Daito-ryu
Aiki Jujutsu is one of the Ko Budo. The
detail of its development in the Edo
period(1603 ` 1868) and before is not
clear. There are no books or no records
about Daito-ryu. Perhaps there were some
manuscripts written, but they were lost in
the 1868 war. Or perhaps the practitioners
purposely kept their techniques secret by
not writing anything down. The truth is not
known.
A.Outline of Daito-ryu history
Japan was unified for the first time in the
3rd or 4th century. This was probably an
association of tribes, ruled by one emperar.
In 645, Nakano-ooeno-ouji, the son of the
current emperor, revolted, and killed the
family of the king of the biggest tribe.
With his succession to power, Japan came
under one rule. Up till 1192, Asuka period ,
Nara period, and Heian period was controlled
by emperors. In the beginning, the emperors
were very strong, but year by year the
aristocracy took more and more control and
the emperors came under their control. At
the same time, it was becoming more and more
difficult to maintain public peace. People
began to take actions for their own personal
self-defense. In the 9th or 10th century,
professional groups of self-defense began to
appear. These groups were known as Samurai.
As time moved on, the Samurai gained more
and more power. There were two main Samurai
families, the Heishi, and the Genji.
According to oral tradition, in 11th
century, the top leader of the Genji clan
was Minamoto no Yoriyoshi, and one of his
sons, Minamoto no Yoshiie. In particular,
they became very powerful in the east part
of Japan after Zen Ku Nen no Eki
War(1051-1062), and Go San Nen no Eki
War(1083-1087).
Minamoto no Yoriyoshi had another son. His
name was Yosihimitsu. His full name was
Shinra Saburo Minamoto no Yoshimitsu.
According to oral tradition Yoshimitsu
started Daito-ryu in the 11th century. He
dissected the dead bodies of soldiers to
understand human bone structure. He also
learned his understanding of jujutsu from
nature. He noticed that a spider making its
web could catch its prey that was bigger
than the spider itself. This gave him the
idea that the small could defeat the large.
After that he studied this principle hard
for many years. At last, he found the secret
that makes all techniques work. This was
Aiki. From that time, his martial art was
passed from generation to generation for
1000 years as Daito-ryu.
Yoshimitsu settled down in Kai in
Yamanashi prefecture and took on the family
name Takeda. After that Takeda family
governed the Kai region till it was ruined
in 1582. However, the developing martial
system was passed on the survivors of Takeda
family. Kogusoku, (which is grappling while
wearing a minimal amount of armor, leggings
and gauntlets, and a short sword,) was made
up in this period.
After that Daito-ryu was passed on to
Aizu clan by Takeda Kunitsugu of the Takeda
family. At that time there were a lot of
independent clan in Japan. Aizu was one of
them. Daito-ryu became a secret budo of the
Aizu clan. Only high class samurai were
permitted to learn it. Oshikiuchi (, which
was used in the inner threshold of the
castle,) was created in this period.
In 1867-68, there was a civil war between
the Tokugawa Bakufu ( made up of warrior
class ) and the Emperor of Japan. The Aizu
state stood by the Tokugawa Bakufu.
Unfortunately the Tokugawa was defeated, as
well as its supporters. In the disorder
after the ruin of the Aizu state, Takeda
Sokaku (1860`1943) learned his Daito-ryu.
Most of the above can be considered oral
traditon, as there are no confirmed written
records. What we know for certain is that
Takeda Sokaku appeared and taught Daito-ryu
Aiki Jujutsu to select people from 1898 to
1943. His home was Hokkaido, but he never
settled down at one dojo for a long time. He
always walked around Japan and taught
Daito-ryu. He hardly ever taught any one
person for more than a few years. The
students had to learn by themselves. Takeda
Sokaku didn't actually teach, but just
showed. Sokaku taught different techniques
to different persons, depending on what he
thought they needed. So today there are a
lot of Daito-ryu associations which have
many different kinds of Daito-ryu, and every
association has techniques, unique to
themselves.
When Takeda Sokaku taught Daito-ryu to
someone, he had the students write their
names on the Eimeiroku ( the signature ).
Now we know who ,when, and how long he
taught Daito-ryu. One of the most famous
students who signed the Eimeiroku is
Umeshiba Morihei. From this we know for sure
how long he learned Daito-ryu by looking at
the Eimeiroku. Ueshiba Morihei was short and
not a powerful man. Consequently Sokaku
taught him mainly Aiki techniques. These
techniques developed to present day Aikodo.
Hisa Takuma, who received his Menkyo
Kaiden rank from Sokaku, studied many kinds
of techniques. Due to his position of the
Asahi newspaper, he was able to take
pictures of these techniques. These pictures
became the Souden. And Hisa Takuma's group
became known as Takumakai.
Today the major groups maintaining the
tradition of Daito-ryu as taught by Sokaku
Takeda are Takumakai, Tokyo Hombu, Kodokai,
and Sagawa-dojo.
B.Takeda Sokaku (1860-1943)
Takeda Sokaku,who reorganized Daito-ryu and
is recognized as its founder, was born in
Aizu Bangemachi in Fukushima Prefecture, on
October 10, 1860, the second son of Takeda
Sokichi. From childhood he learned kenjutsu,
bojutsu, sumo and other martial arts like
other children of Samurai at that time. A
sumo ring still remains at the house where
he was born.
In the 1868 war the Aizu clan was
defeated by the supporters of the emperor.
It completely disappeared. The caste system
was abolished, as were the samurai. This is
known as the Meiji restoration. But Takeda
Sokaku practiced kenjutsu, Ono-ha Ittoryu
even often this time. He continued to
practice in the samurai spirit as in the
past. So he is often called 'the last
samurai'. He studied Ono-ha Itto-ryu
kenjutsu under Shibuya Toma who was also
from Aizu, and then began traveling the
country studying martial arts. In 1873 he
became a live-in student of Sakakibara
Kenkichi, an accomplished swordsman from the
end of the Edo period, and studied
Jikishinkage-ryu kenjutsu.
After the sudden death of his older
brother Takeda Sokatsu, in September of
1875, Takeda Sokaku was left with the
responsibility of carrying on the family
tradition of shin shoku, religious work.
Accompanied by his father, he visited the
chief priest, Hoshina Chikanori of
Tsuzukowake Shrine in the Higashi Shirakawa
District of Fukushima Prefecture, and began
an apprenticeship to become a Shinto priest.
Sokaku, however, had an aversion to reading
and writing, and was illiterate. At that
time Sokaku decided to purse the life of an
martial artist in stead of carrying on the
family tradition at the shrine. Some people
say that it is here that Sokaku began
training in the aiki-jujutsu under Hoshina
Chikanori. Sokaku, whose heart was
completely immersed in kenjutsu, failed to
fully understand his teacher's hope and left
the priesthood training the following year.
Sokaku left Tsuzukowake Shrine, and
traveled all over Japan in pursuit of
martial enlightenment. In the Meiji period
the people didn't have to practice Kenjutsu
as the martial era was over. Kenjutsu became
less popular as the Meiji period progressed.
However, Takeda Sokaku was still practicing
kenjutsu. In 1898, Sokaku visited the Ryosen
Shrine, where after twenty years he
reencountered Hoshina Chikanori again, by
that time the head priest of the Shrine.
Hoshina admonished Sokaku that he was the
sole retainer of these secret techniques as
passed down through the Aizu clan. At that
time Hoshina wrote in Takeda Sokaku's
personal register, Eimei Roku. He made a
short poem to Sokaku; "Even if one
tries to strike flowing water, it will leave
no mark that can be seen." This is
generally thought to mean: The age of the
sword is over. From now on, you must open
Daito-ryu Aiki Jujutsu to public and pass it
on to future generations. Perhaps this was
Hoshina's perception of the times and vision
for the future.
There is a big question about who really
taught Daito-ryu to Sokaku. Some people say
that Soemon, who was Sokaku's grandfather,
taught Daito-ryu to Hoshina Chikanori (
Saigo Tanomo ), who was the chief councilor
in Aizu, and he taught Daito-ryu to Sokaku.
Some people say that Sokichi, who was
Sokaku's father, taught Daito-ryu to Sokaku.
Anyway, with the knowledge and skills of
Daito-ryu Aiki Jujutsu and Ono-ha Itto-ryu
Kenjutsu, Takeda Sokaku traveled all over
Japan on foot, teaching, until April 25,
1943, when he passed away in Aomori
Prefecture at the age of 89. In Sokaku's 70
years of martial travels, he was never
defeated, and left behind stories of his
endeavors throughout the country.
Takeda Sokaku kept an attendance register
called the Eimei Roku. In it there are the
names and signatures of all the people he
taught, including well known individuals
from the Meiji, Taisho, and Showa periods:
administrators, judges, police chiefs and
Ministers. This register stands as evidence
of Sokaku's exceptional martial influence.
C.Hisa Takuma(1895-1980)
Hisa Takuma was born in Sakihama village,
Aki district, Kochi Prefecture, on November
3,1897. In 1916, he entered Kobe Kosho
University, now Kobe University, to study
business and commerce. While at University
he helped to establish the student sumo
club, in which he played an active role as
captain. He was later awarded an honorary
student sumo 8th dan ranking in 1965. After
graduating from Kobe University, he worked
at a store called Suzuki store which
eventually went bankrupt leaving him
jobless. Soon after that, he joined the
Asahi Newspaper Company on the invitation of
one of its executives, Ishii Mitsujiro, one
of Hisa's former seniors for Kobe
University.
In the 1930's there were some instances
of terrorist attacks on the Asahi Newspaper
Co. So they had to find a way to defend
their newspaper. In 1934, Hisa, who at the
time held a position of importance as Chief
of General Affairs at Osaka Asahi Newspaper
Co., received an introduction to Ueshiba
Morihei through Ishii Mitsujiro, who
consequently invited Ueshiba to teach in
Osaka. Hisa studied Daito-ryu Aiki Jujutsu
until he left the Asahi Newspaper. During
that time, Ueshiba's style did not have a
formal name, but because he was teaching at
the Asahi Newspaper Co., he called it
Asahi-ryu Jujutsu. The techniques were,
nevertheless, from the Daito-ryu curriculum.
One day in 1936 an old man came to the Asahi
Newspaper building and introduced himself to
Hisa. He was reported to have said, "I
am Ueshiba's teacher, but I haven't taught
him enough; so study under me." After
this, Ueshiba took his pupils and left Osaka
without meeting the old man. This old man
was Takeda Sokaku. From then on Hisa
received personal instruction from Sokaku as
he continued training in Daito-ryu Aiki
Jujutsu. On March 26, 1939, Sokaku awarded
Hisa with a Menkyo Kaiden (Certificate of
Full Proficiency) for his outstanding
ability, and told him to pass on Daito-ryu
to coming generations.
Takeda Sokaku taught Hisa a lot of
techniques, but he taught each technique
only once. If Hisa asked a question about
the techniques, Sokaku became angry. Later,
Hisa came up with a good idea. After
practice, he took Sokaku to the bath. While
he washed Sokaku's back, the others took
photos of the techniques they just
practiced. At last Hisa was able to compile
a book of techniques he learned from Sokaku
and Ueshiba which he divided Ten, Chi, and
Jin. He preserved these as Soden waza, a
general list of techniques. He also
orchestrated the creation of such works as
Kannagara no Budo, Joshi Goshinjutsu (Self
defense for Women) and Ohgi Hiden (The
Secrets of Grappling Techniques), as well as
a film on Ueshiba entitled Ueshiba no
Shidofukei (Ueshiba's Instructional
Techniques) which was directed by Hisa.
After leaving the Osaka Asahi Newspaper
Co. in 1943, Hisa worked as a public welfare
director for Kobe Steel. Later he returned
to his home town to become head of the
fisherman's cooperative. He finally worked
as secretary general of the National Policy
Research Society. At the retirement party
given in recognition of his services, he
received encouragement from Ishii Mitsujiro,
who said " Pass on Daito-ryu Aiki
Jujutsu to future generations, as only you
can do it." After receiving financial
support from the Kansai business community
the established the Kansai Aikido Club on
October 10, 1959. However, while teaching
during the fall of 1961 he suffered s stroke
and collapsed. The prospects for his
recovery were unencouranging, but with
incredible determination and strong will,
Hisa overcame his sickness and resumed
teaching. Even after he lost his wife in
February of 1965 he continued, living at the
dojo and instructing with a devotion that
produced many outstanding students. In the
end, persuaded by his family to look after
his health, Hisa closed the Kansai Aikodo
Club in 1968 and moved to Tokyo.
In accordance with the general will of his
most devout students, the Takumakai was
formed, and Mori Hakaru was appointed as
acting director by Hisa. Having entrusted
the responsibilities of the Takumakai to
Mori Hakaru, Hisa passed away in Kobe at the
age of 84, on October 31, 1980. His students
are actively striving to carry on the vision
and wishes of Hisa Takuma's martial legacy.
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