Mutokai School of Traditional Japanese Sword Arts

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Saint Paul, MN
Mutokai School of Traditional Japanese Sword Arts

We practice at the Twin Cities Aikido Center, located at:

2382 Hampden Ave – Suite 203
St Paul, MN 55114 The Mutokai was founded in 1979 by Dale Schwerdtfeger.

It was done under the guidance and advice of his teacher Tsumura Keiji Sensei of Tokyo. The name translates as the "sword of nothingness" or the "empty sword". In the Mutokai we practice two distinct forms of iaido. All members train in the forms and traditions of the Musoshinden sect. As the master of Musoshinden-ryu died without naming a successor there are no longer any dan rankings (black belts) issued in the style with a validity beyond the club level. Ranking is given according to the old style of awarding den. There are three levels: shoden, chuden and okuden. In the Mutokai we have members training at all three levels. We also train in the modern forms generated by the All Japan Kendo Federation. Kendo is a competitive, sports oriented adaptation of the traditional schools of ken-jutsu. Practitioners wear padding and use split bamboo sticks to prevent injury to the opponent when striking. This has led to techniques suited to speed of hitting rather than power in cutting. The All Japan Kendo Federation iaido forms were developed to remind kendo practitioners of what the real katana was all about, It was also an attempt to standardize iai testing in the Kendo Federation so that people with backgrounds in any of the traditional iai schools could test for nationally recognized rank.

08/03/2026

August 16th we will be at the Como Park Obon festival once again. Our performance times are supposed to be 3:40 and 5:55 p.m. Please stop by to watch our demo and swing by the tent to chat and to find out more about what we do.

05/22/2026

In April one of our members was fortunate enough to attend the Ono-ha Itto-ryu seminar in Tokyo. He was able to get instruction and practice with the kodachi kata during the seminar, so we have been practicing kodachi exclusively since his return.

05/03/2026

Muso Shinden Ryu practice. From the Shoden waza.

04/09/2026

Last month a few of us from Mutokai made our way to Toronto to take part in a Hyoho Niten Ichi Ryu seminar. The seminar was led by Kajiya Takanori Sensei. Who is the Soke of the school. The seminar was hosted by Shane Walters Sensei and his crew at
HNIR Toronto Kenjutsu Kai Much was learned, and we took back with us alot to work on. We also want to give a big thanks to Shane and his crew. You were very gracious host and a great group of individuals to practice with. We look forward to training with you again.

03/04/2026

Mutokai had an awesome weekend of Hyoho Niten Ichi Ryu training led by Scott Halls. UK shibucho for HNIR and head of the Heijoshin Dojo. We all learned alot and are very grateful to him for taking the time to come to Minnesota and share his knowledge with us. We were also joined by Jon Berry from the Minnehaha Kendo Club, Gary Moulder from the Martial Arts Fitness Centers, and Mike Schuldt from Agassiz Dojo. Thank you guys for joining us this past weekend.

02/22/2026

We had shinsa yesterday. Three of our members tested for various kyu ranks. Afterwards we went out for dinner.

01/10/2026

From Wednesday night Ono-ha practice.

01/04/2026

Hyoho Niten Ichi Ryu keiko yesterday. We practiced the first two kata from the kodachi seiho.

12/15/2025

Some pics from Wednesday's Ono ha practice.

12/08/2025

We have a couple of announcements in regards to how the club is growing and what we have to offer. Along with our Muso Shinden ryu iaido we now offer study groups for Hyoho Niten Ichi ryu and Ono-ha itto ryu. Hyoho niten ichi ryu is a koryu style of kenjutsu that I have practiced since 2011, and during my recent trip to Japan was given permission by Kajiya Sensei to make it public that we do in fact practice HNIR. More info on HNIR can be found here.

https://www.hyohonitenichiryu.com/global/english/

Myself and a couple other members have also been practicing Ono-ha itto ryu under the guidance and tutelage of Nathan Scott sensei and Mark Hague sensei. In October Mutokai was officially designated a Reigakudo affiliated dojo. The Reigakudo is the hombu dojo for Ono-ha. More info on Ono ha can be found here.

http://ittoryu.org/

There are additional requirements for practicing Ono-ha besides being a member of the Mutokai.

If you have ever wanted to practice a traditional school of kenjutsu with traceable lineages, Mutokai now offers two great options. For more information about our practice times or would like to observe a class, please email us. We'd be happy to answer any of your questions.

Address

Saint Paul, MN
55114

Website

https://www.mutokai.org/

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