ABSTRACT
This chapter offers a detailed analysis of the common features that the classical martial ryū (koryū) presented during two cycles of violence. Examples from the first cycle included Nen ryū and its later development through Chujo ryū; examples from the second included Tenshin Shōden Katori Shintō ryū, Kashima Shintō ryū, Shinkage ryū, Itto ryū, Tendō ryū, Hōzōin ryū, Shintō Muso ryū, Takenouchi ryū, and Araki ryū. Most of the ryū that originated in both cycles of violence presented common characteristics: their founders came from middle and lower ranks of samurai fighting on foot on the battlefield; they were linked to the esoteric traditions influenced by Marishiten; their founders either had a relationship with hafuribe (shrines attendants) or were hafuribe themselves; and their founders conducted musha shugyō (ascetic wandering training).
