Takeda Sōkaku and Okinawa-te (Final)
Written and translated by Motobu NaokiShishida Fumiakiand Nariyama Tetsurō, "AikidōClassroom" (1985), includes the following description. As the momentum for SaigōTakamori's military uprising grew, [Takeda] Sōkaku abandoned his priesthood and set out for Kyushu. As mentioned above, Sōkaku visited Momoi Shunzō's dōjōin Sakai, Osaka, to train in swordsmanship, but when he heard the news of Saigō's military action, he hurriedly headed for Kyushu.Sōkaku landed in Kyushu, but failed to join Saigō's army and the Satsuma rebellion came to an end. After this, Sōkaku joined a group of acrobats and traveled around the country. In Kumamoto, Kyushu, he fought and defeated an Okinawa-te (karate) fighter with his bare hands, and then traveled to the Okinawaislands in search of more masters.Sōkaku later defeated Tanozaki Kō'emon, a master of YagyūShingan-ryū, a style known for its strikingand practical fighting techniques, and others in Iwate Prefecture, which is said to have been the result of his youthful study of kenpō(p. 229).合気道教室 (スポーツVコース)Amazon（アマゾン）300〜4,466円The above is almost the same as the chronology of "Takeda Sōkaku and Daitō-ryūAiki Jūjutsu" (2002), which I introduced the other day, but the book did not include the information that Takeda defeated the masters of YagyūShingan-ryūand that this was the result of his kenpōstudy in his younger days.However, "Aikido Classroom" was published earlier than "Takeda Sōkaku and Daitō-ryūAiki Jūjutsu."The source of the above is unknown, but the author Shishida was in contact with Hisa Takuma, a student of Takeda's who had received full license (menkyo kaiden) from Takeda, so the information might have come from Hisa.The anecdote of his victory over YagyūShingan-ryūis also a matter of honor for the school, and should be treated with caution unless proven otherwise by contemporaneous historical documents. In any case, the oral tradition tells us that Takeda honed his fighting techniques as a result of his martial arts training in Okinawa.By the way, the titles of Daitō-ryūscrollsinclude numbers, such as "Daitō-ryūJūjutsu Hiden Mokuroku 118 KajōUra Omote (118 Articles of Daitō-ryūJūjutsu Secrets Catalog, Back and Front)" and "Hiden Ōgi no Koto 36 KajōUra Omote (36 Articles of the Hidden Secrets of Daitō-ryū, Back and Front)."The individual techniques are not named, but are numbered "Article 1, Article 2 ......," and explanations of the individual techniques are appended.This is a deviation from the style of Japanese martial arts scrolls, and together with the fact that no Daitō-ryūscrolls existed before Takeda Sōkaku, it is one of the main reasons for the theory that Daitō-ryūwas Takeda's creation.*Takeda Sōkaku's son, Takeda Tokimune, added names to individual techniques, so the main lineages of Daitō-ryūtoday have names for their techniques.Now, there is a theory that "118 articles" were originally "108 articles," and 108 has a kata in karate called Sūpārinpei(108), and 36 has a kata called Sansērū(36).Is this just a coincidence?Also, about the name of the school "Daitō-ryū". Since the name "Daitō-ryū" cannot be found in historical records before Takeda Sōkaku, there are various theories about its origin today. For example, Tateyama Ichirō, "Aiki no Jutsu (The Art of Aiki)" (1956), states the following. On the other hand, DaitōHisanosuke, a student of Takeda Nobutomo, became a ronin and fled to Aizu after the fall of the Takeda clan, but he was reluctant to call himself Takeda-ryū, so he called himself Daito-ryūand taught it secretly without public recognition (Note 1).However, there is no mention of a person named Daitō Hisanosukebefore this book, and his existence cannot be confirmed. It is difficult to imagine any researcher today supporting this theory.In addition, the following description is found in the "Complete Works of Japanese Martial Arts, Vol. 5" (1966). The Takeda family is said to be a lineage of the Takeda clan, whose founder was Shinra SaburōYoshimitsu, a descendant of the Seiwa Genji clan.When Yoshimitsu was a child, his family built a mansion in Daitō, Shiga Prefecture, and he was called Tate noSaburōor DaitōSaburō, from which the name Daitōis said to have been taken as the name of the school (Note 2).This theory is often cited, but there is no place named Daitōin Shiga Prefecture, nor is there any evidence that Minamoto no Yoshimitsu was called DaitōSaburō. The name Tate noSaburōis mentioned in Rai San'yō's "Nihon Gaishi (Unofficial History of Japan)" (1827), but not DaitōSaburō. The name DaitōSaburōappears only in documents related to the Daitō-ryūafter World War II.Pink: Tate no Saburō, from "Nihon Gaishi Vol. 2: Genji Shoki: Genji (FirstVolume)," written by Rai San'yōand supplemented by Rai Matajirō, 1876.There are (or were) not that many place names called "Daitō" in Japan. Most of them were created through municipal mergers and rezonings after the 20th century.In the Meiji era, there was only DaitōTown in Ōhara District, Shimane Prefecture (Note 3), or the DaitōIslands, which were incorporated into Okinawa Prefecture in 1885. I have never heard of Takeda visiting Shimane.The DaitōIslands were originally uninhabited, but the Japanese government declared them as Japanese territory after a survey and incorporated them into Okinawa Prefecture.I wrote that it was unrealistic for Takeda to travel to Okinawa in 1879, when the Ryukyu Kingdom (domain) was abolished. Therefore, 1885 or so would have been very possible.Perhaps the incorporation of the DaitōIslands must have been a topic of conversation in Okinawa at that time. Therefore, it is possible that Takeda Sōkaku heard the name Daitōin Okinawa and adopted it as the name of his school.Note 1: Tateyama Ichirō, Aiki no Jutsu (The Art of Aiki), Shinjitsu-sha, 1956, p. 110.Note 2: Imamura Yoshio, Ogasawara Kiyonobu, and Kishino Yūzō(eds.), Complete Works of Japanese Martial Arts, Vol. 5 (Jūjutsu, Karate, Kenpō, Aikijutsu), Jinbutsu Orai-sha, 1966, pp. 503, 504.Note 3: Yoshida, Tōgo, Great Japan Geographical Dictionary (First Volume, Second Edition), Tomisanbō, 1907, p. 1054.
