THE CLUB
Mission
The mission of the Tokyo Gekiken Club is to preserve, practice, and promote Gekiken as a traditional method of training, and to contribute to the transmission of Japan’s classical martial traditions (kobujutsu).
At the same time, we do not intend to recreate the Gekiken of the Meiji–Taishō period. For us, the term Gekiken expresses a method of free and unrestricted practice in which the shinai is understood to represent a real blade. Through this approach, practitioners examine and refine their technique through direct exchange while maintaining responsibility and control.
The club provides an open, controlled, and non-competitive environment in which practitioners can test their skills without instruction, evaluation, or criticism of another participant’s school or style.
Through activities and outreach both within Japan and internationally, the Tokyo Gekiken Club encourages exchange among practitioners of traditional martial schools as well as modern budō disciplines that include weapon training. We value mutual respect and direct exchange among practitioners, regardless of school or origin.
Our Approach
At the Tokyo Gekiken Club, we do not hold matches with referees or point-based judging. Any fixed system for determining victory inevitably shifts training toward scoring rather than cultivating genuine technique. For this reason, our practice avoids formal competition.
Our jigeiko is conducted with as few constraints as possible. Movements are not shaped to fit modern competitive formats, but are explored freely within a controlled training environment.
This practice demands mental discipline. Participants must maintain the intent to engage decisively while remaining mindful not to injure their partner. The shinai is treated as a blade, and practitioners are expected to recognize effective strikes through their own awareness rather than external judgment.
Winning and losing are secondary. What matters is the practitioner’s ability to reflect on their performance, maintain humility, and refine their understanding through direct experience.
