The Technical Evolution of Daito-ryu Aikijujutsu and the Development of Aikido - A Thorough Look Into the Secret Scrolls of Daito-ryu Part 6

In the previous article, we focused on the term "Aiki", essential in both Daito-ryu and Aikido. We saw how the interpretation of the term changed with time, and we made some speculations in regard to how Sokaku could have learned, developped, and taught Aiki in his early curriculum. We also saw that the term Aiki was officially added to the art's name in 1922 with the contribution of Ueshiba Morihei. As the logical continuation of this, we are going to focus in this article on the respective developments of Daito-ryu Aikijujutsu and Aikido. We will have a look at the post-1922 Aikijujutsu curriculum and scrolls developed by Sokaku, and analyze their impact on Morihei’s Aikido. Additionally, we will investigate how techniques from Daito-ryu have transformed into Aikido as we practice them today.

The name of the art

As we have highlighted earlier, in Takeda Sokaku’s early eimeiroku (英名録, enrollment book), it is the term Daito-ryu Jujutsu that was exclusively used to describe the art. The term "Aiki" only appeared in entries from 1922, at the time when Sokaku was teaching at Morihei’s dojo, the Ueshiba Juku, in Ayabe's Omoto compound. This section documents Ueshiba Morihei’s training and his appointing by Sokaku as kyoju dairi (教授代理, teaching representative), the first ever in Daito-ryu Aikijujutsu. Rather than one term replacing the other, it appears that even after 1922, Sokaku kept using both Daito-ryu Jujutsu and Daito-ryu Aikijujutsu simultaneously.

In his eimeiroku, he seems to have recorded as Daito-ryu Jujutsu the occurences when he was teaching his original basic jujutsu curriculum associated with the hiden mokuroku and hiden okugi no koto scrolls, but used Daito-ryu Aikijujutsu when teaching his more recently formulated Aikijujutsu curriculum, which he gradually developed from 1922 onwards. The fact that Morihei was explicitly awarded the kyoju dairi title in Aikijujutsu seems to imply that he had reached a high level of mastery of Sokaku's Aiki.

Left: A record of a Daito-ryu Jujutsu (大東流柔術, marked in blue) seminar for the Sendai Military Police Division from 1936. Right: A page mentioning Daito-ryu Aikijujutsu (大東流合気柔術, marked in red) as the content of the instruction from 1939. It seems that at police departments, Sokaku taught only Jujutsu techniques, probably those suitable for arresting, from his basic jujutsu curriculum. Aikijujutsu was taught exclusively to advanced students, presumably those who had already completed his basic seminars covering techniques from ikkajo to gokajo.

In the following sections, we will explore the evolution of Sokaku's later Aikijujutsu curriculum based on the records found in his eimeiroku as well as documents Sokaku gave out to his students.

Goshin yo no Te 84 kajo

The earliest item associated with Daito-ryu Aikijujutsu in Sokaku's eimeiroku is Goshinyo no te 84 kajo (御信用之手84ヶ条). The earliest mention of this set of techniques that we know of dates back to September 1929.

Left: An entry from the eimeiroku recording that Hamana Jingoro (濱名甚五郎, age 62) received instruction in Daito-ryu Aikijujutsu 84 kajo Goshinyo no Te ura omote (marked in red) from Takeda Dai-sensei between August 21 and September 15, 1929, at Hamana's house in Otaru city, Hokkaido. Hamana, a long-term student of Sokaku who enrolled in Daito-ryu like Morihei in 1915, was a wealthy businessman operating a shipping business (山里, 1962). He invited Sokaku to his house and received private instruction in the subsequent years, becoming a kyoju dairi. Right: Entries from the shareiroku recording Hamana’s large payments of 500 yen and 150 yen after 200-day and 60-day long private training sessions at Hamana’s house, which ended on December 19th, 1917, and March 29th, 1918, respectively.

Sokaku likely developed this set of techniques in the mid or late 1920s. As we discussed in part 4, the literal meaning of Goshinyo no Te (御信用之手) is “techniques that can be trusted” (in an actual situation) and it is also a homophone of “techniques for self-defense” (護身用之手) (Matsuda, 1978).

The term "Goshinyo no Te" appears in the second scroll, Hiden Okugi (36 kajo), which already existed in 1899 when Sokaku began teaching Daito-ryu Jujutsu. It also appears in Ueshiba Morihei’s Daito-ryu Aikijujutsu certificate from 1922. It seems that this term has been associated with the inner secrets (okugi, 奥儀) of the art since its inception.

Left: Hiden Okugi (36 kajo) scroll from 1899 concluding with a note that “all on the right are okugi” (奥儀, inner mystery) Goshinyo no Te (御信用之手, marked in red) techniques. Middle: Ueshiba Morihei’s Hiden Okugi (36 kajo) scroll. The transition text starts with Daito-ryu Jujutsu (大東流柔術, marked in blue). Right: The content of Morihei’s Aikijujutsu certificate from 1922, listing 118 kajo, Aiki no Jutsu 30 kajo and Hiden Okugi 36 kajo. Here, for the first time, the transition text begins as Daito-ryu Aikijujutsu Goshinyo no Te (marked in green and red), referring not to a specific set of techniques but to the entirety of Daito-ryu.

As introduced in Hiden Nihon Jujutsu, Goshinyo no Te (84 kajo) is a set of techniques that includes various techniques for entering behind the opponent's back (irimi-waza, 入り身技), as well as advanced pinning variations of basic techniques (Takahashi 2001a). Ueshiba Morihei learned this curriculum from Sokaku two years later, in 1931, during a 19-day training session in Tokyo.

Left: An entry from the eimeiroku recording that Morihei received instruction in Daito-ryu Aikijujutsu 84 kajo Goshinyo no Te from Takeda Dai-sensei from March 20 to April 7, 1931. The place of instruction is noted as Ueshiba's house in Ushigome Wakamatsu-cho, Tokyo, likely referring to the Kobukan dojo that just opened at the beginning of March. Right: A page from the shareiroku recording a payment of 300 yen from Ueshiba Morihei on March 28, 1931.

The instruction happened just a few weeks after Morihei’s new Kobukan dojo was officially opened on March 1, 1931. Morihei's training is recorded from March 20 to April 4. Interestingly, on a different page, Morihei’s nephew, Inoue Yoichiro's name also appears for the first time in Sokaku’s eimeiroku recording that he also received instruction in Daito-ryu Aikijujutsu for 4 days, from March 20 to 23 (Kudo 2018). It seems that Morihei's health condition was not good at that time and in the first few days, Inoue took ukemi on Morihei's behalf. Inoue recalls this episode as follows:

I think it was in 1931, that he (Sokaku) came to Tokyo unexpectedly. My uncle was not in the best of health at that time so I took all ukemi for Takeda Sensei. Since he told me to invite guests, I had to send for various prominent people so he could demonstrate techniques before them. I took ukemi for him and he told me “Since I taught you, sign your name in my enrolment book (eimeiroku)". I said “No. I wasn’t taught by you. I took ukemi for you. You are the one who should sign your name.” (Laughter) But Ueshiba said to me: “Since sensei has told you to, you should sign.” So I unwillingly signed my name then.
Aiki News No. 74 - Noriaki Inoue Interview (2)

Sokaku’s visit appears to have been unexpected. After the instruction, Sokaku gave Morihei a new certificate which was displayed in the Kobukan dojo for a short period, as can be observed in these pictures from 1931.

Top: Pictures taken at the Kobukan dojo in 1931, soon after its grand opening. The certificate, Morihei received from Sokaku, is displayed on the wall of the kamiza. Bottom: The enlargement of the certificate.

Unfortunately, Morihei's certificate is difficult to read in these pictures. However, Hisa Takuma received a Hiden Okugi no Koto certificate in 1936 and a side by side comparision of the structure suggests that they are close to identical. This similarity does help providing a better insight into its content.

Ueshiba Morihei (top) and Hisa Takuma’s (bottom) Hiden Okugi no Koto certificates from 1931 and 1936, respectively. 118 kajo, Aiki no Jutsu 30 kajo and Hiden Okugi 36 kajo that were included in Morihei’s certificate from 1922 are marked in blue. The new addition, Goshinyo no Te 84 kajo is marked in red. The two certificates could have been created based on the same manuscript, as although the contents of Ueshiba's certificate are not readable, the caracter numbers and layouts seem identical. As we have established previosuly, certficiates are often copied and/or reused throuhgout Daito-ryu history, sometimes leading to contents that are not completely accurate in terms of how they pertain to each particular recipient. Here, the specific information that pertains to training times thus most likely applies to Ueshiba’s Daito-ryu training and not Hisa’s.

The title and content of the certificate read as follows:

• Daito-ryu Aikijujutsu Hiden Okugi no Koto (大東流合氣柔術秘伝奥儀之事)
• 118 kajo ura omote (百拾八ヶ条　裏表)
• Aiki no jutsu ura 30 kajo (合氣之術　裏参拾ヶ条)
• Hiden okugi 36 kajo (秘傳奧儀　参拾六ヶ条)
• The above was taught in 25 instructions (以上弐拾五回教授)
• Goshinyo no te 84 kajo taught in one instruction (御信用之手八拾四ヶ條　壹回教授)

The title and the first three items in the list are identical to the content that Morihei received in 1922. In the certificate from 1922, they are followed by a note that “the above was taught in 22 instructions” (以上弐拾二回教授). However, here, 25 instructions sessions are mentioned. Morihei’s old certificate is dated August 1922, but Sokaku was teaching at the Ueshiba Juku until September 15, explaining the addition of 3 instructions in the new certificate. The list continues with Goshinyo no Te 84 kajo, which was taught in “one instruction” (壱回教授). Indeed, there is only one occasion recorded in Sokaku’s eimeiroku that Morihei learned this curriculum, as we saw earlier. With this new addition, the Daito-ryu curriculum reached a four-level structure.

There is no Daito-ryu scroll titled Goshin-yo no te. However, in the mid-1930s, Sokaku created a new scroll called Daito-ryu Aikijujutsu Hiokugi no Koto (大東流合気柔術秘伝奥儀之事) that represented the highest level of transmission at that time. In an interview that we had the chance to conduct, Nomoto Tadashi shihan from Daito-ryu Aikijujutsu Koshinkai kindly revealed the details of the third scroll for the first time.

Segments of Kusumoto Koichiro’s Hiokugi scroll issued in March 1937. Kusumoto learned intensively from Sokaku in the mid-1930s and became kyoju-dairi and the Shibucho of Hyogo prefecture at that time. In Item 2, the name “Shiho-nage no Koto” (四方投ゲノヿ) is marked in red. Bottom left: The ending segment of the technical section summarizing the items of the Daito-ryu curriculum. Bottom middle: Sokaku’s seals. The upper one reads: Daito-ryu Aiki no Jujutsu Somu-cho Takeda Sokaku Minamoto Masayoshi (大東流合氣之柔術総務長武田惣角源正義), exclusively used on Daito-ryu Aikijujutsu documents. The lower one reads: Daito-ryu Jujutsu Hombu-cho Takeda Sokaku Minamoto Masayoshi (大東流柔術本部長武田惣角源正義), used from the early years on the first and second Daito-ryu Jujutsu scrolls. Bottom tight: A record of a large payment of 1500 yen from Kusumoto Kouichiro for one-month instruction in March 1937 after which the third scroll was awarded. This payment is by far the largest that we know of in the shareiroku.

The title "Daito-ryu Aikijujutsu Hiokugi no Koto" translates as “The Matters of Daito-ryu Aikijujutsu’s Secret Mystery”. It is very similar to that of the second scroll Hiden Okugi no Koto (秘傳奧儀之事) meaning “The Matters of Secretly (Transmitted) Mystery”. In the third scroll, for the first time, Aiki is included in the title.

Similar to the first and second scrolls, the technical notes are arranged in two horizontal lines where the upper one describes the attack or situation and the lower one the technique executed in response. However, here, for the first time, only the upper line is numbered, which is probably because in this scroll for a certain situation, multiple variations are mentioned in the bottom line. The upper line counts up to 30 kajo (item). As we saw in part 1, the same number of items appears in the hiden mokuroku scroll. After the technical notes, 30 items are mentioned but they are not written explicitly. In part 5, we showed that in Morihei’s certificate the 30 items describe Aiki no Jutsu as 30 kajo however, there were no corresponding scrolls titled Aiki no Jutsu. The number of 30 items described in the new Hiokugi scroll is most likely not coincidental and suggests some connection between the scrolls.

The first item in the scroll translates as follows:

第一條
一　敵真直グニ打チタルトキ
左手ニテ敵ノ手首ヲ掴ミ右手ヲ添ヘテ右足ヲ敵ノ右足ニ出ㇱ左ノ足ヲ敵ノ後ニ左ノ手ヲ敵左肩ニカケ敵ノ体ヲ押倒シテ膝ヲ曲ゲ敵ノ手ヲ折ル事
Item 1
When the opponent strikes straight.
Grab the opponent’s wrist with the left and attach your right hand, step with the right foot to the opponent’s right foot, and with the left foot behind the opponent, place your left hand on the opponent’s left shoulder and push the opponent down. Bend your knee and break the opponent’s hand.

The explanation describes an irimi (入り身, entering) technique against a Shomen-uchi strike. It is mentioned that tori places his left hand on the left shoulder, most likely describing a sokumen iriminage-like situation where tori, after throwing uke, kneels down and break uke’s arm.

Shomen-uchi Irimi technique from Budo Renshu published by Morihei Ueshiba in 1934. Tori steps with the right foot to uke’s right foot and with the left foot behind the uke and places the left hand on uke’s left shoulder. In budo renshu, which we described previously (Erard, 2019c) tori throws uke away known as Sokumen Irimi-nage or Kokyu-ho (and also in modern Aikido). The scroll, however, describes a higher-level finishing variation where tori kneels down and breaks uke’s right arm. This variation is usually practiced in Aikido as a tanto-dori or knife-taking technique.

Item 2 describes variations of Shiho-nage. In Daito-ryu scrolls, the names of the techniques are not written; however, here, for the first time “Shiho-nage no Koto” (四方投ゲノヿ) is noted.

Aiki is included not only in the title but also appears multiple times in the technical descriptions. For example, in item 13 in response to a one handed grab (katate-dori) the explanation begins as “lift the opponent with Aiki” (合気ニテ敵ヲ上ゲ) (Omiya, 2018).  Here, Aiki is used as a technical term, applied to control and lift an opponent, however, a detailed definition of how to apply Aiki is not given.

Hisa Takuma (menkyo kaiden) at a demonstration c. 1939, lifting his opponent with Aiki from a karate-dori grab.

Item 21 to 28 describes techniques against attacks from the rear (後ろ技, ushiro-waza). Item 29 includes 3 variations of Kasa-dori (傘取り, umbrella technique). Finally, item 30 describes weapon techniques; three variations when uke grabs the jo that tori is holding, one sword against spear and one sword against sword techniques.

Kawabe Takeshi from the Takumakai demonstrates Items 2, 14, and 22 from the 3rd Hiokugi scroll (Goshinyo no Te). These techniques were first revealed in Aiki News No. 116, published in 1998, as the final part of an article series on the techniques that Ueshiba Morihei taught at the Asahi Newspaper Dojo.

The technical notes end with the following note:

• 118 kajo ura omote (百拾八ヶ条　裏表)
• Aiki no jutsu ura omote 53 (合氣之術　裏表五拾参拾)
• Hiden okugi ura omote 36 (秘傳奧儀　裏表参拾六)
• The above 84 kajo jo-chu-ge (以上八拾四ヶ條　上中下)

Although Morihei’s certificates describe Aiki no Jutsu ura 30 kajo, here, ura omote 53 kajo is mentioned, suggesting that in the 1930s Sokaku developed a larger number of Aiki techniques. Jo-chu-ge literally translates as upper-middle-lower, however, it is usually used for example in book titles referring to the first, second, and third volumes of a trilogy. Here, it most likely refers to the three scrolls of Daito-ryu: Hiden Mokuroku 118 kajo and Hiden Okugi 36 kajo that existed from 1899, as well as the newly created Daito-ryu Aikijujutsu Hiokugi scroll. The above is mentioned as 84 kajo, and the transmission text starts as "Daito-ryu Aikijujutsu Goshinyo no Te".

In 1931, when Morihei learned Goshinyo no Te 84 kajo from Sokaku this scroll probably didn’t exist yet, thus he received the certificate only. The oldest Hiokugi scroll we know of is from 1935.

Daito-ryu (Aiki) Nito-ryu Hiden

In Horikawa Kodo’s Hiokugi scroll dated 1937, following the 30th item describing jo, spear, and sword techniques, an explanation of Daito-ryu Nito-ryu (二刀流, two sword techniques) is also included (月刊秘伝, 2019).

The middle segment of Horikawa Kododo’s Daito-ryu Aikijujutsu Hiokugi no Koto scroll issued in September 1937. The secret two swords technique, Daito-ryu Nito-ryu Hiden is marked in red.

The section reads as follows:

大東流二刀流秘伝
Daito-ryu Nito-ryu Secret
一　二刀流ハ両刀ヲ持チ右手ノ太刀ヲ上二シテ左手ノ太刀ヲ下二十文字二組ミ構ヘルコト
- In Nito-ryu, hold two swords, a long sword in the right hand is the higher, and a long sword in the left hand is the lower, cross them (in the shape of the character ten 十)
一　両刀使方ハ必ズ一所二打下シ頭及腕等ヲ切ルコト
- When you use two swords use them together and cut the head or the arm.

In contrast to traditional sword schools, it seems that the characteristic of Sokaku's Daito-ryu Nito-ryu is that it uses two long swords instead of a long and a short one. This usage of two swords was passed down in the Horikawa line and presented to the public by Inoue Yusuke, former headmaster of Kodokai, in the Hiden Magazine in 2019.

Inoue Yusuke (Menkyo Kaiden) demonstrating a weapon technique using two long swords. 1-2 From Mugamae (natural stance), Inoue sensei crosses the two swords. 3-4 Blocks the opponent's attack with the crossed swords and immobilizes the opponent using Aiki. 5-6 Cuts the opponent's body.

Kaishaku Soden 477

In 1936, Sokaku appeared in Osaka and took over the instruction of the Asahi Newspaper Dojo. Beforehand, the members of the dojo had been learning from Ueshiba Morihei from 1934, who regularly visited Osaka accompanied by his students from Tokyo. During this time, Morihei no longer called his art Daito-ryu Aikijujutsu, and even though the training at the Asahi Newspaper Dojo was intense, he didn't award scrolls or certificates to the students (Erard, 2012). Upon Sokaku's arrival, after seeing the level of the group, he awarded the scrolls and certificates up to the level that Morihei had received earlier (two scrolls and the certificate, including Goshinyo no Te). When Sokaku arrived he stated:

It seems that you are learning from Ueshiba, but I haven’t taught him all of the techniques. You should learn from me.
Hakaru Mori (Pranin, 2016)

We previously described the specifics of the taking over by Sokaku of the practice at the Asahi Journal (Erard, 2020), but indeed, in these years a new item of the Aikijujutsu curriculum appeared in Sokaku's eimeiroku called kaishaku soden, which Sokaku taught at the Asahi Newspaper Dojo.

Left: An entry from the eimeiroku recording that Takeda dai-sensei taught Daito-ryu Aikijujutsu 84 kajo Kaishaku Soden no Koto at the Osaka Asahi Newspaper Dojo for 24 days from October 22 to November 14, 1938. 6 members of the dojo: Tonodate Masao, Hisa Takuma, Kawano Tetsuo, Nakatsu Heizaburo, Akune Masayoshi, and Kawazoe Kuniyoshi received this instruction. Right: Takeda Sokaku teaching at the Asahi Newspaper Dojo.

Fortunately, the members of the Asahi Dojo took pictures of the techniques they learned during these years, giving us a better understanding of what Sokaku taught. Later, Hisa Takuma compiled the pictures into 11 albums known as the Soden photo collection (Erard 2019a). Particularly, the techniques they learned from Sokaku are included in Volumes 7 to 9. Most of these techniques are finishing or pinning variations of basic techniques, where tori pins the uke using only his legs, sits on the uke, or ties the uke's limbs like a knot.

Pictures from Soden Volume 7, 8, and 9 containing the techniques that Takeda Sokaku taught at the Asahi Newspaper dojo from 1936 to 1939. In most of these pictures, we can see complicated pinning variations where tori pins the uke using only his legs, sits on the uke, or ties the uke's limbs like a knot.

Sokaku most likely created and taught these techniques in 1937 or 38 for the first time, thus we don’t see them in prewar Aikido or the Matsuda and Hirokawa lines of Daito-ryu. There is no scroll titled Kaishaku Soden no Koto, however, it was included as a note in the Hiokugi (third) scroll that was awarded to Hisa in 1938.

The ending section of Hisa Takuma (top) and Kondo Katsuyuki's Hiokugo no koto scroll (bottom). Kaishaku Soden 477 (解釈総傳之事　四百七拾七) is added after following 84 kajo jo-chu-ge. Illustrations from Hisa (1940) and Kudo (2015).

The same content is included in Sagawa’s certificate also awarded in 1938.

Sagawa Yukiyoshi’s Daito-ryu Aikijujutsu Hiden Okugi no Koto certificate awarded in May, 1938. Kaishaku Soden no Koto 477 (解釈總傳之事　四百七拾七) and Daito-ryu Aiki Nito-ryu Hiden (大東流合氣二刀流秘傳) are marked in red and blue, respectively. Illustration from (Matsuda 1978).

The title and content of Sagawa's certificate reads as follows:

• Daito-ryu aikijujutsu hiden okugi no koto (大東流合氣柔術秘傳奧儀之事)
• 118 kajo ura omote 28 kai keiko (百拾八ヶ條　裏表貮拾八回稽古)
• Aiki no jutsu ura omote 53 kajo (合氣之術　裏表五拾参ヶ條)
• Hiden okugi 36 kajo ura omote (秘伝奥儀　参拾六ヶ條裏表)
• Daito-ryu aiki nito-ryu hiden (大東流合氣　二刀流秘傳)
• Goshinyo no te 84 kajo jo-chu-ge (御信用之手　八拾四ヶ條上中下)
• Kaishaku soden no koto 477 (解釈總傳之事　四百七拾七)

With the inclusion of Daito-ryu Aiki Nito-ryu Hiden and Kaishaku Soden no Koto 477, the Daito-ryu curriculum reached a six-level structure in 1938. After 118 kajo, there is an interesting note mentioning 28 times of training (貮拾八回稽古). In contrast to Ueshiba and Hisa’s certificates where the word kyoju (教授, instruction) was written, referring to the number of seminars, here keiko (稽古, training) is used, most likely meaning that Sagawa Yukiyoshi learned 118 kajo in 28 days, roughly in three 10-day seminars. In Yamamoto Kakuyoshi’s certificate from 1942, the same number of training is mentioned, suggesting that his certificate was made from the same copy (Dobroka, 2022).

Kaishaku Soden no Koto was probably taught as variations of the basic techniques. However, since the literal meaning of the word is "understanding of the whole transmission," it probably contains a lot of kuden (口伝, oral teaching) of Daito-ryu. Sagawa Yukiyoshi possessed a note titled Daito-ryu Aikijujutsu Kaishaku Soden Gokuhi-sho (大東流合氣柔術解釈総傳極秘書) that most likely contains Sagawa's notes recording the oral instruction he received from Sokaku.

Sagawa Yukiyoshi's Daito-ryu and Kogen Itto-ryu scrolls and notes. The notebook titled Daito-ryu Aikijujutsu Kaishaku Soden Hiden-sho (secret note) is marked in red (Matsuda 1978).

Kaiden no Koto 88 kajo

In Sokaku's eimeiroku only Hisa Takuma and Tonodate Masao are mentioned as having learned the Kaiden no Koto (皆伝之事, full transmission) 88 kajo (items) of Daito-ryu Aikijujutsu.

Top and bottom left: Pages from the eimeiroku recording Hisa Takuma and Tonodate Masao's training of Kaiden no Koto 88 kajo from February 24 to March 26, 1939. As teachers both Sokaku (age 80) and his son Tokimune (age 23) are mentioned. Top right: Commemorative pictures of Sokaku and Hisa holding his Menkyo Kaiden certificate. Bottom right: Sokaku and Tonodate c. 1939. (中名生 正昭 1989)

It is widely accepted that only Hisa received the formal instruction on this. Tonodate, as the senior of the group, was busy with his work and his schedule didn't match with Sokaku's training hours (Erard, 2023). It might be little known, but in 1939, Sagawa Yukiyoshi also received the Kaiden no Koto scroll together with other Daito-ryu weapon scrolls after an instruction recorded in the eimeiroku as Daito-ryu Aikijujutsu 84 kajo (Dobroka, 2023).

The beginning and ending segments of Hisa Takuma, Sagawa Yukiyoshi, and Kondo Katsuyuki's Kaiden no Koto scroll from top to bottom, respectively. Illustrations from Hisa (1940), Takahashi (2001), and Kudo (2015)

The first item in the scroll reads as:
第一條
一　敵右ニテ打掛ル事
左手ニテ臂ヲ押へ右ニテ右手首ヲ掴ミ右二返ㇱ手ヲ左ニテ持返ㇱ右手ニテ頭ヲ押ㇱ前ニ廻リ右肩ヲ膝ニテ押ㇱ敵ノ右手ヲ両手ニテ逆ニ返ス
Item one
The opponent strikes with the right (hand)
Control the (opponent's) elbow with the left hand, grab the (opponent's) right hand with your right (hand), and turn it to the right. Regrasp, the opponent's hand with the left hand, control the opponent's head with the right hand, turn forward, control the right shoulder with your knee, twist back the opponent's right hand with two hands.

This technique can be interpreted as a finishing variation of Shomen-uchi Ikkajo. After breaking uke's balance with ikkajo, tori turns forward and controls uke's arm with two hands.

Menkyo Kaiden Kondo Katsuyuki (left) and Hisa Takuma (right) demonstrating not the same but a similar pinning variation of Shomen-uchi Ikkajo.

Similarly to Hiden Mokuroku, in Kaiden no Koto too, item 2 describes the same Ikkajo technique but on the left side. The scroll describes complicated pinning variations of basic Ikkajo to Yonkajo techniques.

The notes are arranged in two horizontal lines, and similarly to the Hiokugi scroll, only the upper line is numbered. Interestingly, the numbering ends with item 48, however, in certificates, Kaiden no Koto is mentioned as 88 kajo. In Japan, the number eight is considered to be the number of good omen, associated with stability and endless development. Indeed, in Sokaku's curriculum, the number of kajo (items) often included this number. However, as we have seen so far, the number of items written in a scroll or associated with a curriculum does not necessarily represent the actual number of techniques that were taught.

Hisa Takuma's Menkyo Kaiden certificate and the four scrolls he received from Sokaku as the full transmission of Daito-ryu Aikijujutsu. The scrolls from the top, hiden mokuroku (118 kajo), hiden okugi (36 kajo), hiokugi (84 kajo), kaiden no koto (88 kajo).

The content of the kaiden no koto certificate mentions 7 items of technical groups.

• 118 kajo ura-omote (百拾八ヶ條裏表)
• Aiki no jutsu ura-omote 53 kajo (合気之術裏表五拾参ヶ條)
• Hiden okugi 36 kajo ura-omote (秘伝奥儀参拾六ヶ條裏表)
• Daito-ryu aiki nito-ryu hiden (大東流合気二刀流秘伝)
• Goshinyo no te 84 kajo jo-chu-ge (御信用之手八拾四ヶ條上中下)
• Kaishaku Soden no koto 477 (解釈總傳之事四百七拾七)
• Kaiden no koto 88 kajo (皆伝之事八拾八ヶ條)

Based on the surviving historical documents, it seems Daito-ryu started with Takeda Sokaku. Building on his earlier jujutsu studies, Sokaku started teaching jujutsu in 1899 naming his art Daito-ryu. As a martial arts genius of the late 19th and early 20th century, Sokaku continuously developed and refined his art untill 1939, when its technical curriculum reached its final 7-level structure. His basic curriculum was taught in 5 seminars (ikkajo to gokajo), each seminar including 30 to 40 techniques, altogether counting more than 150 techniques in the basic curriculum. After participating in these seminars, hiden mokuroku 118 kajo was awarded (note that the number doesn’t match the number of techniques in Sokaku’s basic curriculum). Hiden Okugi, Goshinyo no Te, Kaishaku Soden no Koto, and Kaiden no Koto curricula are all variations of the basics and the exact content and number of techniques were not strictly defined. It seems that Sokaku spontaneously created new variations in his seminars, resulting in students learning different numbers of variations depending on their time and level. Indeed one of Daito-ryu's characteristics is its extensive curriculum, which is quite unusual compared to other koryu jujutsu styles.

The following illustration summarizes the evolution of Sokaku's Daito-ryu curriculum and the scrolls that were awarded after learning these curricula from 1899 to Sokaku’s death in 1942.

The evolution of Takeda Sokaku’s Daito-ryu curriculum from the beginning of his teaching career (1899) to his final years (1943). Each item is plotted as its earliest mention on documents. Hiden Mokuroku 118 kajo and Hiden Okugi 36 kajo scrolls from 1899. Aiki no Jutsu 30 kajo (~1922), and later 53 kajo (~1935). Goshinyo no Te 84 kajo (~1929), Daito-ryu Nito-ryu Hiden (~1937), Kaishaku Soden (~1938), and Kaiden no Koto (~1939). The four scrolls of full transmission are represented accordingly.

Ueshiba Morihei's study in Daito-ryu

As discussed in previous parts of this series, Ueshiba Morihei enrolled in Daito-ryu in 1915 in Hokkaido, and participated in a series of Takeda Sokaku’s seminars. Initially, Morihei likely was exposed to Sokaku's basic seminar curriculum and learned pinning techniques from ikkajo to gokajo for various attacks as well as basic throwing techniques such as shiho-nage, kotegaeshi, juji-garami, and irimi techniques for certain situations. In 1916, Morihei invited Sokaku to Shirataki, where following further training up to the hiden okugi variations, he was awarded the first and second scrolls of Daito-ryu. At that time, only two scrolls existed, representing the complete transmission of the art.

In 1920, Morihei moved to Ayabe and established the Ueshiba Juku, a small dojo where he began teaching Daito-ryu to the members of the Omoto sect. Two years later, Sokaku visited Ayabe and taught at Morihei’s dojo for five months. It was during this visit that the term "Aiki" was added to the name of the art. Morihei received a certificate mentioning Aiki no Jutsu, which was the highest credential in Daito-ryu circles at that time. Additionally, he became Sokaku's kyoju-dairi, or teaching representative, the first in Daito-ryu Aikijujutsu, which obligated him to pay 3 yen to Takeda dai-sensei after each student he took. Interviews with Morihei’s prewar students often mention that Sokaku occasionally appeared in Tokyo to collect this payment, creating tension between the two men (Pranin, 2010; Amdur, 2019).

In 1931, Sokaku visited Morihei's newly opened Kobukan dojo, where he instructed Goshinyo no Te to Morihei. The certificate Morihei received during this visit, which included Goshinyo no Te, represented the highest level of transmission at that time. Morihei’s large payment of 300 yen possibly includes the sums of the 3 yen enrolment fees he had collected since 1922.

In Sokaku's shareiroku (謝礼録, payment ledger), another visit was recorded to Morihei's Kobukan dojo in 1934.

Top right: Entry from the shareiroku dated 5 March 1934, recording payments: 20 yen for train and travel expenses (汽車賃 御旅費), 20 yen for snack fees (御菓子料), and 25 yen as a farewell gift (御餞別), from Goto Zenpachi (marked in green), Asano Seikyo (marked in blue), and Ueshiba Matsuko (marked in red), respectively. Bottom right, pictures of Ueshiba Matsuko (Morihei’s daughter) and Asano Seikyo (who was appointed as kyoju-dairi of Sokaku in 1922). Entry from Sokaku’s eimeiroku recording Goto Zenpachi (49 years old) receiving instruction in Daito-ryu Jujutsu at the Asahikawa Police Department in January 1911. Left, Takeda Sokaku c. 1934.

It seems that Morihei was absent at this time, and his daughter Ueshiba Matsuko, as well as Asano Seikyo and Goto Zenpachi (both students of Morihei and Sokaku from earlier years) took care of Sokaku and gave him some money to cover his traveling expenses. It appears that Sokaku didn't teach at the Ueshiba dojo this time, and went home without seeing Morihei (Kudo 2015).

Based on the eimeiroku records, we can conclude that the 1931 Goshinyo no Te instruction at the Kobukan dojo was the last time Morihei received instruction from Sokaku. Therefore, Sokaku's later curriculum, which included techniques such as two sword techniques, complicated pinning variations of Kaishaku Soden, and Kaiden levels, did not influence Morihei’s art. Instead, Sokaku's basic seminar curriculum from ikkajo to gokajo, along with hiden okugi variations and aiki-nage techniques that Morihei learned in the Hokkaido and Ayabe periods, could serve as the main technical base of Morihei's art, which he gradually developed into Aikido from the 1920s untill the end of his life.

The Development of prewar and post-war Aikido

As an example of the technical development from Daito-ryu to Aikido, let's take a look at one of the most characteristic techniques in the modern Aikido curriculum: Irimi-nage (入身投げ, entering throw), and see how it evolved over time. 

We mentioned earlier that irimi (入り身, entering) techniques were included in Sokaku's basic seminar curriculum and variations were included in the Goshinyo no Te curriculum (Takahashi 2001b). In Daito-ryu, irimi is typically executed in a straight line, with tori entering directly behind uke. The throw is executed as tori raises uke's chin while rotating the arm and throws uke backward.

Irimi movement in Daito-ryu for tsuki attack demonstrated by Kondo Katsuyuki on the top, and Tokimune Takeda, Sagawa Yukiyoshi, and Yoshimura Yoshiteru at the bottom left, middle, and right, respectively.

In prewar Aikido documents, we can see Morihei demonstrating direct irimi techniques for shomen-uchi and tsuki attacks in a similar fashion.

Ueshiba Morihei demonstrating direct irimi for Shomen-uchi in 1935 in Osaka (top) and in 1936 at the Noma Dojo (middle). At the bottom, irimi-nage for tsuki in 1938 at the Kobukan dojo. In both cases, Morihei slightly moves off the line of the attack and enters straight behind the uke.

Probably from the mid-1930s, a new variation of Irimi-nage appeared in Morihei’s teaching curriculum. In this version, after moving off the line of the attack, tori executes a half turn (tenkai, 転回) and faces the same direction as uke. This variation is often referred to as the omote version of irimi-nage in modern Aikido terminology. Note that facing the same direction with the partner to avoid collision with the partner’s force became a fundamental principle in postwar Aikido.

Top: Morihei demonstrating Irimi-nage with a half turn. The red arrows indicate the moment when tori's and uke's hanmi point in the same direction. Bottom left: Irimi-nage from the Soden photo collection vol. 3, which includes techniques taught by Morihei in Osaka between 1934 and 1936. Bottom right: Morihei executing irimi. Illustration from a newspaper article titled Tenshin-ryu Aiki-budo from 1939 (Erard 2019b).

The ura, or turning variation of irimi-nage, was created by Morihei after the war. Contrasting with his more direct prewar techniques, this circular movement emphasized the harmonious connection between uke and tori i.e. yin and yang, reflecting the philosophy of Aikido.

Morihei leading his partner forward while executing the turning movement in Irimi-nage. These screenshots are from a 1957 movie featuring the Founder (Erard 2013).

In videos from these years, we can observe Morihei executing irimi-nage by leading his partner horizontally forward and performing a full turn (tenkan, 転換). It's worth noting that he does also keep demonstrating irimi-nage with a half turn, as well as direct irimi even at that time. Particularly in his final years, Morihei mainly demonstrates direct irimi, almost without touching his opponents.

In modern aikido, a vertical kuzushi (崩し, balance breaking ) is often executed while turning, causing uke to touch the ground. Uke is then thrown as he gets up from the mats. This execution became standard in the modern Aikikai curriculum and is probably the result of a progressive development by the later generations of teachers.

2nd Doshu Ueshiba Kisshomaru demonstrating irimi-nage completely breaking his partner's balance while turning.

In modern Aikido demonstrations, practitioners often follow the big vertical kuzushi with a dynamic throw, causing uke to execute a breakfall in the air. While there is no video evidence of Morihei executing irimi-nage in this way, some of his postwar students began throwing irimi-nage in this manner.

Saito Morihiro Sensei demonstrating a dynamic irimi-nage throw.

Although Aikido developed from Daito-ryu, there is a conceptual difference between the two. In general, Daito-ryu techniques are executed in a small space with straight movements, putting uke in a position where they are unable to move or escape. In contrast, Aikido utilizes big, circular body movements, keeping uke continuously moving and unbalanced throughout the technique.

In the postwar period, Aikido was developed as a noncompetitive martial art, and its characteristics came to include circular and flowing movements, reflecting the Founder's peaceful philosophy that attracts many people even today. 

Recently, we can see people on YouTube trying to modify Aikido to be a so-called “effective” martial art, emphasizing direct movements and atemi. However, considering Aikido's development from Daito-ryu, this approach might be seen as reversing its historical progress. As a result, the techniques they perform display neither the flowing quality of modern Aikido, nor the essential technical points that once warrantied the efficacy of the movements and that are still taught in the Daito-ryu currciula today.

Summary

According to the evidence at our disposal, Daito-ryu Jujutsu was originated by Takeda Sokaku. There were two scrolls from the beginning, the hiden mokuroku, which was awarded after a practitioner completed Sokaku's basic seminars from ikkajo to gokajo, and hiden okugi no koto, which included more advanced variations and weapon techniques.

The term "aiki" was incorporated into the art's name in 1922. Despite this change, Sokaku kept using Daito-ryu Jujutsu in his eimeiroku when he taught his basic jujutsu curriculum associated with the above two scrolls. Daito-ryu Aikijujutsu was recorded when he taught his new curriculum that he gradually developed after 1922 including Goshinyo no Te 84 kajo (~1929), Daito-ryu Nito-ryu Hiden (~1937), Kaishaku Soden no Koto (~1938), and Kaiden no Koto (~1939). These additions primarily consisted of pinning variations of techniques from his earlier basic curriculum and were associated with two Aikijujutsu scrolls: hiokugi and kaiden no koto, created in the mid and late 1930s.

As Sokaku's technical repertoire expanded over time, the full transmission of his art varied. This resulted in students learning different numbers of techniques depending on when they trained. Daito-ryu is characterized by its extensive curriculum, which is unusual compared to other koryu jujutsu styles.

Ueshiba Morihei enrolled in Daito-ryu in 1915 and received the first and second scrolls in 1916. He established his first dojo, the Ueshiba Juku, in Ayabe in 1920, where he began teaching Daito-ryu Jujutsu. In 1922, he became Sokaku's kyoju-dairi (teaching representative) in Daito-ryu Aikijujutsu and received a certificate that included Aiki no Jutsu techniques, representing the highest level of transmission at the time.

Starting in the 1920s, Morihei began to develop his art independently, primarily based on Sokaku's basic Daito-ryu curriculum, hiden okugi variations, and Aiki techniques. Although he received further instruction in Goshinyo no Te in 1931, Sokaku’s later curriculum, which included two sword techniques and complicated pinning variations of Kaishaku Soden and Kaiden levels, did not influence Morihei's art.

While Daito-ryu and Aikido share the same basic techniques, their underlying body mechanics differ. Daito-ryu uses small, straight movements to immobilize the opponent, whereas Aikido relies on large, circular movements to continuously move and unbalance the partner during techniques.

In the postwar period, Aikido was developed as a noncompetitive martial art, characterized by its circular and fluent movements. These movements reflect the Founder's peaceful philosophy, which continues to attract many practitioners today.

Special thanks to Guillaume Erard for his help with the documentation and advice during the redaction of this article. Thank you to Josh Gold from Aikido Journal for letting us use their database. In addition, I would like to express my gratitude to Nomoto Tadashi sensei for the useful discussion and the documents he provided for this research.

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