[citicroego]

I've been living in Japan for about three years, and will be returning to the US in a couple weeks. I've been studying iaido out here, and also kenbu, a type of dancing involving a sword and, occasionally, a fan.

I was just curious if there were any other kenbu practicioners on this site, or if anyone knew of schools for kenbu outside of Japan. I'm fairly confident that there aren't for my particular school (since I'm one of the two highest-ranking foreign memebers, and the other is going home at the same time as me), but it would be interesting to know if there's any kenbu representation in the US at all.

[ATTILAGLIC]

Hi Yakaji-san,

Welcome to the forum!

Gee, I wish you were a kenbu sensei and were moving up to MY state.
It's beautiful! I'd dearly love to learn it!

Anyway, yes, there is one dojo that teaches kenbu in the US. It is an Araki Ryu dojo located in Arizona. There seem to be no others. I've tried to find more for someone else but came up with only this one.

So, if you'll give me a few minutes, I'll be right back with the website for that dojo. I'm using a pocket PC and it doesn't multi-task too well. Be right back!

Kaoru

[VarenHokalos]

For kenshibu in the US you might want to check out these links:

http://kenshindojo.net/

http://www.newyorkbudokai.net/tamiya...005_taikai.htm

http://www.ustamiyaryu.org/

http://www.tou-shin.org/

[Frannypaync]

For kenshibu in the US you might want to check out these links:

http://kenshindojo.net/

http://www.newyorkbudokai.net/tamiya...005_taikai.htm

http://www.ustamiyaryu.org/

http://www.tou-shin.org/

OMG, someone was actually faster than
me! Well, I'm using a pocket PC and stylus so it wasn't a fair match anyhow. *sniff* Takes me longer to type, too. No fair!!

The Kenshin dojo is the one I was going to mention. I had it saved on my computer that crashed, but had to pull it up to bookmark on this thing.

http://www.kenshindojo.net/Home.html

Anyway, you mean
"kenbu" not "kenshibu." Never heard of kenshibu.
Kenshi is a different term than ken.

I'll check those other sites out myself and add them to my list if they have kenbu instructors. He wants to keep training in kenbu.

I still can't believe he beat me to it!

Kaoru

[wmtravelservice]

Anyway, you mean
"kenbu" not "kenshibu." Never heard of kenshibu.
Kenshi is a different term than ken.

Sorry Kaoru, he's right. 剣詩舞 (Kenshibu) is a form of Kenbu, which is accompanied by the recital of traditional songs. There is a website here with more information on Toyoda-ryu Kenshibu: http://www1.winknet.ne.jp/~meirin/English/eindex.html

[gdjfhdf]

Well kenbu is the sword dance and shibu is the fan dance and together they are referred to as kenshibu often times and the the practice is referred to as kenshibudo. So in this form kenshibudo does not refer to sword warriors but to the way of the sword and fan dance (in loose terms).


Whups Oroshi beat me... Kaoru, I guess I was typing my first answer when you were doing yours so I didn't really beat you by much

[joeyCanada]

For kenshibu in the US you might want to check out these links:

http://kenshindojo.net/

http://www.newyorkbudokai.net/tamiya...005_taikai.htm

http://www.ustamiyaryu.org/

http://www.tou-shin.org/

None of the sites below the Kenshin Dojo link teach Kenbu. I checked them all.

The Tamiya dojo link with the kenbu on it was only a demonstration of kenbu by a high ranking visiting guest sensei who was there for the Tamiya Ryu seminars and taikai held in Michigan. That was just an article on the
event.

There really is only one dojo that teaches it here so far, and that's the Kenshin Dojo. Robert Corella is the sensei. He teaches both the Araki Ryu Iaido and the kenbu there. The dojo is in Phoenix, Arizona. The link is above in my previous post.

Hizeme-san, if you contact Corella-sensei, he may have information I don't have. Who knows, there might be one more hidden away he'd know about. I haven't ever asked him.

Good luck! I hope this helps!

Kaoru

[Shemker394]

Yep. Kenbu alone refers to dances with sword, or sometimes sword and fan, dating from the start of the Meiji era. Shibu is dancing with fan only (though the kanji for it, 詩舞, actually mean something closer to "dancing to verse"; has to do with the fact that the songs are an art form in themselves, and their performance is called shigin, 詩吟). Shibu dates from the American occupation after WWII, when swords were outlawed and kenbu schools switched to using fans as replacements. Since then, they've evolved into distinct (though strongly related) forms.

All the tournaments in Japan are referred to as kenshibu tournaments, though, since the two always go hand in hand. I've done a bit of shibu too, but I'm only 3kyu for shibu, and my school's shibu really isn't all that hot; they're mostly kenbu specialists.

I may try to do some rudimentary teaching, university club style, when I get back to the states and start at the University of Minnesota, but I'm not qualified for full instruction yet, by any means. From conversations with my teacher and with the head of our school, who I've had the good fortune to meet a few times, it sounds like they may want me to do that, to whatever level I'm able, just to try to increase their exposure and representation to other nations. I can't teach much, but I do know a few dances, and I'm hoping to continue studying somehow, even if I'm going to be removed from my teachers.

[lopezsokero]

Sorry Kaoru, he's right. ??? (Kenshibu) is a form of Kenbu, which is accompanied by the recital of traditional songs. There is a website here with more information on Toyoda-ryu Kenshibu: http://www1.winknet.ne.jp/~meirin/English/eindex.html

Thanks Oroshi-san! I appreciate it. I knew what kenbu is already. But, I don't mind more information to read on it.

I just never had heard of the term "kenshibu" and knowing what "kenshi" and "ken"
mean respectively as "sword practitioner" and "sword," I thought it was wrong. I forgot about kanji meanings and how they can sound the same but have diff. kanji/meanings or, they can sound different(have different meanings) but have the same kanji. OOOOPS!! Oh. I can't read the characters. Are they the same or different for the sounds?

Thanks and sorry for mixing that up!

Kaoru

P.S. Sorry if my post is not written well. I'm watching TV and writing this. It's hard to think while doing both.

[ingeneensueva]

The shi in kenshi (which looks like a plus sign with a line under it) and the shi in kenshibu (which, if you know any japanese, looks like the character for "to say" next to the character for "temple") are different.

[Attaniuri]

I've seen kenbu on the schedule at Aiea Taiheiji. So that's another one in the U.S. There's also Hawaii Shinryu Kai; they've performed kenbu at the Japanese Cultural Center.

[Golotop]

The Tamiya dojo link with the kenbu on it was only a demonstration of kenbu by a high ranking visiting guest sensei who was there for the Tamiya Ryu seminars and taikai held in Michigan. That was just an article on the event.
I think you should talk with Alexanian sensei before declaring that the U.S. Tamiya ryu doesn't practice kenbu Kaoru. Kenbu is considered one of the three arts that actually make up the Tamiya ryu curriculum. The other arts are iaijutsu and shigin.

[MasTaBlau]

I put the Tamiya Ryu links in because kenshibudo is quite often part of their structure. I realize they might not all have links on their sites for kenshibudo but if one was interested I think if you contact the dojo and ask they can help direct you. Sorry if that was a little obscure, I should have mentioned that directly.

[TritteTouff]

Thanks for the clarification. I was honestly pretty confused by those Tamiya Ryu links as well. I couldn't find much on the kenbu front except a mention of a performance they saw when a group of them visited Japan.

Will go look again and see if there's anything else to be found.

[Paybeskf]

I think you should talk with Alexanian sensei before declaring that the U.S. Tamiya ryu doesn't practice kenbu Kaoru. Kenbu is considered one of the three arts that actually make up the Tamiya ryu curriculum. The other arts are iaijutsu and shigin.

Oh, I see. I wasn't saying Tamiya Ryu itself doesn't have kenbu. Heck, I didn't even know a Ryu COULD have kenbu be a part of their curriculum. I thought kenbu was a seperate art.

Well, I did read the sites and didn't see that anywhere-unless I somehow missed it. The print on a pocket pc isn't very large.

Anyway, the dojo doesn't have it listed as part of their dojo curriculum. That's what I was referring to. In other words, no class was listed, so that's why I said what I said in my previous post. So, it may be one of the three arts in the Tamiya Ryu curriculum but it looks like that part is not taught in the US.

I was wondering why there was a kenbu demo there actually, but just figured the sensei had just studied it along-side his ryu. Like I mentioned above, I didn't know kenbu could be connected with a Ryu. That's a good and very interesting thing to know. Thank you very much for telling me! (And I hadn't read the link Oroshi-san posted yet. Maybe it said that. I don't know yet.)

Anyway, that's a good idea. I'll send him an e-mail this week and ask about it. Maybe they do teach it but it's not listed. Guess I'll find out! Thanks again!

Oh yeah... What's shigin? I've never heard of that.

Kaoru

[Khurlxgq]

The kenbu (or technically kenshibu and iaido) I do has a ryu of its own (Nihon Soushin Ryu), but it's a very different iaido from the sort practiced in the ZNKR, and is designed primarily as training for kenbu.

Shigin is the recitation of poetry (four or eight line, I believe), to music. If you've ever heard that funky Japanese style of singing with all the vibrato parts that doesn't seem to have a clear flow (enka), it sounds about like that. The style of poetry comes from China, though. There are competitions for shigin as well as for kenshibu, and it's certainly not unheard of in performance situations to have live shigin performers accompanying a kenbu or shibu performance.

[Michael-jeckson2]

Shigin I beleive is a form of Japanese poetry that is chanted by a person or in a group. It can be coupled with kenbu or shibu instead of a song I think.

[inownsuipsy]

As of this post, I was completely unaware of Kenbu.

This is beautiful!

[clorkergo]

One of the reasons why I'm so glad I had a chance to learn it in Japan, and why I hope I can get the necessary professional qualifications to actually be able to teach it, as a traditional instructor, at some point in the future.
I love my school, and I'd really enjoy it if I could share it with people in my own country. I know iaido has spread around the world quite a bit, but from what I can tell, a very significant fraction of the kenbu practitioners in the US are Japanese expats. I'd love it if kenbu was something that could be learned more easily in the US, because it really is an amazing art. Performance art more than martial art, but no less worthwhile for it.

[wrefrinny]

... Nihon Soushin Ryu...

Corella-sensei instructs a distinct lineage of kenbu, though it may be worth contacting him as some of his students are now in various locations in the US.

... it's a very different iaido from the sort practiced in the ZNKR, and is designed primarily as training for kenbu.

Would you happen to know the details of its development?

John "most iai is, naturally"