 Witnessing the growing pains and still feeling constrained by the Takumakai system which had strict rules concerning what techniques could be shown to students of different levels Okabayashi decided to form his system in 2002 in which, unusually, he decided not to use the Daitō-ryū name at all.As there had been a power struggle over succession after the death of the headmaster between Kondo Katsuyuki and some of the Hokkaidō based Daitokan teachers who had been present while he trained at the headquarters, and with groups like the Saigo-ha and Nakamura-ha, having questionable links to Daitō-ryū making claims concerning the art, Okabayashi chose to avoid explanations and comparisons to other groups and just continue to teach the techniques he had learned from Hisa and Tokimune under a new name; the Hakuhō-ryū or 'White Phoenix School'.Like an ancient Phoenix being reborn from the ashes anew, Okabayashi took the opportunity to reveal the koryū movements within the contemporary techniques of Daitō-ryū.