Shinseido Shorin Ryu is a seamless blend of Shorin Ryu and Shinseido.   Shinseido is a contemporary way of viewing and realising an old classical martial arts system in a way that makes it valid in our time and place.  Where Shorin Ryu deals with the practicalities of self-defence in old Okinawa, Shinseido deals with the practicalities of  of self-preservation in the Western hemisphere today.

Class performing kata (forms)

As time passed, every workshop that I delivered changed in content and nature, until, in 1980 I had evolved a complete management of aggression package, which was as far as I am aware, the very first of its kind in the UK.  I delivered these workshops with my wife Ann.  They were called the Sheldon Self-Preservation Workshops and attracted much media attention.  They became so popular that Ann and myself toured the UK, going to places such as Dover, Aberdeen, Plymouth, Exeter, Preston and Scunthorpe, to mention but a handful of the dozens of towns we visited.  We trained all the Health and Safety Officers for the Royal College of Nursing, and staff teams in many diverse professions, from nursing, police, prison, probation, mental health, and schools.  These were the halcyon days of what came to be known as the Project 5 Peaceful Response System for Managing Behaviour that Challenges.  Today, more than thirty years later, I still provide Project 5 training.

Roger Sheldon and Tony Asquith

Our training halls do not promote sport-oriented practises.  There is no competition, no tournaments, no gymnastic leaping or the smashing of boards or bricks.  What you will find instead is a pragmatic system that is firmly rooted in the old ways, yet oriented to staying safe in real assaultive situations in today's world.  If there is any competition, it is against yourself.  The training practise revolves around a number of 'shadow boxing' forms that look a little like a rather formal dance routine.  These forms embody all the secrets of the system.  The forms serve to provide a number of different viewpoints and represent a functional and utilitarian self-defence system.  Ultimately however, and perhaps more importantly, they comprise a form of kinetic meditation or moving visualisation exercise that will lead directly to a calm and more peaceful lifestyle.

Through practise of Shinseido forms, you will develop poise, balance, strength, suppleness, and a sense of calm peacefulness.  The practise of Shinseido movements integrates mental activity and makes all learning easier.  This is because they encourage the brain's component parts to work in unison one with the other.  The complete learning of any subject demands a process in which knowledge is fixed more or less permanently within the mind.  Such a process demands that the subject is sufficiently enjoyable to motivate the individual and at the same time, is sufficiently repetitive to fix lessons into the memory.  It has been said that some people try too hard and switch off the brain integration mechanism necessary for complete learning.  Information is received by the back brain as an 'impress' but is inaccessible to the front brain as an 'express'. This inability to 'express’ what is learned can lock the unfortunate person into a failure syndrome.  This is particularly true as regards the young and those with low levels of confidence and self esteem. 

The solution is to learn an art, such as Shinseido that demands total mind and body integration in order to perform the skills contained within the art.  The learning process is effected through repetitive movement re-patterning and special exercises which enable students to access those parts of the brain normally unavailable to them by creating new neural pathways.  The changes in learning and behaviour are gradual and profound as students discover how to receive information and express themselves simultaneously. 

The Shinseido system teaches this re-patterning procedure which will improve the quality of living, learning and enjoyment of movement. 

Shinseido activities help any student young or old, to make better use of one's potential.  The movements of body and energy are very ancient and appear in martial arts, yoga and touch therapies. Students will learn to recognise and experience the energy derived from the movements in their daily life activities.  They will learn how they can carry out the movements automatically just 'knowing' when they can be of benefit.  Shinseido movements are natural and embody mechanically and ergonomically correct principals.  Students always work within their own natural limitations and are encouraged, never forced.

Aspects of Shinseido practice

1.     Self defence

Correctly practised, Shinseido is therapeutic and will reduce stress, promote physical, mental, and spiritual well-being and will also increase longevity. Shinseido represents a way of life, and the practitioner who seriously penetrates its teachings will never be the same again.  It is an intricate subject, and one that could quite easily take a lifetime to fully explore.  It has many intimately related components, none of which is complete without the others.  The more one learns about Shinseido, the more there is to learn, not only about Shinseido but also about oneself.  In every day of one's life, there is a space for some form of training, either mental or physical.  There is a strong sense of continuity in training, and although you and your needs will change over the years, Shinseido will present a constant and absorbing challenge.

Learning Shinseido

Roger Sheldon

There are successive levels of learning within Shinseido.  The beginner will embark upon the learning of several methods that embody the principles of the system such as stepping and posture, how to use the hands and arms in a defensive manner, how to evade, and how to position oneself for maximum effect.  In conjunction with these developmental exercises, the student will be introduced to the forms, which embody all the fundamental principles of the system.  The learning of the forms will, among other things, increase the student’s levels of confidence and self esteem.  The new student will learn how to use the movements of the exercises he or she learns in a practical self-defensive way with a practise partner.  The movements during the early stages of learning are performed in succession one after the other and are precise and detailed.  The new student will not be subjected to trauma, fear, or hurt.  Instead, he or she will take on new experiences and increasingly more difficult material as the principles are understood and confidence is gained.  Throughout training, the student is taught the interplay between the soft circular internal style and the hard linear external style.  The yin principle of circularity, softness, and yielding, is perfectly blended with the linear, hard type of training.

Shorin Ryu (Small forest stream of thought), formerly known as Shurite (Head village hands) describes the methods practised in the royal village of Shuri, Ryukyu, during the nineteenth century. 

Today, there are several distinct branches of Shorin Ryu Karate.  They are all descended from one man – Matsumura Sokon (Bushi)  who lived in Shuri, Ryukyu c.1797-1889.  Our own Shorin Ryu stream of thought is derived directly from the Matsumura family lineage that came down from Matsumura Sokon (Bushi)  to his grandson Matsumura Nabe (Tanmei)  (2nd head) and then to Nabe Tanmei’s nephew Soken Hohan (1889-1982, third lineage master) and finally down to Nishihira Kosei (1942-2007) the fourth lineage master (yon dai mei). 

       Matsumura Sokon (Bushi)

We regard the art that comes directly from Soken Hohan and his student Nishihira Kosei as the most authentic Shorin Ryu in existence today, primarily because its stylistic looseness and economy has been retained in the old way without succumbing to demonstrativeness and rigid form as embraced by many contemporary Ryukyu Shorin Ryu derivatives, both in Okinawa and in the West.

                            Soken Hohan shihan

However, he quickly began to develop a deep interest in the origins of his art, and a burning desire to know and understand the nature of the old style karate and so in 1976 he embarked upon a quest to identify the oldest extant forms. 

During this time he trained for relatively short periods in Wado Ryu, Shotokan, Taekwondo, Kyokushinkai, and Iaido.

Jon Alexander sensei

In those days, there was no World Wide Web, and no easy way of penetrating the cloak of secrecy surrounding the old systems.  The result was that it took Sheldon sensei ten years to identify, and locate the old Matsumura lineage.  Living in England was not like living in the USA.  The mindset here was that old style karate had died when the so called 'father of karate', Funakoshi Gichen formulated his system.  The governing body of the time told him bluntly, "You don't need to look for something that is not there, the old karate was crude and undeveloped."  He wrote hundreds of letters to authorities around the world, patiently consolidating material and working towards realising his aim to train in very authentic Ryukyu classical karate.  His ambition was partly realised in 1984 when he made contact with Kenshin Kan headed by Fusei Kise sensei (b. 1935).  It was through Sheldon sensei’s efforts that the Matsumura Seito Shorin Ryu system was first introduced into the UK in 1985.  Matsumura Seito is the orthodox system as disseminated by the third grandmaster of the system, Soken Hohan.

 Kosei Nishihira sensei

Sheldon sensei wrote to, and worked with some of the most prominent teachers of the Matsumura system in the world, and drew lessons from all of them.  They became his lasting friends in the Way and he remains grateful to them all.  Since then he has been pursuing a quest to perpetuate old style karate in as traditional manner as is possible, remembering that we live in another age, a different culture, with different needs and different perceptions.  

Sheldon sensei’s quest for over thirty two years has led to the evolution of a system that is second to none in its depth of understanding and knowledge.

                   Mike Flanagan and Tony Asquith

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Sheldon sensei trained within the associations of Kenshin Kan (Kise Fusei sensei), Matsusokan (Yabiku Takaya sensei b.1945), Matsumura Kenpo (Kuda Yuichi sensei 1928-1999), and Matsumura Seito (Nishihira Kosei sensei 1942-2007) before creating an autonomous group dedicated to researching and perpetuating the old ways.  He has worked closely with a number of prominent Matsumura Seito Shorin Ryu teachers including Ronald Lindsey, Anthony Sandoval, Ted Lange, Rick Rose, Giuseppe Meloni and others. 

                                         Mike Flanagan and student

Mr. Sheldon has also gained enormous practical experience through providing management of violence courses to professionals for over thirty years and working closely with people who display violent behaviour.

John (70yrs old) and James (21 yrs old)