Hi Greg,
No, Troy's right in the way traditional arts are transmitted. It's the lack of aspects such as this that lead me to say that the Ryu aren't actually taught or studied in the Bujinkan, only the techniques are as a way to explore and study what the Bujinkan actually teaches, which is Budo Taijutsu. Obviously, that's not an attack, as each will attract the students who like what each approach offers.
Kuden pretty literally translates as "oral tranmission", but when it comes to these arts, there are specific kuden teachings. Simply having an instructor explain a technique in more detail isn't really what's meant by "kuden" (although there can be kuden teachings for the kata, often of variations, or ura gata, or alternate applications, such as "hidden strikes"). Henka (formal henka I'm talking about here, not the made-up on the spot form) could be officially written down, or kuden, depending on the Ryu itself.
With regards to a menkyo, that just means "licence", and yes, you can have a range of different forms. A "standard" (well, more common, at least, but hardly universally followed) form is to start with kirigami (literally "cut paper"), which is basically your entrance into the Ryu, then you are awarded a Shoden Menkyo (initial transmission licence), Chuden Menkyo (middle transmission licence), Okuden Menkyo (inner transmission licence), Menkyo Kaiden (licence of full transmission). Commonly, they are split through the levels of the Ryu (to take Gyokko Ryu as an example, you might be awarded Kirigami when you learn the Kihon, Shoden Menkyo when you have learnt the Jo Ryaku no Maki, Chuden Menkyo when you have learnt the Chu Ryaku no Maki, Okuden Menkyo when you have learnt the Ge Ryaku no Maki, and Menkyo Kaiden when you have learnt all of those, as well as any additional patterns/kata, or kuden lessons, such as higher aspects of strategy). Then you have things like Kyoshi Menkyo (teaching licences), which can be awarded at different ranks/experience levels, depending on the Ryu, the organisation, and the instructor. Within the Bujinkan, you have a Shidoshi Menkyo as a teaching licence... and each rank certificate is also a Menkyo. In fact, it states that it's a Menkyo on the far right (that's what the kanji reads). So I have a Shodan Menkyo from the Bujinkan before we left, for example.
Hope that helped.
Hi Troy,
I kinda hate to say it, but I don't think that such sections are well known in the other organisations. With the Bujinkan, the primary reason is that the Ryu simply aren't the focus, Budo Taijutsu (which is Hatsumi Sensei's approach to martial arts, really) is, the kata of the Ryu are simply used to explore that. Within the Jinenkan, the Ryu are a much higher focus, but I haven't come across any talk with any members of much beyond what was written in the Densho that Manaka received from Hatsumi.. I have some ideas as to reasons, but won't quite get into that yet. With the Genbukan, as Tanemura Sensei sought out other students of Takamatsu Sensei to learn from, he got quite a different focus on the Ryu themselves, learning each individually and separately, allowing for such things to be covered, hence them being present in your organisation.
As I said, though, all this is, really, is three different organisations providing different approaches for people to choose between. If you want the traditional systems, go to the Genbukan. If you want to understand Hatsumi Sensei's approach, and the Ryu don't matter so much as it's the overall, homogenized system you want, go for the Bujinkan. And if you want something kinda in-between, we have the Jinenkan. Then, of course, there are organisations such as the one I'm in, but unless you're in Australia, it's kinda moot. And even in our organisation, my approach is a bit different.... but that's another discussion!
