Saito Denkibo (1550-1587)
Student of Tsukahara Bokuden and founder of the Ten-ryu tradition. Originally printed in Kendo World Issue 2.2, 2003. Translated by Alex Bennett.
Hito no hyoteki tare
"Stand out from the crowd be the target of others"
Tsukahara Bokuden, who we have featured in the last few issues had many disciples who also shone as great warriors. Of them Saito Denkibo was one of the brightest, if not the most pugnacious. Denkibo was born in a small village in Hitachi (modern day Ibaraki prefecture.) He learned the sword and spear from Bokuden. Denkibo was not happy about learning from Bokuden as there were already many people in the area who were also students of the same great teacher. This would make it difficult to create a name for himself, so he really wanted to stand out from the crowd and do something different.
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