Welcome to the official website of the Itto Tenshin-ryu®, Yamate-Ryu®, and Goseki-ryu® Aiki Heiho. Our traditions have forged the human spirit for six generations.

These martial traditions are living disciplines that preserve principles of conflict, strategy, and human performance to empower people’s lives. If you are asking what these arts offer, why they have endured, or whether they align with your own path, the information on this page will guide you. Here you will find a concise introduction to their purpose, power, and modern relevance—how they shape those who train within them and what it means to enter a dojo devoted to the responsible study of reality, power, and the human spirit. Links to further information on each individual tradition appear at the bottom of the page.

Relevance in the Modern World

While the era and cultural context in which these fighting traditions developed no longer exists, teachings to address conflict and strategy are as relevant today as they were at their inception. Principles for human performance and spiritual development are timeless.

Why Our Teachings Remain Powerful

The teachings of our traditions retain their power because their meaning and the methods used to realize that meaning have been preserved without dilution. They are further fortified by the practical experience of our deshi who apply these principles across a wide array of fields involving conflict and its resolution.

The Path of Development

The development of an orderly, unfettered, and powerful being will not occur haphazardly. It is the result of determined, intentional action. When the trials of individual pursuit are shared, brotherhood forms, and extraordinary moments of joy rise like steam from freshly quenched iron.

A Direct Inquiry Into Conflict and Power

These traditions are not a fanciful escape for those trying to draw power from something that once was; rather, a direct inquiry into conflict, power, and reality. While discipline may be instilled, confidence developed, and fears addressed, the source of awareness, will, and intention is eternal. The only way out is through.

Who Trains With Us

Among its ranks are captains of industry, medical professionals, government employees, police officers, warriors, and other professionals drawn to its powerful teachings. Their professions vary, but each is united by a desire to grow, advance in life, and walk this path in the company of like-minded individuals. Many who now stand in these roles do not start there—they use the teachings of our traditions to develop themselves and rise to the responsibilities they carry today.

Training and the Dojo

Training does not take place in a school but in a dojo. Its goal is not to teach new things but to realize a way of being. At the heart of it all: self-mastery.

Entering the Dojo

While addressing conflict, reality, and mastery is a serious endeavor, we do have fun. Your first steps into the dojo may feel awkward or create some anxiety, but you will be welcomed and supported through your acclimation period and beyond. Every one of us has had that same valuable experience of entering the dojo for the first time—uncertain, hopeful, and choosing to begin. You will not walk that path alone.

Etiquette and Culture

Our traditional practices are marked by a distinctive kind of etiquette rooted in Japanese social customs and culture. Their use supports the responsible study of conflict and power.

Benefits of Training Within Our Traditions

• Powerful teachings in the areas of conflict, strategy and human performance.

• The capacity to face conflict without hesitation—to understand its nature and respond with clarity and decisive action.

• A strengthened will, forged by confronting internal resistance, fear, and uncertainty until they no longer govern your choices.

• Sharper perception and strategic insight, developed through constant inquiry into reality, power, and human behavior.

• A disciplined path of personal advancement, where lessons move beyond technique and into the choices you make every day.

• A community of individuals pursuing the same demanding work, providing challenge, support, and shared purpose.

How Long It Takes

This question has no simple or correct answer. For some, the lesson they seek is revealed quickly, and once realized, they move on. For others, the value lies in the long road—the fellowship of training and the lifelong pursuit of mastery. With time, one’s reasons for training often change, shaped by new realizations. The aim of our traditions is not to create followers, but to empower our deshi to live a life of balance and consequence, and to experience the joy that arises from such a life.

Entering a dojo does not bind anyone to a lifelong commitment. Training begins with a period of acclimation, during which new students can experience the rhythm of our traditions and determine whether this path is right for them—during which we also come to understand whether they are a good fit for our traditions. Clarity emerges through practice.

How to Begin

The study of the Ittō Tenshin-ryū or Yamate-ryū requires applying to a dojo licensed to teach these arts. All dojo licensed to teach these arts are listed here.

Goseki Aiki Heiho may be studied through "distance learning." While it is a comprehensive martial tradition focusing on the development of "aiki," it is well suited to serve as supplemental learning to an existing study of jujutsu, aikijujutsu, aikido, iado, kendo, or kenjutsu.

For a deeper understanding of the gestalt of our traditions:
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Read these articles: My Budo Budo & Bujutsu Foreword: The Way & The Power Kenjutsu Kyoka
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