The following article was prepared with the kind assistance of Brian Workman of the USA. The article below is reprinted with the kind permission of Tokimune Takeda Sensei, Headmaster of Daito-ryu Aiki Budo and son of Sokaku Takeda Sensei.

Sokaku practices the Onoha Itto-ryu sword

The founder of the Aizu clan, Lord Masayuki Hoshina initiated training in the Onoha Itto-ryu sword within the clan. The third successor of the Aizu clan, Lord Masakata Hoshina in particular, was a master swordsman and the only person in the entire clan to receive the secret teachings of the Onoha Itto-ryu from then headmaster Tadatsune Ono. The sword school had been preserved by the Aizu lords generation after generation.

One of the retainers of the Aizu clan, the Shibuya family was highly respected and was appointed to share in the instruction of the clan lords in addition to their duties as court physicians. About the end of the Edo period, Toma Shibuya was serving as a retainer. He opened a dojo called the “Yokikan” in Aizu Bange-cho to teach martial arts to other retainers and the children of the clan while serving as a physician.

The oldest son of Hidetsugu Watanabe who lived in Aizu Bange-cho was adopted into the Shibuya family as the son-in-law of Toma Shibuya. His name was Ichiro Shibuya. He started to train in Itto-ryu as a small boy. While studying medicine in Tokyo, he also began to practice Shindo Munen-ryu under Master Shingoro Negishi. He trained hard and became noted as one of the four best students of Negishi’s dojo along with Hakudo Nakayama and two others. He became so famous as a swordsman that he gave up medicine. Thus, he started to devote his life to swordsmanship and later inherited the Yokikan founded by his stepfather Toma.

When his teacher, Master Shingoro Negishi, visited him in 1912, he changed the name of his dojo from the Yokikan to the “Risshinkan”, thus making it a genuine Shindo Munen-ryu dojo both in name and in practice.

Around the end of the Edo Period, Sokaku Takeda studied Itto-ryu under Toma Shibuya at the Yokikan and was initiated into all of the secret teachings of Itto-ryu. He later declared his expertise in both Daito-ryu Aiki Jujutsu (the martial art tradition of the Aizu clan), which had been handed down in the Takeda Family and Onoha Itto-ryu which had been transmitted in the Aizu clan and began traveling about Japan. He made the Aizu spirit well-known throughout Japan. He traveled from the Karafuto and Chishima Islands in Hokkaido all the way to Okinawa and even to Hawaii.

He continued to give instruction in both arts while traveling all over Japan until his death in Aomori at the age of 86. (He did not die on tatami mats but in the street due to illness.)

The present headmaster (Tokimune Takeda) residing in Abashiri City, Hokkaido has inherited both Daito-ryu which was handed down through the Aizu clan and Onoha Itto-ryu from Sokaku. Tokimune Takeda is making every effort to instruct genuine Aiki Budo at the Daitokan in Abashiri.

Sokaku always used to emphasize the significance of sword training. He stresses that the way of the sword is the mother of the martial arts and that it contains a common truth applicable to all martial arts including weapons such as the spear and staff and yawara (jujutsu) and kenpo arts.

Sokaku takes up practice of the spear

Sokichi Takeda, father of Sokaku, had practiced the Hozoin Takada-ryu Sojutsu from his stepfather, Dengoro Kurokochi. He was initiated into all of the secret teachings of the art and taught it to his son, Sokaku. Sokaku trained hard in Onoha Itto-ryu and tried to sharpen his favorite technique of thrusting using both the sword and spear.

He hung a ball of thread from the ceiling of the dojo built-in a godown style in his house to practice thrusting. The ball dangling by the thread flew right back at him after being poked. He repeatedly practiced hitting the ball to practice thrusting to any direction. Furthermore, he used to practice thrusting at a tree until he cut a hole in it.

The Aizu were noted for their expertise in spear techniques. Since there were numerous spear masters, Sokaku visited those who had survived the Aizu War to challenge them. He had bouts with the masters of different schools – some who used long and some who used short spears – and never lost.

There were many people who derided Sokaku’s martial arts training method. They thought that the age of the sword and spear had ended. In the Battle of Toba-Fushimi during the Boshin War in 1868, companies of townsmen and farmers bearing firearms severely defeated the sword and spear corps of the Aizu and the courageous men of the Shinsengumi (See AIKI NEWS 74) causing them to grovel on their hands and knees. Despite such derision, Sokaku threw himself whole-heartedly into training in martial arts.

Sokaku joins the dojo of Kenkichi Sakakibara

There was an upheaval at Hamaguri Gate of the Imperial Palace in Kyoto in 1864 when samurai of the Choshu clan struggled against Shogunate troops. As a consequence, the first punishment of the Choshu began in the same year. Along with the Shinsengumi lead by Isami Kondo and Toshizo Hijikata, Sokichi Takeda participated in the battle as the head of an artillery regiment consisting of Aizu sumo wrestlers.

Kenkichi Sakakibara was also a member of the mobile forces in the battle against the Choshu. Sokichi and Sakakibara, both extraordinary martial artists, got along very well.

In the spring of 1873, Sokaku heard about the reputation of the exhibitions given for the Gekken Kai (fencing tournaments) conducted by Kenkichi Sakakibara. He then urged his father Sokichi to approve of his studying under Sakakibara. Seeing his son’s determination Sokichi finally gave in and agreed to take him to Tokyo to Sakakibara’s dojo. This Sokaku joined Sakakibara’s dojo to become a student of Jiki Shinkage-ryu.

In the spring of 1873, Kenkichi Sakakibara, along with some of his old colleagues from the military institute of the Tokugawa Government, held a series of grand ceremonial matches as a memorial to the late 14^th Shogun in Kotokuji-ga-hara.

When Sakakibara found out that the swordsmen of the military institute of the Tokugawa Government who used to receive fiefs had been reduced to poverty, he tried to devise a plan to relieve them. In April of the same year he received approval to hold a Gekken Kai fencing tournament on the bank of the Saemon River in Asakusa. Among the participants were Kiyotake Ogawa who used to be a shihan instructor of the old military institute of the Shogunate, Sei Inuzawa, and Shinkichi Nose; Shige Namikawa and Matsuo Okada gave demonstrations of the naginata and kusarigama techniques. Students of Sakakibara also attended and, as a result, the tournament was very successful. Since Sakakibara was the organizer, he did not participate.

The competitions were organized like sumo tournaments. (Wakanohana and Tochinishiki were expert sumo wrestlers at that time.) Sokaku later began to attend the exhibitions held in conjunction with the Gekken Kai just as he did for his father’s sumo demonstrations. Naturally, he was chosen to participate because of his small body and excellent technique. Being a great technician, Sokaku made a big show using Itto-ryu techniques, especially haraisute (cutting the trunk of the body from right to left).

Later the techniques used in the exhibitions generally tended to become more and more acrobatic, playing to the gallery. Some tried to imitate Master Sakakibara’s favorite makiuchi technique (parrying the opponent’s sword with a winding motion) standing on one foot. One of them imitated the technique in the following way. After he executed a light cut, he leapt as far as possible and landed on one foot. He then held his bamboo sword straight up above his head and started spinning like a top. There was also a participant who tried to distract his opponent’s attention by shouting all of a sudden or by hitting the floor. In the end, the exhibitions degenerated into mere acrobatic performances and ceased to be privileged demonstrations of master swordsmen. Sakakibara must have felt disgusted to see the degradation of genuine martial arts.

Sokaku also refused to participate further in exhibitions and concentrated on genuine sword training under the tutelage of his teacher, Sakakibara. He was then awarded the menkyo kaiden of the Jiki Shinkage-ryu school and visited various dojos in Tokyo seeking matches.

Sakakibara had won a match before the shogun using a secret sword technique and he taught this to Sokaku. (In his match with Ise-no-kami Takahashi, a spear master, Sakakibara won decisively assuming a jodan stance.) This technique was transmitted by Sokaku to the present Headmaster Tokimune Takeda.

Sokaku gains mastery due to guidance of good teachers

Sokaku devoted himself to training at the Sakakibara dojo. He practiced with masters of various schools who used to teach at the military institute of the shogunate. He quickly became very skilled in all 18 martial arts including the sword, staff, spear, small bow, kusarigama, naginata, and so forth. He also made the rounds of the dojos of various schools in Tokyo to train and match his skills with other martial artists.

Whenever there was a boom in the martial arts (for example, at the time of the Gekken Kai tournaments), genuine arts often degrade themselves and start resorting to acrobatic performances to win popular favor. This is something we must not forget.

Around that time Sokaku set out on a martial arts training pilgrimage. He visited recluse masters all over Japan through the introduction of his teacher Sakakibara to request matches and never lost. This ability was the fruit of his efforts in the Sakakibara “Hell” Dojo and Sakakibara’s special attention toward the son of his close friend, Sokichi Takeda.

Sokaku, who devoted his life to training in the martial arts, was extremely fortunate to have top Japanese masters including Kenkichi Sakakibara, Toma Shibuya and Sokichi Takeda as his teachers. Whatever one’s art is, choosing the best teacher is essential to attain proficiency.

Sokaku teaches his own students

Later in his life, Sokaku started providing instruction in various arts other than Aiki Jujutsu at the request of his own students. To give some examples, I (Tokimune Takeda, present headmaster of Daito-ryu) can recall, Sokaku taught Aiki Jujutsu to army and navy personnel, and leaders and believers of the Omoto religion in Ayabe near Kyoto. It was in 1922 when Sokaku was over 60 years old that his wide Sue and Mr. Morihei Ueshiba assisted him in instructing.

On one occasion, Sokaku taught sword techniques to a local sword expert named Kan’ichi Yukawa, aged about 40, whose family had been appointed to instruct the Hiroshima clan. With his swift technique consisting of one-handed attacks using either his right or left hand, Sokaku repeatedly struck Yukawa’s hands until they became red and swollen. The swelling even extended beyond the protective equipment.

Sokaku said to Yukawa, “I am going to execute attacks only against your hands, so be careful.” Despite his warning, Sokaku still surprised his opponent with masterful cuts to his hands. The next day when Yukawa practiced, he cooled his hands with a towel, wrapped towels around them and put on training gloves.

I also witnessed an occasion when Morihei Ueshiba, a chief petty officer and a master of Juken Jutsu (mock bayonet weapon) was felled by a thrust from a training spear nearly nine feet long delivered by Sokaku who had assumed a kasumi jodan stance. Later Sokaku taught techniques using the small bow and kusarigama to Toshimi Matsuda, and staff techniques to Tatsuichi Handa.

Reunion with old sword friends

Around 1874 or 75 while Sokaku was training at the Sakakibara “Hell” dojo, many students with little will-power fled the dojo after about a week being unable to withstand the daily severe training. It was at this time that Yoshizo Saito trained together with Sokaku as a live-in student. Saito later worked in government service and became well-known as a swordsman in the Miyagi region. While on a martial arts pilgrimage 20 years later Sokaku met Saito and the latter left a poem to commemorate their meeting and which attempted to capture the power of Sokaku’s kiai of the early days.

What I felt when I accompanied Sokaku in his travels (Sokaku was in his 70s and 80s), before my conscription examination was that my father’s character was ferocious. His eyes were sharp and brilliant and never revealed any opening even when he was asleep. He was clear-headed with strong prescient powers and his kiai permeated his entire body. He walked very fast while wearing high clog sandals and when I lagged behind him he would scold me saying that a vigorous young man should not fall behind when walking.

When Sokaku (aged 80) and I met with Shuzo Shibuya (uncle of the wife of Shigeyoshi Takano) in the spring of 1936 in the house of swordmaster Sasaburo Takano of Urawa, the latter said, “I have never seen anyone with a kiai like yours, Takeda Sensei! A normal person would be defeated by your kiai alone!” Takano, a martial artist and educator, was a mild mannered person who spoke gently. On the other hand, Sokaku was fierce and filled with kiai, a man of action who continued his martial arts training until his death. Sokaku’s students from the mid-Meiji period having heard that he had become gentle and almost saintly later in life due to age had the following to say: “Takeda Sensei was really a man of fierce character such as could not be expressed in words.”

Such a kiai cannot be acquired in a day. It is the result of long years of training. It must have been this kiai which made it possible for Sokaku to travel teaching exclusively martial arts all over Japan.

This article is used with the permission of Aikido Journal and originally appeared in Aiki News #79 (January 1989).