Sosuishi-ryu Jujutsu
双水執流柔術A jujutsu school tied to Fukuoka, passed down by the Shitama family. It consists of grappling kumiuchi and koshi no mawari, and was originally called Futagami-ryu.
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About Sosuishi-ryu Jujutsu
Sosuishi-ryu is a Japanese jujutsu school tied to Fukuoka. According to Yamamoto Yoshiyasu (1982), it was founded by Futagami Hannosuke, a member of the Bungo-Taketa domain. He studied under the founder of Takenouchi-ryu and, after finishing his training, created his own school named Futagami-ryu. After a stay in the Yoshino mountains he added sword technique to the grappling and renamed the school. Sources read its name differently: Nihon Kobudo Shinkokai writes Sosuishi-ryu, Nipponica and koryu.com Sosuishitsu-ryu.
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We could not document the founding year. Koryu.com gives the early Edo period, around 1650, and Yamamoto and Nipponica mention 1652, when the founder was invited to serve the Kuroda domain. According to the city of Fukuoka, the Shitama family helped him with this, and Nipponica adds that from the third holder the lineage centred on this family. The school has two parts. The city of Fukuoka calls kumiuchi so-called jujutsu and koshi no mawari so-called iai and battojutsu. Yamamoto points out that the element of a comprehensive martial art is more characteristic of the school than pure grappling. Today, according to the city of Fukuoka, the school is passed on by the sixteenth holder, Shitama Manzo. The city protects it as an intangible cultural property. Nihon Kobudo Shinkokai lists among its member schools a Sosuishi-ryu with a representative in Saitama, that is a Kanto school whose relation to the Fukuoka lineage we have not verified.
History
According to Yamamoto Yoshiyasu (1982), the founder Futagami Hannosuke was a member of the Bungo-Taketa domain. He studied under the founder of Takenouchi-ryu and, after finishing his training, created his own school, Futagami-ryu. He then spent thirty-seven days in a deep valley in the Yoshino mountains, added sword technique to the grappling and renamed the school. Nipponica adds that his insight came from watching the flow of the Yoshino River, and it writes the founder's surname with a different character than Yamamoto and the city of Fukuoka.
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In 1652, according to Yamamoto, the founder entered Chikuzen, where he was invited to serve the Kuroda domain as a teacher of taijutsu. The city of Fukuoka says this was through the mediation of the Shitama family. We have not found the founding year in the sources: Yamamoto and Nipponica mention only 1652 as the year of entering service, and koryu.com gives around 1650. According to the city of Fukuoka, the second holder of the lineage received a license in 1666. According to Yamamoto, the tenth holder expanded the school and introduced methods from other schools. The twelfth holder took part in the Seinan War in 1877 and, according to Yamamoto, fell at the age of thirty-four. The fourteenth holder came from a merchant family in Hakata. Yamamoto writes that, at a time when Kodokan judo was spreading, he kept the spirit of the old school to the end, and according to the city of Fukuoka he held the title of hanshi in judo from the Dai Nippon Butokukai.
How it differs
According to Yamamoto, the birth of Sosuishi-ryu relied heavily on the influence of Takenouchi-ryu, and its koshi no mawari became the basis for further martial disciplines. Yamamoto also states that, while other schools name their techniques after a principle, Sosuishi-ryu keeps names based on the form of the technique, that is kumiuchi and koshi no mawari, and all its techniques rest on the principle of ju. Japanese Wikipedia adds that in Takenouchi-ryu koshi no mawari is a grappling technique with a short blade of 1.2 shaku, whereas today's Sosuishi-ryu calls iai by that name.
Technique
According to the city of Fukuoka, the school preserves more than five hundred techniques in two parts. The city calls kumiuchi so-called jujutsu, with forty-eight forms, and koshi no mawari so-called iai and battojutsu, with twenty-four forms. It divides the kumiuchi forms into five groups, which English Wikipedia, citing the school's website, names Idori, Tai-toshu, Yotsu-gumi, Tai-kodachi and Sonota, and explains as techniques seated, unarmed, in armour, against a short sword and others. The classification of koshi no mawari differs among the sources. Yamamoto describes it as a grappling technique with the short sword wakizashi 1.2 shaku long and writes that various martial disciplines arose from it. According to Yamamoto, the school includes, besides grappling, also kenjutsu, iai, spear, staff, shuriken and horse riding, and so has a strong character of a comprehensive martial art.
Training
According to Yamamoto (1982), training begins with the basics of kumiuchi and, once the basic forms are mastered, continues with further techniques according to the student's progress. He calls the training strict and says one of the dojo's annual events is a month-long event beginning on a holiday near the old New Year. Japanese Wikipedia describes this event as a thousand practice bouts of randori, which one examiner handles in roughly eight hours, and attributes its invention to the twelfth holder.
Ranks and progression
According to Yamamoto (1982), progress in the school has six stages, the last the license. The fourteenth holder passed to the fifteenth the grappling license, which describes the school's philosophy and refers to Laozi.
Today
According to Yamamoto (1982), the technique and the family line are handed down correctly and the school is widespread in Fukuoka and Tokyo. The city of Fukuoka protects it as intangible cultural property in the martial arts category and gives 2004 as designation year. Japanese Wikipedia gives 2005 for recognising Shitama Manzo as the school's holder. The sixteenth holder, Shitama Manzo, teaches it, says the city. Nihon Kobudo Shinkokai lists among its member schools a Sosuishi-ryu with a representative in Saitama prefecture, a Kanto school whose relation to the Fukuoka lineage we have not verified. We have not found it among Nihon Kobudo Kyokai member schools.
Did you know
The city of Fukuoka states that in the Fukuoka domain there existed, besides Sosuishi-ryu, other jujutsu schools and that most of them are now lost. It names among them, for example, Kyushin-ryu.
Frequently asked questions
How was Sosuishi-ryu originally called?
According to Yamamoto (1982), it was originally called Futagami-ryu. After a stay in the Yoshino mountains and the addition of sword technique, the founder renamed it.
What does Sosuishi-ryu consist of?
According to the city of Fukuoka, it preserves more than five hundred techniques in two parts. Kumiuchi, so-called jujutsu, counts forty-eight forms and koshi no mawari, so-called iai and battojutsu, twenty-four forms.
Does Sosuishi-ryu exist today?
Yes. The city of Fukuoka says the sixteenth holder, Shitama Manzo, passes it on today and the city protects it as an intangible cultural property.
Similar styles
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