I’m gonna add 系流派 Keiryūha (lineage-related schools) to our nine Bujinkan schools here. It is very complicated to get a grip on.
Amatsu Tatara and Kukishin History
The origin of Kukishin Ryū can be traced back to the activity of the Taiheiki Era (approximately 1333). At that time (also known as the Nanboku-chō Era), Nawa Shinzaburō Motonaga and his elder brother, Nawa Kotarō Nagataka (later known as Nawa Nagatoshi, the leader of the Izumo-bushi), and their clan protected Emperor Go-Daigo in the Izumo and Hōki areas (present-day Tottori and Shimane Prefectures), where they raised an army. With Nagatoshi as their leader, and Nawa Shichirō Kunitaka (who was a master of military strategy and martial arts), they formed a powerful clan. Together with monks from Shikoku and Kyushu, they numbered more than 4,000 men.
After the Taiheiki Era, Nawa Shinzaburō Motonaga took the Amatsu Tatara Hitei no Maki scroll that his family possessed and brought it to Mt. Kōya. There, he visited his ancestors’ graves to pray while staying at his family’s temple, Hōshō Temple’s Hosono-an. He became a monk and studied for enlightenment. Nawa Shinzaburō Motonaga taught Ōkuni Onisanta Kiyosumi, son of Ōkuni Onigenta Kiyosada. Kiyosumi then spread the teachings, known by the name Kishin no Jutsu. Kiyosumi taught his son, Onihachirō Kiyochika, as well as Narita Kojirō Kingo.
Later, Kingo went to Kumano and became a gyōja (ascetic). Yakushimaru Takasada, one of his students, was a master of military strategy and very good at bōjutsu. He later helped protect Emperor Go-Daigo. He received the family name “Kuki” from the Emperor, and after this gave the name Hontai Chōsui Kukishin Ryū to his martial art. This new Kuki family continued to teach their style of martial arts to their descendants.
Around the time of the Edo Era, when they were awarded management of the land, the area where they lived came to be called Ayabe-han and Sanda-han. Ōkuni Onigenta Kiyosada, who was taught the Amatsu Tatara Hitei no Maki by Nawa Shinzaburō Motonaga, taught his son Onisanta Kiyosumi. He, in turn, taught his son Onihachirō Kiyochika. Ōkuni Onisanta Kiyosumi, on the 16th of August 1359 (the 140th year of the Shōhei Era), as a member of the Nawa clan, together with the Chigusa and the Kikuchi Takemitsu clans led by the Seiseitai Shogun Kanenaga Shinnō (a son of the Emperor), fought against Shōni Yorinao. Kiyosumi charged into the enemy army on horseback, breaking their ranks. He then set fire to the enemy camp’s command position. Kiyosumi received a promotion as a result.
Some members’ names from later generations who were taught are:
- Ōkuni Kawachi no Kami Masayoshi,
- Ōkuni Onihei Hisayoshi,
- Ōkuni Izumonokami Takamochi,
- Ōkuni Kogenta Yukihisa, and
- Ōkuni Onihei Yoshitane.
Ōkuni Onihei Shigenobu continued to teach his family’s Amatsu Tatara hiden (secret teachings) and became a martial arts master. He became an ascetic in Kumano where he learned Yakushimaru-den from the monk Kuki Shunseibō. Later, he restored Kukishin Ryū Bōjutsu, Naginatajutsu, Yarijutsu, and Taijutsu. While living in Izumo, Ōkuni Onihei Shigenobu was a recognized master of martial arts, and sometimes visited the dōjō of Takagi Gennoshin at his request. He stayed for a while as Gennoshin’s guest and taught bōjutsu to the students. Gennoshin became ill, and while on his sickbed he requested Onihei to take care of things after his death. Gennoshin soon passed away.
Another story has it that Gennoshin and Onihei had both a bōjutsu match and a jūjutsu match. Onihei defeated Gennoshin with his bōjutsu, but Gennoshin beat Onihei with his jūjutsu. That is why the jūjutsu continues as the Takagi Yōshin Ryū, and bōjutsu, yarijutsu, and naginatajutsu are continued as the Kukishin Ryū. Onihei, as the 4th generation sōke, gave these arts the names Hontai Takagi Yōshin Ryū Jūjutsu and Kukishin Ryū Bōjutsu, Yarijutsu, Naginatajutsu, and they have continued to be handed down in this way together. These arts were passed down from generation to generation until the Tempō Era (1830–1840), when they were divided up between three high-ranking students: Fujita Togorō, Inoue Kumatarō, and Ishitani Takeo. After Yagi Ikugorō relocated to the Akashi area, Fujita Tōgoro and Mizuta Yoshitarō carried on our lineage.