Kuki Ryushin
Legendary figureLegendary founder of the Kukishin-ryu schools, born in 1318 according to tradition, credited with the origin of bojutsu after his naginata was broken in battle.
Quick Facts
JapanBiography
Kuki Ryushin is, according to tradition, the founder of the Kukishin-ryu schools, which include Kukishin-ryu Happo Bikenjutsu and Kukishin-ryu Bojutsu. The Kuki family tradition places his birth on 1 January 1318, other records give 1317 or 1318. The tradition dates its founding to the Nanboku-cho period in the 14th century, and we have not found the exact year in sources.
Through his father Doyu he descended, by tradition, from the Fujiwara clan. His mother Chigusa-hime linked him through her brother Suketomo Dainagon Hino to the southern imperial court. By the same tradition he learned martial arts from childhood from his grandfather Dojitsu and studied esoteric Buddhism in Kyoto.
Kukishin-ryu today includes taijutsu, bojutsu, naginatajutsu, kenpo, hanbojutsu, sojutsu and heiho. By the Kuki family tradition, the bojutsu of the school arose when the blade of Ryushin's naginata was cut off in the battle at the Kuragari-toge pass and he fought on with the shaft. Bujinkan tells a different version, in which he saved the emperor Go-Daigo in 1336.
Kukishin-ryu is recorded by the 1963 encyclopedia of Japanese martial schools Bugei Ryuha Daijiten. The researcher Miura Ichiro made the Kuki family scrolls public in a study from 1941. We regard most data on Ryushin's life as tradition, not documented history.
Associated Martial Arts
Weapons and taijutsu school taught in Bujinkan and Genbukan. Wikipedia and Genbukan give its origin differently. We have not found independent evidence.
Kukishin-ryu BojutsuTraditional founder→Japanese old school of staff fighting, listed by the Nihon Kobudo Kyokai together with Takagi-ryu jujutsu under number 014. Traditions of its origin differ.