Tenshin Shoden
Come and meet a traditional Japanese school of swordsmanship: the Tenshin Shoden Katori Shinto Ryu school, the only school to date recognized as "intangible cultural heritage" by the Japanese Ministry of Culture.
The Tenshin Shoden Katori Shinto Ryu was created during the Sengoku period in the Muromachi era by a genius samurai, Iizasa Choisai Ienao. After a long period of combat and battle, from which he always emerged victorious, he decided to undertake a thousand-day asceticism near the Katori Shinto Shrine. At the end of this asceticism, he had a vision of Futsu Nushi No Mikoto who, in the form of a young child, handed him the strategy treatise Heiho Shinsho and a prediction: "He would become the great instructor of all fencers under the sun".
Professor Jean-Paul Blond has been practising Tenshin Shoden Katori Shinto Ryu since 1984 and teaching it since 2006.
The title of Shidosha (guide) issued by the school's representative in Japan gives official authorization to teach the school's disciplines.
Jean-Paul Blond received this instructor rank in 2006, from Otake Risuke Shihan.
Come and watch demonstrations on the Budô stage!
FIND OUT MORE ABOUT TENSHIN SHODEN KATORI SHINTO RYU
Follow the Tenshin Shoden Katori Shinto Ryu school on their official website by clicking here