View Full Version : Shinto Tenshin ryu / Shindo Tenshin ryu / Tenshin Ko ryu kenpo

4th September 2004, 22:01
Can anyone tell me more about Tenshin koryu kenpo?Are there any sites where i can get more information about it?
Nodas Asproulis

5th September 2004, 07:03
Originally posted by Nodas_Asproulis
Nodas Asproulis

There are some sites, however you will nary find one in English.
For example:

In a nutshell:

"Shinto Tenshin Ryu"

According to some sources, such as the "Bugeiryuha Daijiten", this ryu started in the Keicho era and was taught/handed down within the Ueno family.
In 1941 Ueno Takashi decided to bring his martial art to the public and began teaching it openly. Unfortunately, the outbreak of WWII hindered it's progress and after the allied occupation of Japan in WWII he was forced to change it's name to "Tenshin Koryu Kempo" in order to keep practicing it.
It was one of the martial arts taught by Ueno Takashi at the Tenshin Koryu Kempo Renseikai where he influenced several well known practicioners of the martial arts today, (Such as Hatsumi Masaaki). It seems to be a collage of the different martial arts available to Ueno Takahashi as some of the other martial arts that Ueno Takahashi studied were : Shito Ryu Karate, Chinese "kempo", Asayama Ichiden Ryu, Shizen(?) ryu and Kukishin ryu Bojutsu (among others).

Now, there are a few different people practicing this stuff. Some claim to be soke, others just went off on their own such as "Seibu Tenshin Koryu Kempo" which is the name of the school Iwaki Hideo practices- perhaps the most famous because he has written a pretty extensive library on it and created a video of the excercises he does. Others have gone back to the "old" name of "Shinto Tenshin Ryu" or another name like "Shinto Tenshin Koryu Kempo".

If you would like more information, just write me!

5th September 2004, 23:54
Thank you for the info Russ

6th September 2004, 10:58
Hey there Dan!

Thank you for correcting my err, "Shindo Jinen ryu" it is! Lightbulbs popping on galore! It's a funny thing about the kanji in names- unless you know it, you can't be sure of the pronunciation- which is definately my case. I'm sure you've been there. I could not get your earlier link to open could you post that again??

On the same note as your penultimate post, pulled this out of the Bugeiryuha Daijiten recently:

Shinto Tenshin Ryu- The old name was: Hontai Kishin Ueno Tenshin Ryu Kukishinden Dakken Taijutsu. Based on Ueno Takayuki mixed with Ichiden Ryu, Katori Shinto Ryu and Takagi ryu. Started in Keicho era"
This is a great deal different than the story I received, I presume coming from the "outside" more than the "inside," so something doesn't seem to mesh. I would be interested in hearing what your experiences are on the subject over a fine adult beverage in the near future, however! :toast:
It does appear more than likely that the lineage for Tenshin Koryu does start with Ueno Takashi and the list of shihan is perhaps more "honorary" than "fact" in more ways than one. Furthermore, it seems doubtful that anything will be proven past him, however I Have heard that there is some information about Tenshin Koryu being practiced in the Meiji era- again I have no solid proof of such a thing and it probably will remain a "I heard-they said" situation. Even if there was a lineage that preceded Ueno Takashi, it would also appear that Takashi Sensei had added to Tenshin Koryu and changed it so much that it morphed into a gendai. To illustrate that idea, I asked my sensei about the historicity of the whole thing and he responded "You shouldn't care (think about it), it's gendai now" which I believe is a good way to think about the whole affair. He still communicates the history that Ueno Takashi gave along with the lineages that are usually adhered to, but he does so with a grain of salt and draws no lines in the sand over it.

Furthermore, I heard a story that follows a usual theme for lost documents- leaving question to whether the claim is true or not. It is of course, the age-old yarn of a great fire consequently destroying all of the papers in the possession of one of the Uenos. Thusly, any link to a lineage past Ueno Takashi is rather impossible to prove. Frankly speaking, I think it's a lot better off being a gendai anyway.

Originally posted by Daniel Lee
Good post, Russ.

While densho and articles written by Ueno Takashi-shihan lay claim to Shinto Tenshin-ryu/Tenshin Koryu being practiced for generations within the Ueno family, no documents have been made public which are older than Ueno Takashi-shihan's generation for this school.

The location of the estate of Ueno Tatsuyuemon, one of Ueno Takashi's ancestors, has been located, but no documentary proof that the grandfather or Tatsuyuemon was involved in any such art has been found to date.

I agree with your view that the art is a compilation of much of what he personally studied. BTW, Konishi-sensei's art is Shindo Jinen-ryu.

Steve Delaney
7th September 2004, 00:55
Now yer talkin' Dan. :D

13th August 2008, 04:51
Translation Pages of Budo Materials http://jtweymo.angelfire.com/Trans_pages.html

most of the web page is translated.