James was not only the font of all knowledge regarding Ryōi Shintō-ryū, but he single handedly kept the style alive and lead with his incredible skill, and quiet wisdom. I will really miss his friendship, kindness, generousity and example, all of which have inspired me and made my life so much richer. The accompany picture […]

Fukuno Shichirouemon Masakatsu (福野七郎右衛門正勝) was the founder of Ryōi Shintō-ryū Jūjutsu (良移心当流 柔術). Between 1626 – 1627, he studied ‘Torite no jutsu’ (捕手の術 – hand taking) & ‘Kenpō’ (拳法 – fist striking method) from Southern Shaolin Monastery or ‘Nan-Shaolin’ (南少林) Chinese monk Chin Genpin (陳元贇). In this interesting Blog article, published on the Ryukyu Bugei […]

Once again, we worked with the techniques included in James Shortt Sensei’s 1979 book - ‘Beginning JiuJitsu Ryoi Shinto Style’. The applications are not immediately obvious from the illustrations, so, we examined; the principles, small points of anatomy, body movement, balance, distance, angles, pivots and rhythm to bring the techniques to life. We revised: Then […]