David A. Hall
Ph.D.: Buddhist Studies (Related field: Military History), U.C. Berkeley, 1990.
Martial Arts / Hoplology Background
Karate/Various ch'uan-fa/Aikido in the years 1965-1976
Shindo Muso Ryu since 1975: Teachers were Donn F. Draeger, Shimizu Takaji, Kaminoda Tsunemori, Phil Relnick, Karuna Karan, and many other direct disciples of Shimizu Takaji.
Kashima Shinden Jiki Shinkage Ryu since 1978: Teachers were Namiki Yasushi, Itō Masayuki, Katō Kōji, and several other direct disciples of Namiki Yasushi.
Yagyu Shinkage Ryu since 1983: Teacher was Yagyu Nobuharu plus many senior students of Yagyu Sensei. I also had a very close relationship with masters of other lines of YSR such as Otsubo Shiho and Muto Masao, and have a cordial relationship with Kato Kancho of Shunpukan.
Collaborated in running the IHS (and co-edited Hoplos: Journal of the International Hoplology Society) from 1983 to 1993.
Published several articles on classical Japanese martial arts, the most recenting being The Buddhist Goddess Marishiten: A Study of the Evolution and Impact of her Cult on the Japanese Warrior (Global Oriental, ISBN 978-90-04-25010-9) in 2013. I also completed a large work on Japanese koryu and modern cognate systems entitled An Encyclopedia of Japanese Martial Arts in 2012 (Kodansha USA, ISBN-13: 978-1568364100). It is 684 pages long, contains around 4000 entries, and includes indices in kanji, Chinese, Sanskrit, and English.
Currently I am the head instructor at the Hobyokan dojo in Rockville, MD.
Email: Hobyokan@gmail.com
David A. Hall 15:27, 13 July 2007 (UTC)