From: byoung@csd4.csd.uwm.edu (Brian P Young)
Newsgroups: rec.martial-arts
Subject: Daito Ryu history II
Date: 9 Oct 1992 04:07:57 GMT
Organization: Computing Services Division, University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee
NNTP-Posting-Host: 129.89.7.4

This is a continuation of the Daito Ryu history, ranging from 1800's to 
present. Basically it is the history of Takeda Sogaku, best known for
teaching Uyeshiba Morihei.

(All names are listed in the Japanese fasion-sir name then first name)

The last of the Aizu Shinamban (clan fencing master) was Takeda Takumi No
Kami Minamoto Soemon (1758-1853).  In addition to Matsudaira Takamori, the
Daimyo (ruler) of the Aizu domain, Soemon had to other important students.  
One was his grandson, Takeda Soyoshi, and the other was the minister of the 
Aizu Han, Saigo Tanamo (1829-1905).

Takeda Soyoshi was a master swordsman and headed, under the direction of the
Aizu Daimyo, a special squad of elite warriors in the capital city of Kyoto,
far to the south of Aizu.  It was his task to suppress anti-Shogunate 
demonstrations near the Imperial Palace.  His children remained in Aizu, 
studing under their uncle and Saigo Tanamo.

In 1868, came the Meiji Restoration and the Shogun returned power to the
emperor.  As leader of the resistance to this change, Takamori and Soyoshi
were killed.  Saigo Tanamo, then the governor of the Shirakawa Castle, became
a Shinto priest and adopted the name of Hoshino Genshin.  His senior student
was Takeda Sokichi, Soyoshi's eldest son.  Sokichi, in addition to studing
Daito Ryu Aikijujutsu, was a well known Sumo wrestler, so he must have been
a man of considerable size.

In 1875 Sokichi died and Tanamo called his younger brother to the shrine at
Toshogu in Nikko.  Takeda Sogaku was the physical opposite of his older 
brother, being less then five feet tall.  Perhaps in order to compensate for
his small size, he was a martial art fanatic.  He was one of that rare breed
of men who devoted their entire existance to training, never doing, or
thinking about, anything else.  However, Sogaku was not ready to settle 
down to temple life and left after only six months.

This forced to look for another student and he finally selected a young boy 
named Shinda Shiro (1868-1920). In 1884, he was officially adopted by Tanamo
and changed his name to Saigo Shiro.

While in Tokyo in 1881, Shinro joined the Inoue Dojo of the Tenshi Shinyo Ryu
Jujutsu.  There, in 1883, he meet a young man named Kano Jigoro.  At that
time, Kano was in the process of creating a new orgianization called Kodokan
Judo.  Shiro joined him and quickly became the most senior member.

During the famous series of matches in 1886, Shiro defeated all challengers
with the Diato Ryu technique called Yama Arashi (mountain storm), greatly
increasing the reputation of the new Kodokan.  (Yama Arashi is the source of
the modern Judo technuque known as Uchimata.  In the original version there
is a wrist lock based on the basic aikijujutsu technique of Rokyo.)

Saigo Shiro was appointed as director of the Kodokan in 1888 but soon found 
that the conflict of loyalties between the Daito Ryu & Kodokan Judo was
becoming too great.  In 1891 he deserted both systems and ran away to
Nagasaki, in southern Japan, and joined the Hinoda Newspaper Company. 
Although he taught aikijujutsu to army officers during the Japanese-Korean
war, he was never to take a formal part of either orginization again.
Instead, he devoted his time to a study of kyudo and before his death achived
its highest grade, hanshi.  His story has been immortalized in the movie 
"Sanshiro Sugata".

Shiro's abrupt departure forced Saigo Tanamo to call Sogaku for the second
time, in the hope that he would now be ready to assume leadership of the 
Daito Ryu.

Takeda Sogaku Minamoto Masayoshi (1858-1943) was the last great swordsmen.  
Beginning his martial arts training with his uncle at the age of five, 
Sogaku studied the Daito Ryu and Ona-ha Itto Ryu kenjutsu.  Because of his 
tremendous abilities, combined with his small size, he soon became known as
the Aizu Kotengu, the "little demon" of the Aizu clan.  By the time he was 20
years old, he had earned licenses from the Ona-ha Itto Ryu, Yagyu Shinkage
Ryu, and Jikishinkage Ryu of sword and Hozoin Ryu Sojutsu (spear).  These
are among the most famous and highly respected schools in Japan.

Sogaku devoted the next twenty years of his life to musha shugyo, severe
training.  He travelled throughout Japan issuing Challenges, rarely being
defeated, and mastering many differnt arts.  He is said to have been one of
the very few people ever to master all eighteen of the traditional martial
arts.

It is important to note that Sogaku was not merely a student.  He had been
born and raised as a samurai and he had killed with a sword.  He mastered 
every martial art of importance at the time and this academic (dojo)
knowledge was tempered by combat experience.

However, in 1898, Saigo Tanamo finally managed to convince Sogaku that the 
day of the sword was past and Sogaku took over the leadership of the Daito 
Ryu.  However, his years of mushe shugyo had established a pettern and he
was never to settle down again.  For the first half of his lifew he had 
travelled throughout Japan studing and for the second half he travelled and
tought, never stopping long enough to establish his own dojo.

There are those who say that Sogaku made up the Daito Ryu at that point, 
basing it on a handful of the techniques taught to him by Saigo Tanamo over
a period of a few months.  However, there are two glaring flaws in that 
theory.  Fisrt, there is the tremendous complexity of the art.  The Daito
Ryu contains 2,804 techniques and a system of that complexity takes centuries
to develop. the second major flaw in assuming that Sogaku created the style
lies in Sogaku himself.  He held certificates in not just one, but most of
the famouse and honored styles of his day and was probably the greatest 
swordman alive.  He could have all the students he could handle, along with
with the status of teaching a famous art, so he had little reason to create
something new.

Sogaku's student roster,he kept records of everyone he ever tought, reads
like the Who's Who of northern Japan.  Generals and admirals, judges and
mayors, they all flocked to his classes.  He followed the traditions of his
Ryu and only accepted the upper levels of society as his students.  This made
him very influential but not widely known to the general public.  In 1908, he
was invited to go to the northern island of Hokkaido to teach the police
officials and by 1915 was the most famous instructor north of Tokyo.

Sogaku had many famous students and when he dies in 1943, typically, on
his way to teach another class, the system was inherited by his son, Takeda
Tokimune the present headmaster.  Other students branched out, modifying the
origianl teaking to suit their individual tasts.  A few of the more famous
styles which are related to the Daito Ryu are the Hakko Ryu, Shorinji Kempo,
and Hapkido, and Yoseikan.

Sogaku's most famouse student ws Uyeshiba Morihei (1883-1969).  Uyeshiba was 
introduced to Takeda by a newspaperman named Yoshida in 1915 in the town of
Engaru in Hokkaido.  It is one of the mysteries of aikido how Uyeshiba
managed to convince Takeda to accept him as a student, Uyeshiba was of a 
social postition so far below the rest of Takeda's disciples that he could
not even get a proper recommendation.  (The introduction by Yoshida was not a
formal one.  Yoshida excused himself to go to the bathroom and didn't come
back, leaving Takeda sitting alone with Uyeshiba.)  One must assume Uyeshiba
was an extremely impressive man.

Uyeshiba became Takeda's most avid student, travelling with him on his
lecture tours.  In 1922 he recived his first Daito Ryu Certificat and then,
in 1926, his second one.  Uyeshiba moved to Tokyo and tought Daito Ryu as 
Takeda's official represenative (known as Kyoju Dairi) to local members of
the Daito Ryu.

Uyeshiba fell under the influence of Deguchi Onisaburo who was teaching the
Omoto-kyo religion.  Uyeshiba combined the philosophy of this school with the
techniques of aikijujutsu and, over a period of about 20 years, created what
we now know as modern aikido.  In the process he greatly softened many of
the techniques, which allowed him to teach the art to a much wider range of
students.

It is important to note that Uyeshiba's original students, such famous men as
Tomiki, Mochizuki, and Hisa, were studing Daito Ryu Aikijujutsu, not aikido,
and received their certificates in the art from Takeda.  This is why you can
see a considerable difference between early styles of aikido, such as
Yoshinkai, and later styles such as Shinshintoitsu.

There are at present over 40 different styles of aikido.  The primary goals
range from quasi-religious to purely combative, depending on the date and
source of their creation.

I drew most of this from Aikijujutsu Comlete by Bernie Lau of the Washington
Budokan.  If any of the wording is offensive to anyone, I appologize.

I believe Takeda Tokimune's orginization is called Aiki Budo.

Hope this was interesting to anyone who bothered to read it, it was to me.

-Brian


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