Because he was brought up in a poor samurai family with a stipend of only five koku and lived the same as a farmer, he could not study systematically, and although he was said to learn swordplay from Kamoi IJUIN of the Kojigenryu school or Kaneyoshi YAKUMARU (or Chuzaemon ENATSU) of the Yakumaru-jigenryu school, he learned it almost by himself and reached the level of master.
桐野は禄5石という貧窮の家で育ったが故に農民同様の生活を送り、系統的な学問をせず、剣術も小示現流の伊集院鴨居門下あるいは薬丸自顕流の薬丸兼義（江夏仲左衛門とも）門下というが、多くは独力で修得し、達人の域に至った。