[pumpineemob]

Okay, I'm new to these boards and I've only really practiced in Japan, and primarily iaido and kenbu at that, so this is an issue I'm really not very kuwashii about. What exactly IS a koryu? I know Japanese, and I understand the term, so I can obviously recognize that ZNKR seitei kata aren't koryu (though derived from, IIRC) and that, say, Hyoho Ni Ten Ichi (?) Ryu does constitute koryu.

What about MJER and MSR? My sensei in Japan refer to them as koryu, as distinct from seitei, but since we're all part of the ZNKR I've only seen about three or four "koryu" show up in performances and competitions, and (with the exceptions of pre-tournament performances and an all-Japan performance in Kyoto I saw this year), these koryu kata always show up in conjunction with seitei kata.

I've heard a lot of talk about people studying koryu, with an implication of studying completely separate from ZNKR, AUSKF, BKA(?), etc. This is why I'm not entirely sure of how the term is used outside Japan now. What constitutes "studying koryu", and what doesn't fall under that heading?