Kyohachiryu School (京八流)

Kyohachiryu is a legendary school of swordsmanship. It is said that the school's ancestral beginning was when Hogen KIICHI taught the way of the sword to eight Buddhist monks on Mt. Kurama in the end of the Heian period, and it is said to be the origins of all swordsmanship. There is a legend that Yoshitsune MINAMOTO was a follower of this school, and there are many folklores such as stories on various characters and biographies related to the school but none has concrete evidence and do not go beyond being a legend.

Another folklore says that Naomoto YOSHIOKA, who first used the title of Kenpo, is the founder. There are also folklores that say Seijuro YOSHIOKA and Denshichiro YOSHIOKA, who fought Musashi MIYAMOTO from the final days of Sengoku Period (period of warring states) to the beginning of the Edo period were masters from the Kyohachiryu-school's Yoshioka-dojo hall, but it is not possible to determine the validity of such stories as the Yoshioka family and followers have become extinct and there are no trustworthy materials to give light on the conflicts between the Yoshioka group and Musashi.

Besides the Yoshiokaryu-school, the Kuramaryu-school, Nakajoryu-school and some others are said to originate from the Kyohachiryu-school, but it does not go beyond being a legendary school of swordsmanship and there are doubts as to whether it actually existed.

The school being 'the origin of swordsmanship' and 'its founder being Hogen KIICHI' are part of popular legends and numerous fictional accounts and comics have been written based on them.

[Original Japanese]