Gunshi Williams is the undisputed 34th Generation inheritor of this 1200-year old Japanese fighting system !

 

   Gunshi did not create this style, nor did he add anything to it, it was complete when he took it over, nothing could make it better.

 

   Instead, it was Gunshi’s obligation to master as many aspects of it as he could, and to test its effectiveness in battle or simulated battles.

 

    No two Gunshi’s in history taught this system the same or stressed the same aspects of it, each adapted their physical and psychosocial entities into its mastery .

 

   You hear “master” a lot in the martial arts, but you never hear that in Saigo Ha Daito-Ryu, because it’s impossible to master 3400 techniques in a lifetime.

 

   Even the term professor is rarely used because that is more of a western concept than a Japanese one, instead the term “sensei” is more appropriate.

 

    What makes Saigo Ha Daito-Ryu unique is that it was developed by highly educated men who used the 100 principles  or laws of nature to understand why techniques worked.

 

    Gunshi did not create anything! None of this was his design, all he did was take it over because he was the only one qualified to do so when the intended inheritor was killed in Vietnanm.

 

    Gunshi was already an accomplished martial artist and fighter before this system was passed on to him, he didn't even want it initially, because all he ever wanted to do was train and fight.

 

   He got involved in this system because he was challenged to a fight ! And he refined or customized it for his fighting abilities, because real martial artists should be able to fight and win..

 

  Saigo ha is c

both the palace art of the minamoto, Takada  and aizu (Tokugawa & Matsudairi/Matsudaira clans), it was void of weapons training because weapons were forbidden inside the palace or castle, and the sword or grappling arts were taught outside the palace by other Daito-ryu clan teachers.

 

  This is why nobody grabs your wrist in this system, being grabbing wrists was done to prevent one from drawing the sword, but swords were not brought into the castles in order to protect the officials there, meaning arts like aikido were not the arts taught by Tanomo Saigo (He is recorded as teaching Oshiikuichi, or castle arts)

 

  Saigo ha can be purely a grappling art with strikes included, each headmaster added his own techniques to it, and during WWII  Lin Po added northern shaelin kicks to the system since he was Chinese and fought in death matches in China.Or it can be a weapons or outside pace arts

 

  To best explain saigo ha, the system is developed purely for fighting, its not for sport, for character develpment , it is not a religious entity, but it is an excellent physical training system for all ages.

    

    The history was verified and corrected by people with martial arts contacts in Japan, including a real grandmaster of one of the 5 major karate styles in Japan, so what it writen here is truth.

 

   Saigo Ha (Shinto-Ryu branch) is not like the Daito-Ryu of Sogaku Takeda, it has a different background, different techniques and is purely for fighting, nobody grabs your wrist like they do, or in  their off-shoot called aikido, there are no real stances, nobody jumps to make you look good, and no sword movements or stances.

 

Shinto ryu is a combination of the palace art (Oshiouichi) of the Matsudairi clan, and outdoor art (Takeda Ryu) of the Takeda Clan, which are both called Daito-ryu aii budo, going back to the Minamoto and Aizu castles.

 

   You learn what makes techniques work, both physically and mentally, and each technique is taught that way, plus the art is based on reflexes, counters and escapes.

 

    There is no fake aiki or internal forces or energy fields, there are no magical superhuman abilities. There is physical conditioning and psychological training like an athlete, and good healthy living.

 

   Who can master it if its so physically conditioned based? The answer is anyone who trains their stregth, flexibuility and cardio system regularly.

 

   But, its not an art that is easy to master, decades, not years are required.

 

    For these reasons, its impossible for anyone to analyze this system based on other Daito-Ryu arts or schools, nor other versions of Takeda ryu or Saigo ha, its totally different, and although it does not have a large following, it still is the closest thing to the real samurai art you can learn today.