PDA

View Full Version : nakagawa-gosoke -> shiokawa-gosoke letter



renfield_kuroda
10th February 2004, 05:51
I've finished translating the letter Nakagawa-gosoke wrote to Shiokawa-gosoke appointing him 15th Soke of Mugairyu Iaihyodo. Just find it interesting, the attitudes (and politics) then and now; the more things change, the more they stay the same!

(Along with the other high-ranking iai sensei across Japan, Mugairyu sensei helped form the ZNKR (All Japan Kendo Federation) and ZNIR (All Japan Iaido Federation) seiteigata (standardized forms.) Nakagawa-gosoke (13th) appointed Ishii Gogetsu as his successor in Mugairyu Iaihyodo, but Ishii put himself and all of his students under the auspices of the ZNKR. Even back then, Nakagawa-gosoke, being of serious old-school koryu background, had no patience for the politics and in fighting of the ZNKR. He issued hamon (expulsion and stripping of rank) for Ishii and wrote the following letter to Shiokawa-gosoke, who had just recently won the ZNKR national iaido tournament for the 3rd year in a row. Mugairyu Iaihyodo under Shiokawa-gosoke is no longer associated with the ZNKR or ZNIR; it continues to be taught under Niina-gosoke (16th) the same way Nakagawa-gosoke was studied and taught.)

The letter:

When I came back from mailing a postcard, I found your letter and enclosed program.
As I wrote last time, be it ZNKR, ZNIR, or whatever, I don't care one bit if you receive rank and/or certification. Until now Mugairyu was mainly associated with the ZNKR, but now it is my hope that you will spread the true line of Mugairyu.
I never taught Ishii the naiden (advanced) short sword or iai forms, so it is no wonder that Takai would screw up Sangyo Icchi . They are just aping the movements without understanding the underlying principles or theory, so in my mind I don't compare them to humans. I consider them a bunch of monkeys.
As I was returning to Tokyo, I stopped by to practice with the folks at the Kojimachi dojo, but that dojo is under Okada sensei, so they are all ZNKR. Even if itÕs ZNKR, my hope is that true and proper Mugairyu grows and spreads, and in so doing, false Mugairyu will wither and die.
It is my belief that I am the superlative Mugairyu. Not ZNIR Mugairyu, not ZNKR Mugairyu. The superlative martial artists acknowledge me. East to west, everyone in iai knows. In Osaka, ZNKR Hanshi Yoshida-sensei is famous for his sharp tongue, but my iai alone he acknowledges is the best in Japan. In Kyoto, ZNKR Hanshi Omori-sensei often does whatever he can to help me.
Even the lone wolf of Tokyo iai, Yukiyama-sensei, who bad mouths everyone, only to me does he say nothing, and at the Kanto Tournament he was explicitly respectful to me.
If you hone your heart and technique in iai such that there is no opening from any angle, then you will have no problems no matter how much those below you make a fuss.
I have received 10th dan and Hanshi from the ZNIR, but these things mean nothing to me. It is only because the superlative martial artists recognize me as such that I am considered as having a worthy menkyo.
Eishinryu with its unclear founder and lineage, ryuha that are merely a list of names from one generation to the next; most of the styles out there simply don't stack up. As you saw in the book I published "Mugaijikiden Shindoko", with its clear lineage, history, and gravestone, you will not find a ryuha as true as Mugairyu.
With their nitpicking and bickering, claims of authenticity and accusations and lies, Eishinryu's Kano, Yamamoto and others are, from the perspective of iai, the lowest of the low.
As long as you do iai based on the fundamentals, no one will have anything to say. I think those in Eishinryu do not even know what the martial fundamentals are.
Recently Kano and Hirai have not been getting on, and last year Hatakejima abandoned Kano. Eishinryu is in disarray.
In Kojimachi, where their camaraderie is strong, Ishii's students from the police academy have been expelled and driven out to Kanagawa Prefecture. I heard this both from those in Kichijyoji and from Okada-sensei.
By all means feel free to do both Mugairyu and ZNKR.
Chairman Kimura, as well as Vice Chairman Otani, and I were invited to the Osaka University tournament on the 3rd, but I am busy with visitors and unable to attend.
Please do come and visit. Last year we rebuilt the house, so you will stay here. We await you visit.
Take care.
Sincerely,

Shinichi Nakagawa
November 10th

Steve Delaney
10th February 2004, 07:27
Thanks for sharing that with us Ren. It's quite fascinating to see what the opinions of some of the oder generation of koryu practicioners are like.

So basically Nakagawa soke wanted Mugai ryu to be apolitical. Is that correct? I've always wondered why they aren't a member of the Nihon Kobudo Shinkokai or Kyokai.

renfield_kuroda
10th February 2004, 08:47
There a couple of major lines of Mugairyu, all legitimately traced back to the founder sending his first students (son and adopted son) and their first students to go teach for different daimyo across Japan.
The branch to which I belong stayed in the Takahashi family for five generations (starting in late 1700s) then there was a split when Nakagawa-gosoke was appointed 13th by Takahashi Kyuutaro-gosoke, but Takahashi's son continued to carry on with Mugairyu as well. (Plenty of finger-pointing/legitimacy-questioning at this point, so we'll skip it.)
Nakagawa-gosoke was active with many of the koryu iaidoka of the time in helping establish the ZNKR and ZNIR, and for a (very short) time all was good, but then as politics played out...
These days, our line of Mugairyu Iaihyodo was a member of the Kyoto Butokusai (I demo'd there 2 years ago: http://221.114.251.44/mugai//01suimou/02pohoto/butoku.htm) but it's not really a big thing, and I'm not sure we're even still in it...
We aren't in any of the other organizations because:
A) Niina-gosoke doesn't really care
B) Other lines of Mugairyu are already members

To this day there are some folks, especially in Kyoto, who cannot stop bitching about our line being false and illegitimate. They should shut up and spend more time practicing, in my opinion, but anyway.

Regards,

r e n

MKL
10th February 2004, 11:14
Hi Ren,

thanks for sharing this with us. Could you please tell us when the letter was dated and if you know the background more?

Steve Delaney
10th February 2004, 14:47
Ren,

Thanks for the reply mate, very informative:smilejapa

Jack B
10th February 2004, 15:36
Comments:
1) Eishinryu's Kano is probably Kono Hyakuren. Hirai split from Kono to form the DNIR branch of Eishinryu.
2) From what you say, Mugairyu is in no less political disarray than other ryuha. Politics arises anywhere there is something desirable, whether money, prestige, favor, or secrets.
3) To ignore politics is one way, to handle politics as budo with integrity and dignity is another. "Nitpicking and bickering... accusations and lies" are signs of immature, or at least incomplete budo. Shut up and practice is the best way. Thanks, ren.

Ben Bartlett
10th February 2004, 19:07
Ouch. I wouldn't have wanted to have been on Nakagawa-gosoke's bad side, that's for certain. ;) Interesting stuff though, Ren. Thanks for sharing!

Brian Stokes
10th February 2004, 20:41
Hi Ren,

Are there scrolls written by the founder of Mugai Ryu and if so who presently holds them?

Brian

Earl Hartman
10th February 2004, 21:33
Everybody believes that their school is the best, the purest, and the strongest. If they did not, they would practice some other school.

Regarding seitei iai, I know that my teacher, Masaoka Kazumi (Katsukane) of MJER was instrumental in the creation of the first set of seiteigata iai for the ZNKR (he resisted the idea for many years but eventually had to give in). I would be curious to know if there are any records in Mugai Ryu of the sort you posted here that mention him.

Also, just out of curiosity, is the name "Yonekuni" written as "Beikoku"?

renfield_kuroda
11th February 2004, 02:55
Let me clarify one thing: I was told by Niina-gosoke to translate this letter and let anyone who wanted to see it. Recently there has been much politicking about Mugairyu, specifically in the US, and there is a serious lack of credible information in English.
Niina-gosoke says: "We have nothing to hide, and all claims we make we back up with our actions on the dojo floor."

So I didn't post this to go attack the ZNKR or the ZNIR or Eishinryu, just to try and clarify where Mugairyu Iaihyodo under Shiokawa-gosoke and Niina-gosoke comes from. Specifically the issue of ties to Mugairyu through the police academy, via ZNKR and Ishii-gosoke, is made quite clear. For those who don't know, 'jyomei' means to be removed as a member, but you can still claim you have whatever rank/certification in the ryuha to which you no longer belong. 'hamon' is expulsion and complete stripping of rank. Hamon is rare and VERY serious -- letters get sent to all the top sensei and soke of other styles and organizations. Back in the day, hamon was most likely immediately followed by a self-inflicted abdomen wound.

To answer some questions:
* exact date of the letter -- don't know the year but I'm asking Niina-gosoke to find out from Shiokawa-gosoke.
* Eishinryu's Kano is probably Kono -- reading old handwritten Japanese is hard enough, reading names is worse. Noted, thanks!
* There are many photos of old scrolls in both the 45th Dojo Anniversary and 50th Dojo Anniversary books for Shiokawa (BigTony has both if anyone wants to see them) -- not entirely sure what's what; can't read most of them!
One big controversy was Nakagawa-gosoke received various old scrolls from Takahashi-gosoke, which then got destroyed when his house was destroyed (earthquake/fire or war, not sure -- have to verify w/Niina-gosoke). Of course the Takahashi lineage claims Nakagawa-gosoke deliberately lost the scrolls to cover up the fact that he's not the legitimate inheritor of the ryu...
* My name in Japanese is written as:
?•“c?@˜@”@?Ö?@•Ä–M
So the yonekuni is beikoku, but written old-school. And yes it basically means "white boy from the west"!

Regards,

r e n

P.S. Tried to respond to PM but your PM inbox is full!

Earl Hartman
11th February 2004, 03:16
Ren:

Thanks.

Full again? Damn, I just cleared it out, or so I thought.

hyaku
11th February 2004, 03:43
I have taken part in similar conversations with Iwata Sensei and received a long letter of similar content when an MJER group was thinking of joining a certain offshoot Renmei. I have seen a few posts describing him as ZNKR MJER line but that really is not the case

Maybe its rather political and I would not want criticise anyones hard work with their own Renmei But he would put them in a certain order as to who was trying to follow a tradition that has been handed down to the best of their abilities and those who would want to be chiefs rather than indians.

Iwata Sensei towed the line with the ZNKR before he retired but really has tried to space himself as far away as possible from what his teachers started (seitei) and try do MJER fundamentals.

He is among the few than can watch who we would consider to be "very" experienced Japanese Iai practitioners and still see seitei mixed in with the koryu or see someone who has mixed up different MJER teachers minute differences His pride lies in being able to seperate it.

They have their pride but Iwata Sensei would be pleased to sit down and watch someone elses MJER embu and say "Oh thats wonderful. You are doing X sensei's waza. You learned it well. But...... that X Sensei was probably one of Oe Masamichi's direct students adding his own character to MJER fundamentals.

And with two Menkyo Kaiden Iwata Sensei is the one you would ask what he thinks after you had finished that embu

One end (Genbudo) making up fundamentals and the other (Kobudo) is in danger of losing waza as they do to much fundamental work.

Hyakutake Colin

Scott Irey
11th February 2004, 05:02
Ren, my PM box has been emptied. Sorry I was not able to get your message.

Regards,

Jock Armstrong
11th February 2004, 05:21
Apparently human nature is eternal! I always found it telling that the seitei gata were formed without input from TSKSR. politics abounded when kyudo was formed from koryu kyujutsu. Some of the old schools were outraged by what they saw as "watering down".

Wy do some people still think that MA politics are a new phenomenon?