A recent article in Black Belt magazine I read reminded me that many people believe that Takamatsu Toshitsugu had a hand in the development of Judo and some stories claim that he trained together with the founer jigoro Kano before kano formed Judo. A few years ago some of us on the internet tried to figure out where this story began and it seems to have begun with the following web site.
http://members.aol.com/Cunningham/ju01002.htm
It states,
I have looked into this with the help of friends and we don't believe it. The author, Steve Cunningham, does not give any sources for us to look up. One of the guys I worked with tried contacting him and was not happy with Steve Cunningham's response. So there really seems to be nothing that he can point to in order to back up what he says.
In the minus corner here are the things that lead me to disbelieve the story.
1) I asked two Japanese teachers I train under and they both denied that Takamatsu had a relationship with Judo or met Jigoro Kano. I would expect them to have heard of such an important facet of Takamatsu's life if there was any truth to the matter.
2) Not once have I heard or read Hatsumi talk about the supposed relationship.
3) In the writings of Takamatsu, the DVD and the interview he did for Tokyo Sports News, etc, a relationship with judo or Kano is never mentioned.
4) Hiza-guruma, the technique Takamatsu supposably introduced to judo, does not resemble anything I have seen in the Bujinkan. Find the book by Kano entitled "Kodokan Judo" from Kodansha and look on page 61 for an example yourself.
5) Kano was active in the Tokyo area. Takamatsu was born several hundred miles south years after him. The first couple of decades are filled with stories of him in that area. The Kodokan was established in 1882 in Tokyo. If Takamatsu was 85 when he died in 1972, doing a simple bit of math says that by the time he was 20 or so basics like hiza guruma should have already been well established.
6) There are many stories, biographies, comics , movies, etc about the Kodokan in it's early stages in Japan. Not once does Takamatsu seem to have appeared in any of these stories or records.
So, I do not think there is any substance to this belief that many Takamatsu-den members have of a relationship and influence on Judo by Takamatsu. Anyone have anything to add?
http://members.aol.com/Cunningham/ju01002.htm
It states,
(14) Kukishin Ryu. Kukishin is particularly well-known for its techniques involving staves of various lengths. Kano was a weapons expert, so it is not surprising that Takamatsu and Kano were relatively close friends and colleagues. Takamatsu's favorite empty-hand technique was a technique that most of us would recognize as hiza-guruma. It is from Takamatsu that Judo's hiza-guruma comes.
I have looked into this with the help of friends and we don't believe it. The author, Steve Cunningham, does not give any sources for us to look up. One of the guys I worked with tried contacting him and was not happy with Steve Cunningham's response. So there really seems to be nothing that he can point to in order to back up what he says.
In the minus corner here are the things that lead me to disbelieve the story.
1) I asked two Japanese teachers I train under and they both denied that Takamatsu had a relationship with Judo or met Jigoro Kano. I would expect them to have heard of such an important facet of Takamatsu's life if there was any truth to the matter.
2) Not once have I heard or read Hatsumi talk about the supposed relationship.
3) In the writings of Takamatsu, the DVD and the interview he did for Tokyo Sports News, etc, a relationship with judo or Kano is never mentioned.
4) Hiza-guruma, the technique Takamatsu supposably introduced to judo, does not resemble anything I have seen in the Bujinkan. Find the book by Kano entitled "Kodokan Judo" from Kodansha and look on page 61 for an example yourself.
5) Kano was active in the Tokyo area. Takamatsu was born several hundred miles south years after him. The first couple of decades are filled with stories of him in that area. The Kodokan was established in 1882 in Tokyo. If Takamatsu was 85 when he died in 1972, doing a simple bit of math says that by the time he was 20 or so basics like hiza guruma should have already been well established.
6) There are many stories, biographies, comics , movies, etc about the Kodokan in it's early stages in Japan. Not once does Takamatsu seem to have appeared in any of these stories or records.
So, I do not think there is any substance to this belief that many Takamatsu-den members have of a relationship and influence on Judo by Takamatsu. Anyone have anything to add?