八光流柔術秘傳之事
Hakkō-ryū Jūjutsu Hiden no Koto
(Matters of the Secret Methods of Hakko-ryu Jujutsu)
Comparing the Changes Made by Shodai Soke Okuyama Ryuho
to the Curriculum of Hakko-ryu Jujutsu
(Article Version 2.0)
Hakkō-ryū Jūjutsu Hiden no Koto 八光流柔術秘傳之事 (Matters of the Secret Methods of Hakko-ryu Jujutsu). This is the first scroll one is awarded after being initiated into Shihan training. The founder of the school, Shodai Soke Okuyama, grew more and more as a pacifist as the years went on. Sometime in the 1970s he made the decision to remove many of the original, more dangerous techniques from his school’s curriculum. New Shihan in Hakko-ryu mostly receive the newer reproduced version of this scroll that has these techniques removed. The original scrolls came in a wooden box and were larger. These days the scrolls are smaller reproductions and come in cardboard boxes.
The entire level of Sandaikichu was only added later on as well and never originally existed. There is a large influence on Shodai Soke Okuyama from the teachings of Nichiren Buddhism. This is one source for both the naming of his school using the term “Hakko” and the naming of “Sandaikichu”. A whole separate article could be written on the connection between Nichiren teachings and Okuyama Sensei.
There are a few people who might have received the older way of training. It really should be restored and offered to all those pursuing training in Hakko-ryu. Bad people are NOT pacifists! For me, this is where a huge mistake was made in the development of this school.
MORE ABOUT THIS TO COME!
(I will be adding more to this post and changing the version number.)
One Original Scroll Becomes Three Scrolls
When Hakko-ryu was first founded in the late 30s and officially announced in the early 40s, there was one original handwritten scroll created by the founder. This contained the entire system of waza taught at this time except Sandaikichu, which was added as a second scroll later on.
ONE SCROLL SPLITS INTO TWO:
The original wood boxed scroll titled “Hiden” that contained the entire original curriculum of the school becomes altered. Many waza are removed completely and no longer taught. Remaining included waza descriptions in the new scroll are reduced. The title of this new scroll and look remain exactly the same to the original but the contents are not. A second wood box scroll titled “Kaiden” is added by Shodai Okuyama and it is dedicated to Sandaikichu only. Both of these new wood boxed scroll are still hand written by the founder. Shodai becomes more and more ill and Nidai his son takes over.
THIRD STEP (digital reproductions) Three Scrolls
More and more Gaijin are coming to Japan for Shihan training and cannot understand Japanese much, nor can they stay for longer extended time periods for a full Shihan infusion. Also, Shodai has now passed away so he can obviously no longer painstakingly hand reproduce his own scrolls, character by character. So from the two scrolls that were handwritten one by one for Shihan by Shodai Okuyama himself, they begin to digitally reprint the scrolls and further split the two wood boxed scrolls into three digitally reproduced scrolls that are small and come in cardboard boxes. The 3 new scrolls are smaller, contain less waza, contain less recorded henka in a number of places, and the waza descriptions are reduced compared to the original scroll. The waza sections are also reformatted to include Dan step levels of applying the Shihan principles to them instead of being included in the expanded original descriptions.
If you are fortunate enough to have a wood boxed scroll, you would need to look at the end of it for the date column of when it was issued. Before 70s is good. Before the 60s is even better. 50s and 40s are SUPER RARE!
If you are fortunate enough to have a wood boxed scroll, you would need to look at the end of it for the date column of when it was issued. Before 70s is good. Before the 60s is even better. 50s and 40s are SUPER RARE!
Anyone with a wood boxed handwritten scroll should also look towards the end of their scroll. Shodai Okuyama sometimes made additions as he was recopying from his master scroll. These additions pertained to the specific Shihan he had trained in any extra area, such as additional medical training and recognition.
The care for the earlier original wood boxed handwritten scrolls comes with a heavy feeling of becoming a guardian of a legacy. Knowing the family name of who your old scroll was issued to is also important. This person might have been someone of great importance… Do you know? Have you bothered to look and learn?
NOTE: If you do have one of these originals and would like any help with it, please reach out and send me a message.
Original Waza List and Translation
Section 1 - Suwari Waza
(translation coming soon)
Section 2 - Hantachi Waza
(translation coming soon)
Section 3 - Tachi Waza
(translation coming soon)
Section 4 - Okugi
(translation coming soon)
Section 5 - Pledge
(translation coming soon)
- 日本武藝司八光流柔術
Nihon Bugei Tsukasa Hakkō-ryū Jūjutsu
Japanese Martial Arts Eighth Light School of Jujutsu - 老心修業不淺一觸必誅
Rōshin Shūgyō Busen Ishoku Hitchu
(The old heart has a deep cultivation. One touch leads to the certain death of the wicked. One must not kill.) - 一枚必殺必?之?有之
Ichimai Hissatsu Hisshō no Kizu Yū no - 依而今玩極意需段之上
- ?傳(養?)物相俊(候?)
- 心不疑切磋琢磨(是?)後世
- 傳忠誠(可?)勵(恨?)者也
