A Brief History of
Daito-Ryu Aikijujutsu
Daito-ryu aikijujutsu is one of a handful of traditional empty-handed combat systems (jujutsu) still practiced in Japan today. While its origins may extend back hundreds of years into Japan’s feudal past, the system as we know it today was first popularized by Takeda Sokaku (1859-1943), known as one of the finest martial artists of the late 19th century.
A a young boy Sokaku witnessed firsthand the battlefields of the Aizu War, which took place near his home, and this undoubtedly contributed to his lifelong fascination with the swordsmanship and traditions of the samurai. As soon as he was able, he began learning Daito-ryu, part of the martial traditions of the Takeda family, from his father Sokichi. Like his father, he was also fond of sumo wrestling. Sokaku spent much of his young adulthood cultivating extensive skills with the sword, spear, and numerous other weapons, and he traveled around Japan spending time learning in various dojo and engaging in training matches with those he considered worthy opponents.
Despite Daito-ryu's older origins, Takeda Sokaku seems to have refined and reformulated the tradition considerably. This was based not only on his own extensive martial arts experience, but also on the social conditions prevalent in Japan at the time. Namely, while he had been an avid and consummate practitioner of both swordsmanship and jujutsu, he realized that Japan's rapidly modernizing social structure (including an 1876 imperial edict prohibiting the wearing of swords and the dissolution of the samurai class) had finally brought the age of the Japanese sword to an end.
Sokaku was likely assisted in reaching this conclusion by his mentor, Hoshina Chikanori, by then a Shinto priest, but previously an influential elder councillor in the former Aizu domain. Sokaku had first met Chikanori at Tsutsukowake shrine in 1876, when he was about seventeen, and visited him numerous times over the years. What Sokaku learned from Chikanori, however, was not combative technique, but rather a system of etiquette known as "oshikiiuchi." This obscure term is now understood to have meant “within the threshold,” referring to complex systems of behavior and personal conduct traditionally required within the precincts of a feudal castle. Chikanori's meticulous daily journals contain no mention that he ever pursued martial arts training himself, so the oshikiiuchi he taught Sokaku undoubtedly had little to do with concrete martial technique. Rather, Chikanori seems to have served primarily as Sokaku’s mentor in moral, ethical, political, and personal matters. It is thought that his main influence may have been to help the younger Sokaku define and “place” himself and his martial arts skills in a rapidly modernizing Japan.
In the late 1890s, Sokaku visted Chikanori several times at the Nikko Toshogu and Ryozen shrines. At the end of one of these visits, in May 1898, Chikanori seems to have counseled him to reassess his priorities as a martial artist in the modern age, namely by turning to concentrate on his jujutsu instead of swordsmanship. On May 2nd, Chikanori inscribed the following poem in Sokaku's enrollment ledger:
People, know this:
Though one may strike the flow of the river
In the water no visible mark shall remain...
(Shiruya hito, kawa no nagare o uteba tote, mizu ni ato aru mono naranaku ni).
Chikanori had finished his mentoring and was bidding Sokaku to go forth with what he had learned and make his way in the world as a martial arts teacher. Sokaku must have agreed, because from then on, while he continued identifying himself a swordsman, he also began amplifying the empty-handed aspects of his martial arts teaching repertoire. This included the extensive use of a principle called “aiki” as a distinguishing technical feature. Aiki (which roughly translated means “matched energies”) is difficult to define precisely, but mainly it is understood as finding subtle ways and means to disturb an opponent's balance--both physically and psychologically--in order to gain combative advantage. Mention of this principle appears elsewhere (and earlier) in the annals Japanese martial arts, so Sokaku almost certainly did not invent it himself, but he did bring it to the fore as the centerpiece of his art. That being the case, he revised the name of that art to “aiki-jujutsu”--“empty-handed combat with aiki.”
There has been much speculation about Chikanori's real role in helping Sokaku recast his art—that he helped Sokaku formalize what had been only a loosely organized family fighting tradition; that Daito-ryu aikijujutsu's many seated techniques originated from Chikanori's teachings about oshikiiuchi; or perhaps that Chikanori simply encouraged Sokaku to begin teaching seriously, perhaps even writing out a lineage for him to incorporate into future licensing documents and advising him how and whom to teach in order to ensure a successful career. The lack of evidence, however, prevents anything from being said with certainty.
Sokaku traveled widely in Japan, teaching nearly 30,000 individuals. Most often these students came from the more elite or well-connected segments of society, including martial artists, politicians, military officers, judges, policemen, and those associated with them. The names of all these remain recorded in Sokaku's meticulous attendance and payment ledgers (eimeiroku and shareiroku, respectively) which today provide an extremely complete record of his whereabouts and teaching activities from that point on.
Obviously, among these 30,000+ students, some must have studied more and others less. Undoubtedly, most only met Sokaku for a few days or a few weeks of training. Some of the most well known were Admiral Takeshita Isamu, Sagawa Yukiyoshi, Yoshida Kotaro, Hisa Takuma, and Horikawa Kodo. Perhaps Sokaku's most famous student, however, was Ueshiba Morihei, who fused the techniques and principles of Daito-ryu aikijujutsu with spiritual beliefs gleaned through his faith in the Omoto religion (a new Shinto sect) to create the art now known as aikido.
Eventually, Sokaku passed on his Daito-ryu aikijujutsu tradition to his son and successor, Takeda Tokimune, who established himself in the town of Abashiri in northern Japan and taught there until his death in 1993. Tokimune reorganized portions of the technical curriculum to make it easier for modern people to understand and learn. His contributions included reducing the number of techniques commonly taught, rearranging the order of these techniques, and assigning specific names to the many techniques that had previously been referred to only by numbers or by no names at all.
In 1988, Tokimune awarded a single menkyo kaiden (license of complete transmission) to his top student, Kondo Katsuyuki (1945- ). Kondo currently heads the Shimbukan Dojo in Tokyo, which also serves as the Daito-Ryu Aikijujutsu General Headquarters, overseeing eight branch dojo operating in Japan (Tokyo, Abashiri, Obihiro, Asahikawa, Hakodate, Funabashi, Nagoya, and Kagoshima), three in the United States (Richmond, VA, Philadelphia, Los Angeles), and one in Hong Kong. Additionally, two official "study groups," in Maryland and the Netherlands, currently offer Daito-ryu aikijujutsu training under Kondo sensei's supervision.
*Note: Japanese names are given in the customary Japanese manner, i.e. surname first and given name second.
Sokaku’s son and successor, Takeda Tokimune
Kondo Katsuyuki with his teacher Takeda Tokimune
Takeda Sokaku as a younger man
Hoshina Chikanori
Admiral Takeshita Isamu (above) and aikido founder Ueshiba Morihei (below) both studied Daito-ryu aikijujutsu
Entry in Sokaku’s enrollment book listing Ueshiba Morihei as ‘Representative Teacher’
The Takeda family crest (mon), passed down for generations in the Takeda clan along with the family armor and martial traditions
Takeda Sokaku kept meticulous records (Eimeiroku) documenting the names and training dates of all those he taught over the course of his life
Kondo Katsuyuki, current leader of the Daito-ryu aikijujutsu tradition
Takeda Sokaku as an older man