Uchida Ryogoro

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Ryogoro Uchida (Uchida Ryogoro), (1837 - October 22, 1921), was a Japanese jojutsu practitioner, ranked menkyo in the Japanese martial art of Shintō Musō-ryū (SMR). He is the creator of the gendai budo Uchida Ryu Tanjojutsu which is also known as Sutteki jutsu or "stick method".

Uchida Ryogoro Shigeyoshi was born in 1837 to father Hiraoka Nisaburo. Ryogoros father was a Menkyo of the Jigyo-branch of the "The "New Just" Muso-ryu tradition". From an early age Ryogoro showed an aptitude for martial arts and excelled in his studies.^[1] He trained in all of the arts a bushi (warrior) was expected to learn which included horsemanship, bowmanship, gunnery, swordmanship, spear and a multitude of other weapons and skills. Among the arts he learned was Ono-ha Itto-ryu swordsmanship from Ikuoka Heitaro, the art of spear from from a retainer of the Takeda family, Kyushin-ryu jujutsu from exponent named Ishikawa and Shinto Muso-ryu Jo from Hirano Kichizo Yoshinobu of the Haruyoshi-branch. He is said to have received the scroll of complete transmission from each of the mentioned ryu.^[1]

After the Seinan war of 1877, Ryogoro moved to Tokyo and started teaching SMR. Two of his known students were Ryohei Uchida (his son) and Nakayama Hakudo (the founder of Muso Shinden-ryu iaido and a master of kendo). Ryogoro created a set of tanjo kata based on the teachings of SMR and influenced by the walking sticks gentleman of the era carried, which he called "Sutteki" (the Japanese way to pronounce "stick"). After his death, the set of kata were named Uchida Ryu in his honor and are now practiced as one of the heiden bujutsu of Shintō Musō-ryū.

[edit] References

^ ^a ^b Matsui, Kenji . 1993. The History of Shindo Muso Ryu Jojutsu, translated by Hunter Armstrong (Kamuela, HI: International Hoplological Society) #1