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Ryuho Okuyama

Japanese jujutsu master and student of Sokaku Takeda, who founded the Hakko-ryu school in Tokyo in 1941 and incorporated shiatsu into its system.

Quick Facts

Date of Birth1901
Date of Death1987
Country of OriginJapanJapan
Also known asYoshiharu

Biography

Ryuho Okuyama was a Japanese jujutsu master and founder of the Hakko-ryu school. He was born in 1901 and died in 1987; we have not been able to verify the exact dates in the sources. One source also lists him under the name Okuyama Yoshiharu; the sources disagree on the question of his name.

He studied under Hosaku Matsuda, listed with the title kyoju dairi, and under Sokaku Takeda; he completed his studies with Takeda in 1938.

He founded Hakko-ryu on 1 June 1941 at the Shiba Tenso shrine in the Shiba district of Tokyo. The original dojo, Hakko-ryu Kobujuku, was destroyed in the bombing of Tokyo, and in 1947 a new school headquarters was established in Omiya. He incorporated concepts of oriental medicine into the system, specifically shiatsu. Instead of strikes, it focuses on pressure on sensitive points (tsubo) along the qi pathways, emphasizing joint-friendly techniques, stretching, and flexibility.

His students also included Doshin So, the later founder of Shorinji Kempo. The school is run autocratically, with all authority belonging to the Okuyama family; leadership passed to his son, the second soke, Okuyama Ryuho.

Teachers, students and family

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Student

Associated Martial Arts

Hakko-ryu JujutsuFounder→

Japanese jujutsu from 1941 with no strikes and no kicks. Its whole content is work on the joints with the least possible force — a joint must not be broken.

Organisations