Uchida Ryōgorō Shigeyoshi (written as Ryōgorō Uchida in the west), (1837 - October 22, 1921), was a

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

'' jojutsu'' practitioner, ranked menkyo in the

Japanese martial art Japanese martial arts refers to the variety of martial arts native to the country of Japan. At least three Japanese terms (''budō'', ''bujutsu'', and ''bugei'') are used interchangeably with the English phrase Japanese martial arts. The usag ...

of ''

Shintō Musō-ryū , most commonly known by its practice of ''jōdō'', is a traditional school ('' koryū'') of the Japanese martial art of '' jōjutsu'', or the art of wielding the short staff ('' jō''). The technical purpose of the art is to learn how to defeat ...

''. He is the creator of the

gendai budo may refer to: * Gendai, a modern aesthetic movement in haiku * Gendai budō, Japanese martial arts established after the 1860s * GameSalad (company), formerly Gendai Games, an American computer software company * ''Shūkan Gendai'', a Japanese maga ...

Uchida Ryu Tanjojutsu , also known as Sutekki-Jutsu, is a Japanese martial arts school of tanjojutsu, originally devised by Shinto Muso-ryu practicitioner Uchida Ryogoro (1837-1921) as a way to utilize the western-style walking stick into a weapon of self-defence. T ...

, originally known as ''Sutteki jutsu'' or "stick method". Uchida Ryōgorō Shigeyoshi was born as Hiraoka Ryōgorō in 1837 to father Hiraoka Nisaburo. He was the eldest of six children. After Ryōgorōs 14th birthday he was adopted into the Uchida family and took on the Uchida family name. He was adopted due to a lack of an heir to the Uchida family name. Ryōgorōs biological father held a license of total transmission (''Menkyo'') of the Haruyoshi-branch of the "New Just" Muso-ryu tradition. From an early age Ryōgorō showed an aptitude for martial arts and excelled in his studies.Matsui, Kenji. 1993. ''The History of Shindo Muso Ryu Jojutsu'', translated by Hunter Armstrong (Kamuela, HI: International Hoplological Society) #1 He trained in all of the arts a ''bushi'' (warrior) was expected to learn which included horsemanship, bowmanship, gunnery, swordsmanship, spear and a multitude of other weapons and skills. Among the arts he learned was Ono-ha Itto-ryu swordsmanship from Ikuoka Heitaro, the art of spear from a retainer of the

Takeda is a Japanese family name.1990 Census Name Files

family, Kyushin-ryu jujutsu from exponent named Ishikawa and Shinto Muso-ryu Jo from Hirano Kichizo Yoshinobu of the Haruyoshi-branch. Ryōgorō is said to have received the scroll of complete transmission from each of the mentioned ryu. Sometime after the

Seinan war The Satsuma Rebellion, also known as the was a revolt of disaffected samurai against the new imperial government, nine years into the Meiji Era. Its name comes from the Satsuma Domain, which had been influential in the Restoration and becam ...

of 1877, Ryōgorō moved to

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

and started teaching Shintō Musō-ryū, though in a smaller scale than his successor

Shimizu Takaji Shimizu may refer to: People * Shimizu (surname) (清水, "clear" or "pure water"), a common Japanese surname Places Japan *Shimizu, Fukui -chō, town, Fukui Prefecture *Shimizu, Shizuoka -chō, town, Shizuoka Prefecture *Shimizu-ku, Shizuoka ...

. Two of his known students were

Ryōhei Uchida was a Japanese ultranationalist political theorist, Pan-Asianist, and martial artist, active in the pre-war Empire of Japan. Biography Uchida was born in Fukuoka prefecture. He was the son of ''Shinto Muso-ryu'' practitioner Uchida Ryōgorō,M ...

(his son) and

Nakayama Hakudo Nakayama (中山) may refer to: People *Nakayama (surname) Places *Nakayama, Ehime, a town in Ehime Prefecture *Nakayama, Tottori, a town in Tottori Prefecture *Nakayama, Yamagata, a town in Yamagata Prefecture * Nakayama-dera, a temple in Hyōgo ...

(the founder of Muso Shinden-ryu iaido and a master of

kendo is a modern Japanese martial art, descended from kenjutsu (one of the old Japanese martial arts, swordsmanship), that uses bamboo swords (shinai) as well as protective armor (bōgu). Today, it is widely practiced within Japan and has spread ...

). Ryōgorō created a set of tanjo

kata ''Kata'' is a Japanese word ( 型 or 形) meaning "form". It refers to a detailed choreographed pattern of martial arts movements made to be practised alone. It can also be reviewed within groups and in unison when training. It is practised ...

based on the teachings of Shintō Musō-ryū and influenced by the walking sticks gentleman of the era carried, which he called "Sutekki" (the Japanese way to pronounce "stick"). After his death, the set of kata were named '' Uchida Ryu'' in his honor and are now practiced as one of the heiden bujutsu of Shintō Musō-ryū.

References

* Pascal Krieger: Jodô - la voie du bâton / The way of the stick (bilingual French/English), Geneva (CH) 1989, Japanese jojutsuka 1837 births 1921 deaths Shinto Muso-ryu {{Japan-martialart-bio-stub