Hozoin-ryu Takada-ha Sojutsu
宝蔵院流高田派槍術A branch of the Hozoin-ryu founded in the 17th century by Takada Matabei. It is the only surviving Hozoin line of spear fighting and returned to Nara.
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About Hozoin-ryu Takada-ha Sojutsu
Hozoin-ryu Takada-ha is a branch of the Hozoin-ryu spear school. It was founded by Takada Matabei Yoshitsugu, whom the Nipponica encyclopedia and the Jinmei daijiten dictionary name as the founder of the Takada-ha branch. According to Nipponica he was born in 1589, according to the Jinmei daijiten in 1590, and he died in 1671. Takada studied under Nakamura Naomasa, a pupil of the Hozoin-ryu founder In'ei. According to Nipponica he entered his school in 1602 at the age of fourteen and in 1615 received the transmission of the cross spear technique with 63 techniques. He later served the Ogasawara clan and moved with it to Kokura. Nihon Kobudo Kyokai writes that the school also spread to Edo and that many teachers came from it at the end of the Edo period. In 1976, according to Nihon Kobudo Kyokai, the school returned to Nara, where the parent school arose. Its heads have since been Kagita Chubei from 1991, Ichiya Junzo from 2012 and, since September 2020, Komakita Manabu. All the sources that list Hozoin-ryu today, namely Nihon Kobudo Kyokai, Nihon Kobudo Shinkokai and the koryu.com guide, give only this branch. Both kama yari with a cross blade and the straight spear su yari are practiced. According to Nihon Kobudo Kyokai the school is active in Nara, Nagoya, Tokyo and Germany and has around a hundred students.
History
According to the Nipponica encyclopedia, Takada Matabei Yoshitsugu was born in 1589 in Shirakashi in Iga province, while the Jinmei daijiten dictionary gives 1590. In 1602 he entered the school of Nakamura Naomasa, a pupil of the Hozoin-ryu founder In'ei, and in 1615 he received from him the transmission of the cross spear technique with 63 techniques.
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In 1623, according to Nipponica, he entered the service of the Ogasawara clan, the lords of Akashi, and went with them to Kokura. He distinguished himself in the Shimabara Rebellion in 1637. In 1651 he demonstrated his art to Tokugawa Iemitsu. According to the Jinmei daijiten he died in 1671 at the age of 82. Nipponica states that his second son Yoshikazu was called into the service of the Kuroda clan in Fukuoka and the younger sons kept the main line in Kokura. Nihon Kobudo Kyokai writes that the school also spread to Edo and that many teachers came from it at the end of the Edo period. The school itself states on its website that one of the senior pupils brought it to Edo with two others and that by tradition it had four thousand students. In 1918, according to the school, the then master handed over the kata to the student swordsmanship club of the First Higher School. In 1976, according to Nihon Kobudo Kyokai, the then holder handed the school over to a teacher in Nara, returning it to the city where the parent school arose. Its heads have since been Kagita Chubei from 1991, according to the English Wikipedia until his death in December 2011, Ichiya Junzo from 2012 and, since September 2020, Komakita Manabu.
How it differs
According to the English Wikipedia, the parent Hozoin-ryu was handed down in two lines. The monastic line in the temple ended in 1808, and Takada-ha arose from the secular line through Nakamura Naomasa and Takada Matabei. The Heibonsha encyclopedia names other branches besides Takada-ha, for example Nakamura-ha. Nihon Kobudo Kyokai, Nihon Kobudo Shinkokai and the koryu.com guide, however, list only Takada-ha, and we have not found another living line.
Technique
According to the koryu.com guide, instruction covers the straight spear su yari and the cross-bladed kama yari. The school's website states that its training spears are of two kinds, the kama yari 2.7 metres long and the su yari 3.6 metres long. According to the school, the cross blade allows thrusting, pulling down, cutting and striking, and it uses a low stance for fighting in armour. According to the school, the syllabus consists of fourteen kata of the omote series, fourteen of the ura series and seven of the shinjikake series, thirty-five in all. The Japanese Wikipedia writes that of the parent school's forms only the yari-awase form has survived. Nipponica states that Takada himself took over a 63-technique system and later developed his own system of 101 and 15 points.
Training
According to Nihon Kobudo Kyokai, the main training place is the central budo hall of Nara, and other groups train in Nagoya, Tokyo and Hamburg. The school has around a hundred students, the association says. The school gives demonstrations at the Kofuku-ji temple and the Kasuga Wakamiya On-matsuri festival. Early in the year, according to Nihon Kobudo Kyokai, it gives the public the traditional soup tanuki-jiru. According to its website it accepts new students four times a year and runs a children's spear course.
Ranks and progression
The school's website reports promotions in the dan and kyu grades and, in November 2020, a ceremonial handover of the soden mokuroku to the head of the school. We have not found in the sources which licence levels it awards or in what order.
Today
Nihon Kobudo Kyokai lists the school as member number 052 and names Komakita Manabu as its head, whom Nihon Kobudo Shinkokai also lists in its roster. The koryu.com guide still names Kagita Chubei as the head, so its information is out of date. The Japanese Wikipedia writes that the school has accepted women since 2017 and that in 2018 the first woman passed an examination for a lower grade. The school itself has a website in Japanese, English and German.
Did you know
The English Wikipedia describes a duel between Takada and Miyamoto Musashi in Kokura. Takada fought with a bamboo spear, Musashi with a wooden sword, and Musashi won the first two rounds. In the third the spear slipped between his legs, and Musashi is said to have declared that he had been hit and lost. Takada later said, according to the same source, that he could not touch Musashi and that Musashi had only feigned one round. Wikipedia relies on a single book. According to its website, the school plants oaks for spear shafts. In February 2017 it planted 540 seedlings and in later years it collected acorns and sowed them.
Frequently asked questions
Who was Takada Matabei?
He was a spear master of the early Edo period, a pupil of Nakamura Naomasa and the founder of the Takada-ha branch. He served the Ogasawara clan in Kokura and died in 1671.
Where is Hozoin-ryu Takada-ha practiced today?
According to Nihon Kobudo Kyokai the main training place is the central budo hall in Nara, and other groups train in Nagoya, Tokyo and Hamburg. According to the association the school has around a hundred students.
How many kata does Takada-ha have?
On its website the school states thirty-five kata: fourteen in the omote series, fourteen in the ura series and seven in the shinjikake series.
Similar styles
Selected by overlap in the style profile, not by historical lineage.