Oct 25, 2019
This article will explain what is Aiki Ishin-ryu with some information about its history.
Aiki Ishin-ryu (相氣一進流) is a style of martial art which was founded by Yoshinaka Suzuki, a long term practioner of Takeda-ryu Nakamura-ha.
Yoshinaka Suzuki founded Aiki Ishin-ryu in 2012, and named it after the word Aiki (相氣 or 相機) which was mainly used in the field of Kenjutsu (剣術: art of Katana) during Meiji era and ealier, in combination with the word Ishin (一進: one step forward) in hopes of stepping up the level by absorbing new things while maintaining the good of the old martial arts. Ryu (流) is the word for a flow of style.
The trainings of Aiki Ishin-ryu is inheriting the style from Takeda-ryu (武田流) and Takeda-ryu Nakamura-ha (武田流中村派). Takeda-ryu is a style of martial arts the beginning of which is said to be before 1541 and have been passed down all the way until its 43rd successor Ichio Oba completed the style, built his dojo on Mt. Yagura in 1948 and started spreading it over Japan. Takeda-ryu Nakamura-ha was founded in 1978 by Hisashi Nakamura, who was a student Ichio Oba. In this section, I will introduce the trainings of Aiki Ishin-ryu in detail.
Aikido is a type of Jujutsu (柔術) with an essence of Aiki no Jutsu. In Aiki Ishin-ryu, students train Ashi-sabaki (足さばき: footworks) and Ukemi (受身: techniques to fall safely) first, then quickly move on to Kihon Aiki-nage (基本合気投げ: Basic throwing with Aiki) and Kihon-waza (基本技: basic tactical techniques). Kihon-waza is consisted of 36 techniques which all will be important in application to advanced techniques.
Iaido is the martial art of practicing Batto-jutsu (抜刀術), the art of pulling a Katana from its sheath. It is also known as Iai (居合 or 居相), and Saya no Uchi (鞘の内). Unlike Kenjutsu (剣術) in which the fight often begins with swords already drawn, Iaido is a martial art that focuses on pulling a sword from its sheath.
In addition, it is deeply related to Jujutsu, and the understanding of Aikido will be deepened by learning how to handle the Katana and Iaido.
We practice puches and kicks in Jujutsu Kenpo. Because Japanese martial arts used to have only Atemi (当身: tackles) and no striking, Jujutsu Kenpo was invented to fill this lack. It is different from both Boxing and Karate with unique techniques related to riding horses.
In Aiki Ishin-ryu, we consider the worst case scenario in which we lose our Katana during battles, and are forced to fight with the remaining sheaths. Therefore, we practice with 3ft long Jo (杖: cane or stick). Our trainings include Jo vs Jo, Jo vs human and Jo vs Katana. The fundermental techniques are common with Aikido and Iaido, which makes this martial art perfect for deepening our overall skills.
Fu (桴: short stick) is a pair of 1.5ft long sticks which is also refered as Shugi (手木: hand stick) or Han-bo (半棒: half stick). It was introduced by Yoshinaka Suzuki with inspirations from Shugi-jutsu (手木術) of Takeda-ryu Nakamura-ha, Tanbo-jutsu (短棒術), Hanbo-jutsu (半棒術) and others. The techniques of Sofu-jutsu is practiced through 3 basic Kata and 2 secret Kata. See this article for more details.
Shuriken (手裏剣) is a throwing dagger the size of which is small enough to hide behind hands. Among variety of shapes, Aiki Ishin-ryu mainly use stick-shaped Shuriken.
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