Castle of the Swift Sword Dojo

The Castle of the Swift Sword Dojo is where the Kami Akodo first trained his followers to fight Fu Leng. The dojo was build for the purpose of creating a massive army to destroy his corrupted brother, but sadly the school never survived the war. Since then there were at least two attempts to rebuild the school that failed miserably. In the end it was the grandson of Akodo who managed to rebulid the dojo, moving it halfway across Lion lands to the site where Akodo first met Matsu, and it has stood there to this day.

Military Headquarters
In all the wars that the Lion have been involved in Shiro sano Ken Hayai has served as the military headquarters. Troop movement, supply distribution, tracking enemy units and many other military functions have all involved the castle. After the Scorpion Coup and the disbanding of the Akodo family however the functions of the castle were transferred to Shiro Matsu, and the castle stood in a shadow of it's former glory. During the majority of the Clan War only the morose Deathseekers made it their base of operations. After the Battle of Oblivion's Gate and the reinstatement of the Akodo, the new daimyo Akodo Ginawa transferred back the ownership of the Akodo holdings from the Matsu family to the Akodo. These included among others Shiro Akodo and the school at Shiro sano Ken Hayai. This resulted in the need for expanding the school to make room for the unprecedented numbers of new trainees.

Traditions
The Lion adhere to tradtions more strongly than any other clan in Rokugan, and virtually every aspect of the training here followes a schedule laid down centuries ago. Some of the individual sensei are allowed to vary these regimes slightly, but will be looked upon with disdain if too much is changed. The strangest tradition the school is one that shows their emphasis on honing the mind as well as the body. In their final year of training the student will train under the master sensei, who will select a play from his favourite playwright and the students are made to re-enact single acts each training session. In most cases the class will finish the entire play before graduation this way, but failure to complete the play is considered a disgrace, so the students put a lot of time into memorizinf the plays.

Training
It is rare for a student to have begun his training at the Castle of the Swift Sword, as that honor is bestowed upon the children of the prominent Lion figures and those rare individuals who show incredible martial prowess. These few however will also have high expectations placed upon them. The training itself emphasises upon the use of the katana, as the Lion consider it the only weapon a true warrior would use. For those who wish to study other weapons however there are possibilities for that. Archery is also very important to the schools training, and training in pole arms is also popular. To the Akodo the mind is as important as the weapon, and their non-combat curriculum is one of the most intensive in Rokugan. Battle tactics are a daily part of all the students training, and every graduating student will at least have some basic knowledge in the matter. History and literature is also very important, as the Akodo have found that there are valuable lessons to learn from the past.

Sensei
Only the finest samurai have ever been honored with the assignment as master sensei of the dojo. In addition to being exeptionally gifted soldiers the sensei must also have a wide grasp of history, literature and many of the fine arts. This results in some of the finest and most educated minds coming out of the school, not just the finest warriors. Obviously the majority of students here are bushi, but there is a significant amount of shugenja that train here also, often studying under the historians stationed here. Also the occasional Ikoma bard will find his way here for history lessons.

Notable Sensei

 * Akodo Hirotsu

Notable Students

 * Akodo Ijiasu
 * Akodo Setai