Kobukai-Berlin e.V. is a registered non-profit organization and is affiliated with the Sugino Dōjō Doitsu Shibu led by Ulf Rott, the German branch of the Sugino Dōjō in Kawasaki, Japan.

Club History

Although Tenshin Shōden Katori Shintō-ryū is one of the oldest surviving martial arts systems in Japan, it was only brought to Germany in 1996 by Ulf Rott. He founded the first German dōjō in Leer, a direct branch of the Sugino Dōjō in Kawasaki, Japan, which was led at the time by the renowned master Sugino Yoshio Ō-sensei (†1998).

Shintō-ryū came to Berlin in 2001. Alexander Schwartz, now a co-founder of the TomoSei Aikido Dōjō, established a Shintō-ryū practice group, and a regular seminar with Ulf Rott was organized in Berlin. Since then, Shintō-ryū has enjoyed growing popularity in Berlin.

In 2005, Christian Hügele founded the Berlin training group as a precursor to today’s Kobukai, officially affiliating it with Ulf Rott’s Aiki Kobudo-Kai Leer e.V. Furthermore, seminars with Sugino Yukihiro-sensei—who today leads the dōjō in Kawasaki in memory of his father, Sugino Yoshio Ō-sensei—are regularly held in Berlin. The independent organization Kobukai-Berlin e.V., which he co-founded, has been in existence since 2009.