A Visit to the Shinto Muso-ryu Jo Dojo in Woodinville, WA

[Matt Stone]

Last night I had the opportunity to drive up to Woodinville to visit the dojo of Sensei Phil Relnick, menkyo kaiden holder in both Shinto Muso-ryu Jo and Katori Shinto-ryu Iai.

His house is gorgeous. His wife is incredibly kind. His dojo is flatly awesome! His students were very courteous and friendly, as was Sensei Relnick himself.

Having the opportunity to meet someone who was not only a contemporary of Donn Draeger, but one of Mr. Draeger's close friends, was awesome.

I will return to the dojo to visit again next week. With luck, I will begin training there soon after that.

Wish me luck!

Gambarimasu.

[Jay Bell]

Good Luck, Matt! I'm very glad you enjoyed yourself.

Iai...as in sword? Would you be able to tell me a little bit more about that? I've been looking for a sword art for a couple years now, and I've never been able to find anything. I know it's pretty selective, but that's all.

Where in woodinville was it? I probably don't live very far from it.

Good luck with being accepted into training!

[Matt Stone]

Honestly, to explain where it is would be a bear... It is on 190th place or something like that, off exit 23.

You can't, that I know of, waltz in and start with the sword work. The way it was explained to me was that you work through SMR Jo, and then later you move into KSR Iai.

Gambarimasu.

For info about Relnick-sensei and SMR please visit www.Shinto-Muso-ryu.org. One can also find contact information on the site to find out any more info.