Fencing Schools and the Swordsmen of the Bakumatsu — Where Activists Trained
The Bakumatsu was the last age in which the sword still held meaning as a practical weapon. The fencing schools of Edo and other cities, where young men gathered to hone their skill, brimmed with energy.
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The dojo as a space
A fencing school was both a place to learn martial arts and a place where people connected. Disciples gathered from across the land competed in skill and deepened their bonds while living and training together.
A dojo where young men mixed across lines of status and origin also became a place where new ideas and information circulated. As they crossed swords and discussed the affairs of the age, circles of like-minded people widened.
Famous schools
Edo had several renowned great dojo. Alongside the Hokushin Ittō-ryū that Sakamoto Ryōma is said to have studied, schools such as the Shintō Munen-ryū and the Kyōshin Meichi-ryū flourished, each with its own character.
Not a few activists who later made their names in the Restoration frequented these dojo. Some, like Kido Takayoshi, first distinguished themselves at a fencing school. The way of the sword was one of the doorways through which they came into the world.
The sword of Tama
The spirit of the sword took root not only in the center of Edo but in its outskirts. Men such as Kondō Isami and Hijikata Toshizō, who learned the Tennen Rishin-ryū in the Tama region, would later form the Shinsengumi and throw themselves into the turmoil of Kyoto.
The skill with the blade and the solidarity with comrades fostered in the dojo sustained their actions.
Twilight of the age of the sword
The age, however, was changing greatly. After the arrival of the Black Ships, the protagonist of battle shifted from the sword to guns and modern armies.
Even so, the spirit and the human ties honed in the dojo continued to be a driving force for the activists of the Bakumatsu. The fencing schools were another kind of school, where young men nurtured their ambitions in a turbulent age.
The swordsmen who trained at the dojo can be traced in the articles of Bakumatsu Figures.
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