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Japanese martial arts school

Hinoshita Torite Kaisan Takenouchi ryū (日下 捕手 開山 竹内流) is one of the oldest jujutsu koryū in Japan. It was founded in 1532, the first year of Tenbun, on the twenty fourth of the sixth lunar month by Takenouchi Chūnagon Daijō Nakatsukasadaiyū Hisamori, the lord of Ichinose Castle in Sakushū. Although it is famous for its jūjutsu, Takenouchi Ryū is actually a complete martial art, including armed grappling (yoroi kumiuchi), staff (bōjutsu), sword (kenjutsu), sword drawing (iaijutsu), glaive (naginatajutsu), iron fan (tessenjutsu), restraining rope (hojōjutsu), and resuscitation techniques (sakkatsuhō). Its jūjutsu techniques have been influential in the founding of many other schools in Japan. Takenouchi Ryū is still actively transmitted today by members of the Takenouchi family, as well as by other groups both within and outside Japan. Together with the Yōshin ryū (楊心流) and the Ryōi Shintō ryū, the Takenouchi ryū (竹内流) was one of the three largest, most important and influential Jūjutsu schools of the Edo period (江戸時代 Edo jidai 1603 1868) before the rise of Judo.

According to the Takenouchi Keisho Kogo Den, the document recording the establishment and development of the school, Takenouchi Hisamori retired to the mountains near the Sannomiya shrine to train his martial skills. He practiced there for six days and six nights, wielding a bokken (wooden sword) two shaku and four sun in length (about 2 ft. 4 in. or 72 cm), a relatively long weapon for his purportedly short stature. On the sixth night he fell asleep from exhaustion using his bokken as a pillow. He was woken by a mountain priest with white hair and a long beard who seemed so fearsome to Hisamori that he thought it must be an incarnation of the god Atago. Hisamori attacked the stranger, but was defeated. The priest said to him "When you meet the enemy, in that instant, life and death are decided. That is what is called hyōhō (military strategy)." (凡そ敵に向へば時を移さず、たちどころに殺生降伏させる。これが兵法といふものぞ。) He then took Hisamori's bokken, told him that long weapons were not useful in combat, and broke it into two daggers one shaku and two sun long. The priest told Hisamori to put these in his belt and call them kogusoku, and taught him how to use them in grappling and close combat. These techniques became called koshi no mawari, literally "around the hips". The priest then taught Hisamori how to bind and restrain enemies with rope, using a vine from a tree. Then the priest disappeared mysteriously amidst wind and lightning. Takenouchi Hisamori's second son Hitachinosuke Hisakatsu became the second head of Takenouchi Ryū after his father formally passed him the tradition at the age of 64. He and his successor and son Kaganosuke Hisayoshi added their own techniques to the curriculum, extending it into a complete sōgō bujutsu system.

Takenouchi Ryū is best known for its jūjutsu, over which it covers an extensive ground. Its unarmed jūjutsu techniques include tehodoki (grip breaking), ukemi (tumbling), nagewaza (throwing), kansetsuwaza (joint dislocation), atemi (striking weak points), shimewaza (choking), newaza (ground techniques), and kappō (resuscitation). These are combined to form kata for the various sections of jūjutsu taught, including toride (capturing and restraining), hade (attacking vital points unarmed), and kumiuchi (grappling). These unarmed kata are the best known of the Takenouchi Ryū jūjutsu, but they are not truly its foundation. As related in the establishment myth of the school, the central forms of jūjutsu in Takenouchi Ryū are the kogusoku koshi no mawari, techniques of armed grappling using the short sword kogusoku against armed opponents. It is upon this foundation that the rest of the jūjutsu techniques were developed by Hisakatsu and Hisayoshi, the second and third heads of the school. Beyond the core of jūjutsu, many different weapons are taught. These include the sword, the staff, rope tying, the naginata, and more. The sword curriculum is divided into major sections, with kenjutsu covering basic swordsmanship against a similarly armed opponent, saide covering grappling with the sword, and iai covering the techniques of rapid sword drawing and striking. The staff is central to Takenouchi Ryū's study of movement, and as such forms an important part of the curriculum. Staff work addresses various lengths of staff, in particular bōjutsu for the six shaku staff and shinbō for a slightly shorter staff. Other sizes taught include jōjutsu for the common four shaku two sun staff, and hanbō for shorter sticks around three shaku in length. Rope restraints are an important adjunct to the arresting arts of toride, and the techniques of tying up opponents called hojōjutsu or hobaku are taught using the haya nawa which is a two shaku five sun rope, traditionally of a purple color. Takenouchi Ryū is perhaps lesser known for its other weapons techniques, but as a true sōgō bujutsu it retains a number of weapons for use both on and off the battlefield. The naginata and kusarigama are covered, as well as the jutte truncheon, shuriken throwing darts, and the tessen iron fan. Some kata feature rather peculiar weapons intended to show the use of everyday objects for defense against sword attacks. These include the kasa, a Japanese style umbrella, and the nabebuta, a wooden lid for a cooking pot.

Takenouchi Ryū has exerted a strong influence in the development of jūjutsu. The branches of the Takenouchi Ryū have subsequently have influenced schools directly or indirectly and thus many techniques found in modern jūdō and aikidō can be traced back to their roots in Takenouchi Ryū in one way or another. A number of important jūjutsu koryū were founded by students of the school, such as the Rikishin Ryū, Fusen Ryū, Sōsuishitsu Ryū, Takagi Ryū and its branches (such as Hontai Yōshin Ryū), and Araki Ryū. These ryūha have incorporated many techniques from Takenouchi Ryū either directly from the school or by analyzing the techniques of its exponents. Takenouchi Ryū has documents by its founder on the use and teaching of rokushakubojutsu [6 feet (2 m) stick]. This makes it the oldest verifiable school to teach these skills and it is believed to have had a great influence on other arts teaching rokushakubojutsu. Other arts have long histories and claim to have been teaching rokushakubo, but so far no documents from the period have been found. It may be that these other schools added it later on to their teachings.

As with any koryū, the lineage of Takenouchi Ryū is a matter of importance and pride to its members. Since the tradition was maintained in the family a careful account of the successive leaders of the school has been kept over the centuries. After the 8th headmaster, Takenouchi Tōichirō Hisayoshi, the lineage was split into two branches called the sōke and sōdenke lines. This was done to ensure that the blood line and tradition would be preserved.

The Takeuchi Santo ryū or Takenouchi Santo ryū (竹内三統流) was founded in the Higo Domain by mixing three Takenouchi lineages influenced by Araki ryū. This school is extinct, but the writings of its last master Hideki Shimada are studied by the Bitchū Den.