ABOUT US
Kashima-Shinryu (鹿島神流) is a traditional Japanese school of martial art (koryu bujutsu), tracing its roots back to the fencing techniques of Kashima-no-Tachi. Following a curriculum dating back to the 16th century, practitioners of Kashima-Shinryu study a variety of combat disciplines, including the sword (kenjutsu), grappling (jūjutsu), the halberd (naginatajutsu), the spear (sojutsu), the knife (kaikenjutsu), and short and long staff (jojutsu and bojutsu). Based on traditional teaching techniques, Kashima-Shinryū does not include any modern sportive elements such as group drills, sparring, or tournaments. Instruction instead relies on paired teacher-student exercises and is provided only on a non-commercial basis with the explicit authorisation of the current headmaster (shihanke).
Many Internet resources on "Kashima-Shinryu" in fact refer to a style of aikido (also called “Kashima no Tachi”), rather than Kashima-Shinryu proper. The only official online resource regarding the details of Kashima-Shinryu is the official Federation homepage. Please be especially careful of YouTube videos: there are a few unauthorised videos of proper Kashima-Shinryu, but most of the links will be to aikido practices.
The official federation videos can be viewed below.
In the sword there is no sword;
make a sword of the body.
In the body there is no body;
make a body of the spirit.