For more than four centuries, Enshin Ryū has been transmitted from teacher to student, preserving martial skills whose origins reach back to Japan’s age of the samurai.

Unlike modern martial arts developed primarily for sport or competition, Enshin Ryū is a koryū—a classical Japanese martial tradition rooted in the combative knowledge and culture of the samurai period.

The Enshin Ryū Hyōhō lineage transmitted by Sōke Tanaka Fumon encompasses the ancient teachings of Koden Enshin Ryū and the later teachings of Honmon Enshin Ryū.

Today, Enshin Ryū continues to be practiced as a living tradition through direct instruction and transmission from teacher to student.

Enshin Ryū’s curriculum is vast, beginning with Iaijutsu (sword drawing) and Yawara (Basic Jūjutsu), advancing to Kumi Uchi (grappling) and Kenjutsu (swordsmanship), and culminating in the refined art of Kumiuchi Kenden where the Tachi and long Ōdachi swords are combined with Kumi Uchi in irregular ways.

Enshin Ryū is also one of the last Koryū schools in Japan that teaches Ōdachi techniques (Swords with blades over 90cm long are called Ōdachi) .

In the 1580s, a Samurai named Inugami Sakon Shōgen Nagakatsu studied grappling (Kumiuchi) from a fellow Imperial Guard, Hayami Nagato no Kami Enshin, and by combining it with his family’s sword tradition, he created Kumiuchi Kenden. This system continued to be transmitted and further developed within his family line.
Through his descendants it gave birth to the Kyūshin and Kyūshin Ichi-ryū schools, which some of it’s Jūjutsu techniques were later incorporated into modern Jūdō.

In the Edo period, this system reached the Kobashi family, where it went through a reform process that incorporated knowledge from various other old schools into the ancient Enshin Ryū.

Akoka Tōmon is a Menkyo Kaiden Shihan of Enshin Ryū. He trained under Sōke Tanaka Fumon for twenty years and received direct full transmission of the school’s teachings, including the ancient part of Enshin Ryū (Koden Enshin Ryū).

His goal is to faithfully preserve and transmit Enshin Ryū, keeping the teachings alive through practice, research, and clear instruction.

lives and teaches in Japan.

When my teacher Tanaka Fumon, the late sōke of Enshin-ryū, passed away, many of his important documents and books came into my care.

The Fumon Archive will present articles on the history and teachings of the ryūha, related topics, and findings from my ongoing research.

Through this section, I hope to honor his memory, the memory of past sōke who preserved and transmitted the tradition, and to honor Enshin-ryū itself.