Missouri Budo Taijutsu Dojo
Missouri Budo Taijutsu Dojo
A brief history of the martial arts we study and the masters who taught them
Mostly known for its Ninjutsu, our system is actually comprised of nine ancient systems of warriorship (koryu bujutsu), six of which are taught. These six styles are each separate, distinct martial arts-- family traditions that have been handed down for centuries.
Much of the public still mistakenly assume that we are "the ninja school". While it is true that we teach what are widely regarded as the 'authentic' ninjutsu arts, we study far more than that. Several of our systems are of samurai heritage, practicing with Daisho (the long and short swords worn together) and Yoroi (Japanese armor). The proper name for the collective martial arts we study is Budo Taijutsu. Budo Taijutsu does contain a complete system of ninja espionage methods that derive from ancient Japanese historical sources-- a system that is called Togakure Ryu Ninpo, which many in the martial arts community regard as the only complete ninjutsu system left in existence.
What is it that we do, exactly? When evaluating any martial art, the only way get a true understanding of it is to watch it being performed.
The martial arts that make up our system came together for the first time in one remarkable man named Toshitsugu (Chosui) Takamatsu. Also known as Moko no Tora (Mongolian Tiger), Takamatsu Sensei was without a doubt one of the greatest martial artists of all time. Recognized as the last practicing ninja, he was employed as such by the emperors of both Japan and China.
Born in 1887 into a family of samurai lineage, he was taught by his uncle, Masamitsu Toda, a phenomenal warrior, from whom Takamatsu Sensei inherited the martial art systems of Shinden Fudo Ryu, Gyokko Ryu, Togakure Ryu, and Koto Ryu.
When he was only 13 years old, Takamatsu was given Menkyo Kaiden (full mastership) of Shinden Fudo Ryu. About that time he was attacked by a gang of youths, one of whom was armed with a sword. He defeated them all, one after another, but when the police arrived, Takamatsu was the one who was arrested! Only when it was over did he realize that he had beaten 60 people all by himself. His grandfather Toda came to bail him out of the Kobe Kiryubashi police station, and the event was written up by the Kobe newspaper as "13 Year Old Judo Expert Easily Flung Away 60 Gangsters". Several sumo schools tried to recruit young Takamatsu after that, but his father would not allow it.
Soon after, Takamatsu entered the dojo of the Takagi Yoshin Ryu, where he learned jutaijutsu from its master, Mizuta Yoshitaro. He mastered it and went on to inherit this school as well.
When he was about 17, an old master came to work at his father's match factory as security. This old man was Ishitani Matsutaro, possibly the greatest of Takamatsu's teachers. Toda warned his nephew not to challenge this new master to a sword duel, for he said that his style of Kukishin Ryu was stronger. Ishitani Sensei passed on to Takamatsu the systems of Kukishinden Happo Hiken. Takamatsu Sensei taught for many years at the Kukishin Ryu Dojo in the early 20th Century, under the auspices of the Soke Kuki Takuhara.
In his late 20's, Takamatsu left for China to test his training and work for the various warlords that fought over the provinces. This was a very dangerous time, and traveling on the open road between villages was perilous. He was involved in many fights, and several times he was charged with murder. He was always found not guilty by reason of self defense. His diary stated that he had fought 12 fights to the death as the result of challenges. By defeating every opponent without a single loss, he became the senior student at the school that trained the Emperor's bodyguards, and there he taught to over a thousand students.
The toughened hands of Takamatsu O'sensei show
the results after decades of
koshijutsu striking training. He could easily strip the bark from the trunks
of trees
with what appeared to observers to be effortless passes of his deadly hands.
He returned to Japan, and the name of Moko no Tora became legendary. Near the end of his life, he said that he thought he had killed more than one hundred men. Despite this, he was a very spiritual man, and became a Buddhist priest (although he later abandoned this after concluding that it was of little value). He was also the president of the Nippon Minkoku Seinen Botoku-kai (the Association of Japanese Youth Martial Arts).
Takamatsu Sensei had many students, and at the end of his life, he knew that he had faithfully transmitted the lineages that were in his custody, and assured himself a place in history.
Takamatsu O'sensei and the Yakuza
Takamatsu O'sensei and the Karate Teacher Challenge
Masaaki Hatsumi
Born in 1931, Masaaki Hatsumi began studying martial arts as a small child. By the time he was in his late twenties, he had achieve some remarkable accomplishments. He had attained high level black belts and teacher status in judo, kendo, iaido, karate and aikido, and had been a boxer as well. Yet while he was teaching judo to U.S. servicemen stationed in Japan, something happened that changed his perception of the martial arts. While he was applying a technique, the soldier stopped and reversed it with physical skill. Hatsumi Sensei knew he had been beaten, and if it were real combat, that he would have been killed. He came to the realization that "Japan cannot continue to survive with martial arts as sports."
So he abandoned all of his previous pursuits and began searching for something else-- martial ways more deeply rooted in Japan's history of constant warfare. Then one of his teachers told him of a little old man who taught secret, dangerous ways. This man's name was Toshitsugu Takamatsu, and he was known as 'the last combat ninja'. Hatsumi Sensei traveled a 500 mile round trip every week for 15 years to learn from this master of the old ways.
After the death of Master Takamatsu on April 2nd 1972, Masaaki Hatsumi chose to introduce these arts to the world, and he began teaching to foreigners, beginning with Doron Navon of Israel in the late 60's. Many people have traveled to Japan to seek out these ways directly from the source, and have gone on to become teachers themselves.
Histories of our martial arts styles
History of the Iga region, birthplace of the Ninja
