Ko-Shoda Shinkage Ryu
     

Ko-Shoda Shinkage Ryu is a Japanese martial system which developed in Hokkaido and later in the Chishima Islands (aka, Kuril Islands).

Short story is that during the Heian period, the Imperial family became so large and ponderous to organize that there were an overwhelming number of individuals who could pseudo-legitimately claim ascendancy to the throne. As a result, the Imperial household was re-arranged and all of the families who could claim ascendancy were relegated to the newly-established rank of Samurai. This meant that:

  1. The Samurai could never ascend the Imperial throne, but ...

  2. They were now essentially unquestioned owners and governors of their given Perfecture, but ...

  3. They owed their allegiances (and taxes) to the Emperor and derived their authority from him.

This wasn't so bad, but several families took advantage of the authority they had and banded together to form allegiances. Eventually, most families  recognized their severe level of autonomy and shed their dependence on the Emperor, acting independently of his authority, forming their own body of laws, their own methods of taxation and amassing their own armies.

After a great deal of infighting, four families rose to prominence who eventually fought each other for domination of the Emperor, who lacked the military power to stop it.

Not all of the Samurai clans or families survived these wars, and some simply refused to turn from the Emperor's loyalty.

 Specifically, nine relatively small families banded together and refused to be swayed by the warring factions and when the Minamoto clan defeated the Taira clan (thus establishing the first bakufu and ushering in Kamakura era) these nine families were given a choice to either submit to authority or submit to the sword. They opted to do neither and instead, reiterated to the Emperor their loyalty and fled north to Hokkaido, which was at that time not part of Japan.

 

From that time on, they formed a community which is known these days as the Kyukage Kyokai, the Association of Nine Shadows; a name alluding to nine families which are now a mere shadow of their former selves.

Technically outside of Japan but considering itself distinctly Japanese and still loyal to the Emperor, the Kyukage Kyokai continued to survive and offer it's loyalty to the Emperor, but was forced to become a homogenous community, melding the nine distinct identities into one communal identity and familial/clan structure. As a result, sometime in the late 13th century, Ko-Shoda Shinkage Ryu emerged as an amalgam of the various martial systems brought there.

Over the centuries, Ko-Shoda Shinkage Ryu has changed considerably, adopting new techniques, tactics and strategies and shedding older, obsolete techniques as they become less effective. TI is a living art but one with a log history.

So, what does Ko-Shoda Shinkage Ryu teach? Well, it is a martial tradition incorporating both strategic and tactical schools for both warfighting and individual combat teaching sword work (kenjutsu), unarmed tactics (aikijututsu), spear (sojutsu) and naginata (naginatajutsu) as well as a variety of other hand-to-hand weapons, including a wide array of Japanese weapons not normally associated with the Samurai arts. One of the advantages of not being Samurai after exile is not having to conform to the Samurai ideal.