#New Schools — Kashima Shinto-ryu · Ganryu · Ito Itto-ryu

Contents

Canon — fc03 new-school data. These three schools are not covered in co · ex2. The Licensed and secret-art technique definitions of this document are taken as internal fc03 Canon.

Duplication check: every technique name and effect is verified to have no overlap with the existing techniques of co (4 schools) · ex2 (12 schools) · co-09-10 (5 heroic spirits).

#Scent — Why Only These Three Are New

Most schools of Japanese swordsmanship have already been treated in co and ex2. Of the 12 Swordmasters this volume covers, three have a new school — Tsukahara Bokuden of Kashima Shinto-ryu (鹿島新當流), Sasaki Kojiro of Ganryu (巖流), and Ito Itto-sai of Ito Itto-ryu (伊東一刀流).

What these three share: a school born from the sword of a single founder. Yet what came after diverged — Kashima Shinto-ryu remained a minor lineage of the shrine, Ganryu fell together with its founder, and Ito Itto-ryu flourished through the Ono-ha branch into the greatest lineage of Japanese swordsmanship.

#1. Kashima Shinto-ryu (鹿島新當流)

#Overview

Founder: Tsukahara Bokuden (塚原卜傳)
Era: early Sengoku (early 16th century)
Lineage: Kashima Shinto-ryu (Matsumoto Bizen-no-kami) + Tsukahara's own interpretation
Home base: Kashima Jingu (present-day Kashima City, Ibaraki Prefecture)
Type: famous school (by the co-07 school-type standard)

#Scent — The Posture of This School

A school born in the sacred precincts of Kashima Jingu. In a land where "the god of Kashima" itself is regarded as a deity of martial arts, it embodies the order of that sacred precinct in the sword.

The core philosophy of Kashima Shinto-ryu is "not winning is winning." Avoid unnecessary fights, and only when you must fight — end it with one blade. Two axes coexist: Bokuden's "Mutekatsu-ryu" (the art of winning without a sword) and "Ichi-no-tachi" (the secret of putting everything into one blade).

#Law — School Data

School type: famous school · Japan
Source: Tsukahara Bokuden / Kashima Jingu
Era: early 16th century ~ present (Kashima Jingu transmission)
Cultural sphere: Japan

Bonus: a record of worship at Kashima Jingu — checks within the Kashima domain +1.
Restriction: in keeping with the school's philosophy, a restriction on the preemptive strike — in the first round, a defensive stance must be maintained. On Disable, the next attack is +1.

Stage	Base technique	Kashima Shinto-ryu Licensed
Licensed	Sword Guard +2 · Defense Move -1	[stance] Immovable of Kashima (鹿島の不動): Energy 2 (sustained). While in the stance, counter check +3 (applied when countering immediately after nullifying an opponent's attack). Also, while in the stance, a -1 penalty to the opponent's initiative correction (the sacred precinct of Kashima sees the opponent first). On Disable, Defense -1.
Secret art	Offense-Defense Unity +3 · free counter	[Kata] Divine Mystery Sword (神妙劍): Energy 4. 2d10+Courage+Swordsmanship+3 >= Defense. Automatic Critical Hit + `[Pierce All]`. On a Critical Hit, 3 Wounds. A single blade in which the divine spirit of Kashima Jingu dwells.

#Devotion Condition

The 眞 Three Ways and Six Hearts is required. The sincerity of Shinto faith is the core of this school. Vanity, arrogance, and betrayal mean expulsion from the school.

#Approach (when entering as a new disciple)

Study under a priest of Kashima Jingu or a master of the Kashima-ryu head house.
Current head house: the Tsukahara house in the Sengoku period, dispersed after the Edo period.
Outsiders are refused 3 times by default — preserving the "how to judge a disciple" culture of the Tsukahara lineage.

#Play Type

A defensive swordsman centered on counterattack.
Strong in long fights. Analyzes the opponent in the first round and lands the decisive blow from the second onward.
Suited to a PC with philosophical depth.

#2. Ganryu (巖流)

#Overview

Founder: Sasaki Kojiro (佐々木小次郎)
Era: early Edo (early 17th century)
Lineage: an original founding (Self-Taught Style) — there is also a theory it belongs to the Toda Itto-ryu lineage
Home base: around Kokura in Buzen Province (patronage of the Hosokawa house)
Type: Self-Taught Style (by the co-07 school-type standard)

#Scent — The Posture of This School

"The school of the rock." Yet not a still rock, but a rock rising in a river — a rock that holds the grace of the water flowing past it.

The symbols of Ganryu are the long nodachi Monohoshizao (物干竿) and the Swallow Return (燕返し). The advantage of reach + a wave-form attack that combines rise and fall in one blade. A technique that, when the foe comes a foot closer, draws back a foot, and with the force of that withdrawal cuts again.

Kojiro lost the one great duel of his life — yet his school left its name even through that single defeat. This is the paradox of Ganryu.

#Law — School Data

School type: Self-Taught Style · Japan
Source: Sasaki Kojiro
Era: late 16th century ~ early 17th century (effectively cut off after Kojiro's death)
Cultural sphere: Japan

Bonus: when using a nodachi (long sword), additional reach of +1 zone. On switching to close range, check +1.
Restriction: a dagger · a wakizashi · an average katana are incompatible with Ganryu techniques. Only a long sword (a nodachi or a very long katana) is valid.

Stage	Base technique	Ganryu Licensed
Licensed	Sword Guard · Defense Move	[aptitude] Long-Sword Reach (長劍射程): while holding a long sword, reach +1 zone. For an enemy to close in, they spend additional movement Energy. Also, +2 to the initiative correction in the first round (the advantage of reach).
Secret art	Offense-Defense Unity	[Kata] Swallow Return Technique (燕返し) — historical original: Energy 4. 2d10+Finesse+Swordsmanship+2 >= Defense. A 2-hit strike. If the first hit lands, the second becomes Critical Expansion (a double and adjacent pips both count as Critical Hits). On a Critical Hit, 3 Wounds.

#Devotion Condition

The 覇 Three Ways and Six Hearts is required. Without resolve toward the contest, one cannot wield the long sword of this school.

#Ganryu and the Ganryujima Duel

After Kojiro was defeated by Miyamoto Musashi and died at the Ganryujima duel of 1612, Ganryu was effectively cut off. There are records that a few disciples existed, but it could not pass the line down as a school.

In-game meaning: a holder of the Ganryu Licensed is an extremely rare existence after 1612. Either it could be learned only during Kojiro's lifetime, or only a minor transmission from his remaining disciples exists. For a PC to learn Ganryu, a special scenario path is required.

#Alternative Paths

A heroic-spirit scenario of going back in time to Kojiro's lifetime (a variant of the co-09-10 majin reincarnation).
Seeking out a descendant of a hidden disciple and studying under them.
A mystical path of encountering Kojiro's soul at Ganryujima and receiving the transmission directly.

#Play Type

An offensive swordsman with the advantage of reach.
Weak in psychological warfare (just as Kojiro himself lost to Musashi's psychological warfare).
Suited to a young and confident PC.

#3. Ito Itto-ryu (伊東一刀流)

#Overview

Founder: Ito Itto-sai Kagehisa (伊東一刀斎景久)
Era: late Sengoku (late 16th century)
Lineage: Chujo-ryu (中条流) — split off from Kanemaki-ryu (鐘捲流)
Home base: none — the founder wandered all his life. From the 2nd head, Ono Tadaaki, onward, it settled as an instructor house of the Edo shogunate
Type: Self-Taught Style (by the co-07 school-type standard) — became a famous school after the Ono-ha branch

#Scent — The Posture of This School

"One blade (一刀)." There is no second blade. The first blade is defense and attack, beginning and end.

The essence of Ito Itto-ryu is Kiri-otoshi (切落) — cutting down the descending blade of the foe along the same line, and with that single motion cutting the foe. Parry and cut are not two things. That is why this school is not a "fast sword" but "a sword fused into one."

Itto-sai himself did not seat the school in a dojo. His sword was transmitted through 33 duels, and through the Ono-ha Itto-ryu (ex2-10-04) of his successor Ono Tadaaki — down later to Hokushin Itto-ryu, it became the root of the greatest lineage of Japanese swordsmanship.

#Law — School Data

School type: Self-Taught Style · Japan
Source: Ito Itto-sai Kagehisa
Era: late 16th century ~ (succeeded by the Ono-ha, Nakanishi-ha, and Hokushin Itto-ryu)
Cultural sphere: Japan

Bonus: to parry and to cut are one motion — counter check +1.
Restriction: the doctrine of one blade — only a single katana is valid for the school's techniques. It cannot be used together with Twin-Sword School or dual-wield techniques. "There is no second blade."

Stage	Base technique	Ito Itto-ryu Licensed
Licensed	Sword Guard · counter	[Kata] Kiri-otoshi (切落): Energy 2. 1/round. Reserved (reaction) — when hit by a melee attack, if a counter-cut check of 2d10+Courage+Swordsmanship is greater than or equal to the enemy's attack check value, that attack is nullified and an immediate counter of 1 Wound (2 Wounds on a Critical Hit). On a failure, the attack lands normally. The definition of the counter follows ex2-10-01 §Unified Definition of the Counter.
Secret art	Offense-Defense Unity	[Kata] Musoken (夢想剣): Energy 4. 1/combat. 2d10+Courage+Swordsmanship+3 >= Defense. On success 3 Wounds, on a Critical Hit 4 Wounds. Against this check the target gains no check bonus from defensive or evasive techniques — a blade that comes out before thought cannot be read.

#Devotion Condition

The 覇 or 眞 Three Ways and Six Hearts. The resolve to load everything into one blade — and that there be no falsehood in that one blade.

#Approach (when entering as a new disciple)

In Itto-sai's lifetime: finding him is itself the challenge (see fc03-02-05). Only the very few recognized as successors receive the transmission.
After Ono Tadaaki: access the lineage through the Ono-ha Itto-ryu dojo of Edo (ex2-10-04) — but the Ono-ha had already split off as a separate school. The Licensed of the original Ito Itto-ryu belongs only to the very few of Itto-sai's direct line.

#Play Type

A swordsman of the later-initiative (後の先) centered on the counter-cut.
A character who stakes the bout on the first blade — unlike Kashima Shinto-ryu (counter after defense), it fuses parry and cut into a single check.
Optimized for the duel (1:1). In fights against many, the one-blade doctrine is a burden.

#Comparison of the Three Schools

Axis	Kashima Shinto-ryu	Ganryu	Ito Itto-ryu
Philosophy	Win without winning	Win with the first strike	End it with one blade
Founder	Tsukahara Bokuden	Sasaki Kojiro	Ito Itto-sai
Era	early 16th century	early 17th century	late 16th century
Main weapon	an ordinary katana	a long sword (nodachi)	a single katana
Main tactic	Defense + counter	reach + a 2-hit strike	counter-cut (offense-defense unity)
Licensed	`[stance] Immovable of Kashima`	`[aptitude] Long-Sword Reach`	`[Kata] Kiri-otoshi`
Secret art	`[Kata] Divine Mystery Sword`	`[Kata] Swallow Return Technique`	`[Kata] Musoken`
Three Ways and Six Hearts	眞	覇	覇 or 眞
Line continuation	a minor lineage of Kashima Jingu	effectively cut off	greatest lineage via Ono-ha → Hokushin Itto-ryu

#Compatibility with Existing Schools

Ono-ha Itto-ryu (Chapter 6 of this volume) is in ex2-10-04. Link only.
Shinkage-ryu · Yagyu Shinkage-ryu (Chapters 3·4·10 of this volume) are in co. Link only.
Niten Ichi-ryu (Chapter 7 of this volume) is written separately under its historical school name, and only by rule uses the "Nito-ryu" slot of co.
Jigen-ryu (Chapter 9 of this volume) is in co.
Hokushin Itto-ryu (Chapter 11 of this volume) is in ex2-10-02.
Tennen Rishin-ryu (Chapter 12 of this volume) is in ex2-10-01.

The above 7 schools are not re-included in this document. In each Swordmaster chapter, there is only a link to the relevant school.

#Distinguishing Similar Techniques (Canon)

#Kashima Shinto-ryu Compared with Existing Techniques

[stance] Immovable of Kashima: distinct from existing techniques.
Its structure differs from co Katori's Stance of the Initiative, co Jigen's Tonbo-no-Kamae, and the samurai 1st-dan Immovable Formation.
[Kata] Divine Mystery Sword: distinct from existing techniques.
Its structure differs from co Jigen's Ichi-no-Tachi, ex2 Hokushin's Single-Stroke Short Beat, and co Katori's Heaven-Earth-Human.

#Ganryu Compared with Existing Techniques

[aptitude] Long-Sword Reach: distinct from existing techniques.
Its name resembles Reach of the Long Sword (PC counter check -2 within the same zone) on the co-09-10 Kojiro heroic-spirit sheet, but here it is an aptitude that extends reach and improves initiative.
[Kata] Swallow Return Technique: the same name (the Kojiro heroic-spirit secret art of co-09-10).
Difference in effect: the heroic-spirit version is automatic Critical Hit + 2 hits + [Pierce All]. The historical original of this document is not an automatic Critical Hit · no Pierce. An interpretation in which becoming a majin strengthened the technique.

#Ito Itto-ryu Compared with Existing Techniques

[Kata] Kiri-otoshi: distinct from existing techniques.
Its structure differs from ex2 Hokushin's Single-Stroke Short Beat (defense and counter simultaneously · a bonus type), the Ono-ha's Single-Stroke Sever (a strengthened counter after defense), and Mutoken's Setting-Sun Sword (deflecting with evasion and turning it back). Kiri-otoshi handles nullification and counter simultaneously with a single counter-cut check.
[Kata] Musoken: distinct from existing techniques. Ignoring the bonuses of defensive and evasive techniques is a pattern unique to this school.
Itto-sai's personal techniques [aptitude] Speed of the Draw · [Kata] One-Stroke Instant Kill (fc03-02-05) remain Swordmaster-unique techniques rather than school techniques — distinct too from the co-09-10 heroic-spirit version of One-Stroke Instant Kill (automatic Critical Hit + Pierce All).

#Effect-Pattern Comparison

Automatic Critical Hit + [Pierce All]: the unique pattern of Kashima Shinto-ryu's Divine Mystery Sword.
A 2-hit strike + Critical Expansion: the unique pattern of Ganryu's Swallow Return Technique. Distinct in detailed mechanics from the 2-hit techniques of other schools (such as Tang-dao Collected Methods' Crosscut, Nito-ryu's Dark Current, and so on).
A single counter-cut check (nullification + counter simultaneously): the unique pattern of Ito Itto-ryu's Kiri-otoshi. Its processing structure differs from the separate counter-after-defense types (Single-Stroke Short Beat · Single-Stroke Sever · Setting-Sun Sword).

#Scent — One Sentence

"These three schools hold the life of a single founder. They bloomed while he lived, and after he died — one remained, one fell with him, and one became a forest."