The name “Danzan Ryu” can be translated as sandalwood mountain system and stems from a Japanese name for Hawai’i (itself from the Chinese “T’an Shan”) and is the name given to a system of Ju Jitsu founded by professor Henry Okasaki in Hawai’i in which he incorporated aspects of many different martial arts into traditional Japanese Ju Jitsu. (You can read much more about Danzan Ryu at professor George Arrington’s site www.danzan.com)

Kodenkan may be translated as ‘the school of the ancient tradition’ or as ‘the school in which senior students transmit the tradition.’ both translations are correct. “Kodenkan” is the name professor Okazaki gave to his school.

Founder of Kodenkan Danzan Ryu Ju-Jitsu Seishiro Okazaki, was born in the Fukushima prefecture on the island of Honshu, Japan, in the late 1800s.

 During the course of Professor Okazaki’s studies he studied 52 different styles of Ju Jitsu while visiting numerous villages in Japan. Professor Seishiro Okazaki had a unique opportunity to study a wide range of hard and soft styles, combat systems and aesthetic ways that never before, and never thereafter were openly accessible. during the course of his training he had the great fortune to study under some of the most formidable masters of the time.

 In creating the Kodenkan Danzan ryu style of Ju Jitsu Okazaki synthesized the many styles of Ju Jitsu he studied, combining the practical styles of utilitarian combat with the esoteric principles inherent in samurai tradition.

Professor Okazaki moved to the Hawaiian islands in the early 1920s to teach his beloved Kodenkan Danzan Ryu Ju Jitsu. Not long after, Mr. Sig Kufferath first encountered the Professor and a close, personal relationship evolved. After Professor Okazaki’s untimely death in 1951, Professor Kufferath was elected, in a unanimous decision by the highest-ranking black belts, to take over the title of Professor from Okazaki. Professor Kufferath thereby became the second headmaster of the Kodenkan Danzan Ryu style of Ju Jitsu in Hawaii.

Professor Sigmund Kufferath died at his home in Santa Clara, ca on May 7th 1999, with his family and friends at his side. he lived a long and full life passing his knowledge on to many by whom he will be missed.

Professor Nicholls has studied the Kodenkan Danzan-ryu system of ju-jitsu for over 40 years. his training began in 1980 with the head of the style, Professor Sig Kufferath. This great good fortune of studying with Professor Okazaki’s top student was not lost on Professor Nicholls and his time spent with the late Professor Kufferath developed well beyond the student teacher relationship into a profound and enduring friendship.

 The teaching style of professor Kufferath changed greatly over the years, moving naturally from an emphasis on waza (utilitarian application) towards kata (emphasizing form) as his years progressed. yet Professor Kufferath always maintained the importance of a balance between these two facets of the art, insisting that they were mutually dependant and inseparable. Professor Nicholls received his teaching certificate of the Kodenkan from professor Kufferath, having studied and shown sufficient ability in the Okugi, or “hidden techniques”, an oral tradition passed down from teacher to student, comprising the most advanced repertoire of the system. when Professor Kufferath insisted Professor Nicholls open the first Kodenkan dojo in Britain, he passed on this great responsibility with his blessing. shortly after this great honour was bestowed, Professor Nicholls was made the British and european director of the kilohana martial arts society, a title he holds in the highest degree. in addition to the invaluable guidance of Professor Kufferath, Professor Nicholls has studied with such Masters as Sifu john chow hoon, Professor Wally Jay and Sensei Walter Todd, to name a few.

​He has received extensive tuition from Professor Jack Carter in the art of seifuku-jitsu. while having the privilege of receiving the rank of Nidan in Kempo-Jitsu from Shihan Russ Rhodes and holding lesser ranks in Shotokan-Karate and Aikido. Professor Nicholls remains ostensibly a ju-jitsuka, always striving to better understanding and achieve the deepest principals imparted by the Kodenkan Danzan-Ryu.