Toshitsugu Takamatsu - 高松 寿嗣
Toshitsugu Takamatsu 高松 寿嗣 – 33rd Soke of the Togakure Ryu was born on 10 March 1889 (the 23rd year of Meiji) in Akashi, Hyogo province, Japan and died on 2 April 1972. He was a martial artist who taught and formed many next generation Grandmasters of various martial art traditions.
History
Toshitsugu (Chosui) Takamatsu, also known as Moko no Tora (Mongolian Tiger), was a Sensei, a teacher, of martial arts. Takamatsu Sensei had many students, and of all of them his true inheritor became Masaaki Hatsumi, who founded the Bujinkan system and its art of Bujinkan Budo Taijutsu.
Masaaki Hatsumi still lives and resides in Noda-shi, in the Chiba Prefecture. He named his dojo after his teacher, Takamatsu-sensei whom he believed to be divine. Takamatsu died in 1972 of illness. He was survived by his wife and adopted daughter. His wife died later in 1991.
Martial names
Toshitsugu Takamatsu (高松 寿嗣 Takamatsu Toshitsugu?)'s real first name was Hisatsugu but he changed it later to Toshitsugu using the same Kanji but different pronunciation. He was also known under different martial arts names and nicknames : Jutaro, Chosui (Pure Water), Uoh (Winged Lord), Nakimiso (Cry-baby), Kotengu (Little Goblin), Moko no Tora (Mongolian Tiger), Kikaku (Demon Horns), Yokuoh (Running In The Sky Old Man), Kotaro (Young Tiger), Shojuken, Garakutabujin (Enjoy Sketching Martial Artist), Yakissoba (Noodles), Kozan and Kyosha. His posthumous name is Junshokakuju Zenjomon. His house (a motel/tea-inn) was in front of Kashihara Shrine, in Kashihara City (Nara Prefecture).\
Personal life
He was married to Uno Tane who was born on 28 June 1897 and who died on 4 February 1991. They adopted a girl named Yoshiko. His father (Takamatsu Gishin Yasaburo) owned a match-factory and received Dai-Ajari (Master) title in Kumano Shugendo (a type of Shingon Buddhism). His Dojo was named "Sakushin" (Cultivating Spirit). He had a cat (Jiro) and enjoyed painting very much.
Martial arts training
Takamatsu's grandfather (on his mother's side), Toda Shinryuken Masamitsu, was a well known martial arts instructor who owned a dojo and bone-setting (sekkotsu) clinic in their home town. At the age of nine the weak and shy Takamatsu, often called a cry-baby by his peers, was sent to his grandfather to Kobe to strengthen up. The training was efficient, and by the age of 13 he had become a master that no longer had a peer in Kobe. From his grandfather he learned several martial arts, including ninjutsu, and inherited the position of Soke for the following Ryu (school):
Shinden Fudo Ryu 神伝不動流
Koto Ryu koppo Jutsu 虎倒流骨法術
Gyokko Ryu Kosshi Jutsu 玉虎流骨指術
Togakure Ryu Ninpo 戸隠流忍法
Gyokushin Ryu Ninpo 玉心流忍法
Kumogakure Ryu Ninpo 雲隠流忍法
From the Martial Artist Mizuta Yoshitaro Tadadusa became Grandmaster in Hontai Takagi Yoshin Ryu Jutaijutsu 本體高木揚心流柔体術.
(age 17) and from the martial artist Ishitani Matsutaro Takakage he became Grandmaster in Kukishinden Ryū Happo Hikenjutsu 九鬼神伝流八法秘剣術
Gikan Ryu Koppo Jutsu 義鑑流骨法術
He traveled through Mongolia to China at the age of 21, taught martial arts and delivered many battles on life or death. [2]He taught martial arts at an English school in China and had over 1000 students. He was the bodyguard of the last Chinese Emperor Puyi. He became a Tendai Buddhist priest in 1919. In 1921 he was permitted to copy the Kukishinden Ryu 九鬼神伝流 scrolls (+ Amatsu Tatara 天津 蹈鞴 scrolls) of the Kuki family. He was also a good friend of Jigoro Kano (Kodokan Judo) and took care of his younger brother.
They both lived in the same region. During the Second World War (1945) the original scrolls were destroyed and lost. In 1949 he presented new scrolls to the Kuki family which he had rewritten based on his copies and memory. He was deaf on one ear also due to one of his fights. He said that a Shaolin fighter and a Shorinji boxer were the most dangerous enemies he ever met. He was buried on Kumedra cemetery in Nara.
He used to write articles for the Tokyo Times newspaper. He was well known in Japan as a Grandmaster of Ju-Jutsu and Bojutsu.In May 1950, Toshitsugu Takamatsu established Kashihara Shobukai in Nara prefecture. In the post-War era Takamatsu spent his time developing successors to his martial tradition. At the same time, he often sponsored Magokuro-kai-musubi tsudoi meeting and lectures about Amatsu Tatara, especially Izumo Shinpo, and reared many martial artists and religious leaders.
