Saturday, October 5, 2013

Toshimi ‘Hosaku’ Matsuda’s 松田敏美 Daito Ryu Legacy

                               
Matsuda Sensei (center) with his students. In the back row center is Jang and front row left is Ryuho Okuyaman  1938?


                                                                  
Sokaku Takeda
The great teacher of Daito Ryu AikiJujutsu 大東流合気柔術 , Sokaku Takeda 武田 惣角 , taught many students in his career.   Eighteen of his best students in his early career were presented with Kyoju Dairi (教授代理, "representative instructor") many of these instructors became very well known, and founded lineages and schools of Daito Ryu.  Toshimi美 Matsuda 松田 was one of these pupils of Takeda sensei.  Despite Toshimi Matsuda's influence, and esteemed position as a pioneer of Daito Ryu, very little has been written about this man and the influence his art and teaching practice has had.
                                                                         
  In 1910 Sokaku Takeda accompanied his friend who was the former Akita police chief who was transferred to Hokkaido.  Takeda made Hokkaido the center of his teaching career for the next 20 years.  Out of the Northern prefecture of Japan many of the great Daito Ryu teachers would meet and train with Sokaku Takeda and learn the art from him.


Toshimi ‘Hosaku’ Matsuda 松田敏美was born in 1895 or 1896.   One source claims he was born Hosaku, and Toshimi was his pen name he later adopted.  Toshimi Matsuda lived in Asahikawa City, Hokkaido.  By some reports he was a military officer.  Toshimi began training in June of 1928 at the age of 33.   An entry has his name in the Daito Ryu logs at this time.  He then later received the kyoju-dari certificate from Sokaku Takeda in August 1929.
Toshimi ‘Hosaku’ Matsuda  松田敏美
  (Either his starting date is incorrect, or he was an exceptional student because a kyoju-dari is quite an advanced grading at that point in history.  Only 18 people received this grading from Takeda.  While dojo heads were only authorized to teach in their own schools, a kyoju-dari was authorized to teach at other schools as well.)

At some point in his training he must have known or trained at the same time as famed Kodo Horikawa, founder of the Kodokai – also a resident of Hokkaido.   Seigo Okamoto of the Roppokai says his teacher, Horikawa Kodo, often spoke about Toshimi Matsuda.

After receiving his teaching license Matsuda taught the art in the Asahikawa City, Hokkaido by opening a dojo, the Shobukan 松武會.



                               
Group photo at Shobukan  松武會



Throughout his teaching career Matsuda sensei produced many students.  Some carried on his direct line of Daito Ryu.  The man that became his direct successor was Takeshi Maeda.  Other students of Toshimi Matsuda went on to form their own styles of jujutsu based on his teachings.  Several Korean names have been documented among his students, and some of these went on to contribute to the growth of Hapkido in Korea.  In the 1930's, up until around 1936, he was the Daito Ryu teacher of Okuyama Yoshiharu (Yoshiji) also known as Ryuho Okuyama, founder of Hakko-ryu Ju-jutsu.

The two men that are probably best known for carrying on the art and Daito Ryu legacy of Matsuda Sensei are Takeshi Maeda and Ryuho Okuyama.

At this time I cannot find information about the passing of Toshimi Matsuda.  What is clear about his life and art, is that he was tremendously influential and a great many artists and arts have descended from his practice.


             On the Japanese language wikipedia I uncovered this information.  The automatic Google translation defiantly garbled some kanji in the translation.  Although the English language wikipedia claims there are 4 major lines or traditions, the Japanese claims 9.

  
  1. 松田敏美 1895年ごろ~不明。 本名、豊作。 北海道旭川市にて松武館道場を開設して大東流合気柔術を教授する。 弟子には群馬県大間々町に練心館道場を開き大東流合気柔術を教授した前田武 、北海道帯広市の元信館道場にて教授する宝田元信 、他に八光流柔術開祖の奥山龍峰 (後に武田にも師事) や、導引術で有名な道家合気術(道家動功術) の早島正雄などがいる。
                       
  Matsuda Toshimi 1895 around ~ unknown. Real name, good harvest. Hokkaido Asahikawa teach the Daito-ryu Aiki Jiu Jitsu by opening the Shobukan dojo in. Disciples was teaching Daito-ryu Aiki Jiu open the Neri-shin Museum dojo in Gunma Prefecture Omama-cho, Takeshi Maeda , Hokkaido Obihiro teach at Motonobu Hall dojo of Motonobu Takarada , other hakkō-ryū of founder Okuyama Ryu-ho (even after Takeda studied), and the famous Taoism Aiki surgery with an electrically引術(Doke Doko surgery) Masao Hayashima there are such.

Japanese wikipedia goes on to state 
松武館系
北海道旭川市教授代理松田敏美が開設した松武館道場に連なる系統。
  1. 旧松武館
    1. 元信館
    2. 練心館
      1. 弘道館
      2. 隆道会
    3. 八光流柔術
      1. 臣流柔術
    4. 道家合気術
    5. 弘武會 (韓国伝大東流系)
Shobukan system
Hokkaido Asahikawa to Professor agency , Toshimi Matsuda lines connected to Shobu-kan dojo was opened.
  1. Kyumatsu Take-kan
    1. Motonobu Museum
    2. Nerikokoro-kan
      1. Hiromichi Museum
      2. Takamichi-kai
    3. Hakko Ryu Ju
      1. Minister flow Ju
    4. Doke Aiki surgery     Doke Doka Aiki
    5. Hirotake會 (Korea Den Daito-ryu system)




Takeshi Maeda (前田 武)  Daito-Ryu Aiki-jujutsu 練心館 Renshinkan
Toshimi Matsuda (left) and Takeshi Maeda (right)

「集中力」ではなく、触れることで相手を無抵抗にさせることだと思います。接点から気を出して、丹田から足へと伝えることによって相手を動けない状態にしてしまう。あとは投げようが倒そうが、こちらの意のままです。師匠の松田敏美には「力を入れるな」と教わりました。師の手を握った時の感触を覚えておいて、あとは自分でいろいろ思考錯誤することで身に付くはずです。私の場合には30年ぐらい掛かりましたね。
“It is not “Shuchu-ryoku” (“focused power”), I believe that it is to make the opponent non-resistant upon touch. Extend Ki through the contact point, transmit from the Tanden to the feet and put the opponent in a condition in which they are unable to move. After that, they may be thrown or taken down at will. I was taught by my teacher Toshimi Matsuda “Don’t put in power!”. One must remember the feel of taking the teacher’s hand and then absorb it through their own process of trial and error. In my case it took about thirty years.”



Toshimi Matsuda, through his work, often had the opportunity to travel to the capital from Asahikawa. It seems that he took advantage of these opportunities to place in a newspaper an advertisement announcing lessons for DaitoRyu AikiJujutsu. By reading this, Maeda became interested and visited Matsuda sensei who was staying in a hostel in Asakusa. 


Asakusa 1920s/30s
                           

After observing Matsuda perform techniques Maeda became interested and asked to become a student. Maeda had then no experience in koryu, his only experience was having practiced the Kodokan Judo.  Thereafter, when he went to Tokyo, Matsuda sensei led the training of Daito Ryu in
the same hostel.  Maeda was a pharmacist.  He had the opportunity to travel to a meeting of the Federation of pharmacies in Sapporo, and when the event was over, he extended his trip to Asahikawa to receive teaching from Matsuda sensei at the Shobukan dojo.  At the rate of one week per month, Maeda sensei could learn Daito Ryu with Matsuda sensei whenever it went to Tokyo for business. In addition, Maeda sensei made a stay for one week dojo at the Shobukan in Asahikawa.  Thus, by repeating these periods a week of practice, he learned the art. Until the late '20s, for members of Daito Ryu, there was no daily training at the dojo, all training was in seminars or private lessons.










Takeshi Maeda
The forms of Daito Ryu that Maeda sensei taught Matsuda sensei were close 
to the old forms taught by Takeda sensei students to various locations. What in the education received Maeda sensei method, we learn the Daito Ryu Aiki Jujutsu through five groups of techniques, from tower to tower Ikkajo (first group) to Gokajo (fifth group). These steps were already important in learning and training at the time of Takeda Sokaku and Toshimi Matsuda. In the aftermath of the war, Maeda sensei who had returned to his hometown of Omama in Gunma Prefecture, took the estate of a pharmacy and opened a dojo Renshinkan to teach Daito Ryu. He also toured teachingin the prefectures of Nagano, Gunma and Tochigi. It even came to pick a vehicle of Self-Defense Forces to ask him to make a demonstration of Daito Ryu in a military barracks in the Gunma prefecture in 1963.  Of budoka from various schools also rendered him even though he did not put forward on the stage of the martial arts world tours. Notably, Kenji Tomiki sensei, student Morihei Ueshiba and in relation to the Kodokan, asked to see the real Daito Ryu.




                                                      

                    Ryuho Okuyama  (奥山龍峰八光流柔術 Hakko-Ryu Jujutsu

                                                 

Okuyama was an instructor of Daito Ryu Aikijujutsu which he studied from two people: Kyoju Dairi Matsuda (Toshimi) Hosaku and later Takeda Sokaku himself. In 1938 Okuyama finished his studies with Takeda and published a martial art text called Daito-ryu Goshinjutsu (The Daito System of Self-Protection), later founded the Dai-Nippon Shidokai (Greater Japan Way of the Samurai Association) and began teaching what he called Daito Hiden Shido (Secret Daito-Ryu Way of the Samurai). Okuyama's first Dojo was located in Asahikawa and was called Nippon Shidokai Ryubukan. In 1939 he moved to Kanda and opened another dojo called Dai Nihon Shidokai. This marked the beginning of the split from Daito-ryu, as by this time Takeda was very old and his son Tokimune was still very young. Seeing no place for advancement in the Daito-ryu school, and being a skilled medical and martial person,[1] Okuyama began to form his own system based on Daito-ryu Jujutsu and Daito-ryu Aiki no jutsu as well as his experience in other forms of bujutsu.


                                                            from Wikipedia




Okuyama, Maeda and Minami Haizan - teacher of shiatsu to Okuyama


Maeda sensei had good relationship with Okuyama sensei.   Maeda was at Okuyama's side when he founded the Hakko Ryu.   I ha e even seen some reports that in the early days of Hakko Ryu, Maeda sensei would travel and teach at Hakko Ryu trainings.   Maeda ended up becoming the direct successor to the Toshimi Matsuda Daito Ryu lineage, while his friend Okuyama went on to focus on his own organization and art.