History

History and current situation

Martial Arts Club Ronin is a combat sports club that was found autumn 1996 by five people (Tero Kukkonen, Jarmo Nykyri, Heini Kauppinen, Tiina Paju and Marko Alander) living in the capital region of Finland. The founders had trained ju-jitsu and other combat sports before. Tero Kukkonen (1st Dan at that time) was elected to chairman of the club. Nowadays (January 2008), there are two of the founders, Tero Kukkonen (5th Dan, still sensei and chairman of the club) and Jarmo Nykyri (1st Dan, vice chairman of the club) participating the activities of the club.

Trainings of the club consist of modern ju-jitsu and other combat sports such as kick boxing, boxing, karate, judo, weapon techniques (modern weapons) and nerve point techniques. The style of the club is goshin-jutsu, which can be translated as self-defence technique. Martial Arts Club Ronin is member of the Finnish Goshin-jutsu Federation 2000 and W.E.B.B.S. international.

Grades in the club follow the order, that is commonly used in ju-jitsu, judo and karate in northern countries: white, yellow, orange, green, blue and brown belt, which are so called kyu or student degrees, and black belt (1-10 Dan or so called instructor degrees). Martial Arts Club Ronin does not recognize any person or master of any style for its own great master. The open-minded attitude towards all sports and styles without commitment to any of them has always been the policy of the club. This explains also the name of the club.

Trainings are nowadays held in the training hall of Tikkurila Judo Club in Hakunila (City of Vantaa), from where the club has rented its own dojo. There are three guided trainings weekly and the members of the club can also practice in so called free trainings. The club has an instructor exchange program with Tikkurila Judo Club and it organizes different budo seminars on its own influence region.

“Some history of word RONIN”

On 11th century in Japan, the name ronin was given for farmers that deserted their land to prevent the overwhelming taxes and moved to other regions, which were not yet owned by the Buddha monasteries or aristocracy. On Edo era (1603-1868), ronin was a bushi or warrior that did not serve any particular master because this was dead or had lost his land. Many ronins founded schools teaching fighting skills in them or carried out their samurai etiquette serving as bodyguards or protectors of villages. One of the most famous ronin was Miyamoto Musashi (1584-1645) who taught ken-jutsu.