Quick History

            The Daito school of Aiki Jujutsu has a history that spans almost a millennium.  General Minamoto Yoshimitsu Shinra Saburo (1045-1127) is often accredited with conceiving the art.  He was known as "Saburo of the Great East" or  "Saburo of the Great Sword" which is "Saburo No Daito in Japanese".

The art, possibly known as 'Goshin kai', stayed within the family for several centuries, passed down generation to generation.  In 1573, however, a relative of the famous 'Tiger of the East', Takeda Shingen moved to the Aizu province in which the Minamoto clan was located.  The relative was Takeda Kunitsugu, and he promptly learned the Minamoto Jujutsu and introduced it into the Takeda clan.

Daito Ryu Jujutsu stayed within the Takeda clan from then on, passing to outsiders only briefly.  Takeda Soemon (1758 - 1853) taught a system known as 'Aiki In Yo Ho'.  Takeda Soemon taught the family art to an outsider, Saigo Tanomo, who taught the art to the famous Japanese martial artist Shida Shiro.  The highly talented Shida Shiro mastered Aiki In Yo Ho, and later became a star pupil of Jigoro Kano, founder of Kokokan Judo.  Shida Shiro, torn between his debt to Tanomo and respect for Kano, later left both arts and devoted himself to kyudo (classical achery) for the rest of his life.

Fortunately Tanomo had another heir, Takeda Sokaku (1860 - 1943), who was Soemon's grandson.  Sokaku had already achieved teaching licenses in the Ono-ha Itto School of sword fighting and the Hozoin spear fighting school.  Takeda also studied with the famous 'swordsman-saint', Sakakibara Kenkichi of the Jijishin-kage School.  When Tanomo finished transmitting his knowledge to Sakaku in 1898, Sokaku modified the system based on his practical experience and designated the system 'Daito-Ryu Aiki-Jujutsu'.  

       Daito-Ryu Aiki-Jujutsu takes its roots from the then two classical systems:  Ono-ha-Itto Ryu and Aiki In Yo Ho.  Both systems origins pre-date 1400 AD.