Katori Shinto-ryu: Warrior Tradition - Tapa dura

Few of Japan’s ancient warrior traditions have survived the five-and-a-half centuries since their heyday. Tenshinsho-den Katori Shinto-ryu is the oldest extant classical Japanese martial art and one of the few that has maintained a comprehensive technical curriculum as well as studies in military strategy and prognostication. This book, by the tradition’s only master teacher, is a detailed illustrated introduction to the sword techniques, strategy, and esoteric studies of Katori Shinto-ryu, Japan’s most famous sword school.This present book is based on Otake Risuke's earlier three-volume work, The Deity and the Sword. The original Japanese has been re-edited, re-translated, and re-designed, with over 850 new photographs and new material on important aspects of the tradition.

Otake Risuke Minamoto no Takeyuki is presently the only authorized master teacher (shihan) of Tenshinsho-den Katori Shinto-ryu. Born in Daei, Chiba Prefecture, in 1926, he began training in Katori Shinto-ryu under Hayashi Yazaemon Shihan in 1942. When Katori Shinto-ryu was designated an Intangible Cultural Asset in 1960, he was named as one of the official Guardians of the ryu, was concurrently awarded gokui kaiden, the highest level license in Shinto-ryu, and was appointed to be the shihan of the tradition. He opened his Shinbukan Dojo in Narita, Chiba Prefecture, in 1964, and has been responsible for training the current generation of Katori Shinto-ryu practitioners, including the late Donn Draeger and current shidosha Phil Relnick. He has also worked to increase the public's understanding of the classical martial arts and Tenshinsho-den Katori Shinto-ryu through countless domestic and overseas demonstrations, television appearances, magazine articles, and choreography for television and films.