Daito Ryu Aiki Jujutsu

Daito Ryu Aiki Jujutsu was founded in 880 AD by Prince Teijun the sixth Emperor of Seiwa. It was then passed down through succeeding generations of the Minamoto family. It was then recorded that Minamoto Yoshimitsu studied anatomy by dissecting the bodies of war dead and criminals and his house Daito Mansion has given it’s name to this system of Aiki Jujutsu.

Yoshimitsu’s second son became known as Takeda and the knowledge continued to be passed down as the secret art of the Takeda family. Thereafter the art remained a samurai practice and was handed down inside the family until Japan emerged from isolation into the Migi restoration period of 1868. At that time Sokaku Takeda Sensei, the head of the family, began to teach the art outside the family traveling widely through Japan and eventually settling in Hokkaido province. Sokaku’s son Tokimune is the current head of Daito Ryu in Abashiri Hokkaido Japan.

Daito Ryu Aiki Jujutsu is the parent style of both Aikido and Hapkido. It differs from Aikido in that it makes ample use of atemi waza directed against anatomical weaknesses. Atemi always precedes the seizure and control of an opponent; this is greatly respected by all exponents of Aiki Jujutsu.