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During the early 1800's there arose in Japan
an idealogy that rallied around deposing the Tokugawa Shogunate and replacing
the Emperor to the throne. Clans were the political parties of the time
and the Aizu clan was in favor of the Shogun. The Aizu leader Katamori
Matsudaira had served the Shogunate for many years and thus the loyalty
of the Aizu lay with the Shogun. The Aizu fought many battles in an attempt
to keep the Emperor and his forces from the throne. They were pivotal
in the Bakumatsu wars. Now, their political lifestyle was threatened by
the Choshu and Satsuma clans who were in support of the Emperor. As a
result of their opposing idealogies, the Aizu samurai under the leadership
of Saigo Tanomo (1830 - 1905) clashed against the forces of Choshu and
Satsuma at Shirakawaguchi. |
Tanomo Saigo |
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Saigo Tanomo was an Aikijujutsu and Kenjutsu student under
Takeda Soemon (1758 - 1853). Saigo had studied for years with the Takeda
schools and was a famous warrior even though he was defeated by the Choshu
and Satsuma clans. Because of this loss, however, the family of Saigo
Tanomo, 21 in all, committed suicide thinking that Tanomo had been killed.
Unknown to his family, Saigo Tanomo survived the battle of Shirakawaguchi!
Now that his family was gone, Tanomo returned to Aizu and became a teacher
of Mizoguchi Ha Itto-Ryu and Koshu-Ryu Gungaku kenjutsu. |
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In 1876 Tanomo received a new student into his tradition named Takeda
Sokaku (1860 - 1943). Sokaku, the grandson of Takeda Soemon was born
in Aizu on 10 October 1860. He studied Aikijujutsu from his grandfather
and other arts from his father. By the time he was 16 he had studied
Jikishinkage-Ryu kenjutsu from Sakakibara Kenkichi and received his
Menkyo Kaiden in Ono Ha Itto-Ryu from Toma Shibuya of Tokyo. Tanomo
remembered Sokaku's grandfather well, as he had also been taught by
him. For 3 years Sokaku studied Daito-Ryu with Saigo and mastered many
arts such as Aikijujutsu, Battojutsu, Yarijutsu and Kenjutsu. Finally
in 1880 at the Nikko Toshogu Shrine, Tanomo passed on all his knowledge
including the secret teachings to Sokaku. From that day forward, Takeda
Sokaku would be headmaster of Daito-Ryu.
For almost 20 years Takeda Sokaku wandered from dojo to dojo, challenging
every known martial arts master, and he was never defeated. He took
time in his travels to instruct others, often staying with the student
for a period of time before moving on. He intelligently concentrated
on government officials and military leaders as well as local police
departments for his student body. In this manner his reputation spread
quickly.
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Sokaku Takeda |
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After the dissolution of the samurai in the late 1800's
contact with the Americans became more frequent for the Japanese.
Not only was this the American's first contact with the Japanese culture,
but also with the Japanese martial arts. Sokaku, in one single event
sparked wonder in the minds of Americans about the martial arts of
Japan. In 1904 a fateful meeting between American teacher Charles
Parry and Takeda Sokaku occurred on a train in Japan. An argument
ensued between the two about seating in the first class section of
the train, and inevitably Sokaku found it necessary to restrain the
large foreigner. Amazed at how helpless he was against a 4'11"
man, Parry reported to his superiors in the U.S. of the great power
of Aikijujutsu. President Roosevelt sent for an Aikijujutsu instructor
to come to the U.S. and put on a formal demonstration of the art.
Takeda sent Police Officer Shinzo Harade between 1904 and 1910, who
immediately gained great renown and many students including Charles
Parry. He involved himself in the instruction of Police forces and
in exhibitions for dignitaries and public officials.
Takeda Sokaku died on 25 April 1943 at Amori Station in Honshu, leaving
behind his great tradition to his son Takeda Tokimune and his senior
students Hisa Takuma, Sagawa Yukiyoshi, Yamada Taisaburo, Matsuda
Toyosaku, Yamamoto Kakuyoshi and Ueshiba Morihei. Takeda Tokimune
currently teaches in Abaragi prefecture, Hokkaido, Japan. From Daito-Ryu
came Hakko-Ryu, Yamate-Ryu and Iwama-Ryu, a.k.a. Aikido.
JUJUTSU AND JUDO
At the end of the 1800's the Samurai were politically disbanded and
many Jujutsu/Kenjutsu schools died out. A few survived, however. Jujutsu
schools came in from the countryside to the city, and by doing so
were exposed to other ryu. There were many contests between Jujutsu
schools at the time, each trying to prove they were the best. Many
Jujutsu styles were defeated and discredited, some unjustly. Nevertheless,
they were forced out of existence, or the practitioners simply joined
other ryu. It was also a time of bullying on the part of the Jujutsuka.
Many of the younger students found enjoyment in trying the techniques
out on unsuspecting city folk. Also, many bar brawls were started
in order to practice their techniques. Jujutsu itself fell into ill
repute and many of it's practitioners were seen as trouble makers.
Because of this view the practice of Jujutsu was restricted to a very
few traditional schools.
It was in 1882 that things began to change. It was in that year that
Kano Jigoro founded a new type of Jujutsu that he called Judo. Kano
was a Jujutsu master who had studied under senseis Teinosuke Yagi
and Hachinosuke Fukada of the Tenshin Shin'Yo-Ryu. Later he also studied
under the tutelage of Tsunetoshi Iikubu of the Kito-Ryu. He also studied
a while with the Sekiguchi-Ryu. Kano was born in a small costal town
outside of Kobe, Japan in 1860. His main martial theories were developed
by his study of the "secret" books HONTAI and SEIKO which
discuss the fundamentals of Nage (throwing) through the principle
of KI-TO (to raise up - to strike down). This, combined with his grappling
knowledge from the Tenshin Shin'Yo-Ryu led Kano to retire to the solitude
of the Eishoji temple and develop his Judo.
What made Kano's Jujutsu different was his approach to training. Because
he sought to preserve the Jujutsu techniques, but realized that Jujutsu
had a bad reputation, he changed the entire philosophy surrounding
his art. Kano emphasized the physical fitness aspects of the art and
altered the techniques to make them appealing to the general public.
The sporting aspect of the art was also suggested. Kano arranged KATA,
(prearranged forms) for the self defense techniques in order to ensure
safety and enjoyment in learning, but retained SHIAI (contest) to
test timing and technique in s semi-combat situation. Kano also invented
the ranking system that consisted of KYU ranks (trainees) and DAN
ranks (graded). Before Kano the ranking system was non-existent. Kano
also targeted government and military officials as his primary student
population. By doing this the popularity of his Judo spread quickly.
Of course, it must be realized that Kano's Judo achieved it's notoriety
because of Aikijujutsu. It seems that Kano was an excellent Jujutsuka
himself, but felt that in order to prove that his new for was "undefeatable"
he would need to employ an "undefeatable" representative
of his new art form. This man was Saigo Shida who changed his name
to Saigo Shiro (1867 - 1922).
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Shiro was the adopted son of Aikijujutsu master Saigo Tanomo. Shiro
was a master of Daito-Ryu at a young age and was trained for the headmastership
of the Takeda tradition, but was recruited by Kano to be his "showman"
for the Kodokan system. This is basically why Takeda Sokaku became Daito-Ryu's
headmaster. Shiro was known for his great ability and strength at a young
age. In fact, he was a Godan (5th degree) by the age of 21. In the contests
set up between the Kodokan and the area Jujutsu schools, Saigo easily
defeated all opponents, mostly with his favorite technique YAMA ARASHI.
Kodokan was "proving" its worth by using Aikijujutsu, although
most of the techniques Saigo used were never taught by Kano. As a matter
of fact, whereas Aikijujutsu had over a thousand techniques, the Kodokan
system boasted about 150. After many years Saigo Shiro left the Kodokan
and became a reporter and master of Kyudo (archery). Only when Saigo left
the Kodokan did the style move into the realm of martial sport. Saigo
Shiro, perhaps one of the world's greatest Jujutsuka died on 23 December
1922 at the age of 57. |
Shiro Saigo |
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By the time Judo moved into the 20th century, many of
the KORYU or "ancient schools" were gone or disappearing.
Thus, it was the perfect time for Judo to come on strong. Kano made
his Judo the standard physical education for the Japanese Police Force
and Army. Judo was also popularized in the United States. In 1889, Kano
had sent Yamashita Yoshiaki to the U.S. to live and instruct Judo at
Harvard University and at the Annapolis Academy. This had greatly enhanced
the popularity of Judo with the new American audience. Even though Kano
had, in fact, used Aikijujutsu to make his art famous, he did do Jujutsu
a great service. If it were not for the renewed interest in the grappling
arts caused by Judo there is a distinct possibility that Jujutsu would
have never survived as a martial art.
After an illustrious career, Kano died while travelling at sea in 1938.
Today Judo is practiced all over the world and is a sport in the Olympics.
DAITO-RYU TO AIKIDO
Ueshiba Morihei, one of the senior students of Takeda Sokaku was born
on 14 December 1883 in the Motomachi district of Tanabe City in Wakayama
Prefecture. As a young man he moved to Tokyo and there studied Kito-Ryu
Jujutsu and Shinkage-Ryu kenjutsu. Around 1903 he joined the military
and served in the Russo-Japanese war.
In 1912 he moved to the northern island of Hokkaido with a Japanese
resettlement project and became one of the community heads. While he
lived in Hokkaido he was introduced to Takeda Sokaku by Yoshida Kotaro.
For the next 7 years he studied Daito-Ryu Aikijujutsu with Takeda. In
1922 at the age of 39 he was granted, along with 20 other students,
the teaching license called KYOJU DAIRI. This meant he was considered
to have mastered most of the Daito-Ryu techniques that numbered around
350. Two other students of Takeda received higher degrees; Hisa Takuma
received KAIDEN and Sagawa Yukiyoshi received SHODEN. The SHODEN meant
he had learned the complete catalog of arts numbering about 2800 techniques.
Yukiyoshi became the 36th Soke (headmaster) of Daito-Ryu, but upon the
death of Sokaku, relinquished the headmastership to Tokimune, Sokaku's
son. |
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Ueshiba |
In 1936 Ueshiba opened his first school in Tokyo. Ueshiba called his
art many names including: Ueshiba Juku Aikijujutsu, Aikibujutsu, Kobukai
Aikibudo, Tenshin Aikibodo, Takemusu Aiki and Aikido. He finally chose
to stick with the name Aikido in 1942. Prior to WWII his dojo was known
as Jigoku dojo or "hell" dojo. The students of this school were
subjected to grueling workouts that lasted many hours and in which several
people could be injured in one day. |
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These students, however, became the best of the Aikido practitioners.
Some were: Shioda Gozo, Hirai Minoru, Rinjiro Shirata, Saito Morihiro,
Mochizuki Minoru and Tomiki Kenji. Saito and Shioda seemed to have retained
the closest style to that of the old Daito-Ryu system.
In 1942 Ueshiba moved to Iwama in the Ibaragi Prefecture where he built
a dojo (still run by Saito Sensei today), and became a farmer. One reason
for this change in lifestyle was his involvement in the Omoto Kyo Shinto
sect led by Deguchi Onisaburo. After 1945 Ueshiba began to teach again
in Tokyo. It was there that the first changes came to Aikijujutsu. Older
now, and under the mental and spiritual influences of Omoto Kyo, he
began to change the emphasis of Aikido from martial arts training to
perfection of the spiritual self through discipline, breath power and
harmonious movement with others. Aikido was the way. Now as Aikido moved
away from the martial aspect, it was accepted by the occupying U.S.
forces as a "non-martial" form of physical education. Because
of the need for peace, his school out-shone all others of Aikijujutsu
in Japan. And, because of his charisma he parlayed his art into a worldwide
phenomenon. Ueshiba Morihei died 26 April 1969 leaving his son Kisshomaru
in charge as the second headmaster of Aikido.
Morehei Ueshiba
Several other forms of Aikido have developed today. Two are very influential.
Those are the Tomiki school and the Yoshinkai. The Tomiki school was
founded by one of the top students of Ueshiba; Tomiki Kenji. The style
was developed to firstly, remove the supernatural aspects from the art,
and secondly to allow competition. The Yoshinkai form was developed
by Shioda Gozo, another of Ueshiba's top students. Shioda's form strives
to retain the original Daito-Ryu Aikijujutsu methods. His U.S. representative
is Takashi Kushida.
From the Yoshinkan have stemmed many schools claiming direct lineage
to true Aikijujutsu, especially Daito-Ryu. In a way, this is true, because
from Takeda through Ueshiba and Shioda, the "new" Aikijujutsu
schools have come into existence. What must be realized is that there
are still schools today that practice actual Daito-Ryu Aikijujutsu directly
from either the Japanese source or from the assigned U.S. representatives.
This does not make the other schools invalid, however. One must just
realize their origins in the scope of Jujutsu history.
JUJUTSU COMES TO THE WEST
In the late 1800's a master of Yoshin-Ryu; one Tanaka Yoshimatsu opened
a dojo in Hilo, Hawaii which he called SHINYU-KAI. One of his students;
Henry Sieshiro Okazaki became pivotal in the dissemination of Jujutsu
in the modern world.
Henry Sieshiro Okazaki was born on January 28, 1890 in Fukushima Prefecture,
Honshu, Japan. He moved to Hilo, Hawaii in 1906. When he was young he
found himself in ill health. It was the practice of Jujutsu, he felt,
that eventually cured him of his maladies. Eventually becoming a Jujutsu
master himself, he decided to break from tradition and to teach his
art to non-Japanese. Okazaki was not regarded well by his peers for
this decision, but he felt that Jujutsu should be for all people. Okazaki
began to teach U.S. military men stationed in Hawaii and received attention
from the public for this. In 1921 he accepted a challenge from heavyweight
boxing champion K.O. Morris, who claimed to have travelled throughout
Japan defeating Judo and Jujutsu men with boxing. In a highly publicized
fight, Okazaki defeated Morris by breaking his arm, even though Okazaki
did receive a broken nose in the effort. This victory greatly improved
the reputation of Jujutsu.
Okazaki sensei opened his first school in 1930 and finally established
a permanent dojo, the HAWAIIAN JUJUTSU GUILD (later called the AMERICAN
JUDO AND JUJUTSU INSTITUTE OF HAWAII) in Honolulu in 1936. Okazaki also
travelled to Japan and made some extensive studies of other Jujutsu
such as Yoshin-Ryu, Kosogabe-Ryu, Nambashoshin-Ryu and Shibukawa-Ryu.
He also studied Ryukyuan Karate, Hawaiian Lua, Kung Fu and Kodokan Judo,
in which he also received a Black Belt. After making these studies Okazaki
began to form his own style of Jujutsu. He called the style Kodenkan/Danzan-Ryu.
Kodenkan means "School of the Ancient Tradition" and Danzan
means "Cedar Mountains", the ancient Japanese name for the
Hawaiian islands. From this system Jujutsu spread first to the United
States.
Henry Sieshiro Okazaki died in July 1951. His son Hachiro now runs the
famous Nikko Restoration and Massage Sanitorium in Honolulu, Hawaii.
Ramon Ancho is the presiding elder of the system and has appeared in
many movies. He was a high ranking military man and now does private
instruction to government agencies as well as performing types of bodyguard
duties in foreign countries. Prof. and Shihan Sig Kufferath was the
Soke (headmaster) of Kodenkan/Danzan-Ryu and taught in the Los Angeles,
CA area. He also gave private seminars and personal instruction in a
few other areas of the country. Sig died in 1999. Shihan Fransisco Limbago
is the current president of the AJI. Although there is no legally recognized
Soke - many attribute this title to Sig's longest student and teaching
partner, Tony Janovich. |
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During the early part of this century Jujutsu made a big influx into
the American martial arts scene by US contact with the orient during the
Second World War. Many soldiers returned with training, however slight,
and truly raised the popularity of the grappling arts. One Jujutsu style,
Hakko-Ryu came on the western scene in the 1940's. Founded 1 June 1941
by Okuyama Yoshiji (Yoshinobu) Ryuho, Hakko-Ryu picked up a small following
in the U.S. quickly. Okuyama was born February 21, 1901 in Yachi Cho,
Japan. Yoshiji learned from Daito-Ryu master Matsuda Toshimi (Hosaku).
Okuyama made some small changes and developed several theories of unarmed
combat. Hakko-Ryu is designed to thwart attacks by applying pressure to
the body's kieraku (meridians) to cause intense but nondamaging pain and
thus destroys the attackers will to continue. Okuyama created the system
based on the belief that the successful application of technique versus
physical strength could neutralize and control any attacker. Hakko-Ryu
means "School of the Eighth Light". The Hakko-Ryu Hombu is located
in Satama Prefecture and their heir apparent is Okuyama Toshio. The US
representatives are Dennis Palumbo of Colorado and Brian Workman of Washington
state. |
Okuyama Yoshiji |
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Goshin Jutsu was founded by Tanaka Tatsu around 1950. Tanaka had studied
classical Jujutsu for years, and when he finally opened his own dojo
in Tokyo in 1952, he decided to eliminate the injurious techniques from
his art. He removed kicking, striking and leg tripping. Instead he concentrated
on pressure point Atemi, Kansetsu and Nage techniques. There are 150
basic techniques in his form and Tanaka states that his main purpose
in the development of his art was to promote good health through exercise
and proper knowledge of self defense.
Wally Jay
Small Circle Jujutsu was founded by Wally Jay. Jay was born in Hawaii
on 15 June 1917. Early in life he studied boxing and in 1935 began Jujutsu
under Paul Kaelemakule. In 1940 he started to study Kodenkan/Danzan-Ryu
Jujutsu under the top student of Henry S. Okazaki; Juan Gomez. He also
studied Judo under Ken Kawachi with whom he credits for the catalyst
that started the small circle theory. He also received his oriental
therapeutic massage (Siefukujutsu) diploma from Henry S. Okazaki. In
1950 he moved to California and began to teach Jujutsu. From the 1960's
on he has toured extensively teaching his style which is based on the
theory that a small tight circular movement by the Jujutsuka's hands
make the techniques more painful and effective. He resides in Alameda,
California.
The system that has come to be known as ZenBudo-Ryu stems from the genius
of one man - Hanshi Raymond "Duke" Moore. Duke Moore began
his training with Ray Law - a student of Seishiro Okazaki of the Danzan
Ryu. Duke Moore began in the early 1940's and has studied Kyokushin
Karate from Mas Oyama, Judo from George Yoshida, Danzan-Ryu Jujutsu
from Ray Law, Shorinji Kempo and Daito-Ryu Aikijujutsu from Richard
Kim, and Jujutsu from Kiyose Nakae. He founded his system, a combination
of the best of all of his knowledge in the early 60's. He opened the
now famous Market Street Dojo in San Francisco, CA, and then oversaw
over 10 dojo in Northern California for many years. He was awarded,
in the early 80's the title of Hanshi and the rank of Judan, 10th degree
blackbelt by a board of senior blackbelts from many different martial
arts. In the early 80's he also founded ATAMA, American Teachers Association
of the Martial Arts. Today this is a worldwide organization that credentials
martial arts instructors by a rigid set of standards. His school was
named the Zen Budokai. At 80 years of age, he is still a Jujutsu and
Karate practitioner. He has assigned a successor to the ZenBudo-Ryu
- Tim Delgman - 8th Dan.
Duke Moore
Gracie Jiu-Jitsu was founded by Helio Gracie of Brazil. Carlos Gracie,
his brother had met the leader of a Japanese resettlement colony named
Maeda Esai (a.k.a. Count Koma). Maeda taught Helio Gracie the art of
Jujutsu and eventually taught four of the Gracie brothers. In 1925 Carlos
and his brothers opened the first Jujutsu dojo in Brazil. Helio stood
out the most of the brothers and developed the original techniques into
what is now called Gracie Jujutsu. The Gracie family is the largest
"sports" family in history with 40 active members. The Gracie
family is known for having an open challenge for anyone to fight against
their Jujutsu; no holds barred style. The Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu style
was taught to several families in Brazil and has now spread around the
world as one of the fastest growing martial arts ever. There are now
representatives all over the world.
Helio Gracie
JU-JITSU TODAY
Ju-Jitsu is still evolving and spreading during the beginning of the
21st century. Although today it has many names, and many "styles",
it really remains as whole and concise as it ever was. What we have
learned is that there are no secret techniques. There are only so many
ways one can manipulate a body. And knowledge flows freely through organizations,
competitions, training centers, video tapes, and the internet. It is
the "golden" moment for Ju-Jitsu. During this early part of
the 21st century, the techniques of Ju-Jitsu can be seen in the following
named grappling arts: Mixed Martial Arts, Jujutsu, Ju-Jitsu, Brazilian
Jiu-Jitsu, Pancrase, No Holds Barred, Submission fighting/wrestling,
Shoot fighting, Shooto, Cage Fighting, Ultimate Fighting, etc. |