The legends of the opening of Togakushi Mountain in Shinshu (Nagano) originate with the myths of “Amano-Iwato”, translated as “The cave of the sun goddess” or “heavenly rock cave”. According to the Kojiki (Records of Ancient Matters), the devious actions of Susano’o, the Japanese god of storms, drove his sister Amaterasu, the sun goddess, into …
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Any time one begins to search for the origins of a martial art that is as old as the Gyokko Ryu, in any country or culture, you will find yourself going deeper and deeper into myth and legends, rather than factual history. Unsurprisingly this is also definitely the case with our art, the Gyokko Ryu of Koshijutsu. As you …
One of the earliest traces of The Hidden Lineage lies with the coming of Achi no Omi (阿知使主) and his son Tsuka no Omi (都加使主) from Kudara to Japan. Achi, the great-grandson of Chinese Emperor, Ling of Han, fled from mainland China to the Korean kingdom Kudara and eventually settled in Japan with his son Tsuga no Omi after the fall of their reign, the Han Dynasty…