NIHON KORYU BUJUTSU
SOBUKAN : TAKEDA RYU, HAKKO RYU, SHINDO YOSHIN RYU, ASAYAMA ICHIDEN RYU
Asayama Ichiden Ryu
"Chi No Maki"
Historical Facts
At Least One Lineage
This martial art was founded by Asayama Mitsugoro Ichidensai in 1566.
He was the third son of a military expert (gunshi) who was named Asayama Genban Minamoto no Yoshitada Ichiyosai.
His father was in the employ of Akai Aku Uemon Kageto, who was the Lord of the Amada and Hikami Districts.
Legend holds that at the tender age of 12, Ichidensai had a dream with Fudo Myo Oh, which resulted in enlightenment for him and the subsequent founding of Asayama Ichiden Ryu.
The art was initially taught in the Aizu domain, which is the same area that Daito Ryu originated
hence a possible reason for some experts noting similarities in the various waza that are shared.
Eventually the art was promoted throughout the region by the Tanaka House, who were elders on council to the Lord of that area.
During the Meiji Restoration (1868 to 1912), the head of this art was from this house and was named Tamatso TANAKA. He was the 12th generation head of the art.
The art has diverged in several directions since Tanaka, however one of the more common divergences leading to its current popularity was Tanaka's appointment of Okura Hisajiro Naoyuki as the art's head.
Okura had a dojo in the Koiskikawa area of
He had two senior students, Adachi Yushio who continued the tradition and also Naganuma Tsuneyuki,
who married his daughter.
As a result, Naganuma was given the responsibility of heading the art.
He subsequently appointed his second son, Yoshiyuki, as the head of the art
but he left the position and turned it over to a senior student named Ueno Takashi.
Interestingly, after his father (Tsuneyuki) died, Yoshiyuki returned and began teaching
the art again, thus creating further divergences.
Ueno Takashi then appointed Sato Kinbei as his successor in 1954.
Kinbei was a prolific teacher who taught many persons the art of Asayama Ichiden Ryu,
some of whom know claim to be the head of the art.
Given the amount of divergence in the art, it is entirely possible that many of these claims
are with merit and not as dubious as might be first thought.
Structure of the Art
Some of the schools teaching Asayama Ichiden Ryu are predominantly kenjutsu schools now. Many of those schools that teach the jujutsu/ taijutsu aspects of the art have codified the art into various levels including Shoden
(first transmission), Chuden (middle level transmission),
okuden (hidden transmision), kuden (oral transmission) amongst others.
The original art’s three main areas known as the:
· Ten no Maki (Heaven Scroll)
This scroll focused upon kenjutsu or the sword art
· Jin no Maki (Man / Person Scroll)
This scroll focused upon the arts of the staff known as bojutsu
· Chi no Maki (Earth Scroll)
This scroll focused upon empty hand defence techniques (jujutsu)
Ueno Takashi attempted to keep the transmission of the art as pure as possible and
to this end began an e-maki (picture scroll) which showed the kata of the school.
Within this lineage, however, the transmission of waza was limited to the Chi no Maki
and some Hishigi Den (literally ‘crushing transmission’ or joint manipulation techniques)
and kuden (oral transmission of "secrets") as these were the only areas
transmitted forward by Naganuma Tsuneyuki.
The Chi no Maki of traditional Asayama Ichiden Ryu is structured into several areas,
versus the shoden, chuden, okuden etc. that are seen in many schools.
The Chi no Maki has the following areas:
· Gedan no Kurai
· Chudan no Kurai
· Jodan no Kurai
· Okuden no Kurai
· Shio no Kurai
· Idori no Kurai
Nowadays there are several traditions alive, some more popular than others.
Some of the better known traditions, or at least more publicized,
from the Asayama Ichiden Ryu Taijutsu’s Chi no Maki are
the Okura-den, Yokohama-den, and Tanemura’s Genbukan.
