Ryoma is said to have been conferred the full mastership of the Hokushin Itto-ryu style, but in fact he was conferred a "certificate of the art of war using a long-handled sword in the Hokushin Itto-ryu style"; what he mastered is not a commonly-termed swordplay but correctly a long-handled sword tactics; and the certificate was not a license or a diploma certifying full mastership but the "first certificate," the lowest-ranked certificate for the Hokushin Itto-ryu style.
北辰一刀流免許皆伝と言われる事もあるが、実際には「北辰一刀流長刀兵法・目録」を与えられた物であり、一般にいう剣術では無く、正しくは薙刀術兵法であり、免許でもなければ皆伝でもなく、北辰一刀流としては一番低い「初目録」であった。