Suio Ryū Iai Kenpo is a style of classical Japanese swordsmanship. It was founded by Mima Yoichizaemon Kagenobu (1577-1665). He was born in the Dewa Province to Mima Saigu, a priest at the Junisha Gongen Shrine. He studied Bokuden Ryū, as well as some style of jo practiced by Shinto priests. Swordsmanship refers to the skills of a swordsman, a person versed in fencing with a sword. ... Dewa (出羽国; -no kuni) is an old province of Japan, which today composes Yamagata prefecture and Akita prefecture, except for the city of Kazuno and the town of Kosaka. ... A jo (Japanese: 杖 jō) is an approximately four-foot (1. ... A torii at Itsukushima Shrine Shinto (Kanji: 神道 Shintō) (sometimes called Shintoism) is a native religion of Japan and was once its state religion. ...

When he was 18, he began to study the iai techniques of the Hayashizaki school under Sakurai Gorozaemon. After being given an overview of those techniques, he travelled throughout Japan, to study under different masters and perfect his skills. For some time, he trained in the naginatajutsu of the Buddhist monks from Mount Hiei, techniques that were applied often by the priests during the Warring States period. Respect due to the sword (To Rei) before and after the practice Iaido (居合道 iaidō) is a sword-based Japanese martial art that trains the motions associated with drawing a katana(刀) from its sheath, striking an opponent, removing blood from the blade, and then re-sheathing the katana with smooth, controlled... Muso Shinden-ryu (夢想神伝流 Musō Shinden ryū) is a branch of the discipline iaido which can be traced back to the originator of iaido, a samurai named Hayashizaki Jinsuke Minamoto no Shigenobu. ... Naginatajutsu (なぎなた術, 長刀術 or 薙刀術) is the Japanese Martial art of wielding the naginata, a weapon resembling the medieval European glaive. ... A replica of an ancient statue found among the ruins of a temple at Sarnath Buddhism is a philosophy based on the teachings of the Buddha, Siddhārtha Gautama, a prince of the Shakyas, whose lifetime is traditionally given as 566 to 486 BCE. It had subsequently been accepted by... Mount Hiei (Jp. ... The Sengoku period (Japanese: 戦国時代, Sengoku-jidai) or Warring States period, was a period of civil war in the history of Japan that spans from the middle 15th to the early 17th centuries. ...

He was not content to develop only the physical side of his martial arts during this time. Instead, he continued training as a Shinto priest, and meditated nightly, even going so far as to go on long retreats to secluded holy sites deep in the mountains. It was because of this spiritual side of his training that he eventually attained enlightenment. In the twentieth year of his training, he was struck with a vision of white gulls floating effortlessly and without conscious thought on the water, and named the style that arose from his revelation the "Suio Ryū", or Water-Gull style of swordsmanship. Hawaiian State Grappling Championships. ... Seagull redirects here. ...

The spiritual, philosophical aspects of his training are everywhere in the Suio Ryū techniques, and the core waza, or techniques, are tied to the Shinto cosmology that defines the heavens and earth.

Yoichizaemon continued training and touring throughout his life, and at age 67 retired to pass the Suio Ryū to his son, Mima Yohachiro Kagenaga. To the core techniques established by the founder, Yohachiro added the 10 basic Goin and Goyo kata, which serve to establish strong basic technique. The 9th sōke, Fukuhara Shinzaemon Kagenori, introduced Masaki Ryū kusarigamajutsu to the curriculum. The tradition of oral transmission of techniques continues to the present day, with the 15th sōke of the Suio Ryū Iai Kenpo, Katsuse Yoshimitsu Kagehiro. Kusarigama at Iwakuni Castle Kusari-gama is a traditional Japanese weapon that consists of kama (Japanese for sickle) on a metal chain with a heavy iron weight at the end. ...