Next is an account of the life of Hatsumi and his Master, the famous “Mongolian Tiger”. This is one of the chapters of the authentic Martial Arts history, not sufficiently known by everyone. We conclude the article with an extract of the interview; of that small “inner-history” of Madrid’s Taikai; of the experiences of those who accompanied the Master, of his comments, his teachings.
Drinking Sake with the Grand Master. Kashiwa Japan, XIX century
The old Master was tired. Another spring was coming up and that meant that soon he would be … seventy years old! Hisatsugu Takamatsu was born on the 10th of March 1887, in the city of Akashi, province of Hyogo.
A smile appeared on his face as he remembered his father, Yasabaru, also known in the town as Gishin - in remembrance of the match factory that supplied the county - and his mother, Fushi. But mainly, now, in the decline of his life, he clearly recalled the figure of his maternal grandfather, Toda Shinryuken Masamitsu, who was a chiropractor and with whom he had a very special relationship…
He wondered what his grandfather would have thought of his early marriage to Tane, to whom nature did not give the gift of fertility. In spite of his reluctance, he decided to please his wife adopting two girls, but that didn’t fill the emptiness he felt inside… The emptiness… and the responsibility of being the last Toda, traditional daymios (lords) of the Matsugashima region, in Ise. Noble samurais who concealed behind the walls of their castle in Hosokiubi their greatest secret: the fact of being the guardians of a tradition that had begun eight centuries before. It started when two Chinese warriors (Cho and Yo Gyokko) arrived in Japan fleeing from the wars that shook the great Chinese Empire during the Tang Dinasty. This tradition was not only a compendium of self-defense forms, military strategies and spying and camouflage tactics, but also involved a way of life, of being and feeling, that included the knowledge and respect of nature, the defense of the fatherland and the love to the family.
For many years they were persecuted and exterminated, like in the famous battle of Iga no Ran. Thanks the peculiar fashion of transmitting their knowledge, from fathers to sons, and the successive alliances that - under common adversities - became established between the different ryus or families, these warriors were able to survive throughout the years moving in the darkness of knowledge, the warriors of the shadows, the shinobi, also called … Ninjas.
At the time, he was in the monastery of Tendei (in the Hiei mountains, near Kyoto) trying to expiate the mistakes of his youth, when, on his way back from Manchukuo - Japanese protectorate in the Chinese territory of Manchuria - he became known as “Moko no Tora”, the Tiger of Mongolia, because of his fierceness and invincibility in combat.
The circumstances of life led him to this situation, but this was not his first intention when the boy called Jutaro, known by this name before changing it for the present one, began training Budo under the supervision of his grandfather, in the Shinden Fudo Ryu Daken Taijutsu discipline. This weak, withdrawn and sad youngster, wanted to gain some self-confidence and strengthen his body in order to be able to join the army, as his father wished. He attended the dojo for a year and served the more advanced students as a training “sack”, receiving the projections of the older pupils before being taught his first technique. The youngster’s disposition and efforts allowed him progress so fast that at the age of thirteen he already dominated the secrets of this school. After teaching him Shinden Fudo Ryu, Toda taught him: Koto Ryu Karate Koshi Jutsu, Gyokko Ryu Kenpo Koshi Jutsu, Gyokushin Ryu, Kumogakure and Togakure Ryu Ninjutsu. As proof of his ability, the fashion in which the young man confronted single handedly a group of numerous delinquents that had all the province terrorized, managing to reduce them and helping the local police, was really admired by the whole town.
When he was thirteen he left his school and went to the George Bundow English School, in Kobe. At the time the present complexes didn’t exist and as a result, instructors of all stiles assisted as pupils to other masters’ dojos to complete their formation. As Takamatsu himself would later say, the most important thing was to survive and in order to achieve this, if one was well prepared in all the Budo and even the life areas, he would have more probabilities of defending oneself, his family and his nation. At this time, he met Mizuta Yoshitoru Tadafusa who taught him Takagi Yoshin Ryu Ju Jutsu. Due to his dedication, at the age of 17 he received the Menkyo Kaiden from Mizuta and at 22 the Menkyo Kaiden from his grandfather. The Menkyo Kaiden was a license awarded by the Grand Master of a school, which proved that the pupil was ready to teach the techniques of that school. This license was also given to encourage their training.
In spite of the enormous satisfaction he felt when he received the valued prize from his grandfather, he can’t avoid feeling now sad, remembering that on that same year he would die… But, only after having fulfilled him mission: to transmit the Torimakis - the old scripts in which all the school’s techniques were clearly explained, the history and trials of the family members through each generation were described, the treaties and agreements with other ninja factions, the valuable weapons…
The spring sun was beginning to heat and causing the monastery’s fountain - that flowed into the small pond located in the middle of the courtyard - to defreeze. Just as each drop, each tiny contribution enriched the flow forming a larger one, in the same manner he had improved his knowledge of Budo thanks to the teachings of several people. Destiny - or maybe his great genius - had transformed him, in every case, into the successor of each Master’s most hidden secrets and be able to transmit, some day, the incredible amount of culture accumulated after decades of study… The problem was that, up till then, he hadn’t found the person who might be capable of receiving the legacy and the honor of his ancestors; he didn’t have among his pupils a man worthy of being recognized as Soke or successor. But he was convinced of one thing; before impairing the fame and honor of his ancestors, he would destroy their legacy and die … sad, but with honor. This was entrusted to him by Ishitani Matsutaro Takekage, with whom he had the opportunity of learning Kuki Happo Bikken No Jutsu, some modes of Ninjutsu, Hon Tai Yoshin Ryu, Gikan Ryu and Shinden Muso Ryu. Destiny, as in many other occasions, was his ally and had offered him the chance of studying with this great Master. His father’s factory grew thanks to the current demand and it was necessary to engage a security expert who would also work as the boss’ bodyguard. From the beginning, Ishitani and young Takamatsu established a close relationship that went beyond the usual work relationship. The Master-pupil tie was stronger every day and as a result the young man learned a new branch of Ninjutsu.
How the old man missed those days! So long ago… The restlessness of his spirit drove him to China, country of origin of the Martial Arts, to test himself. Curiously, when traveling through a region historically abused by the Japanese, Korea, he met Kim Kei-Mei, with whom he stayed for a time improving his Budo. His hunger for knowledge, together with an exceptional ability, allowed him to dominate about eighteen different styles, between Japanese and Korean… And his faith that so many sacrifices would serve him in the future…
At the time, it was usual that some wandering warrior would appear at a school and challenge its members, in order to demonstrate his personal value and the superiority of his style. If the Master was old enough to maintain the respect before the challenger, the sempai or higher graduation pupils were the ones who had to safeguard the clan’s honor. Takamatsu fought on nineteen occasions, only seven of these were more or less regulated competitions; the rest were fought to death… The brutality of these combats made him lose an eye and the hearing of an ear.
The fame of “Moko no Tora”, the Tiger of Mongolia, increased in such manner that he got to teach self-defense classes to more than … eight hundred people! And all this, being a Japanese, in China…
Unfortunately a serious sickness obliged him to return to his own country to recuperate … although his fame preceded him. It was a great honor for him to be named president of a Japanese Martial Arts organization (Nippon Minkoku Seinen Botoki Kai), although the zeal with which he maintained his tradition, allowed him to only teach Jujutsu, Bojutsu and Kukishinden Ryu, never Ninjutsu.
Prefacture of Chiba. XX Century
He had almost lost all hopes when, suddenly, today he had a strange sensation… A former advanced student, Ueno Takashi, had informed him that he would receive the visit of a young man of extraordinary ability, who was studying with him. This pupil had completed, in only three years, his training in Kobujutsu Juhappan, which included Asayama Ichiden Ryu, Shinto Tenshi Ryu, Boduken Ryu, Kukishinden Ryu, Takagi Yoshin Ryu and Gyokushin Ryu.
When he arrived at last, I observed a spontaneous look of fear in his attitude. In spite of being in the prime of life – he was 26 years old – and unusually tall for a Japanese, the young man couldn’t help shivering upon meeting the old Master and noticing, among other things, how hands and nails could be made into terrifying weapons when adequately utilized. (In order to cut his nails he used steel-cutting scissors).
His name was Yoshiaki, Son of Hatsumi. He’d been born in Noda, Chiba prefecture, on December 2, 1931. As was usual in this type of interview, the youth related, with many details, his genealogy as well as telling of all his studies. His intention was to add to his merits and be accepted as a student. Master Takamatsu wasn’t surprised to learn the boy had started studying Budo because his father gave him, when he was 7, a bokken or wooden sword (this practice was not unusual in the Japan of the time). That which did surprise Takamatsu was that Yoshiaki had been a student of renowned Masters such as Morihei ueshiba or Jigoro Kano, from whom he had been given the 4th dan when only 20 years of age! This achievement proved his ability. Even more impressive was that he had taught in the dojo of Master Yamaguchi, leader of the Goju-Ryu style. (It was very interesting that along the way Yoshiaki had changed his name for that of Masaaki).
Although all this was important, it wasn’t what called most attention, but rather the intuitive feeling that this youth was a great person. He felt this to the extent that he was convinced one day Yoshiaki would be considered not only a great Budo Master but a great person in all dimensions.
The young man continued to list his activities, In school he practiced gymnastics and was captain of the football team. This last sport he engaged in to better his Martial Arts leg-techniques. Yoshiaki’s restless spirit and desire for knowledge drove him to join a Budo team, an English boxing group and dramatic art ensemble. This last he later considered the base of Ninja training. His brilliant academic resume permitted him to study medicine and combine his studies with Judo classes held at the Yokota U.S.A. Army Base.
While engaged in his lessons, Yoshiaki confessed, he began to doubt the effectiveness of the styles he had been practicing up ‘til then. He reasoned that if Martial Arts had been created so that small, weak persons could stand up to larger, stronger ones, how was it possible that physically powerful Americans laid low Japanese fighters with much more experience? Even he himself, as an instructor, was beaten in a “combat-study” by one of the gaijin foreigners. Since then his greatest obsession had been to find the true Budo road, the true effectiveness. For this reason, he had come to the Master. He would soon find he had done right.
During the trial period, he couldn’t understand how it was possible to do at the same time four or five “gyakus”. These are different techniques, especially luxations. Neither had he experienced that strange sensation of impotence – the feeling that at any time the thin, dusky person before him could kill him. Pain was felt in all his joints and even deeper in his spirit itself. This produced an unquenchable desire to fathom that discipline’s secrets.
As a result, for fifteen years during the week he worked in his chiropractic clinic, while each weekend he traveled 300 kilometers to learn from Takamatsu Sensei. And, although Takamatsu Sensei had had many, many students, he had never taught one as he taught Yoshiaki. Though some former disciples opened schools with names similar to the original Ryus, none of these former pupils had been trained in reality with the Soke.
When Master Takamatsu passed away at 85, he was buried in Kumedra cemetery on April 2, 1972. Hatsumi Masaaki was chosen his successor and heir to the ancient Ninja tradition.
Madrid XXI century
Sensei Yamashita, 8th dan of Karate Goiju Ryu greeted Dr. Hatsumi. Once more he was surprised by what his friend Masaaki had put up in that sports arena. He asked me: “Jesus, how many people are here?”.
“Sensei, I haven’t had time to count them but stopped at 900 – umm – and all seem of different nationalities – some 40 countries, Sensei”. (He repeated his classic – umm -). The people who know of his unique manner of expressing himself. For me it was a great pleasure to have him visit the trainings. He is a great person as well as Master.
When we finished training, we usually went directly to the hotel room. There Ben Jones, Sensei’s interpreter, translated the conversation almost before he spoke, Noguchi San and Oguri San his assistants - who bestowed cordiality as well as technique - my brothers in arms Brin and Natacha Morgan - their work and support were very important to me - we all had the honor of receiving the most prized classes for every martial artist, receive the words and wisdom of a Budo genius in a 20 sq. feet room…
As on many other occasions, Sensei carried out the “Japanese trick” which consisted in making us drink two glasses of sake each time he had one; with the sake in the palate our Master told us stories (some which cannot be repeated…) and made us participants of his Martial knowledge and life…
It was incredible to see how while we were literally worn out, he was in great form, “youth, divine treasure…. But at 70!”…
- How was your day Sensei?, I asked him.
- Fine Jesus San, everything was so interesting. Yesterday was a very special day, the conference at the University (Royal Dramatic Art School) was a great experience.
- The truth Sensei is that they expected a Martial Arts Master, expert in the Traditional Japanese theater and what they got was an erudite in many arts.
-.That’s right. For me it was like going back to the past. Like them, apart from medicine, I also studied Dramatic Art and I felt myself identified with many of their questions.
- They really enjoyed it.
- The Traditional Japanese Theater and the Classical Spanish Theater have really a lot in common due to the racial aspect of both types of actors. I obtained my degree specializing in Shakespeare and Molier, but I also liked Calderon de la Barca a lot. I’ve always liked the Spanish theater and literature.
- It was really amazing to hear my Master talk about Spanish authors such as Calderon de la Barca, Lorca or Cela with ample knowledge on all of them.
- I also enjoyed very much the visit to the Budo International studios. Alfredo is really an artist. I liked his paintings and during the photograph report I was very comfortable.
- It was really a positive meeting.
- It’s a top quality magazine. I hope to see the director again some other day. There are people with a lot of sensitivity in this world and Alfredo is one of them. Thank you for taking me there, Jesus.
- Talking about paintings, Sensei, what did the art critics in the U.S.A. comment? (Hatsumi Sensei has recently put on an exhibit in U.S.A.)
- The exhibit was a great success. The Washington Post critic and other specialist have spoken to me about the possibility of exhibiting next year in the Smithsonian. (The world’s largest museum).
It would be a great opportunity. That way the people could see more about Martial Arts.
- That’s my intention. Deep down, all my work is directed to promoting Budo. I know some people see Martial Arts in a superficial manner, like something simply violent. That’s why I want to get to them through my paintings, as Master Takamatsu did. He would’ve liked to be here, he says thoughtfully.
- Well, wherever he may be, he will enjoy seeing this … he’s possibly in hell… (laughs)
- I would also prefer being there.
- Why Sensei?
- That’s easy. I’m sure he will be beating the devil up and enjoying it without any limits!
(laughs)
- Master, there has been a lot of criticism about the degrees. I’d like you to give me your opinion about this.
- Brin, Natacha and you are here with me today, and I’d like to tell you something about the Bujinkan degrees: many instructors do not realize the importance of giving the pupil a degree and bestow them happily. I sign the certificates but do not know the pupils personally; it’s each instructor the one who knows his pupils and must be responsible for them. The degrees aren’t given only due to friendship.
He continued,
- The true degree is the name of each of you. Everyone knows who and what you are, it’s not necessary that the people know that you are 13 dan in Bujinkan. The thing that makes you earn the respect of others is your level and personality. But when new students arrive at the dojo, it’s important that they train hard during four or five years to have the right for the black belt, and then continue progressing…
(A minute of silence while the Master thinks)
- The apprenticeship is like Ninjutsu: it’s the beginning but it has no end; I continue learning and training every day. I’m satisfied with the present level. You the Shihanes, are the ones who must continue with my lessons because maybe this will be the last Taikai: The world is crazy and at war.
- Sensei, I hope that’s not true and you continue traveling.
- Jesus san, my Master told me that the truly good teachers don’t need to travel. At the most, I will travel two more years to give seminars. I will travel but in order to show my paintings. You, my true pupils, will continue training with me always, as I do with my Master.
As you will have noticed, a conversation with Doctor Hatsumi is very enlightening, not only due to his Martial wisdom which is truly unique, but also because of his high humane category.
These were happy days for all of us, but specially for me; thanks to all my companions all around the world, to my brother Alberto, Gallego and all my pupils, my children, my wife, (without her this great event wouldn’t have been possible).
The Sensei said goodbye to us. When he was going towards the passageway, he turned and told me:
- You know something Jesus San?… this has been a historical Taikai. Takamatsu Sensei would have been very happy in Madrid…
Domo Arigato Sensei, ‘til ever…
I’m convinced that Takamatsu Sensei also had sake with us...
Source www.budointernational.net
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