Shindō Musō-ryū (神道夢想流)
About the ryū
Shindō Musō-ryū (神道夢想流) focuses on the use of the jō, a wooden stick approximately 128cm in length, against the sword. The ryū is traditionally said to have been founded in the early seventeenth century by Musō Gonnosuke Katsuyoshi, a practitioner of Kasumi Shintō-ryū (霞神道流), following a period of ascetic practice (shūgyō) on Mount Hōman in Kyushu after his defeat by Miyamoto Musashi. During this period, he received a vision and was told ‘maruki o motte, suigetsu o shire’ (take a round stick and know the suigetsu). Based on this vision, Gonnosuke developed the jō and Shindō Musō-ryū.
After he developed the style, Gonnosuke became a retainer of the Kuroda han in Kyushu and Shindō Musō-ryū subsequently became an official style of the domain. It was during this period that Shindō Musō-ryū became associated with some of the other weapon schools normally practiced by students of the school.
Unlike other koryu such as Tatsumi-ryū, Shindō Musō-ryū has a long history of parallel lines of transmission. Consequently, there are a number of people worldwide with the rank of menkyo kaiden. This licence of full transmission of the ryū permits the holder to grade others and to pass on the ryū in full.
Curriculum
The core curriculum of Shindō Musō-ryū consists of eight sets of kata. Each kata is practised as a paired exercise between a jō practitioner (shidachi) and a sword practitioner (uchidachi), teaching the principles of distancing, timing, and application.
Rather than beginning with the kata, however, students learn the basic movements of the ryū in the form of the kihon waza. Training then progresses through the kata in sequence, with each level building upon the technical and conceptual foundation of those preceding it.
The structure of the curriculum is as follows:
| Name | Number |
| Kihon | 12 |
| Omote | 12 |
| Chudan | 12 |
| Ran Ai | 2 |
| Kage | 12 |
| Samidare | 6 |
| Gohon no Midare | 5 |
| Okuden | 12 |
| Gokui | 5 |
Fuzoku Ryūha (Assimilated Schools)
In addition to the kata above, students of Shindō Musō-ryū normally also learn a number of associated traditions, including Kasumi Shintō-ryū kenjutsu, Isshin-ryū kusarigamajutsu, Uchida-ryū tanjōjutsu and Ikkaku-ryū juttejutsu. The kata for these are listed below:
| Ryūha | Weapon | Number |
| Kasumi Shintō-ryū kenjutsu | odachi and kodachi | 12 |
| Isshin-ryū kusarigamajutsu | kusarigama | 12 (omote and ura) plus 6 (oku) |
| Uchida-ryū tanjōjutsu | tanjō | 12 |
| Ikkaku-ryū juttejutsu | jutte | 12 (omote and ura) |
Grades
Traditionally, Shindō Musō-ryū has provided its practitioners with five levels of certification. These are, in ascending order:
- Okuirishō (奥入書) – certificate of entering Oku
- Shomokuroku (初目録) – first syllabus
- Gomokuroku (後目録) – second syllabus
- Menkyo (免許) – licence
- Menkyo kaiden (免許皆伝) – full licence