Most Tenshin Shōden Katori Shintō-ryū variants headed by instructors other than Risuke Ōtake do not require keppan. However, Risuke Ōtake regards the making of keppan as a strict requirement for all candidates seeking entrance into his school in order to preserve the secrecy and integrity of the ryū's teachings. Even so, students joining his various overseas branches readily receive instruction from the local instructors until such time as they may be able to travel to Ōtake's dojo to take keppan. Additional opportunities arise should an overseas dojo be visited by one of the school's senior instructors who has been authorised to take keppan from those members wishing so to do. This was the case in 2007, and again in 2009 when Kyōsō Shigetoshi, younger son of Risuke Ōtake, held an open European seminar and existing participants of varying levels of expertise from the different organisations were invited to take keppan.