From ancient records it appears that Aikijujutsu
was originally developed by Minamoto no Yoshimitsu and his elder brother Yoshiie,
sons of Minamoto no Yoriyoshi, the fifth generation descendant of the Emperor
Seiwa.
According to these records, the research done
by these two brothers into the bone structure and functioning of the human
body led to the first forms of Aikijujutsu. It is believed that this research
took the form of dissecting cadavers to learn how bones and related muscles
and tendons functioned, and from this knowledge the techniques were developed.
The eldest son of Yoshimitsu, Yoshinko, moved
to an area known as Kai and founded a new branch of the family called the
Kaigengitakeda; Kai, the area, Gengi, the original root name of the family,
and Takeda, the new family name. The Takeda family developed its own forms
of martial arts including archery (one of only two schools of mounted archery
still in existance today), horsemanship, spear, sword, and Aikijujutsu techniques.
Through Takeda Kunitsugu, Takeda Ryu (also called
Yamato Ryu) "Kogusoku" (Kogusoku is a grappling martial art wearing half
or partial armor and the wakasashi, or short sword), was passed to the samurai
of Aizu provence, an area rich in martial arts. There, it was mixed with
the Aizu clan jujutsu, (particularly the oshiki uchi techniques) and became
Daito Ryu Aikijujutsu (the kanji for Yamato and Daito are the same, with
Yamato being the older reading).
Takeda Sokaku was born in Aizu in 1860.
In his youth he studed Ono Ha Itto Ryu swordsmanship, from which he received
a Menkyo Kaiden in 1876. From his father and grandfather,
he was taught Daito Ryu Aikijujutsu as a complete fighting system which included
nage waza (throwing techniques), osae waza (controlling techniques), and the
major weapons systems. Sokaku Takeda was a member of the last generation of
samurai, and as such, perfected his skills in actual combat. He became the
34th headmaster (
soke
) of the Daito Ryu, until his death in 1943. Takeda Sokaku is universally
credited as being responsible for preserving the pure way of Aikijujutsu into
modern times.
Takeda Tokimune, (1915-1993), Sokaku's
son, and the last soke of the ryu, was responsible for introducing
Daito Ryu to the modern day. He was charged to preserve unchanged those techniques
and traditions which had been part of Japan's history, and yet at the same
time, he needed to create a contemporary structure that would preserve the
system from extinction. Tokimune had the courage to follow the only road
which could grant survival to the school - he opened the doors of the ryu,
and made what was historically a secret and highly guarded martial system
available to the world.