Kotokukan Dojo .

09/10/2026

http://kyokaimartialarts.8m.net/

On June21,2015 Catherine Church named Don Phillip the Lineage Successor of the Kamishin Ryu Martial Arts giving him the Soden Scroll of Kim Chi Kooh and the Kuniba Scroll. The Zen Kamishin Kai is dedicated to preserving the original teachings of Kamishin Ryu taught by Soke Albert Church and contin....

03/10/2026

27/09/2026

It may sound like a matter of course, but during your training you will undergo various social and personal experiences. Not all of them will be fun. On the contrary, trying, sad, aggravating, or boring things are more common. That is exactly why Sôke is preaching a method whereby anyone can learn together and urge each other on enjoyably, without forgetting the most important point, the soul of the martial arts. No matter how often you tell them, those who are stubborn, who lack a cooperative nature, who want to be No. 1, or who have too strong a desire to maintain their egos, will not be able to understand this martial art.

The "nin" of ninjutsu can also be interpreted as the "nin" of ninshiki (awareness). Sôke says that true courage is being aware of everything, and then going beyond this. If this is lacking, then no matter how many techniques you know you will make mistaken decisions. If you just try and think things out yourself, there'll often be mistakes. This applies even more to those still undergoing training. Making mistakes is unavoidable. If you think you are mistaken, then correct it. If you practice again correctly, then that's all you need. This also needs courage. It takes time, natural time until you can understand Budô. And those who can't endure the many years are no different from those who don't understand culture, art, and human nature.

Toshiro Nagato 先生

27/09/2026

The 3,000 at Sekigahara: Kyōgoku Takatomo

Illustration: AI recreation in Edo-period woodblock style based on historical records.

September 15, 1600. 8 AM. Sekigahara was covered in thick fog.

While his older brother Takatsugu was held up in the siege of Otsu Castle, Kyōgoku Takatomo made his fateful choice.

Though Toyotomi Hideyoshi had granted him Iida - 80,000 koku - Takatomo chose a different path. He took 3,000 loyal men and joined Tokugawa Ieyasu and the Eastern Army.

Ieyasu placed him on the northern flank, shoulder-to-shoulder with his lifelong friend, Tōdō Takatora. From their position, they looked down into the valley toward Mt. Matsuo.

Facing them: Ōtani Yosh*tsugu - the brilliant strategist of the Western Army, who fought despite severe illness. 6,000 against their combined 5,500.

When the battle began, Takatomo's forces engaged Ōtani's line. For hours, neither side gave way.

Then the tide turned. On Mt. Matsuo, Kobayakawa Hideaki changed sides. Wakisaka Yasuharu, who had been persuaded by Tōdō Takatora beforehand, followed.

Ōtani's formation collapsed from within.

By noon, it was over. Ōtani Yosh*tsugu met his end on the field, and the Western Army was broken.

For his loyalty on that foggy morning, Ieyasu did not forget Takatomo. He was awarded 78,000 koku and the Miyazu Domain in Tango Province - a castle facing the sea, where the Kyōgoku family would rule for generations.

He did not have the largest army at Sekigahara. He had only 3,000. But on that morning, those 3,000 helped shape the future of Japan.

History remembers Ieyasu. Let's also remember the commanders who stood beside him.

27/09/2026

The Poet With Dogs — Saigo Takamori (1828-1877)

They called him the Last Samurai.

But on the quiet shores of Amami Oshima, where the Meiji government had exiled him, Saigo Takamori was not a general. He was just a large, soft-eyed man walking with his dogs.

He had brought two of them — small, loyal hunting dogs from Satsuma. Every morning, before the sun burned the mist off the sugarcane fields, he would walk with them along the beach. The villagers said he talked to them more than he talked to people.

In exile, he had no army. So he wrote.

With a brush and thin paper, he composed kanshi — Chinese-style poetry about nature, duty, and the quiet heart.

In the spirit of what he might have written:
"The waves do not ask a man's name,
The dogs do not ask a man's rank.
Only here, stripped of all,
Do I finally hear my own heart."
(poetic dramatization, not a direct translation)

When his pardon came, Japan called him back to help build a new modern army. He obeyed. He helped lead the Meiji Restoration.

But then he watched that new government turn away from the samurai, trading the old soul of Japan for western uniforms and cold politics. So in 1877, the old teacher rebelled — leading his young Satsuma students in the Satsuma Rebellion.

He knew he could not win against modern guns and cannons.

At Shiroyama, wounded and surrounded, legend says he looked once toward the morning sun and died with honor — like a true samurai.

He died not because he hated the future, but because he loved something the future was forgetting: loyalty, poetry, simplicity... and the quiet company of dogs on a beach.

They built a bronze statue of him in Ueno Park, Tokyo. Not in armor. Not with a sword raised.

He wears a simple kimono. And beside him walks his dog.

27/09/2026

Be careful around people who constantly have to tell you how important, powerful, successful, or respected they are.

Real confidence usually does not need a loud introduction.

Some people spend so much time explaining who they are that you barely get a chance to see what they actually do.

They tell you how loyal they are.

How successful they are.

How many people respect them.

How much money they have.

How powerful their connections are.

How nobody can compete with them.

But eventually, words become meaningless without evidence.

Character is not something you announce. It is something people experience.

A genuinely confident person does not need to dominate every conversation or constantly remind everyone of their worth.

Their work speaks.

Their consistency speaks.

Their behavior when nobody is watching speaks.

How they treat people who cannot benefit them speaks.

How they handle failure speaks.

How they treat people beneath their position speaks even louder.

There is nothing wrong with being proud of what you have accomplished.

The problem begins when your identity depends on constantly convincing everyone else that you are exceptional.

The loudest person in the room is not automatically the strongest.

The person talking the most about loyalty is not automatically the most loyal.

And the person constantly announcing their power may be trying harder to convince themselves than anyone else.

You do not have to tell people what you are. Give them enough time, and your actions will introduce you.

A lion does not need to announce that it is a lion.

"Watch out for people who are always bragging about who they are. A lion will never have to tell you it's a lion."