Tendō-ryū


Tendō-ryū, also known as Tendō-ryū naginatajutsu, is a koryū founded in 1582 by Saito Hangan Denkibo Katsuhide. The current headmaster is the 17th sōke Kimura Yasuko.
Although Denkibo was already an incredibly talented Samurai, he felt that his technique was still incomplete and went to the Tsurugaoka Hachiman Shrine in Kamakura to pray for 100 days. In 1581, Denkibo had the revelation he had been longing for and created his school named Ten Ryu, the “School of Heaven”, which later became Tendo Ryu, the “School of the Way to Heaven”.
Although it is mainly known today for its techniques with the naginata, the Japanese glaive, Tendō-ryū actually includes the practice of various other weapons: the long and short swords, both swords simultaneously, two kinds of daggers, the staff, and the Japanese sickle with a chain.
The modern version of the naginata practice, called "new Naginata", is one of the 9 official modern budo recognized by the Nippon Budokan. Tendō-ryū is one of the two main classical styles of naginatajutsu which atarashii naginata is derived from, the other one being Jikishinkage-ryū.