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As a provincial lord in the Yamato area, Muneyoshi became deeply involved in the battles and wars of that time. He presented a demonstration of his family style of Shinkage-ryu to Tokugawa Ieyasu at Takagamine, a hill in Northern Kyoto.
During a conversation after the regular demonstration of martial technique, Tokugawa Ieyasu was invited to attack the unarmed Muneyoshi (Who was in his eighties at the time) with a bokuto. Muneyoshi disarmed the wooden sword from Ieyasu's grasp and threw him to the ground. Impressed at the expertise of the old warrior, Ieyasu asked to have him serve the Tokugawa family as their personal sword instructor. Muneyoshi declined, citing his age, and instead sent one of his sons, Munenori, to serve Ieyasu.
At the Battle of Sekigahara (1600), Munenori was at the main encampment, with Ieyasu. Historical reports account that a raiding party burst upon the camp and attempted to assassinate Ieyasu and his general staff. Munenori leapt into the battle and quickly dispatched some tens of the the enemy before the rest withdrew. For his skill, Munenori's fortunes and rank rose rapidly. He became a fencing master to the Tokugawa shoguns. Later in his life, he became Soh-metsuke (A sort of fuedal era secret police) of the "outside" daimyo, those not originally allied to the Tokugawa.
Munenori founded the Edo Yagyu branch, the side of the Yagyu family that resided in the shogun's capitol of Edo (present-day Tokyo). Another brother, Yagyu Shinjiro Toshikatsu, went to serve the Owari Tokugawa, and Toshikatsu's son Hyogo No Suke Toshiyoshi Myounsai founded the Owari Yagyu.
Owari Yagyu Shinkage-ryu is the family line that still remains intact today. At the moment, this line is still headed by Yagyu Nobuharu sensei, the 21st generation headmaster. Their honbu dojo is in Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture. The line of succession has carried on for those 21 generations.Official Owari Yagyu Yagyukai website
The Edo Yagyu Shinkage-ryu line is still taught in the kanto area, specifically, Kanagawa prefecture, Tochigi prefecture and Tokyo City. It traces it's lineage back via the late Otsubo Shiho shihan & Muto Masao shihan. The group also trains in Yagyu Shingan-ryu taijutsu.Arakido Dojo Edo Yagyu Shinkage-ryu & Yagyu Shingan-ryu
There are quite a few other branches going back to the Bakumatsu period that
have seperated. For example, there is a branch of Yagyu Shinkage-ryu in kyushu
that are rather similar to the mainlines, but have their own take on certain
techniques going back to the time when it was taught,including shinken kumitachi
in kacchu. Other branches have naginatajutsu and jojutsu in their densho.
