PDA

View Full Version : reply to P. Rott's enquiry



Meik Skoss
25th October 2001, 18:27
Mr. Rott,

You wrote on 25Oc01:

>Very much belated, I want to thank you for your answer about some bokken kata done by Mazuoka Sensei and the relationship of techniques displayed to those of Yagyu Shinkage-ryu. I do not use the internet much and did not have an opportinity to express my appretiation in due time.<

My pleasure. And please don't worry about not having been able to respond sooner. I'm not such a great correspondent myself, as I'm also quite busy and forget to answer e-mail all too frequently.

>There is a matter that leaves me intrigued however. Much has been written about the relationship of aikido and Daito-ryu techniques and sword movements. In your article, published in Aikido Journal, you write about the unmistakeable relationship between aiki ken and Kashima Shinto-ryu. I wonder, however, where does it leave Ono ha Itto-ryu in the sense that, since that tradition is taught in Daito ryu curriculum, would you not expect it to be evident in Ueshiba Morihei's instruction? Do you think that he didn't study it and had to, um, "outsource" in order to receive instruction in weapons? But that would mean that aikido taijutsu and aikido weapons aren't all that related (beside some generic "armed opponent" notion), wouldn't it?<

It is my understanding that Ueshiba Morihei did not study Ono-ha Itto-ryu kenjutsu with Takeda Sokaku. Remember, Ueshiba learnt the Daito-ryu waza at seminars (J: koshukai) and was not an "in house" student of Takeda's. Indeed, I don't believe that Takeda had a dojo of his own, where he taught people on a continuing basis. That being so, it remained for his son, Tokimune, to begin teaching in a more "normal" style, sometime after WWII. You are right in saying that Ono-ha Itto-ryu was a part of the curriculum at the Daitokan Dojo during Tokimune's time (I don't know about now), but all I've seen is evidence of Ueshiba having entered the Kashima Shinto-ryu (as evidenced by his keppan and the stuff we see in Saito Morihiro's sword technique) and some circumstantial evidence that he was also influenced by Yagyu Shinkage-ryu, per referring to Hikitsuchi Michio's sword technique.

I believe you're also correct in assuming that aikido taijutsu and buki waza are not coherently related to one another. I've seen a lot of teachers who have, *individually*, come up with systems of unarmed and armed techniques that dovetail with each other to a very high degree, but nothing to suggest that Ueshiba taught a co-ordinated system per se.

Hope this helps.

Arman
25th October 2001, 19:18
As far as I know, Kondo Sensei does not teach Ona-ha Itto-ryu as part of the Daito-ryu curriculum. I have heard this directly from a nidan who studies in Japan with Kondo Sensei, as well as indirectly from various sources. I do believe this question was posed to Kondo Sensei once, and I think I recall him saying that he doesn't teach it. I'm not sure, however, since I have not personally asked Kondo Sensei about it, and I don't remember the encounter all that clearly. Now, if he teaches only a select few, high-level students, I couldn't say.

Sincerely,
Arman Partamian
Daito-ryu Study Group
Baltimore, MD