Sekiguchi Shinshin-ryu
関口流柔術An old Japanese school from Wakayama, founded by Sekiguchi Ujimune. According to Nihon Kobudo Kyokai it rests on jujutsu, iai and kenjutsu, and the 13th holder leads it.
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About Sekiguchi Shinshin-ryu
Sekiguchi Shinshin-ryu is an old Japanese school that, according to Nihon Kobudo Kyokai, rests on three pillars, jujutsu, iai and kenjutsu. It was founded by Sekiguchi Yarokuemon Ujimune, who late in life used the name Jushin. Nihon Kobudo Kyokai states that he was born in 1598 as a son of an Imagawa clan member. The dictionary Nihon Jinmei Daijiten dates his birth to 1597 or 1598 and his death to 1670.
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After the Imagawa clan fell, according to Nihon Kobudo Kyokai, he wandered the provinces, clarified capture and grappling techniques through his own study, and named the school after the heart, which is new every day. The dictionary Daijisen Plus states that he created the school at the start of the Edo period by combining iai and jujutsu, and that Tokugawa Yorinobu, lord of the Kii domain, received him as a guest. The encyclopedia Nipponica dates the school's origin to the Kan'ei years (1624–1644), and the koryu.com guide gives about 1640. According to Nihon Kobudo Kyokai, Ujimune's descendants were instructors of the Kii domain for generations, and the school ranked among the three main schools of the Tokugawa era. Around the Genroku years, according to Nipponica, another independent school split off. From the sword-drawing part, according to Nihon Kobudo Kyokai, the Sekiguchi-ryu Battojutsu line grew up in Kumamoto. Today the school is led, according to both Nihon Kobudo Kyokai and Nihon Kobudo Shinkokai, by the 13th holder Sekiguchi Yoshio in Wakayama. Since 2006 it has been, according to Nihon Kobudo Kyokai, an intangible cultural property of Wakayama city.
History
Nihon Kobudo Kyokai states that the founder Sekiguchi Yarokuemon Ujimune was born in 1598 as the son of an Imagawa clan member. From youth he excelled in martial arts and grappling, and after the Imagawa clan fell he wandered the provinces and clarified capture and grappling techniques through his own study. He based the technique on the soft use of force and named the school Shinshin-ryu, because in his view improvement in martial art arises from the heart, which is new every day. In later life he used the name Jushin.
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The dictionary Daijisen Plus states that Ujimune came from Mikawa province and created the school by combining iai and jujutsu with his own modifications. Tokugawa Yorinobu, lord of the Kii domain, received him as a guest and the school spread in Kii. The dictionary Nihon Jinmei Daijiten writes that Ujimune studied the sword and spear and in Nagasaki learned fist fighting and binding. Japanese Wikipedia, by contrast, states that in a 1631 preface Ujimune wrote of studying without a teacher and that later accounts of his teachers were not verified. According to Nihon Kobudo Kyokai, Ujimune had three sons, his descendants were instructors of the Kii domain for generations, and the school ranked among the three main schools of the Tokugawa era. The tenth holder was appointed in 1906 to the Dai Nippon Butokukai committee selecting jujutsu kata, and the eleventh founded the school's dojo in Wakayama. Around the Genroku years, according to the encyclopedia Nipponica, another independent school split off from it.
How it differs
According to Nihon Kobudo Kyokai, the Kumamoto Sekiguchi-ryu Battojutsu originates in the Sekiguchi family's martial art in Wakayama but took over only the part devoted to drawing the sword. Nihon Kobudo Kyokai lists the two schools separately. Japanese Wikipedia lists further branches too, among them one that descends via Okayama from the fourth holder and passes on jujutsu, the combat staff and iai. The encyclopedia Nipponica classes Sekiguchi Shinshin-ryu among the jujutsu schools that arose in the Kan'ei years.
Technique
According to Nihon Kobudo Kyokai, Sekiguchi Shinshin-ryu stands on three pillars, jujutsu, iai and kenjutsu. The basic idea is the soft use of force. Nihon Kobudo Kyokai takes the first technique of jujutsu as the core of the school, because even fighting with weapons ends in grappling. Japanese Wikipedia lists sixteen technique sets for jujutsu, six sets of five or six forms each for iai, and three forms and five more forms for kenjutsu. According to it, the school also includes a doctrine of strikes and revival, whose documents Nihon Kobudo Kyokai also lists.
Training
Nihon Kobudo Kyokai lists painted scrolls of jujutsu and iai forms among the school's documents. By the same source, the central dojo in Wakayama trains regularly twice a week, and a branch also operates in Hyogo Prefecture. The koryu.com guide says the school teaches jujutsu and kenjutsu with iaijutsu, with long and short sword.
Ranks and progression
Nihon Kobudo Kyokai lists licenses and dan grade certificates from the Meiji period among the documents the school passes on. We have not found the order of license grades in the sources.
Today
According to both Nihon Kobudo Kyokai and Nihon Kobudo Shinkokai, the school is led by the 13th holder Sekiguchi Yoshio, headquartered in Wakayama. Since 16 March 2006 it is, per Nihon Kobudo Kyokai, an intangible cultural property of Wakayama city, performed at three shrines and at the Wakayama Castle festival. The same source lists branches in Australia and Britain. Japanese Wikipedia also mentions a 2010 registration by Wakayama Prefecture, and we have not found it on the prefecture's site.
Did you know
Japanese Wikipedia tells a tradition according to which Tokugawa Yorinobu tested the warriors in his service and had a page attack Ujimune from behind. Ujimune turned at once and the page fell into a pond. The Britannica encyclopedia on kotobank gives another school from 1532 as the oldest documented jujutsu school and names Sekiguchi-ryu right after it.
Frequently asked questions
Who founded Sekiguchi Shinshin-ryu?
According to Nihon Kobudo Kyokai, Sekiguchi Yarokuemon Ujimune, born in 1598, who in his later years used the name Jushin. The dictionary Nihon Jinmei Daijiten gives his death as 1670.
Is Sekiguchi Shinshin-ryu the same as Sekiguchi-ryu Battojutsu?
No. Nihon Kobudo Kyokai lists the two schools separately. The Kumamoto Sekiguchi-ryu Battojutsu has, according to it, its origin in the Wakayama art of the Sekiguchi family but took over only the part of drawing the sword.
What is taught in Sekiguchi Shinshin-ryu?
According to Nihon Kobudo Kyokai, jujutsu, iai and kenjutsu. It takes the first technique of jujutsu as the core of the school, because even fighting with weapons ends in grappling.
Similar styles
Selected by overlap in the style profile, not by historical lineage.