is a traditional school of Japanese martial arts

Japanese martial arts

Japanese martial arts refers to the enormous variety of martial arts native to Japan. At least three Japanese terms are often used interchangeably with the English phrase "Japanese martial arts": , literally meaning "martial way", , which has no perfect translation but means something like science,...

 founded by Tsukahara Bokuden

Tsukahara Bokuden

was a famous swordsman of the early Sengoku period. He was widely regarded as a kensei . He was the founder of a new Kashima style of fencing, and served as an instructor of Shogun Ashikaga Yoshiteru and Ise provincial governor Tomonori Kitabatake....

 in the Muromachi period (c.1530).

Due to its formation during the tumultuous Sengoku Jidai, a time of feudal war, the school's techniques are based on battlefield experience and revolve around finding weak points in the opponent's armor. The sword

Sword

A sword is a bladed weapon used primarily for cutting or thrusting. The precise definition of the term varies with the historical epoch or the geographical region under consideration...

 (katana

Katana

A Japanese sword, or , is one of the traditional bladed weapons of Japan. There are several types of Japanese swords, according to size, field of application and method of manufacture.-Description:...

), spear

Spear

A spear is a pole weapon consisting of a shaft, usually of wood, with a pointed head.The head may be simply the sharpened end of the shaft itself, as is the case with bamboo spears, or it may be made of a more durable material fastened to the shaft, such as flint, obsidian, iron, steel or...

 (yari

Yari

is the term for one of the traditionally made Japanese blades in the form of a spear, or more specifically, the straight-headed spear...

) and glaive

Glaive

A glaive is a European polearm weapon, consisting of a single-edged blade on the end of a pole. It is similar to the Japanese naginata and the Chinese Guan Dao....

 (naginata

Naginata

The naginata is one of several varieties of traditionally made Japanese blades in the form of a pole weapon. Naginata were originally used by the samurai class in feudal Japan, and naginata were also used by ashigaru and sōhei .-Description:A naginata consists of a wooden shaft with a curved...

) are some of the weapons used by the school. The current headmaster of the school is Yoshikawa Tsuenetaka.

Kashima Shintō-ryū used to have a series of iaijutsu

Iaijutsu

, the art of drawing the Japanese sword. One of Japanese martial disciplines in education of the classical warrior .-Etymology:"Iaijutsu" was known before the Tokugawa period but it is unclear exactly when the term "iaijutsu" first came into use, or when exactly drawing the katana from its...

techniques in its curriculum but these were lost over time.