Musō Jikiden Eishin-ryū
17th undisputed headmaster, Oe Masaji, awarded at least 16 licenses of full transmission,[1] resulting in the school fracturing into multiple legitimate branches.
[citation needed] Many of the historical details of Hayashizaki's life are suspect, since, like most famous martial artists in Japan, his story has been widely fictionalized.
It seems that he grew up during a time of constant warfare in Japan and was exposed to sword-fighting methods from an early age.
[4] He went to the Hayashizaki Meijin shrine to pray for guidance and received divine inspiration for a new technique of drawing the sword and attacking in one movement.
Following this, Hayashizaki continued on his martial arts pilgrimage, training with renowned swordsmen and attracting students of his own (such as Tamiya Heibei, founder of Tamiya-ryū (Tsumaki)).
The seventh generation sōke of Hayashizaki's school, Hasegawa Chikaranosuke Hidenobu (Eishin), was one of its most important headmasters.
These techniques are thought to have been developed by Hayashi's kenjutsu teacher, the Shinkage-ryū swordsman Ōmori Rokurōzaemon,[3] and are said to be influenced by Ogasawara-ryū etiquette,[4] hence starting from seiza.
Hayashi was responsible for introducing the school to the Tosa Domain at the behest of the ruling Yamauchi family.
[3] Eishin-ryū and Ōmori-ryū were taught to the Yamauchi family, with a few peculiarities (such as exaggerated leg movement to account for long hakama).
[10] Ōe named the reorganised school Musō Jikiden Eishin-ryū,[10] during the Taishō era (1912-1926).
[11] In 1900 he began teaching kendo and Eishin-ryū at the Kōchi branch of the Dai Nippon Butoku Kai and at local schools.
[7] In 1924 he became the second person (after Nakayama Hakudō) to be awarded hanshi in iaidō by the Dai Nippon Butoku Kai.
Eishin-ryū uses a system of indiscriminate transmission (完全相傳), allowing anyone in possession of full-transmission to award licenses to any number of his students.
[12] Therefore, it is possible that there were multiple, unlisted holders of menkyo kaiden, known in Eishin-ryū as Kongen no Maki (根元之巻), in any generation.
[12] Due in part to Ōe Masaji's more open and inclusive approach to teaching Eishin-ryū, the lineages of groups practicing the art are fairly diverse and complex.
Following Kōno Hyakuren's death, the lineage of Eishin-ryu became contested again, with several individuals claiming to be the most senior representative.
There are a number of lines of transmission with direct links to Ōe Masaji but which do not make claims to hold leadership of Musō Jikiden Eishin-ryū.
The techniques of Musō Jikiden Eishin-ryū are broken up into sets based on the principal starting position of the waza and by skill level.
[citation needed]3 Komei-Juku (Yamauchi-ha) practices the following set of five bangai kata in addition to the aforementioned three: Kokusai Nippon Budo Kai formerly JKI (Masoka-Den) practices one additional bangai kata in addition to the aforementioned mentioned three: 4.鬼 Akuma Barai (shihogiri) Musō Jikiden Eishin-ryū's paired waza (kumitachi, 組太刀, Kenjutsu) are often taught only to advanced students after years of study.
Each of these katachi (essence of kata) was created to promote practice of a key principle of Eishin Ryu under controlled yet reasonably realistic conditions.
[citation needed] Kōno Hyakuren, the 20th sōke of Musō Jikiden Eishin-ryū, added two sets of additional waza, called Dai Nippon Battō Hō (大日本抜刀法).
[citation needed] This subsumed art focused on grappling techniques in a variety of circumstances: standing, kneeling, from behind, etc.
In addition to the bojutsu and yawara, Masaoka's book also makes mention of other techniques, such as torinawa (rope tying) and jōjutsu (short staff).
