Some Thoughts on Ko-Ryu and Reigi by Derek Fairhurst

Suddenly, it seems, Ko-Ryu - or "old" martial arts schools are enjoying something of a renaissance.  In the West at least, "old" is seen as "traditional" and therefore "better" or "best".

Tradition is important.  We train in martial systems that have been passed down and therfore, by definition are rooted in the past. The menkyos and certificates of those that have gone before give us some indication of their personal attainment and are a record of what they have added to the art.  It is vitally important that we understand this heritage.

I am always amazed at the lack of knowledge of the past that is exhibited by modern students.  Many of them - and many of their instructors have no idea at all of who has contributed to their chosen art in the last fifty years let alone ancient history.  For others the search for ancient hierarchies can overtake the most basic training and become an armchair academic exercise.  It's often a fruitless exercise too - even some of the best documented Ko-Ryu have lost much of their history in the mists of time.  Those that claim to understand the lineage of ancient schools are often deluding themselves - or worse, attempting to delude others.  Furthermore, there appears to be a belief that old schools have remained unchanged through the centuries - they clearly haven't.  Many Ko-Ryu were born of a confluence of older schools and techniques and the preferred methods of the yusansha that formed them.  It has been a sort of martial evolution that still goes on to this day. 

So, is "old" really "better" and "best" - I don't think so.  Let's think firstly about the physical aspects of training.  If we were able to put today's top runners, rugby teams, cricket teams, swimmers, footballers, rowers, boxers or any other athlete up against their opposite numbers from, say, 1870 I would suggest that there would not really be much of a competition.  That's because the technical, mental and physical aspects of all these activities have simply got better and better over the years - not to mention the understanding of diet and nutrition etc.  So from the outset, it seems illogical that Ko-Ryu from around the same period should have somehow bucked the trend and remained "better" than anything that's emerged since.

So there must be something more fundamental about "old school" training that sets it aside from modern schools.  Some kind of "intangible" perhaps? - something so illusive that it epiomises the essence of martial training itself.  I believe this to be "reigi".

The Yudansha Ju Jitsu Kai practices the kata forms of Tenshin Shinyo Ryu (also known asTenjin Shinyo Ryu) along with the free-form kumi-uchi techniques that emerge from it. The free forms are often practiced with real intensity making it difficult to distinguish between training and real combat.  All of this is derived from a dedication to kata forms.

My various trips to Japan have been vitally important in enhancing my understanding of the techniques, philosophy and history of the school.  Toshihiro Kubota Sensei is a fine teacher and the Tenyo Kai is a wonderful organisation.  However, it was Barry Williams and Jimmy Pape that would turn up to unlock the dojo in Chester and North Wales on cold winters nights and dark mornings to allow me to train as a young student - and who would be there to teach me.  That's a very practical consideration.

There are many that have contributed to shaping the school over the last hundred years.  We have a rich tradition and we try to stay true to the kata forms and training techniques of those that have gone before.

Barry Williams has never, ever, suggested that he has some mandate to teach me to higher levels.  He has never, ever suggested that he is the keeper of secrets that only he can impart.  He has never, ever taken payment for teaching me and he has never, ever boasted that he has a teaching licence that others do not have.  He has never, ever stated that he is the leader.  And yet he leads me.  And I follow him.  The Yudansha Ju Jitsu Kai are disciples of Barry Williams.  This is the basis of reigi and it transcends all martial arts.

Reigi is respect and discipline - it is hierarchy. Real Budo demands hardship - it requires determination.  Those that are unable to accept discipline and structure are destined to fail.  Those that accept the leadership of the master without question and that are prepared to persevere will usually succeed.  But there is a natural order to reigi - it is not forced and does not feed the ego of instructors.

Sometimes I mourn the loss of reigi in our dojo.  To give a simple example - it is all too common to see the instructor turning up early for training and preparing the tatami with students arriving just as training is about to begin.  It demonstrates a "fast food" attitude from students who expect everything to be prepared for them and it also demonstrates a total lack of the most basic elements of reigi.  The instructor arrives early out of a sense of duty.  That is what he does - even though he is unpaid.

When we hold a Yudansha Kai "meeting" or course it is not uncommon for three generations of students to line up in front of Barry Williams on the non-kamiza side of the dojo.  Barry's students, my students and their students.  At close of training the assembled yudansha remain in seiza until Barry Williams has left the mat.  It is tradition and reigi in practice.

So is "old" genuinely better and best?  I really don't think so.  But I do think that the discipline and respect of reigi sets true Budo aside from other sports.

Derek Fairhurst

September 2006