[Japanese martial arts anecdotes] Your brother is not your brother

Those who have read the manga of "Taiko Wolf" may be quite impressed by the Bizen Ronin Sashino Sakon in the book. Tashiye Zuojin has a fine dust flow, but he is willing to make a living in the market. Although he died under the samurai sword in the end, his words "half a seat when awake and a full seat at bedtime, even if he wins the world, he is only two and a half. [1] " is really moving. The topic I want to talk about today starts with the genre of this Bizen Ronin.

Mote Ryu is a swordsmanship school founded in the early Edo period. The founder of the school, Negishi Rabbit Kok, has an interesting anecdote. "Ben Dynasty Martial Arts Biography" contains: Negishi Rabbit Horn is under the tutelage of Kazuha Moroka, but he abandoned his teacher who was seriously ill in bed and ran to Edo, claiming to have learned art from Atago Tengu, widely recruited disciples, and established himself as a mote stream.

Even today, such a practice is considered to be out of character, and it is hard to imagine that such a thing would happen in the Japanese martial arts circle that values Taoism in the impression. However, in fact, before the Edo period, the degree of control over the disciples of various martial arts schools in Japan was relatively low.

For example, Kazuha Morioka mentioned above is from the Shinto style, but it has been controversial whether Moruoka studied art from Iishino or Tsukahara Buchuan. The reason is that early martial arts have not been systematized and institutionalized, and naturally there will be no relevant literature records. The more systematic inheritance of martial arts did not gradually form until the middle and late Edo period.

The so-called institutionalization refers to the clear and formal norms for the teaching of skills, qualifications, and even clothing wearing, and handing over the power of inheritance and qualification certification to one person, and has strict qualifications for entry, breaking doors, and opening a dojo. Provisions. This system is the so-called patriarchal system [2] .

Nowadays, we see the titles of "first biography", "directory" and "all biography" of martial arts and arts, as well as various kinds of petitions for punishment at the beginning of entry, which are the signs of this institutionalization. Traditionally, the art of incense, tea, flower and other arts has stronger control standards for family than martial arts. After all, the inheritance of martial arts is different from the art of Taoism. When the masters or masters teach the skills, it means that the authority is also granted to the inheritors. And it is very paradoxical to introduce an authoritative style that rules over everything in a world that is about life and death. Therefore, the powers such as relevant qualifications and recognition are often held in the hands of the teachers (exempt holders) rather than the clan. This is true even in modern times.

Take the Shinto-ryu, which is said to be the oldest existing genre, for example. In the late Edo period, the Shinto-style Munxu Chuanshu only wrote the names of the person who taught and the person who was taught [3] . In the Showa period, Ueda Heitaro, a kendo fan of the Great Japan Wude Society, followed his father to learn Shinto and obtained the exemption qualification [4] . In addition, the school is located in the Gym Shenwukan in Chiba. Although the catalogues and Jiyi scrolls issued during the Showa period have the names of the masters at that time written, the person who finally uses the seals is the curator of the Gym. In other words, at least until the Showa period, the power of the school to determine exemption qualifications was still in the hands of the dojo teachers (exemption holders).

In recent years, Katori Shinto-style has gained a lot of momentum in the ancient martial arts circle due to overseas promotion and video dissemination. For example, the martial arts director of Akira Kurosawa's films "Seven Samurai" and "The Stick with Heart" is an exempt holder of Shinto-style. In this context, its business policy has undergone several changes. In 2018, the official website of the genre issued a statement: To break the door of Dazhu Xinli (extremely popular) [5] . This means that the person will no longer have any relationship with the genre in the future.

Speaking of this, I think of an anecdote in the early Taiwan Aikido community. At that time, the principal of a certain Aikido organization could not convince the public, which led to many teachers running away to found another non-governmental organization. Teacher's black belt. When the author heard this anecdote, his first reaction was, "How do you get your black belt back? Is it necessary to abolish martial arts?" Afterwards, these expatriate teachers set up gyms and instructed clubs in various places. big influence.

Coincidentally, after the incident of Katori Shintoliu breaking the door, the Dazhu Xinli Taoist Hall was still open, and the doormen were still accepting it. In fact, if you think about it carefully, you will find that such an approach is incredible in the world of martial arts. After all, the focus of the inheritance of martial arts is not the black belt or the extremely secret scroll, but the actual teaching of the skill. Ideally, things like dan rank, qualification certification, etc. are awarded "after" the student has the corresponding strength. There are naturally reasons other than the inheritance of skills for such practices as withdrawing a rank or breaking a door.

Scholar Nishiyama Matsunosuke described the source of the power of the sect family as follows: "The source of the patriarchal power of the sect family first comes from the absolute superiority of skills, but due to various factors, sometimes it happens that the skills of the clan are better than those of the clan. More extreme, the clan It is also possible to be completely unfamiliar with this technique. In order to maintain the dominance of the clan even in this situation, various conditions are often created. According to legend, the form was institutionalized. [6] ”

Compare this with the statement on the current official website of the genre: "All qualifications such as catalogues, exemptions, and extreme intentions must be granted by the clan's seal, and each dojo or dojo director shall not issue it on their own... In order to prevent privately using the name of Kato Shinto to open a dojo , granting rank, seals, etc., and to ensure that the correct "type" is passed on, the "censorship system" has been introduced since Heisei 29 [7] "

In contrast, it really makes people feel that the ancients did things more simply, why do you say that? Earlier, it was mentioned that Negishi Rabbit Horn abandoned his teacher and went out to Edo to establish himself. The two brothers duel on Tokiwa Bridge, Negishi was knocked off the bridge and left Edo. Most of his disciples went under the door of a plume, and Iwama took over Negishi's dojo in Edo, but was soon killed by Negishi's disciple Shiki.

According to rumors, after the Negishi Rabbit Cape left Edo, it went all the way west, and later became an official in Kuroda Nagamasa. The dust flow also spread in China and Kyushu. From this, it can be seen that although Negishi lost the competition, his skills were still quite clever [8] . It is said that the natural Rishin-ryu of the Shinsengumi in the future is a line of Taoism passed down by a plume, and the Shinto Isshin-ryu, which was circulated in the Gunma area, inherited the system of the mote flow. Regardless of whether it is a dust flow or a plume, it actually originates from the naive and expressive Taoism flow system of Iishino Jiazhi [9] . Whether it is self-reliance or random opening of exemptions, it can only be said that from the point of view of modern people, the ancients were too straightforward and did not talk about martial arts.

This article is simultaneously published on the author's square grid topic .

Notes:

[1] This article cites the third volume of the Chinese translation published by Times Press in 1983. The original text is "rise き て て 畳 , sleep て 壱 畳 , the world and っ て も Ⅱ 合皮", the "seat" in the text should be "stack", which refers to the unit of tatami, and "combination" is the unit of measuring meter, and a combined meter is about Two bowls of rice. This sentence is that a person occupies a stack of tatami when he sleeps and half a stack when he wakes up. It means that no matter whether you are noble or low in life, there is not much difference in the needs of walking, living, sitting, sleeping, and eating.

[2] The so-called “system” of the clan no longer focuses on the name of the clan, but within the school will construct a community system and its norms that include the division of teachers and apprentices. Including the entry of disciples, the formal gate rules, the establishment of dojos, and the issuance and review of qualifications such as teacher training and exemption. The title of the clan must be based on the premise of such a system to have the possibility of exercising its power. Due to the characteristics of martial arts skills, although the names of the ancestors and clans had already appeared in the martial arts schools in the Edo period or even before the Edo period, the real authority at that time was the master of the shogunate, domain or local dojo. The head of the clan system centered on the genre only appeared after the Meiji era, and disputes often arise because of it even today. Refer to Matsunosuke Nishiyama's "Research on Jiayuan", Pp289-290

[3] Refer to the collection of Kumamoto Prefectural Library, martial arts relationship materials, Art of War den 27 "Shinto-style War Art Exemption": the current Edo period military art biography books only write the names of the instructors and those who were taught, and some go back to the middle of the ancestors. The genealogy is omitted, such as: Iishino family straight (Original ancestor) ─ the teacher ─ the person who was taught. A little more detailed will also be written from the ancestors all the way to the genealogy of the giver. However, the so-called genealogy here does not refer to the various generations of clans, but only to the branch of the givers.

[4] Ueda Heitaro is a kendo fan of the Great Nippon Wudekai, and he is also a referee of the Showa Tianlan trial and a contestant in the exhibition competition. In Kodansha of the Great Nippon Eloquent Society, "The Birth of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince Congratulates the Showa Tianlan Trial Harmony", P741, Ueda's introduction mentioned that Ueda's school is the Shinto style, and its exemption was granted by his father. In addition, Ueda is a very well-known swordsman in Kagawa. The website of the Kagawa Kendo Federation has articles such as "Sanqi がyu んだ剣剣剣hao" and "Ueda Heitaro Fanshi's Legacy Collection" for reference.

[5] His father, Toshiyoshi Otake, was the former teacher of Katori Shinto-ryu (retired in 2017), and his younger brother, Jing Zengli, was the current teacher (he took over in 2017). The three fathers and sons all share the best intentions of the school (meaning that they have been taught all the skills of the school and recognized the qualifications for apprenticeships outside the school). Now the elder brother broke the door, but the younger brother became the teacher of the school. For the broken door shape of Otake Nobuyuki, please refer to the " Important and Knowledgeable " section of the website of "Natural Denka Tori Shinto Stream", retrieved on 2021/11/25

[6] Refer to Matsunosuke Nishiyama's "Research on Jiayuan" P24, the Chinese is translated by the author. Ironically, what Nishiyama described here is the state of arts (such as flower arrangement, Noh music, etc.), in Nishiyama's view, the martial arts genre is more likely to be won or lost due to its intuitive nature of victory and defeat, unless it has stagnated or there are other factors such as politics. It is difficult to appear an absolute authority of the law. According to legend, martial arts are not based on blood, but the full conferment of skills. Please refer to P276 of the same book.

[7] Referring to the teaching system section of the website of "Natural Den Incense and Shinto Style", the extraction date is 2021/11/24. In addition, the English version of the school's website has this saying "We are striving to maintain our tradition's forms correctly. .....Katori Shintō-ryū has a great amount of history, has been transmitted for 20 generations, and has no room for improvement. It is the greatest martial art." The genre was designated as an intangible culture by Chiba Prefecture during the Showa period Cai, as a Shinto stream spread in the Katori region, this school preserves the traditional culture very well. In addition, it is intriguing that although Otake Xinli was broken out, he is still the holder of the intangible cultural property.

[8] According to the "Record of the Five Generations of Hojo", there were many Edo witnesses at the time of the confrontation between Negishi and Iwama. At the same time, the book also stated that both sides were very skilled, but the outcome sometimes depends on things other than skills. See "Beijing Five Dynasties", Volume 7, Fifth "The Battle of the Art of War".

[9] This can also make people reflect on what a genre is. To the disciples of Negishi, is Iwama or Moroka considered as a shishu or shizu? As mentioned above, the gym was still open after Dazhu Xinli was broken, and shortly after his father (that is, the former teacher) passed away in June 2021, the inheritance lineage on the gym’s website also changed: the current ancestral family is no longer Included in the inheritance system, you can refer to the website of "Innocent Incense and Shinto Ryujinwukan", the teaching system section, retrieved on 2022/04/20.