Kyushin Ryu Badge
In the late 19th century, Eguchi Shihan traced the roots of the Kyushin Ryu system to five prominent Jujitsu schools that pooled their knowledge over time:
- Shindo Munen Ryu
- Kyushin Ryu
- Enshin Ryu
- Takenouchi Ryu
- Sekiguchi Ryu
To show thanks for the input from each school, a five-pointed star was created. So that no school was more important than the others, the star was drawn in such a manner that none of the five branches of the star actually formed a point. Each branch of the star has a curved shape, like the cherry blossom flower, which is famous and loved in Japan.
The red circle in the middle is symbolic of the red sun which usually describes Japan - the land of the rising sun.
The outline of the star and the sun is marked in black, making the colours red and black stand out for importance. The red shows the "blood sport" of fights to the death in the samurai days, and the black shows the "master level" belt attainable by Kyushin Ryu practitioners.
The name "Kyushin Ryu" may be broken into syllables:
- Kyu means level or position of status
- Shin means supreme, superior or aristocratic. This refers to the class of society who traditionally practised the system. Many older members of Japanese aristocracy chose to practise the Kyushin Ryu system. The Shoguns realised that the techniques of applying Atemi Waza (striking techniques) - deadly attacks to parts of the body not protected by armour - would finish the fight quickly. As most of the Shogun were in the older age bracket of society and not capable of high levels of physical demands, the Kyushin Ryu system appealed to them.
- Ryu means style or method of application.
"Kyushin Ryu Jujitsu” may be translated as supreme level of Jujitsu. The word "supreme" refers to the class of the aristocracy, rather than a vain comparison with other Jujitsu styles. As the Shogun were regarded as within the highest level of Japanese society of the era, this is reflected in the choice of the star as the prominent feature of the badge.
The badge is worn on the upper left side front of the gi jacket, close to and covering the heart of the wearer.
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