[The following is a translation of a short entry from 1964 about the Kenshin-ryū school of kobudō established by Hayashi Teruo]
Born in Kumejima, Okinawa Prefecture, [Mr. Taira Shinken] trained karate under Funakoshi Gichin Sensei and kobudō under Yabiku Mōden Sensei, and introduced Okinawan kobudō to the Kantō region (Tokyo and surrounding prefectures) and Kansai region (Osaka, Kobe, Kyoto and surrounding prefectures) of Japan.
He has already published a type of kobudō called “Shūshi no Kon” as the “Kongō no kata” of bōjutsu in the “Karate-dō Taikan,” published in 1938 by Nakasone Genwa […]. From this it seems that Mr. Taira has been devoted to the research and spread of kobudō and it shows the length of years he has devoted to the research and spread of kobudō and the greatness of his achievements. Currently, Mr. Taira is active as the president of the Association for the Preservation and Promotion of Ryukyu Kobudo (Ryūkyū Kobudō Hozon Shinkōkai).
Mr. Hayashi Teruo is a leading disciple who learned kobudō under Mr. Taira Shinken. Afterwards, Mr. Hayashi chose Mr. Nakaima Kenkō as his master. The kobudō of Mr. Nakaima is called Ryūei-ryū. Ryūei-ryū was founded by Nakaima Kenri, the grandfather of the Nakaima clan, who spent four years studying under Ryūryūkō in Fuzhou, China, during the Daoguang era (1821–1850) of the Qing dynasty. After receiving the secret volume of initiation into the art, he returned to Japan.
As a bujutsu whose secrets were handed down only to the oldest son of the family, he handed it down to his only son, Kenchū, and further to his grandchild Kenkō, the current head of the family (sōke). Mr. Kenkō is also a 5thdan renshi in kendō. By adopting the two characters of “Ken” from Mr. Nakaima Kenkō and “Shin” from Mr. Taira Shinken, Mr. Hayashi created the Okinawan kobudō of “Kenshin-ryū.”
Biblio: Okinawa Kobudō Kenshin-ryū. In: Jinbutsu Ōrai Rekishi Dokuhon (Jinbutsu Ōrai History Reader) 9 (12). Jinbutsu Ōraisha, December 1964.
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