Akodo Kenburo devised his dueling technique while he was a young ronin, roaming the streets and confronting other ronin, criminals, and thugs. During his tenure as Emerald Champion he taught the technique to a few of his most trusted magistrates, and after his death they preserved it within the Ruby Dojo and passed it down to later generations. Kenburo’s core tenet was that it was not the fastest, strongest, or most skilled duelist who won the duel, but the duelist who most frightens his opponent. “Break their spirit and their skill doesn’t matter,” he commented. “Make them think they are certain to die and even the boldest samurai will falter.”
Kenburo’s Way is only known within the Ruby Dojo and is thus normally only available to Emerald and Jade Magistrates. However, given that it was originally devised by Kenburo while he was a ronin, GMs may also wish to experiment with making the technique available to other ronin—after all, who knows whether Kenburo taught it to anyone before he won the Emerald Championship?