#New Schools — Kashima Shinto-ryu · Ganryu

Contents

Canon — fc03 new-school data. These two 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 Two Are New

Most schools of Japanese swordsmanship have already been treated in co and ex2. Of the 12 kensei this volume covers, only two have a new school — one is Tsukahara Bokuden of Kashima Shinto-ryu (鹿島新當流), the other is Sasaki Kojiro of Ganryu (巖流).

What these two share: a school founded by an individual or a small house. Because they did not pass the line down widely, they are not broadly known — yet, together with the names of those kensei, they form an independent strand 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.

#Comparison of the Two Schools

Axis	Kashima Shinto-ryu	Ganryu
Philosophy	Win without winning	Win with the first strike
Founder	Tsukahara Bokuden	Sasaki Kojiro
Era	early 16th century	early 17th century
Main weapon	an ordinary katana	a long sword (nodachi)
Main tactic	Defense + counter	reach + a 2-hit strike
Licensed	`[stance] Immovable of Kashima`	`[Aptitude] Long-Sword Reach`
Secret art	`[Kata] Divine Mystery Sword`	`[Kata] Swallow Return Technique`
Three Ways and Six Hearts	眞	覇
Line continuation	a minor lineage of Kashima Jingu	effectively cut off

#Compatibility with Existing Schools

Ono-ha Itto-ryu (Chapter 6 of this volume) is in ex2-10-04. Link only.
Ito Itto-ryu (Chapter 5 of this volume) is treated as the historical source of the Itto-ryu lineage, and only by rule borrows the "Katori Shinto-ryu" slot of co.
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 8 schools are not re-included in this document. In each kensei chapter, there is only a link to the relevant school.

#Technique Duplication Review (Canon · internal audit)

#Cross-check of Kashima Shinto-ryu Technique Names

[stance] Immovable of Kashima: no duplication.
Fully distinct 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: no duplication.
Fully distinct from co Jigen's Ichi-no-Tachi, ex2 Hokushin's Single-Stroke Short Beat, and co Katori's Heaven-Earth-Human.

#Cross-check of Ganryu Technique Names

[Aptitude] Long-Sword Reach: no duplication.
It uses the same name as the Kojiro heroic-spirit sheet of co-09-10 — this is promoted to a formal school aptitude.
[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.

#Effect-Pattern Duplication

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).

#Scent — One Sentence

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