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A kyoshi in Toyama Ryu? Awarded by who?



From http://www.samuraisports.com/chanbara/articles/QA.html

Quote:

Shihan Abbott holds black belt rankings in: Japanese long sword 7th dan, Japanese short sword 5th dan, Japanese spear 5th dan, Nito-Ryu 5th dan, Japanese knife 4th dan, Toho-Ryu Iaido 5th dan, Toyama-Ryu Iaido 5th dan, Tameshigiri 3rd dan and Kendo 3rd dan.



It doesn't appear that Dana Abbott has 7th-dan Kyoshi in Toyama-ryu, but rather Chanbara. His instructor is/was Tetsundo Tanabe, the founder of Goshindo/Chanbara but Mr. Abbott doesn't ever really mention his teacher, which is interesting for several reasons. Mr. Abbott is listed as the international director on Mr. Tanabe's website however.

Tetsundo Tanabe was also one of Hataya Mitsuo sensei's instructors and I believe Hataya sensei is ranked in Goshindo/Chanbara (7th-dan in kodachi), as are a few of his Toyama-ryu students in the US. I don't think there's any affiliation with Dana Abbott however.

Anyone with first hand knowledge can feel free to correct anything I might have wrong though...
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Andrew Bryant Rishinkan Dojo Muso Jikiden Eishin-ryu Iaido Dentokan Aiki Jujutsu