Budo - The Martial Way
Korinji’s Zen lineage stresses that genuine practice is embodied, energetic, and expressed through action. For this reason, physical disciplines have long been valued as part of training. Traditional martial arts are especially useful because they train body, breath, energy, and fearlessness in a way that complements Zen practice.
Some of Korinji’s lineage ancestors, including Omori Sogen Roshi, were dedicated practitioners of swordsmanship and other martial disciplines. Korinji’s abbot has also trained deeply in classical and modern martial arts. This is part of Korinji’s overall training style, Zen-Ken-Sho, “Zen-Sword-Brush”: the unity of Zen practice, martial discipline, and fine arts.
Through disciplines that arose on the edge of life and death, students polish their spirits like swords. In this training, the enemy to be faced is finally not another person, but the fear, hesitation, and attachment within oneself.
Korinji contains both indoor and outdoor spaces for Budo training, and monastery residents practice Budo as part of their training. The main martial discipline currently learned by residents is Battoho, the practice of drawing and cutting with the sword.
Periodic intensive martial arts training events and retreats are hosted at Korinji and elsewhere. Please see the Calendar for more information.
