Unkv-rya is a school of Kenjutsu, the Japanese traditional swordsmanship.In the early days of the Edo era, it was established by Itori Kyoun who learned Kenjutsu at the Kô-ryû school and Mujû shinken-ryû school. Kengo Tominaga was the first researcher who referred to the lineage, the old documents, the Kata (forms) and the method of bamboo sword practice of this school in the Kumamoto district. There are few studies on this school except his posthumous works.
The porpose of this study is to clarify the details related to the tradition of Unkô-ryû, through the analysis of the documents and materials we have recently discovered and offered by Mr. Hiromichi Inoue, the present master of this school. The results can be summarized as follows; 1) All the hereditary masters of Unkô-ryû styled themselves with the names which include the same word Un. It was succeeded to the usage of Muju shinken-rya, for example, Harigaya Sekiun or Kodegiri Ichiun.2) In Unkô-ryû, the licence on the first and the middle grades are “Zuijun-no-shô” and “Sankyôroku”, the documents of Kô-ryû. Two licences out of three on the final grade are “Sekiun-rya Kenjutsu-sho” and “Tenshin-dokuro” written by Kodegiri Ichiun, the second master of Muju shinken-ryû.3) The method of bamboo sword practice in this school was also succeeded to the style of Muju-shinken-ryû.-Two persons faced each other try to. do the same technique “Men (head)-striking”, from the same posture “Hassô”, at the same time. This was the only practice called Aiuchi, and a very unique one disregarded victory or defeat. Thus Unkô-ryû is a Kenjutsu school combined these two schools.; however, it is supposed to have been influenced by Muju shinken-ryu much more than by Kô-ryû.
