Tenshinsho Jigen Ryu

Tenshinsho Jigen Ryu Hyōhō (天眞正自源流兵法) is a koryu (ancient martial art) specializing in iaijutsu (quick-draw sword art) and kenjutsu (swordsmanship) founded by Tose Yosazaemon Osamune around the Eiroku Era (1558- 1570). The system also teaches Yawara (柔), Naginata (長刀) Sōjutsu (槍術) and Nagamaki (長巻) as part of the curriculum. The current headmaster of the Tenshinsho Jigen Ryu (as of 2019) is the 16th (30th) sōke Takahashi Tamon (髙橋多聞).

History
According to the written scrolls passed down within the successors of the school, Tenshinsho Jigen Ryu traces back its roots to Jigensai Kazutō Jiichibō (自源齋一任自一坊), founder of Hakugen Ryu (白源流) in the 10th century. His techniques were based on Kashima no Tachi Shinmyoken (鹿島之太刀神妙剣), which was created by Kunima Masato (國摩真人) in the early 5thcentury and it is regarded as the first sword school of Japan.

Hakugen Ryu was inherited by the Minamoto clan (源氏), Oide clan, Urabe clan (Priests of Kashima), and finally Yaobettō Kenko (八尾別當顕幸) also known as Yaobettō Kaneyuki, the 14th inheritor. Yaobettō integrated the theories of Hakugen Ryu and Minamoto Ryu (源流) and called it Jiken Ryu (自顕流).

According to the school tradition, the Tenshinsho Jigen Ryu Hyōhō was founded around 1508 by Kose Yozaemon Nagamune (小瀬与左衛門尉長宗 c. 1413 – c. 1521), a land-holding samurai from Hitachi province in Japan. In his youth he travels to the Katori Shrine to study Tenshin Shoden Katori Shinto Ryu (天真正伝香取神道流) with the school's founder Iizasa Chōisai Ienao. It is said that he obtained the menkyo kaiden certificate (license of mastery) after five years of study, at the age of 22. Also according to tradition, Kose subsequently undertakes a musha shugyō or pilgrimage journey that takes him to the Kashima Shrine, where he studies under Yaobettō Kenko and inherites the scrolls of Jiken ryu.

Based on the knowledge of Katori Shintō-ryū and Jiken-ryū, as well as his own theories, Nagamune creates from an illumination at the Kashima shrine a style called Tenshinshō Jiken-ryū (天眞正自顕流), where Tenshinshō (天眞正) represents the “true and correct” deity transmission of Katori, Ji (自) is taken from the founder of the Jichibō tradition, and Ken (顕) from Yaobettō Kenko.

After completing his pilgrimage, he settled in the Satsuma domain, entering the service of the Shimazu clan around 1482. Once in Satsuma his impressive sword skills made him an important figure among the clan and he was adopted into the Setoguchi family, changing his name to Setoguchi Bizen no Kami Masamoto (瀬戸口備前守政基). After years of practice within the clan, tradition explains that, from another enlightenment, in 1508 he decided to change the name of his style to Tenshinshō Jigen-ryū Hyōhō (天眞正自源流兵法), adopting the word Gen 源) as a reference to Hakugen Ryū. After his death, the school is inhetited by his son Setoguchi Gennoshin (瀬戸口源之進, c. 1488 - c. 1577).

In other sources. there is another versión of the lineage in which the Tenshinsho Jigen Ryu Hyōhō was founded by Tose Yosazaemon Osamune (十瀬 与三左衛門 長宗, c. 1540- c. 1600) around the Eiroku Era (1558-1570). Tose was also a land-holding samurai from Hitachi province in Japan. In his twenties, he traveled to Katori Shrine where he came under the instruction of Iizasa Wakasa no Kami Morinobu, the third headmaster of the Tenshin Shoden Katori Shinto Ryu and after five years of training he received the menkyo kaiden. After completing his training in Katori he moved on to continue his studies at Kashima Shrine where he underwent a spiritual ordeal and received, via an oracle, a catalog of martial techniques in a divine inspiration from Takemikazuchi. In addition, he received a vision of technique so swift that with it he could cut a flying swallow out of the air. From this inspiration he named his new system Tenshinsho Jigen Ryu, taking the “Tenshinsho” (true and correct transmission from the deity of Katori Shrine- Futsunushi) from the Tenshin Shoden Katori Shinto Ryu, and adding the term “self-power revelation” (Jigen) which had come to him after his spiritual ordeal at Kashima Shrine.

In this version, Tose's student, Kaneko Shinkuro Morisada (金子 新九郎 盛貞, c. 1520- c. 1585), would eventually carry on the tradition by becoming the second headmaster. The third headmaster of the Tenshinsho Jigen Ryu Hyōhō would be Terasaka Yakuro Masatsune (赤坂 弥九郎 政雅, 1567- 1594), also known by his Buddhist dharma name, Zenkitsu (善吉, also read Zenkichi). He was the chief Buddhist priest of the Tennji Temple near Kyoto. Although his life was short lived he did manage to pass on the Tenshinsho Jigen Ryu to Togo Shigekata (東郷 重位, 1560- 1643), a samurai from the Satsuma domain, who after 3 years of having returned to Satsuma synthesized the Tenshinsho Jigen Ryu with the Taisha Ryu to create the Jigen Ryu.

According to tradition, the Tenshinsho Jigen Ryu would remain a well-kept secret in the Satsuma clan through the Jigen Ryu and Yakumaru Jigen Ryu lines, and passed down through the Setoguchi, Yakumaru and Mizoguchi families for nearly 400 years.

In 1963, the Tenshinsho Jigen Ryu would see a revival under the 27th headmaster, Ueno Yasuyuki Genshin (上野 靖之 源心, 1913- 1972), when he began instructing at the Shobukan in Asakusa, Tokyo until his death in 1972. Ueno would pass on the Tenshinsho Jigen Ryu to his two sons, Ueno Kagenori Genki (上野 景範 源己) and Ueno Takashi Doushin (上野 貴史 童心). They later succeeded Ueno in becoming the 28th and 29th headmasters. Ueno would also instruct Kawabata Terutaka (河端 照孝, b. 1940) who went on to create the Ryushin Shouchi Ryu.

In 2019 Takahashi Tamon (髙橋鑑宗) is named 30th headmaster. However, in 2021 it is announced in the school website the disappearance of the soke figure, being the tradition governed from that moment on by a council of teachers, with Sugimura Mitsuhiko (杉村碧峰) as main master. In this way the school is currently divided into two lines claiming for legitimacy, one headed by the Ueno family and headquartered in Saitama and one headed by Tamon sensei and headquartered in Tokyo, with branches in Japan, USA, Canada and Europe. (https://www.jigenryu-tokyo.jp/traning.php)

Philosophy
The philosophy of Tenshinsho Jigen Ryu is to have pride in the five virtues and to cultivate the spirit of simplicity and fortitude. These five virtues are represented on the different parts of the Japanese sword.

The spirit of simplicity and fortitude is often represented by a special four character idiom, Shitsu Jitsu Gou Ken (質実剛健), which translates as “Unaffected and sincere, with fortitude and vigor”