The Lost Samurai School: Secrets of Mubyoshi Ryu

Not since 'The Book of Samurai' (Cummins; Minami; Watkins Publishing 2015) has a book offered such an in depth look into who the samurai were on such an all inclusive scale. This book builds upon (or rather compliments) the aforesaid tome, by offering an insightful look inside another Samurai Ryūha. This is an important volume in the growing corpus of historical documentation becoming available in the English language (due in large part to Cummins and his team).Topping out at a mere 366 pages would at first glance seem to belie the sheer scope of this work, which for a single volume is nothing short of encylopædic in scale! The richness and wealth of information covered within is seldom rivaled by multivolume anthologies! For samurai aficionados ranging from historians and academics, to martial artists, to armchair Nipponophiles, this book has something for nearly everyone with even a passing interest in Samurai and/or Japanese culture and history.The only flaw a more scholarly reader or dedicated bibliophile might find is that this book has no hardcover edition available (and presumably no plans to release one). While a academic work of this magnitude surely deserves the dignity of a hardbound edition, the paperbound book is right at home in the gym bag of the martial artist who wishes to explore the many physical skills covered in this book. So while the paperbound edition surely fits one tier of the readership, this reader laments the lack of availability in a hardbound volume.Regardless of the binding choices of the publishing group, where this book truly shines is in the wealth of content! Painstakingly researched and thorough, this book covers such a wide spectrum of subjects germane to the samurai and their way of life, combat, spirituality, clandestine operations, weaponry (both common and lesser known) that it should be considered a 'must have' addition to any personal library of Japanese scholars of any level or interest.-J. FarthingNovember 2016

applaud Mr. Cummins and Ms. Koizumi they did an amazing job. Done with respect and a passion for detail an all but lost authentic samurai school has been given roots again and a chance for new life. The in depth historical background along with the lineage of the grandmasters and their stories is a great read even for the hard cord enthusiast. "The Lost Samurai School" covers everything from jujutsu to some of the traditional weapons of the samurai, along with an authentic Ninjutsu curriculum. It's many illustrations makes the skills easy to follow even if your new to more traditional martial arts or the skills of the shinobi. Mubyoshi Ryu has a full and rich tradition, that we are now lucky enough to enjoy. This book should be on the shelf anyone who claims to be a fan of the samurai and ninja

I pre-ordered this book and received it on time and as promised with no delays. I was pleasantly surprised at how much information that this book contains! I was previously unfamiliar with the Mubyoshi Ryu so I was eager to learn more. I also purchased the digital version so that I could study it on the go. This book is loaded with information about the Mubyoshi school and is presented in a format that is easy to read and understand. The illustrations are also very complimentary to the text and clearly illustrate the concepts presented. I recommend Mr. Cummins' and Ms. Koizumi's book to anyone that wants to learn more about the samurai and Japanese martial arts. The book contains history, lineage, historical and modern training, unarmed and armed combat methods, and so much more! An excellent addition to anyone's library!!!

I received this book among the first that distributed, with very good expectation because I know the previous work of the author. Can only say that it is a book of incredibly generous in knowledge and beautifully presented! It is a Manual totally full of Mubyoshi Ryu, supplemented with various knowledge of School Mukaku Ryu, besides a great amount of illustrations that facilitate the interpretation comes with comments or interpretations of the author on some points, i.e. a "Kuden" needed. It is worth the price, I think that I would have preferred in hardcover, but that would have increased the price and this edition that never ceases to be beautiful is well accessible, I recommend it as necessary for scholars, enthusiastic and readers of Martial Arts, History of Japan and real Ninjutsu.The curriculum section of Ninjutsu contained in Mubyoshi this comprehensive and very well explained, in addition to the section that contains the esoteric content also, which makes a single and direct original source of knowledge.... five stars!

A very interesting book about Koryu Bujutsu: excellent work.

I was really disappointed with this book it is missing a lot of information it basically says we're going to talk about this and then but we don't have information about this or that

I like Antony Cummins works so far and I liked this one as well. There are many photos of jujitsu techniques, but I don't think I could make sense of them. I wish they could have skipped that and just made a set of videos. I didn't get the book for jujitsu so it's ok. Good job, Antony.

This book by Antony Cummins is a very comprehensive guide to this almost lost ryu.this volume goes beyond the description of techniques and delves into the theories of esoteric knowledge of this ryu.Quite well illustrated but has a couple of unnecessarily overly dramatic pictures.Despite this, this book is a very god reference for any student interested in learning more about the psychology behind these bugui ryua.

What I like about Mr Cummings is how he has found other schools of ninjuts...and found the truth himself. For years anything other than what came out from the Bujinkan was labelled karate...some perhaps more seasoned practitioners could see a system in their movement...so wouldn't be so quick to put a label on other systems ..Mr Cummings is very honest and explains exactly what the grandmaster inherited. The book contains a section on shinobi but although not a shinobi school as it says the ninjuts was carried out by men of iga and koka you would find it hard to fault what is in here. We do know that the men of iga and koka had developed there own methods...so why wouldn't this ryu have a section on shinobi. Well done Mr Cummings. He even gives clear directions on how to find this school. So what of grandmaster then. Some say there are very good ones and then there are others who are not. The content in this book leaves little to fault. Well done Mr Sensei for preserving dying arts and letting ousiders learn about your school. Thank you and thank you Mr Cummings for an interesting read. Well done.

This book is packed full of information, photos, illustrations and translations. Mubyoshi Ryu is a fascinating Samurai school and this book gives you an extensive idea of of curriculum and well as some jujitsu you can learn and contact details of the last remaining teacher of the style if you really wanted to take your study to the next level. I would recommend this for anyone interested in Japaneses martial arts or history.

A deeply informative book rather interesting section on Shinobi no jutsu ,a few unique weapons shown within the book and much moreWell worth buying happy i have it in my collection

Great book.. I would recommend this book to anybody who has an interest in samurai and shinobi. This book is full of indepth information and great images. I particularly like the shinobi no jutsu scrolls of Hagiwara Juzo. One of my favourite books if not my favourite on the subject. 5 stars!!!

Though i do not train jujutsu or ninjutsu, i am an avid iaidoka and kendoka, alot of the information about different weapons will come in very handy and aid in my training and teaching