ABOUT

Ryushin Shouchi Ryu (柳心照智流) is a school of kobudo (ancient martial arts) specializing in iaijutsu (the art of drawing and cutting) founded by Kawabata Terutaka and is composed of over 60 kata (prearranged solo forms), and iai kumitachi (two man bokken training). The origins of the iaijutsu kata can be traced to the Japanese swordsmanship schools of Katori and Kashima. The current headmaster of the Ryushin Shouchi Ryu is Yahagi Kunikazu.

Today, the Ryushin Shouchi Ryu is practiced across the globe with several schools in the United States, Europe and Japan. Every year, Yahagi makes official trips to conduct training courses abroad, where he receives the warm support of his overseas students.  The Ryushin Shouchi Ryu also takes part in the Annual Kobudo Dedication Demonstrations (Kobudō Hōnō Enbu Taikai) at Katori Shrine every year; an event that has been taking place for over 25 years.

To learn more about organization and what makes Ryushin Shouchi Ryu so special, please read more about our history and our philosophy.

To become an officially affiliated RYI dojo, you will have to go through our a simple four step process. These steps help ensure a certain level of commitment as well as the successful establishment of RSR Study Groups.  The process starts by filling out a membership application.