Mugai Ryu
- Japanese: 無外流 (Mugairyuu)
- Also called: Mugai Jikiden Kenpo (無外直伝剣法), or Mugai Ryu Iaihyodo (無外流居合兵道)
- Type: Iaijutsu, Kenjutsu
- Founder: Tsuji Gettan Mugai Sukeshige (辻月丹無外資茂)
- Era: 1695
History
Founder Tsuji Gettan Mugai Sukeshige (also Sukemochi) went to the capital when he was 13, where he learned Yamaguchi Ryu kenjutsu from Yamaguchi Bokushinsai and his student Itou Shougen[1]. At the age of 26 he received kaiden (full transmission) and opened dojo in the Kojimachi district of Edo. In Edo, Sukeshige studied zazen under Zen master Sekitan Wajo at Kyukoji temple in Azabu. He took the name 'Mugai Ryu' from a Zen poem:
一法実無外 : Ippo jitsu mugai (There is nothing but the one truth.)
乾坤得一貞 : Kenkon toku ittei (It is universal, constant.)
吹毛方納蜜 : Suimo hono mitsu (The wind-blown feather truly obtains this secret;)
動着則光清 : Dochaku soku kosei (To know harmony amidst confusion is to be illuminated.)[2]
The original name for his school was Mugai Jikiden Kenpou (The true transmission of the sword method of Mugai [nothing outside]).
He also learned Jikyo Ryu under Taga Jikyoken Morimasa. Later, Takahashi Hachisuke Mitsusuke would receive transmission of Mugai Ryu from the fourth generation, Tsuji Sukeyuki[3] and transmission of Jikyo Ryu from the fourth in that lineage, Yamamura Masahige. Takahashi then started the Takahashi-ha, or Himeji lineage, of Mugai Ryu.
Eventually the Edo lineage ended with Tsuji Sadatoku, but the Himeji line continued the tradition of Mugai Ryu, also incorporating Jikyo Ryu iai.
Lineage
There are two main lines of Mugai Ryu shown here[4]--the Edo and Himeji lines. The Himeji line is perhaps the more well known today, as the Edo line has died out.
Edo Lineage
- Tsuji Gettan Mugai Sukeshige
- Tsuji Uheita[5]
- Tsuji Kimata Sukehide
- Tsuji Bunzaemon Suketaka
- Tsuji Tatsusgorou Sukeyuki
- Takahashi Hachisuke Mitsusuke-->Himeji line
- Tsuji Bunzaemon Sukenobu
- Tsuji Kin'ichiro Yoshishige
- Tsuji Kimata Shibaoka (Yoshitaro Takenobu)
- Tsuji Kamegoro Sadatoku
Himeji Lineage
- Takahashi Hachisuke Mitsusuke
- Takahashi Tatsuzo Mitsuharu
- Takahashi Hachisuke Shigeyuki
- Takahashi Tetsuo Takeshige
- Takahashi Kyutaro Koun
- Nakagawa Shin'ichi Shiryo[6]
Famous Swordmen of the Ryu
Notes
- ↑ 伊藤将監
- ↑ Translation from http://www.iai.gr.jp/hp/english/tsuji.html
- ↑ Bugei Ryuha Daijiten gives his name as Tsuji Tatsugoro Sukeyuki, although other sources[[1]] say Tsuji Kimata Sukeyuki
- ↑ This is the lineage given in Bugei Ryuha Daijiten and may disagree with other sources.[[2]]
- ↑ Different traditions say this is the 2nd in the lineage, before Sukehide
- ↑ There are several holders of menkyo kaiden from this point forward and there is no clear 'head' of the entire lineage anymore
External Links
- Suimokai website -- The website of the Suimokai, the organization for Mugai Ryu Meishi-ha.
References
- Nihon Densho Bugei Ryuha Dokuhon(日本伝承武芸流派読本) Shinjinbutsu Orai sha 1994
- Watatani, Kiyoshi and Yamada, Tadashi (2003), Bugei Ryuha Daijiten (武芸流派大辞典), Tokyo Copy, Tokyo, Japan.
