The Founder

Iizasa Chōisai Ienao 飯篠 長威斉 家直

Chōisai-Sensei was born about 1387 during the Muromachi period.

The Founder was a prodigy in sword and spear techniques. He was undefeated in many battles, but in the end, the Chiba domain, which he served, was undone by internal and external conflict.

Disillusioned by these events, the Founder retreated to the shrine grounds of Katori Jingū. Here, he engaged in ritual austeries, sincere prayer, and arduous training. When he persevered for 1,000 days and nights, the Deity of Katori Jingū, Futsunushi no Kami, appeared to him as a young boy in an ancient plum tree and presented him with a scroll of divine martial techniques and strategy. Thus, the school he began is described as "Tenshin Shōden" – divinely and correctly transmitted.

Chōisai-Sensei passed away at the age of 102. He left a rich martial tradition and philosophy that we continue to this day.

Hayashi Yazaemon 林 弥左衛門

Hayashi-Sensei was born in 1892. He was one of the shihan who held the art in trust after the untimely death of Headmaster Iizasa Morisada.

Ōtake Risuke 大竹 利典

Ōtake-Sensei was born in 1926. Concerned that he needed the fortitude to die for this country during the Pacific War, he entered the ryū in 1942 as a student of Hayashi-Sensei.

In 1967, when Ōtake-sensei was 42 years old, he received Gokui Kaiden, the highest level of attainment in the tradition, and at the same time became the school's Headmaster. He lived and taught in a small town outside of Narita city, in Chiba Prefecture. Due to his efforts, the teachings of Tenshin Shōden Katori Shintō-ryū were designated an Intangible Cultural Asset of Chiba Prefecture in 1960, with Ōtake-sensei named as a guardian of the tradition.

Ōtake Risuke Minamoto no Takeyuki (大竹 利典 源 健之)

Born 10 March 1926 passed 7 June 2021

an image of Will Quan and Ōtake Risuke

Ōtake-Sensei sadly passed away in the Summer of 2021. For many he was a teacher in more ways than one. Not only was he the Shihan (Headmaster) of Tenshin Shōden Katori Shintō-ryū for many years, but the face of the ryu and for many, the face of Japanese swordsmanship. It's not a stretch to say that for some, he was even the face of Koryū. In his passing the world lost a treasure. As a contemporary of Donn Draeger said "It's incalculable what we lost when he passed away".

W. Quan is honored to have assisted in editing two of Ōtake-Sensei's books: He authored Strategy and the Art of Peace and Katori Warrior Tradition (a re-publication of The Deity and the Sword).

Ōtake-Sensei was THE example of a martial artist/Budōka. He was a giant. One could say that he really embodied the art and exemplified its teachings to the fullest. He was Katori Shintō-ryū in more ways than one. Not only was he a swordsman par excellence, but frighteningly proficient with all the weapons in the curriculum of the ryū as well as with the Yawara portion of the curriculum. Ōtake-sensei was a human being from a bygone era, a living personification of warriors of the past.

In addition to being a master martial artist, he was a kind, caring and detail-oriented teacher. He took great pains to make sure students understood not only the "how" but the "why" of what they were learning. He had a wonderful sense of humour and a very down to earth nature. Ōtake-sensei gave a lot to the art and kept it a living tradition. He will be sorely missed but his example and teachings will live on. Marishiten-Kai in North America will strive to live up to his life and teaching.

an image of Will Quan and Ōtake Risuke
an image of Will Quan and Ōtake Risuke