Preserve your own life without killing others.

If you thrust, it is a spear, if you sweep, it is a naginata, when you hold it, it is a sword. An art of a myriad transformations.

"Learning Shinto Muso-ryu Jojutsu, I finally understood the hidden side of the sword" - Nakayama Hakudo shihan, major swordsman of the Taisho and Showa periods

Jodo, once feared as "Kuroda's Staff"* has become popular as both a method of physical and mental discipline and for the practical value of its weapon techniques. The Jōshinkai, a dynamic organization led by the generation of instructors that succeeded its founder, provides a thorough introduction to the spirit and techniques of Shintō Musō-ryū Jōjutsu, the most prominent style of the art. Its numerous techniques against the sword, said to have been devised to defeat master swordsman Miyamoto Musashi, are rich with insights, even for practitioners of other martial arts.

* The staff techniques of the house of Kuroda of the Fukuoka domain, where the art originated, were once feared by outlaws.

1) Uchi and Tsuki: Special Characteristics
2) Use of the Body: Special Characteristics
3) The Techniques’ Dual Purpose
4) Omote no Kata: Demonstration and Explanation
5) Chudan no Kata: Demonstration
6) Sword Characteristics As Seen In Uchidachi
7) In no Keiko: Kage, Samidare, Demonstration
8) Basic Practice Method – Kokyujo

Supervision: Shinto Muso-ryu Joshinkai
Uchidachi: Amano Hironobu, Shijo: Aoki Takuya
Shinto Muso-ryu Joshinkai is a jodo training group founded in 1980 by the late master Matsui Kenji (1935–2022), who held a full transmission license (menkyo kaiden) in Shinto Muso-ryu Jojutsu.It is a member of the All Japan Kendo Federation and the Nippon Kobudo Shinkokai (Japan Kobudo Promotion Society).

Translation: Grigoris Miliaresis