Hoten Ryu Enten Dojo

03/23/2026

As some of you may be aware, I relocated back to Japan over a year ago to take care of an ailing family member and to start a new job. My family joined me several months later. Here are some random photos we took over the last several months.

01/02/2026

Playing with an untethered momiji.

12/11/2025

This memory popped up on FB today. 16 years ago, but it sure doesn't feel like that much time has passed. I miss the experience of visiting Tachibana Soke early in the mornings to meet for training. I count myself very fortunate to have had that experience.

09/21/2025

06/23/2025

Had a fantastic weekend meeting Yoshino Sensei in Kyoto and visiting with other Hoten Ryu members. It was great to have a gathering of so many teachers and friends, including some I hadn't seen in recent years.

01/07/2025

If you visit Japan (or any foreign country for that matter), observe the etiquette. Be respectful. Remember that, good or bad, the example you set is how your country and your countrymen will be viewed.

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12/28/2024

Hope everyone has been enjoying the holidays!

I'm a little late posting this, but I went to Tucson on Sunday to train and have lunch with some students from the southern part of the state. I won't have a chance to visit Tucson again for a while, so it was nice to squeeze in the visit ahead of the holidays.

11/18/2024

Spent the day in Tucson training one of my students from the far southeastern part of the state. Usually he drives several hours each way to visit me in Phoenix, but today Jason and I were able to meet him a bit closer to where he lives. Other than it being a bit chilly today, it was a good day of training.

10/14/2024

I miss my dear friend featured in this video, Chris Kieber.

09/18/2024

Had a short practice at Tsubaki Grand Shrine in Mie Prefecture today with a friend of mine.

Paraphrased from Wikipedia:

The Tsubaki Grand Shrine is a Shinto shrine claiming to be the ichinomiya (1st order shrine) of former Ise Province. One of the kami enshrined at the shrine is Sarutahiko Ōkami (猿田彦大神), leader of the kunitsukami (which are the kami of the land who reside in the earth) and patron of martial arts.

The origins of the shrine are unknown, but legend states that it was founded in the year 3 BCE during the reign of the legendary Emperor Suinin by the order of Princess Yamato on the site of the grave of Sarutahiko. It first appears in historical documentation in an entry dated 748 in the Daianji Garan Engi Nami Rukishizaichō (大安寺伽藍縁起並流記資財帳) records of Daian-ji in Nara. It is listed as a major shrine in the Engishiki records from the early Heian period.

Further according to the shrine's legend, a descendant of Sarutahiko, Gyōman Daimyōjin, was the founder of Shugendō and this shrine was a center of the Shugendō religion in the Heian and Kamakura periods. The current chief priest claims to be the 97th generation descendant of Gyōman Daimyōjin.

The shrine's grounds contain a martial arts hall for practice, as well as an archery range for the practitioners of kyūdō. Behind the main shrine hall is a sacred waterfall, Kinryū Myōjin no Taki, where misogi is practiced.

09/15/2024

Prayed at Tachibana Soke's grave today and washed the grave stone.