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Thread: Seishi Horibe- KOPPO

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    Default Seishi Horibe- KOPPO

    Years ago I saw Seishi Horibe in a martial arts magazine. After that I never saw him featured in an article again. Online I can find several videos of his students and him, but many of the articles are not in English and offer little in terms of information about the man and his martial art.

    I'm pretty sure that by his own admission, the art is modern or a modernized form of an older art. Does it have any connection to older koryu? What arts have influenced it specifically?

    I recently learned that he passed away a couple of years ago. Is anybody currently in charge of the system? Are there still schools that teach this art?

    Thanks,

    Tim Doyle

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    I think it's actually Seishi Teppei. And he's kind of a mystery. He left dojo in South Africa, Rhodesia, Canada and elsewhere. Guy Taylor, who teaches in Vancouver, B.C., is an authority. I've also met a 'descendent' of one of the schools in Capetown. If you google Seishi Teppei, you will find a lot of information - I've been told by Mr. Taylor that it's hard to parse out what is accurate and what is not.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Ellis Amdur View Post
    I think it's actually Seishi Teppei. And he's kind of a mystery. He left dojo in South Africa, Rhodesia, Canada and elsewhere.
    I think Seishi Teppei and Seishi Horibe are different people. Seishi Horibe claimed to teach "Kyoto Ryu Koppo(jutsu)," whereas Seishi Teppei's art was Teppei Ryu Jiujitsu, which he claimed was derived from Tenjin Shinyo Ryu.

    Here's a video of Seishi Horibe: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tm3Ux0VzIA8
    Yours in Budo,
    ---Brian---

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    Thanks for both of the responses. It is an honor to have such skilled martial artists take the time to help answer my questions.

    I am referring to Seishi Horibe (died 2015). When I googled Seishi Teppei it appeared that he has been deceased a great deal longer. Seishi Horibe appeared on the "Human Weapon" TV show episode on ninjutsu although he does not claim to be associated with ninjutsu, takamatsu's lineage, or any non-takamatsu lineage ninjutsu according to any interviews I have managed to read. I'm honestly confused why he was featured in the episode.

    Any further assistance would be much appreciated.

    Tim Doyle

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    Quote Originally Posted by Dark Stranger View Post
    Years ago I saw Seishi Horibe in a martial arts magazine. After that I never saw him featured in an article again. Online I can find several videos of his students and him, but many of the articles are not in English and offer little in terms of information about the man and his martial art.

    I'm pretty sure that by his own admission, the art is modern or a modernized form of an older art. Does it have any connection to older koryu? What arts have influenced it specifically?

    I recently learned that he passed away a couple of years ago. Is anybody currently in charge of the system? Are there still schools that teach this art?

    Thanks,

    Tim Doyle
    I did not know that Seishi Horibe was dead but I knew that the Dojo he used to run was in Shinjuku not too far away from the Kyokushin Hombu Dojo.

    Horibe claimed to be the 53th successor of the KOPPO JUTSU "tradition". The founder, according to Horibe´s admission was a feodal Lord named Otomo Komaro who conspired against the Fujiwara clan back in 757. It seems that Fujiwara sent some 30 men to execute Otomo Komaro but that the latter killed some of the hitmen by using a mysterious and powerful skill: the divine palm. Out of the 30 men sent to dispatch Otomo Komaro, 7 were killed on the spot by this very technique. The legend also states that the corpses were later examined and the armours removed from the dead bodies. According to the legend, a red palm was "printed" on the assaillants chest and their backs had been blasted by one single blow.

    The technique of the divine palm was then "rediscovered" by Horibe after extensive researches and an intensive 100 days training in the mount Tsukuba. After relentless efforts from dawn to twilight, Horibe succeeded in blowing up the trunk of a large tree, thus acquiring the same skill as his ancestor. Quite logically, the palm strike became the school´s charateristic and forte.

    Horibe started to learn the family tradition at 9 under his father who claimed to be the 52th patriarch of the Koppo-jutsu of the Nara based Tsukusa clan. The art is supposed to date from the eighth century. He also claimed to have studied Tenjin Shin´yo ryu and Kito-ryu which sounds very implausible since the Kito tradition most probably disappeared with Iikubo Tsunetoshi´s passing at the end of the nineteenth century.

    Horibe organized some competitions in the 90´s with some success but the art had stopped growing by 2000. You can see one example here under.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JxyDEkin28k

    The version of the history provided by Horibe is probably apocryphal to say the least. I had an acquaintance who used to train at the Kyokushin Hombu dojo and who would sometimes observe Horibe´s classes and tease some of Horibe´s deshis about "their deadly shuto strikes" before sneaking out of the Dojo in order to avoid troubles. To be honest, he was not really impressed by this style and did not take it very seriously. It is indeed hard to find a connection with any Koryu since the history Horibe offers is far fetched and the techniques shown look very modern.

    The TV show Human weapon went to Horibe´s Dojo during their ninjutsu experience. You might be interested in having a look, it is very easy to find on Youtube.
    Deception is one of Kenpo´s best technique.

    Väck ej björnen som sover


    Raphael Deutsch

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    Quote Originally Posted by Dark Stranger View Post
    Thanks for both of the responses. It is an honor to have such skilled martial artists take the time to help answer my questions.

    I am referring to Seishi Horibe (died 2015). When I googled Seishi Teppei it appeared that he has been deceased a great deal longer. Seishi Horibe appeared on the "Human Weapon" TV show episode on ninjutsu although he does not claim to be associated with ninjutsu, takamatsu's lineage, or any non-takamatsu lineage ninjutsu according to any interviews I have managed to read. I'm honestly confused why he was featured in the episode.

    Any further assistance would be much appreciated.

    Tim Doyle
    I replied while you were posting. Human weapon was a nice show but not always accurate. I do not know why Horibe´s Koppo jutsu was chosen for this episode. To my knowledge, Horibe never claimed any relationship with ninjutsu.
    Deception is one of Kenpo´s best technique.

    Väck ej björnen som sover


    Raphael Deutsch

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    That is definitely more of the background story than I had ever found before.

    In the article I mentioned in the OP, Seishi Horibe was forthright in stating that he had modified the art passed to him by his father before teaching openly. After reading the above posts, I went to YouTube to watch some Tenjin Shin Yo Ryu and Kito Ryu videos. My untrained eye is not seeing a lot of crossover. Was he known to study anything not JMA? I understand he was very proud and nationalistic, so it would seem paradoxical. Did his school ever compete against kyokushin fighters or any other dojos in a striking format (I have found video of his students grappling against outsiders)? Is his school done at this point. I can't confirm that he has passed, but I have found two sources that state he died of a heart attack in 2015.

    Thanks to all.

    Tim Doyle

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    Quote Originally Posted by Raff View Post
    ...I do not know why Horibe´s Koppo jutsu was chosen for this episode. To my knowledge, Horibe never claimed any relationship with ninjutsu.
    The producers may have confused Horibe's "Kyoto Ryu Koppojutsu" with the Bujinkan's "Koto Ryu Koppojutsu" when they were looking for information, or maybe they just heard about him and thought it looked interesting.
    Yours in Budo,
    ---Brian---

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    Oh shoot, you are right. Different guy entirely. I remember when Horibe first appeared in Japanese martial arts magazines, now that I've looked at the link. Apologies for the distraction on the thread. Most of his early publicity had to do with him 'coaching' a pro wrestler in his techniques. Ellis Amdur

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    Quote Originally Posted by Dark Stranger View Post
    That is definitely more of the background story than I had ever found before.

    In the article I mentioned in the OP, Seishi Horibe was forthright in stating that he had modified the art passed to him by his father before teaching openly. After reading the above posts, I went to YouTube to watch some Tenjin Shin Yo Ryu and Kito Ryu videos. My untrained eye is not seeing a lot of crossover. Was he known to study anything not JMA? I understand he was very proud and nationalistic, so it would seem paradoxical. Did his school ever compete against kyokushin fighters or any other dojos in a striking format (I have found video of his students grappling against outsiders)? Is his school done at this point. I can't confirm that he has passed, but I have found two sources that state he died of a heart attack in 2015.

    Thanks to all.

    Tim Doyle
    As far as I know, Horibe did study some western boxing in his youth and went to several east asian countries to compare and/or test his skills (Thailand, China, the Philippines, Manmyar, Singapore, Hong kong, Malaysia and India). After that, he worked as a debt collector. It seems that Horibe got very interested in Gracie jiu-jitsu and formed a fighting MMA team.

    One of his student, Ohara Manabu fought against Pedro Octavio and lost by decision after 30 minutes. Octavio, a mucher bigger and heavier fighter has a 19-8 record. The Koppo team, however, was not very successful, Ohara being the only member with one official victory.

    I do not know if they did compete against some jissen karate schools but I never heard about it and it is doubtful that they could find common rules. Jissen karate schools at that time did not allow strikes to the head with the upper limbs, nor kicks to the groin area. Some styles like Kudo, Shidokan and Mumonkai do indeed allow strikes to the head but with protections (head gear or gloves).

    Koppo´s fighting rules and style are closer to Taikiken´s than any style of karate.

    I do not know if the school is done or not but in the early 2000, it seems that there were only a couple of students left at the hombu dojo, so the art probably died with Horibe or only has a limited following.
    Deception is one of Kenpo´s best technique.

    Väck ej björnen som sover


    Raphael Deutsch

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    Well, i just realized that I did write some inaccurate information. I had actually forgotten about the relationship between Kyokushin and Taikiken and some of the epic encounters between the two schools in which strikes to the head were allowed. Nevertheless, I did some research and, so far, I haven´t been able to find any relation of any kind between Kyokushin and Koppo jutsu.
    Deception is one of Kenpo´s best technique.

    Väck ej björnen som sover


    Raphael Deutsch

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    Thanks to all the contributors. I've learned more about this man and his martial art in the past week than I had in the twenty-five years prior.

    Tim Doyle

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    It's been about one year since I visited this thread and I was just checking in to see if anybody else had anything to add to the discussion.

    In particular.....

    Does anybody know if the school is still up and running?

    Has anybody ever viewed his instructional videos? Any opinions?

    Besides western boxing, possibly some koryu, and the art passed on by his father, are there any other arts that contributed to this style?

    Does anybody have any positive experiences with Horibe, his style, or his students?

    Does anybody know anyone that could converse in English that would be willing to share more information on the topic?

    Thanks,

    Tim Doyle

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    Thank you for the reply. Unfortunately I don't read or speak Japanese. Can you tell if that blog is current or does it pre-date Horibe's death?

    It was mentioned by Raff that Horibe was a debt collector. Is that the type of debt collector that harrasses you on the phone and ruins your credit rating or the type that breaks your thumbs?

    Tim Doyle

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