Our Style
Hokushin Ittô-ryû Hyôhô
A legend that lives on ...
The Hokushin Ittô-ryû Hyôhô (北辰 一刀 流 兵法), literally, "The North Star One-Sword School of Military Strategy", is a so-called Sôgo-Bujutsu Ryûha (complete school of martial arts), which was handed down continuesly from one generation to the next untill today.
It is known for the strength of it's techniques, it's scientific approach to sword fighting, and it's easy-to-understand teaching methodology. In addition, it is an art that contains a deep and rich philosophy and can be practiced as a life path to enlightenment.
History & Genealogy
That's where we come from...
The school was founded in the 1820s, towards the end of the Edo period in Edo (nowadays Tōkyō) by samurai Chiba Shûsaku Narimasa, who was considered the last kensei
(sword saint) of Japanese history.
He founded the school on the principles of Ittô-ryû
and his family style, the Hokushin Musô-Ryû. Due to his good reputation and his fame as Kensei, although still managed by the Kaiso
(founder), the Hokushin Ittô-ryû was one of the three largest and most famous schools of the Bakumatsu period. These so-called San-Dai-Ryû
(three largest schools) were the Hokushin Ittô-Ryû, Shintô Munen-Ryû and the Kyoshin Meichi-Ryû.
In the Edo period, there were two main lines of Hokushin Ittô-ryû Hyôhô. One was the Genbukan, the line of the style founder Chiba Shûsaku Narimasa and the other the Chiba Dôjô of his younger brother Chiba Sadakichi Masamichi. Due to the size of the school and the many awarded teaching licenses, in the Edo period many different lines of the Hokushin Ittô-ryû Hyôhô formed. Those lines acted completely independently of each other and in the the present time are no longer in any connection.
In July 2013, Chiba Hiroshi Masatane, the current head of the Chiba family and direct descendant of the school's founder, handed over the leadership to menkyo-kaiden Ôtsuka Yôichirô Masanori. He appointed him the 6th Sôke of the Hokushin Ittô-ryû Hyôhô and reopened with him together the Chiba Dôjô. Ôtsuka Yôichirô learned and mastered in the past the Noda-ha Hokushin Ittô-ryū from Konishi Shigejirô and received from him the permission to open an own dôjô - the Shinmeikai, which he actively led over 10 years in Tokyo.
On March 26th 2016, he appointed his successor and foster son - Ôtsuka Ryûnosuke for the 7th Sôke of the Hokushin Ittô-ryû Hyôhô.
The title of Sôke may only be legitimately led by the head of the main line of Hokushin Ittô-ryû Hyôhô.