Their techniques now restored and preserved are a must for both beginners and serious students.

• Learn the philosophy behind the Classical Martial Arts and the reasons for the change from the martial arts.
• Compare the ideals of self improvement to those of modern sporting goals
• Learn the stages a classical student is required to pass through learn the historical background of two major "Ryu" or styles
• View rare footage of Kata filmed in the middle of the last century.

Now digitalized for easy study and training and available on DVD for the first time.

Ichitaro Kuroda

In the 1960's, Muso Shinden Ryu Iaido Koroda Sensei was an instructor at the Tokyo Kidotai Riot Police School in Yotsua.

Kuroda Ichitaro held thirty Dans including Jo and Shodo, the art of Caligraphy. He considered this nothing unusual, pointing out that the strokes of a brush and the sword are often similar.

On the DVD he demonstrates the Shoden, Chuden, and one Okuden kata of Muso Shinden Ryu Iaido and partners Shimizu Sensei in the Jodo.

Takakaji Shimizu

The 25th headmaster of Shinto Muso Ryu Jodo, (1896-1978) lived in an age where his father was subject to the feudal laws of the Tokugawa shogunate, yet he lived to see men land on the moon.

He began training at the age of seventeen under Shiraishi Hanjiro and received his masters certificate nine years later.

Moving to Tokyo in 1930, Shimizu began teaching at the Mumon Dojo and one year later at Kano Jigoro's Kodokan Judo Dojo. In 1933 he began teaching Jo to the Tokyo Metropolitan Police and in 1939 he was sent to teach Jo in Manchuria.

In 1958 Jodo was made available to students outside the Tokyo police and in 1962 to foreign students.

Shimizu sensei held a total of seventy Dans including swordsmanship and kusari-gama - the art of the military sickle, ball and chain.

Extra footage: A Naginata match is shown in its entirety.