Daito Ryu Aiki Jujutu
大東流 合気柔術
(Matsuda – den)
in ancient japan there was a warrior class known as the samurai. the samurai created a system of combat that they later refined through 500 years of perpetual warfare. they called this system jujutsu. Daitō-ryū (also known as simply Aiki-jūjutsu) is mostly considered to be a fighting style created by the Seiwa Minamoto clan and handed down from generation to generation. a history going back more than 900 years. Daito ryu is whats know as a "koryu" or "old-school" martial arts meaning before the meiji era when much of the combative elements of martial arts was removed and outlawed. the father to more modern systems like Aikido, Hapkido and subsequently laid the bedrock to many modern military combat systems. Daito ryu is a real treasure and a physical journey that tells a story through living history. It is a story passed down from master to student, master to student through several centuries. Each instance of knowledge, experience and personal expression being accumulated and passed on. It is an ancient story of how one engages with the nature of conflict and violence, both world and within themselves. It is a living story of experience obtained and then transferred and continued through the next generation.
For many years the various fighting techniques of the samurai warrior class later referred to as jujutsu passed through the families and clans of feudal Japan. One of these said clans is supposedly the Minimoto clan connected to the line of Daito Ryu Aiki Jujutsu. The origins of Daitō-ryū maintain a supposed lineage extending approximately 900 years, originating with Shinra Saburō Minamoto no Yoshimitsu (新羅 三郎 源 義光, 1045–1127), who was a Minamoto clan samurai and member of the Seiwa Genji.
Nevertheless, in the 19th century the line lands on a man named Takeda Sokaku born (1859) whose family had been part of the nobility of Japan and preserving various comprehensive forms of Jujutsu. Takeda Sokaku is named as the man who restored the techniques in what is undisputedly the most comprehensive archive of jujutsu techniques, The Daito Ryu Aikijujutsu (Great Eastern School). It is through this body of knowledge and its influence we see the birth of arts such as Judo, Aikido and Hapkido.
Daito-ryu Aikijujutsu is said to have been founded by Shinra Saburō Minamoto no Yoshimitsu and was only taught by the elder Samurai of the Aizu clan. The Aizu clan disappeared in the Meiji era due to the abolition of the clan and Takeda Sokaku Sensei, who was the successor at the time, made considerable efforts to spread it.
Notable disciples include Aikido founder Ueshiba Morihei, Sagawa Yukiyoshi, Takeda Tokimune, and Matsuda Toshimi.
Daito-style techniques can be broadly classified into Jujutsu techniques, Aikijujutsu techniques, and Aiki no jutsu techniques. Daito Ryu has various forms depending on the successor. This is because Takeda Sokaku Sensei taught the techniques adapting them to his students.
It is known that Sokaku Takeda has taught many students throughout his career. Some of them were holders of a kyoju-dairi license (教授 代理 - lit. "Representative instructor [of Takeda]"), among which we find Morihei Ueshiba, founder of aikido. One of Takeda's pupils was Toshimi Matsuda 松田 敏 美 伝 ・ 大 東流 合 気 柔 術 錬 心 舘, a little-known pioneer, although he had a great influence on later developments in the art. Toshimi Hosaku Matsuda (松田 敏 美), born in 1895, lived in Asahikawa, Hokkaido, during the time Takeda settled there (circa 1910-1930). It was during the Hokkaido period that many of the great masters of Daito-ryu studied with Takeda. Matsuda, a military officer, began studying Daito-ryu in June 1928 at the age of 33, as confirmed by an entry in Takeda's eimeiroku. He had been a truly exceptional student since he received the in August 1929kyoju-dairi 教授 代理from his teacher.
It should be noted that this license was the highest degree granted by Takeda at the time and that, while a dojo-cho was allowed to teach in its own dojo, a kyoju-dairi was also authorized to teach in other schools. Matsuda coincided as Takeda's student with Kodo Horikawa, the founder of Kodokai, and often mentioned him in his conversations according to Seigo Okamoto, founder of Roppokai. After receiving kyoju-dairi, Matsuda opens his dojo in Asahikawa, the Shobukan Dojo (松 武館 道場) and establishes the Shobukai (松 武 会). During his career he has had many students, some of whom have remained true to his direct line. Of them, Takeshi Maeda would become his successor. Others would eventually establish their own styles based on Matsuda's teachings.
Among his students is a Korean name who would later contribute to the growth of Hapkido in Korea. Furthermore, from 1930 to c. In 1936, he had as a student Yoshiharu Okuyama, better known as Ryuho Okuyama, and founder of Hakko-ryu. Among all of Matsuda's students, best known for keeping the Daito-ryu legacy, are undoubtedly Takeshi Maeda, Ryuho
Okuyama, Masao Hayashima (founder of Doinjutsu) and Jang In Mok (precursor of Hwarangdo and Hapkido).
Matsuda had the opportunity to visit Tokyo frequently due to his work, so he took advantage of this circumstance to regularly post advertisements in a newspaper about his Daito-ryu Aikijujutsu lectures. One of the many who responded to the announcement was Takeshi Maeda 前 田 武, a pharmacist by profession, who decided to visit Matsuda to receive some private lessons. Maeda had only gained experience with Kodokan Judo and had never attended Koryu schools. So it was that he slowly fell in love with Matsuda's techniques and asked him to be accepted as a formal student. Thus, whenever Matsuda sensei moved to the capital, Maeda would go to him periodically to receive private instruction at the Shobukan Dojo in Asahikawa. Please remember that until the late 1920s, Daito-ryu was not formally taught in dojos, but through seminars and private lessons. The forms of Daito-ryu that Matsuda taught Maeda were very similar to those taught by Takeda to his other students. At the end of the war, Maeda settles in his hometown, Omama, Gunma Prefecture, and opens the Renshinkan Dojo (練 心 館 道場) where he teaches Daito-ryu. During this time, Maeda spread the Daito Ryu through seminars in the prefectures of Nagano, Gunma and Tochigi, and also gave a demonstration of Daito-ryu to the self-defense forces of Japan (自衛隊, Jieitai) in Gunma in 1963. In addition, Kenji Tomiki, student of Morihei Ueshiba, he went to see him to confirm that what he learned from Ueshiba was really Daito-ryu.
.png)
Daito Ryu is the national treasure of Japan. Daito-ryu Aikijujutsu is a traditional Japanese martial art transmitted for generations within the Takeda family and disclosed to the public by Takeda Sokaku since the end of the 19th century. The technical tradition of Daito-ryu includes jujutsu, aikijujutsu and aiki no jutsu and weapon techniques. His philosophy and techniques have directly influenced the development of many popular martial arts, such as Shorinji Kempo, Hakko Ryu Jujutsu, Hapkido and the most famous Aikido.
Our Daito Ryu line is Sokaku Takeda - Matsuda Toshimi Sensei.
Matsuda Sensei received the kyoju-dari certificate from Sokaku Takeda in August 1929 and was a teacher of Maeda Sensei. Maeda Sensei inherited the lineage of Matsuda Sensei.
Takase Michio is heir to the Renshinkan school. Born in Tochigi prefecture in 1964. When he was 19, he entered the Renshinkan of Maeda Takeshi. He worked as a professor in 1997, working mainly in Gunma, Tochigi and Saitama he was promoted as Renshinkan's deputy representative and has since been active in teaching Daito Ryu Renshinkan in Gunma, Tochigi and Saitama prefectures. Today, Takase sensei is the Kancho of Renshinkan who decided to introduce the school's techniques to the world in 2017, accepting the first foreign students and thus starting its diffusion in the world.
in 2023 sensei Nathan Cain received his shihandai (teachers’ licence) from takase Michio kancho for hiden mokuroku matsuda den daito ryu aikijujutsu renshinkan. Thus, forming the very first school of daito ryu aiki jujutsu in south Australia.
©2020 by Okami Hapkido.