefeated record in his 61 duels. Musashi, as he was often simply known, is considered a Kensei, a sword-saint of Japan. He was the founder of the Niten Ichi-ryū, or Nito Ichi-ryū, style of swordsmanship, and in his final years authored The Book of Five Rings and Dokkōdō.
Kenjutsu (剣術) is an umbrella term for all (ko-budō) schools of Japanese swordsmanship, in particular those that predate the Meiji Restoration. Some modern styles of kendo and iaido that were established in the 20th century also included modern forms of kenjutsu in their curriculum. Kenjutsu, which originated with the samurai class of feudal Japan, means "methods, techniques, and the art of the Japanese sword". This is opposed to kendo, which means "the way of the sword" and uses a bamboo sword (shinai) and protective armour (bōgu).
Sasaki Kojirō was a possibly fictional or fictionalized Japanese swordsman who may have lived during the Azuchi–Momoyama and early Edo periods and is known primarily for the story of his battle with Miyamoto Musashi in 1612, where Sasaki was killed. Sasaki is of questionable historical veracity; the martial artist and writer Dave Lowry wrote of Sasaki "The folktale of Musashi and Sasaki Kojiro is a famous one... it does not seem to matter much that the whole event might never have happened at all, or that the figure of Sasaki Kojiro has never even been historically ascertained".
A jō is an approximately 1.27-metre (4.2 ft) wooden staff, used in some Japanese martial arts. The martial art of wielding the jō is called jōjutsu or jōdō. Also, aiki-jō is a set of techniques in aikido which uses the jō to illustrate aikido's principles with a weapon. The jō staff is shorter than the bō. Today, the jō is still used by some Japanese police forces.
Zatoichi is a fictional character featured in one of Japan's longest-running series of films, as well as a television series. Both are set during the late Edo period. The character, a blind masseur and blademaster, was created by novelist Kan Shimozawa.
Shintō Musō-ryū, or Shindō Musō-ryū (神道夢想流), most commonly known by its practice of jōdō, is a traditional school (koryū) of the Japanese martial art of jōjutsu, or the art of wielding the short staff (jō). The technical purpose of the art is to learn how to defeat a swordsman in combat using the jō, with an emphasis on proper combative distance, timing and concentration. The system includes teachings of other weapon systems which are contained in Shintō Musō-ryū as auxiliary arts. The school is sometimes abbreviated as SMR.
Niten Ichi-ryū (二天一流), which can be loosely translated as "the school of the strategy of two heavens as one", is a koryū, transmitting a style of classical Japanese swordsmanship conceived by the warrior Miyamoto Musashi. Hyōhō Niten Ichi-ryū is mainly known for the two-sword—katana and wakizashi—kenjutsu techniques Musashi called Niten Ichi or Nitō Ichi.
Musō Gonnosuke Katsuyoshi (夢想權之助勝吉) was a samurai of the early 17th century and the traditional founder of the Koryu school of jojutsu known as Shintō Musō-ryū (神道夢想流/神道無想流). He is perhaps most famous for his duels with the legendary swordsman Miyamoto Musashi.
This is a list of fictional depictions of Miyamoto Musashi, the famous 17th-century Japanese swordsman.
Kashima Shinden Jikishinkage-ryū, often referred to simply as Jikishinkage-ryū or Kashima Shinden, is a traditional school (koryū) of the Japanese martial art of swordsmanship (kenjutsu). The school was founded in the mid-16th century, based upon older styles of swordsmanship, and is one of the few ancient Japanese martial arts schools still existing today.
Zen Nihon Kendō Renmei Jōdō, or Seitei Jōdō in short, is a modern form of jōdō created by Japanese martial artist Shimizu Takaji and presented to the All Japan Kendo Federation in 1968.
Kanemaki Jisai was a master of the Chujō-ryū fighting style. He was a student of Toda Seigen and teacher to Itō Ittōsai.
Terao Magonojō was a famed swordsman during the Edo period of Japan. Magonojo was the elder brother of Terao Motomenosuke, the successor to the School of Musashi. Magonojo has been noted as Miyamoto Musashi's favorite student, to whom Musashi entrusted his Gorin no sho before his death. Throughout Magonojo's early years working alongside Musashi, he trained with the kodachi, a type of short sword. On one occasion when they were training together, Musashi attacked Magonojo with a large wooden sword, which Terao parried with his short wooden sword and counterattacked. After several repetitions of this action, Terao's sword broke while Musashi was in the middle of striking his sword from above; however, Musashi's swing stopped just shy of hitting Terao's forehead. Magonojo received no injury, showing Musashi's skill with the weapon and high level of control. Before the death of Magonojo's master, he assumed the role of successor, which was subsequently passed on to his younger brother. It is thought that Magonojo burned the original Gorin no sho on Musashi's orders, because the complete original version cannot be found.
Yoshioka-ryū (吉岡流) is a koryū Japanese sword-fighting martial art and is part of the Kyohachi-ryū. The Yoshioka-ryū became famous during the latter half of the 16th century when Yoshioka Kenpo was assigned to be the sword instructor of the Ashikaga shōguns in Kyoto.
Shigurui is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Takayuki Yamaguchi, based on the first chapter of the novel Suruga-jō Gozen Jiai by Norio Nanjō. An anime television adaptation, aired on Wowow from July to October 2007. The series was directed by Hiroshi Hamasaki, written by Seishi Minakami, and produced by Madhouse.
Mikogami Tenzen (神子上典膳) or Ono Jiroemon Tadaaki was a Japanese samurai of the early Edo period, who was renowned as a swordsman. He founded the Ono-ha Ittō-ryū style of swordsmanship after his teacher made him head master of the Ittō-ryū. He was one of two official sword masters for Tokugawa Ieyasu and his style, along with Yagyū Shinkage-ryū became one of the official ryūha of the Tokugawa Shogunate.
Marume Nagayoshi was a retainer of the Sagara clan in the Sengoku period and a swordsman in the early Edo period. He was considered one of the best pupils of Kamiizumi Nobutsuna, and went on to found the Taisha ryū school. He was sometimes known as Kurandonosuke and also as Ishimi Mamoru, but was best known as Marume Nagayoshi, which he was called in kōdan. His original name was Fujiwara, and his art name was Tessai. In his later years he shaved his head and went by the name of Ishimi Nyūdō Tessai.
Hyōhō Taisha-ryū (兵法タイ捨流) is a traditional Japanese martial arts school (koryū). It was founded by Marume Kurando in the late 16th century in the Hitoyoshi domain and its teachings center around Japanese swordsmanship. The school is still taught today in an unbroken lineage, with its headquarters at the Ryū-Sen-Kan Dōjō, in Yatsushiro City, Kumamoto Prefecture.
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