Takeuichi-ryu question....

[Sheridan]

Good day and how do. I was reading the recent Kashima Shinryu thread and the idea of changing a koryu was brought up and then quickly shot down. Now this is a different case entirely, I'm assuming that this (supposed) change was brought about by a soke or somebody within the system with enough clout to say this is how it's gonna be. What I'm referring to is a vague rumor (one source only) I'd heard that Takeuichi-ryu adopted a whack of chinese unarmed and unarmored techniques about two hundred years ago to adapt with the times. Nobody was wearing armor or carrying swords anymore so the ryu-ha was slowly declining. Is this true, can anybody confirm this rumor?

Second question. Soapbox warning. Why can't this be done again? We don't argue the addition of Tessen kata (edogidai) to a sengokugidai ryu-ha. Who's gonna argue the addition of pistol retention techniques or breathing exercises to a traditional ryu-ha if the intentions are not to keep it as a museum piece but a living breathing martial system? Why can't a cop (if he/she so chooses) learn a jo style and firearms style within the same ryu-ha? We don't argue about learning Mochi-Yari along with Tessen do we?




[Edited by Sheridan on 01-02-2001 at 07:38 PM]

[Just some guy]

Sheridan,
I don't know what everyone else might be thinking but I can tell you my opinions on this subject. In general there really doesn't seem to be a big problem with adding things into a Koryu as far as my readings have lead me to believe. The problem comes when the wrong person adds something into things. To put it simply, any idiot can have an opinion, having a good one takes time, training and expiriance. As I understand many of the Soke have made changes to a Koryu be it by adding basic techniques or a new weapon or so on. However the Soke is the one who knows what he is doing. If someone else makes changes as he or she wishes, then you can't be sure what you're getting. Now, what happens when the Soke doesn't know how to use a gun, or anything like that. Well, then there are no gun techniques.
I don't think that change is the big problem in Koryu traning. The thing that everyone seems to be avoiding is Jo-Blow-I'm-better-than-you-even-though-I've-only-done-this-two-weeks changing everything he sees because he hasn't developed the skill to do things right.
Well, there's my little rant on the theme. Hope I helped and didn't screw things up to much.
Chris Baker

[pboylan]

Adding stuff to various ryuha happens. It's no mystery, and there is really no problem with it. Just remember that the only person who can do the adding is the head of the ryuha. If you look at MJER/MSR you'll notice that the various iai sets were incorporated at different times throughout history. Nakayama Sensei added a couple of kata as late as the middle of the 20th century. In Shinto Muso Ryu tanjojutsu was also added at the beginning of the 20th century. The thing is, only the head of the ryuha has the authority to decide what's in and what's out.

One of the problems with adding stuff to a ryuha is the extra time required to become proficient. Look at Takenouchi ryu. It's curriculum already takes a couple of decades to learn. If you add another weapon that adds at LEAST another year the learning cycle. More often, it's easier to tell a student where to learn the particular item they want/need. If a ryu head decides that something is really important, then HE has to go learn it before it can be incorporated. That also takes a long time, and he may change his mind during the years that are required.

Peter Boylan