Late Edo period, Ryōi Shintō-ryū matches against the Tenjin Shin'yō-ryū school

Published on 15 November 2022 by Peter King

Further to my post of 22nd November 2019 regarding late Edo period Jūjutsu matches detailed in the article:
‘Emergence of Jujutsu match and it's fact in the end of the Tokugawa period:

Analysis of, Tenjin Shin'yō-ryū's record "Taryu Shiai Seimei Hikae”’
(幕末における柔術試合の台頭とその実態
天神真楊流. 磯道場 (他流試合性名控)を手がかりに)
by Nakajima Tetsuya (中噶哲也), Ibaraki University (2017)

Summary
"Purpose of this study is to clarify the fact of Jūjutsu match at the emd of the Tokugawa period.

Ths study uses the record of the Tenjin Shin'yō-ryū's record "Taryu Shiai Seimei Hikae' as main material. This copy of the name of the person who participated in the Jūjutsu.

This historical record contains results of the jūjutsu match from 1839 to 1865. We examined two tasks by using this record and other materials in this study. One is the emergence process of jūjutsu match and the other is the content of the jūjutsu match. The study findings were as follows:

1) Until 1791, Tokugawa Shogunate regarded jūjutsu matches as illegal. It was thought that they conflicted with the Buke Shohatto, that prohibited private fights. However, the Tokugawa Shogunate changed the talent recruitment policies from a hereditary system to a meritocratic system in 1791. Jūjutsu matches were adopted as a test subject under that policy. Along with this, it seems that jūjutsu techniques became safer than before.

2) The jūjutsu matches formed the connection between jūjutsu schools across the clans. However, the refereeing regulations were not codified.

3) Masters of KanoJigoro also participated in jujutsu matches. Therefore, it is thought that judo has its origins in jūjutsu matches
In conclusion, we should research focusing on the homogeneity of jūjutsu and jūdō in the future."

The article mentions the following:
Title:
“Location of jūjutsu match and chronology of opponents (柔術試合実施場所及び対戦相手の年表)” and lists the location as:
“Iso dōjō (Kanda Otamagaike) 磯道場 (神田 お玉が池)” and gives the date as: "19th April 1859 (安政6(1859)年4月19日.)"
& goes on to describe how the opponent was from:
“The Ryōi Shintō-ryū wa yawara (良移心頭流和柔) of Shimosaka Gorobe (下坂五郎兵衛) branch, or students (の門) in Kurume domain (久留米藩)” and that the contests were: “1 person to 1 person (人1名対1名)”

Further to the above the Japanese Wikipedia page for: 'Hisatomi Tetsutaro' describes the following

“On 19 April 1859, as a student of Shimosaka Gorobei of the Kurume clan's Ryōi Shintō-ryū, he (Hisatomi Tetsutaro) had a match with two Tenjin Shin'yō-ryū students, losing to Yamada Otonojo but winning against Yagi Sadanosuke. Also, on 19 April 6 Ansei (1860), while other students were defeated by Tenjin Shin'yō-ryū, he drew with Mochida Chiyokichi and with Yamamoto Jiro, due to lack of breath.

(安政6年4月19日(1859年)に久留米藩の良移心頭流、下坂五郎兵衛の門人として天神真楊流門人二人と試合をしており、山田音之丞に負けているが八木貞之助[注釈 2]に勝利している[1]。また、安政6年4月19日には他の門人が天神真楊流に敗れる中、持田千代吉[注釈 3]とは息切れで引き分け、山本次郎とも息切れで引き分けとなっている。)"

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