Takenouchi-ryū

According to the Takenouchi Keisho Kogo Den, the document recording the establishment and development of the school, Takenouchi Hisamori retired to the mountains near the Sannomiya shrine to train his martial skills. He practiced there for six days and six nights, wielding a bokken (wooden sword) two shaku and four sun in length (about 2 ft. 4 in. or 72 cm), a relatively long weapon for his purportedly short stature. On the sixth night he fell asleep from exhaustion using his bokken as a pillow. He was woken by a mountain priest with white hair and a long beard who seemed so fearsome to Hisamori that he thought it must be an incarnation of the god Atago. Hisamori attacked the stranger, but was defeated. The priest said to him "When you meet the enemy, in that instant, life and death are decided. That is what is called hyōhō (military strategy)." (凡そ敵に向へば時を移さず、たちどころに殺生降伏させる。これが兵法といふものぞ。[2]) He then took Hisamori's bokken, told him that long weapons were not useful in combat, and broke it into two daggers one shaku and two sun long. The priest told Hisamori to put these in his belt and call them kogusoku, and taught him how to use them in grappling and close combat. These techniques became called koshi no mawari, literally "around the hips". The priest then taught Hisamori how to bind and restrain enemies with rope, using a vine from a tree. Then the priest disappeared mysteriously amidst wind and lightning.

Takenouchi Hisamori's second son Hitachinosuke Hisakatsu became the second head of Takenouchi Ryū after his father formally passed him the tradition at the age of 64. He and his successor and son Kaganosuke Hisayoshi added their own techniques to the curriculum, extending it into a complete sōgō bujutsu system.

Takenouchi Ryū is best known for its jūjutsu, over which it covers an extensive ground. Its unarmed jūjutsu techniques include tehodoki (grip breaking), ukemi (tumbling), nagewaza (throwing), kansetsuwaza (joint dislocation), atemi (striking weak points), shimewaza (choking), newaza (ground techniques), and kappō (resuscitation). These are combined to form kata for the various sections of jūjutsu taught, including toride (capturing and restraining), hade (attacking vital points unarmed), and kumiuchi (grappling). These unarmed kata are the best known of the Takenouchi Ryū jūjutsu, but they are not truly its foundation. As related in the establishment myth of the school, the central forms of jūjutsu in Takenouchi Ryū are the kogusoku koshi no mawari, techniques of armed grappling using the short sword kogusoku against armed opponents. It is upon this foundation that the rest of the jūjutsu techniques were developed by Hisakatsu and Hisayoshi, the second and third heads of the school.

Beyond the core of jūjutsu, many different weapons are taught. These include the sword, the staff, rope tying, the naginata, and more. The sword curriculum is divided into major sections, with kenjutsu covering basic swordsmanship against a similarly armed opponent, saide covering grappling with the sword, and iai covering the techniques of rapid sword drawing and striking. The staff is central to Takenouchi Ryū's study of movement, and as such forms an important part of the curriculum. Staff work addresses various lengths of staff, in particular bōjutsu for the six shaku staff and shinbō for a slightly shorter staff. Other sizes taught include jōjutsu for the common four shaku two sun staff, and hanbō for shorter sticks around three shaku in length. Rope restraints are an important adjunct to the arresting arts of toride, and the techniques of tying up opponents called hojōjutsu or hobaku are taught using the haya nawa which is a two shaku five sun rope, traditionally of a purple color.

Takenouchi Ryū is perhaps lesser known for its other weapons techniques, but as a true sōgō bujutsu it retains a number of weapons for use both on and off the battlefield. The naginata and kusarigama are covered, as well as the jutte truncheon, shuriken throwing darts, and the tessen iron fan. Some kata feature rather peculiar weapons intended to show the use of everyday objects for defense against sword attacks. These include the kasa, a Japanese style umbrella, and the nabebuta, a wooden lid for a cooking pot.

Takenouchi Ryū has exerted a strong influence in the development of jūjutsu. The branches of the Takenouchi Ryū have subsequently have influenced schools directly or indirectly and thus many techniques found in modern jūdō and aikidō can be traced back to their roots in Takenouchi Ryū in one way or another. A number of important jūjutsu koryū were founded by students of the school, such as the Rikishin Ryū, Fusen Ryū, Sōsuishitsu Ryū, Takagi Ryū and its branches (such as Hontai Yōshin Ryū), and Araki Ryū. These ryūha have incorporated many techniques from Takenouchi Ryū either directly from the school or by analyzing the techniques of its exponents.

Takenouchi Ryū has documents by its founder on the use and teaching of rokushakubojutsu [6-foot-long (1.8 m) stick]. This makes it the oldest verifiable school to teach these skills and it is believed to have had a great influence on other arts teaching rokushakubojutsu. Other arts have long histories and claim to have been teaching rokushakubo, but so far no documents from the period have been found. It may be that these other schools added it later on to their teachings.

As with any koryū, the lineage of Takenouchi Ryū is a matter of importance and pride to its members. Since the tradition was maintained in the family a careful account of the successive leaders of the school has been kept over the centuries.

After the 8th headmaster, Takenouchi Tōichirō Hisayoshi, the lineage was split into two branches called the sōke and sōdenke lines. This was done to ensure that the blood line and tradition would be preserved.

Two varieties of training groups are authorized: dojo and study circles. Authorized dojo are usually headed by someone ranked Daigeiko or higher, have full teaching authority and limited authority to award rank. Study circles train with the permission of the head of Chōfukan Dojo, have limited teaching authority and no authority to award rank. As of May 2023 there are four international dojo and several study circles.

Dojo

• Shōfukan 松風館, run by Anna Seabourne, located in West Yorkshire in the United Kingdom.
• Gyōfukan 暁風館, run by Anthony Abry, located in Mexico City, Mexico.
• Seifukan 正風館, run by Wayne Muromoto, located in Hawaii.
• Shōfukan 翔風館, run by Alex Kask, located in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

Study circles

• Ryūfukai 龍風会, run by Andrew Antis, located in Michigan.
• Mushinkai 無心会, run by Marek Motyčka, located in Prague, Czech Republic.
• Joseph Fichter teaches in southern Oregon.
• Graham Pluck teaches in Quito, Ecuador.

• Mol, Serge. 2001. Classical fighting arts of Japan: A complete guide to koryū jūjutsu. Tokyo: Kodansha International. ISBN 4-7700-2619-6.
• Skoss, Diane (ed.). 1999. Sword and spirit. Volume 2 in Classical warrior traditions of Japan. Berkeley Heights, New Jersey: Koryu Books. ISBN 1-890536-05-9.

• Takenouchi Ryū official website official website of Takenouchi Ryū Japan, English and Japanese language
• Takenouchi Ryū in the Koryu.com Guide to Classical Ryuha
• Bitchū-den Takeuchi-ryū at the Shōfūkan dōjō in Vancouver, Canada
• Article on an 1844 Takenouchi-Ryu text