Shindo Yoshin Ryu (新道楊心流, Shindō Yōshin-ryū), meaning "New Way of the Willow Heart School" is a traditional school (koryū) of Japanese martial arts, teaching primarily the art of jujutsu. The Shindō Yōshin-ryū tradition was founded late in the Edo period by a Kuroda clan retainer named Matsuoka Katsunosuke (1836–1898).
Shindō Yōshin-ryū is heavily influenced by two different lines of Yōshin-ryū, the Akiyama Yōshin-ryū (Tenjin Shin'yō-ryū) and Nakamura Yoshin Koryū (Totsuka ha Yoshin ryu).
As a student of the teachings of Kashima Shinden Jikishinkage-ryū, Hokushin Itto-ryū, Totsuka ha Yoshin Koryu and Tenjin Shin'yō-ryū, Matsuoka incorporated many facets of these schools consolidating them into the foundational Shindō Yōshin-ryū. This name of the school would originally translate into "New Willow Style", but the Japanese character for "new" was eventually changed into the homophonic "sacred".
Technique: Shindō Yōshin-ryū emphasizes grace and natural movement. Although Shindō Yōshin-ryū reflects the combination of the jujutsu teachings of Tenjin Shin'yō-ryū and the Totsuka-ha Yōshin Koryū, its waza demonstrate a softer, more weapon based, application of technique. The Takamura line includes further influence from Matsuzaki Shinkage-ryū Hyōhō.
Branches: Only two legitimate branches of Shindō Yōshin-ryū remain: the Shindō Yōshin-ryū Domonkai headed by Ryozo Fujiwara in Japan, and the Takamura-ha Shindō Yōshin-ryū headed by Tobin E. Threadgill in the United States.
Influence on karate: Shindō Yōshin-ryū was fundamental in the founding of one of Japan's most prominent styles of karate, Wado-ryu.
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