History

Shindō Yōshin Ryū was founded in 1864 by Katsunosuke Matsuoka (1836–1898). The school is a sōgō bujutsu or integrated martial system combing the teachings of Tenjin Shinyō Ryū, Totsuka Yōshin Ryū, Jikishinkage Ryū, Hokushin Ittō Ryū, and Hozion Ryū. Shindō Yōshin Ryū split into two lines in 1895, one led by Motokichi Inose and the other led by Shigeta Obata. The Obata line passed to Yukiyoshi Takamura in 1944. In the decade following the war, Yukiyoshi Takamura left Japan first settling in Stockholm, Sweden in 1954, and then Hayward, California in 1964.

The 1960s saw an explosion of western interest in Asian martial arts. Consequently, Yukiyoshi Takamura cultivated a dedicated group of students in Europe and the USA. In 1968, Yukiyoshi Takamura founded an organization to oversee the international promotion of the art, the Takamura ha Shindō Yōshin Kai. This organization grew in membership over the next twenty years and by the mid-1980s supported ten dojos and fifteen licensed instructors teaching in the USA, Philippines, Japan and Europe.

Yukiyoshi Takamura died in March, 2000 at the age of 72. In the decade prior to his death he awarded three students menkyo kaiden in Takamura ha Shindō Yōshin Ryū. These were Iso Takagi in Osaka, David Maynard in the United Kingdom, and Tobin E. Threadgill in the United States. In 2003, Iso Takagi and David Maynard retired from active teaching and Tobin E. Threadgill was asked to accept the title of kaichō and oversee the organization worldwide. The Takamura-ha Shindō Yōshin Kai continues today under the direction of Tobin E. Threadgill with its headquarters dojo located in Evergreen, Colorado. The organization currently has dojos operating in the United States, The United Kingdom, Spain, Germany, Canada, France, Portugal, Finland, Sweden, Australia and New Zealand.

The curriculum of Shindō Yōshin Ryū is organized in a manner consistent with most classical schools of budō. The teachings are divided into three levels represented by the issuing of teaching licenses. These are shoden, chūden and jōden gokui. As with most classical schools of budō, there is no technical ranking system similar to the kyū/dan system commonly associated with modern forms of budō.

Shindō Yōshin Ryū emphasizes sophisticated body mechanics and natural movement. Although Shindō Yōshin Ryū reflects a combination of the jūjutsu teachings in Tenjin Shinyō Ryu and Totsuka Yōshin Ryu, its waza demonstrate a softer, more weapon influenced execution of technique. In addition to swordsmanship originating in Jikishinkage Ryū and Hokushin Ittō Ryū, the Takamura branch includes further influence from Akiyama Yōshin Ryū and Matsuzaki Shinkage-Ryū Hyōhō.

Shindō Yōshin Ryū was fundamental in the founding of one of Japan's most prominent styles of karate, Wadō-ryū. The founder of Wadō-ryū, Hironori ōtsuka, studied Shindō Yōshin Ryū under a highly licensed instructor named Tatsusaburō Nakayama. Nakayama was the chief instructor of the Genbukan dōjō in Shimotsuma city, and the physical education teacher at Shimotsuma Middle School.