Yoshin Dojo

06/24/2026

Good training last night!

The little ones worked on double leg takedown, sprawling and cutting the corner to take the back. They are getting much better with this set of movements.

The adults started with 30 minutes of grappling as our warm up and then into Kenjutsu Kihon (sword basics). We reviewed an assortment of movements and basics that are essential to sword handling. We then started into Tachi Iai and how to combine all the basics we have worked on.

The iai (sword drawing) sets were originally taught by Inoue Tsuyoshi of Hontai Yoshin Ryu. The system includes: basics, standing and kneeling Iai (drawing), Kumitachi (sword vs sword) and some Gokui Waza ("secret techniques"). Here is a short clip on our channel showing some of those kata in Japan.

Inoue Tsuyoshi Soke of HYR doing Tachi Iai kata (Standing sword dra...

06/23/2026

Otsuki Itto Ryu Jujutsu (大月一刀流柔術) scroll of binding.

This image shows "Watari Nawa" (crossing over tie). A common tie among schools containing Hojojutsu (capturing/binding techniques). Sometimes refered to as Kuni Watari/watashi Nawa as the areas of Japan at that time were called Kuni (countries). When a prisoner was delivered/passed over the border they would use a tie similar to this so the person could be released to the other authorities while the original captor could still keep the binding cord.

Some of these Watari ties are quite interesting to compare from various Ryuha (schools).

***ku

06/22/2026

Happy Father's Day!

Picture showing the famous samurai, Takagi Orieumon, being a father.

06/18/2026

We had a discussion regarding Kenjutsu (swordsmanship) at class recently. We talked about the difference of movie scenes of clashing swords with sparks flying as opposed to precision and patience of actual life deciding sword work.

Here is one of the scenes we discussed from the Kusosawa Akira masterpiece "The 7 Samurai".

From the critically acclaimed film, Seven Samurai.Two samurai fir...

06/18/2026

Last night we had a much smaller turnout in anticipation of the storms...but we still trained!

The adults started with 30 minutes of sparring/grappling. We then looked at some finer details for top side and escaping the bottom without the emphasis of using muscle or explosive energy. Those things fade with age, sickness and injury. We instead focused on the Jutsu, the waza, the finer details of technique to accomplish the same results.

Toward the end we worked the kihon (basics) of kenjutsu. Everything from etiquette, grip, cutting, drawing, safety, resheathing and ending with etiquette. Because in Japanese martial arts, "training begins and ends with etiquette". (礼に始まり礼に終わる Rei ni hajimari, rei ni owaru)

The image below show two members of Araki Ryu Kempo doing a bow/Rei prior to training Chigiriki (flail) vs sword. Courtesy of Hal Sharp.

#礼儀

06/15/2026

Here is an older picture showing 2 members of Araki Ryu doing Chigiriki (courtesy of Mr. Hal Sharp). This image shows the sword being entangled by the chain of the Chigiriki.

Araki Ryu is one of the schools that still teach the techniques within their curriculum.

#乳切木 #荒木流 #気楽流 #古武道　 #古流武術

06/14/2026

Chigiriki 乳切木

While this tool can be written with various kanji one things is certain, it is a very unique tool within Japanese martial arts.

The main schools still teaching this weapon are Araki Ryu and Kiraku Ryu. Although historical documents reveal it was also part of other Ryuha including: Takagi Ryu/Kukishin Ryu and even Katori Shinto Ryu.

With so few schools teaching this ancient tool it would be difficult to find a serious group to train it. Most likely Araki Ryu would be school that one could learn about the tool. Please contact our school for more information on this tool and where to study it.

#乳切木

06/12/2026

Another great night on the mats!

The youngsters worked on standing grappling and then transitioned to the ground. We later put it all together and they did really well. To award them, we did some dodgeball toward the end with people getting hit and going out doing wall squats before going back in.

Adult class started with 30 min of grappling and then we worked various throws added with striking set ups. We also looked at some counters to throws for some of our advanced students. It was a hot one last night so everyone broke a good sweat!

Here is the Koryu version of a similar technique counter that we did last night. This one from the Tsuitsui line of Takagi Ryu Jujutsu.

TAKAGI RYU JUJUTSU | KOSHI GURUMA | HIP WHEEL ...

06/11/2026

Nagamaki Although there are different shapes of this tool the polearm shown below is one version. Essentially a longer, sometimes heavier version of the Naginata.

06/10/2026

Great training last night!

The youth did some fun drills to learn grappling skills. We then did coached grappling letting the more senior kids help the newer kids. They did great!

We had some old faces show up in the adult class and got started with 30 minutes of sparring. We then continued our study into constriction techniques.

A majority of these techniques are within the historical teachings of Takagi Ryu Jujutsu. Takagi Ryu contains a section of Shime Waza (constriction techniques) in the basic kata (omote gata), in the Yurushi (scroll material) as well as what is called betsuden (outer influence). There are several classifications/groupings of techniques that are involved in the classical system. Our kyu/dan levels borrow from those groups and provide the student with a solid foundation for later studies.

One of the Shime waza we worked on was "Kata Ha Jime" (One Wing Choke). The below image from a historical document depicts a Karasu Tengu showing a version of this technique. It is often used when someone is defending your initial choke and you need to isolate their defending arm to apply a choke.