Mugai ryu


Mugai-ryū or "Outer Nothingness School" is a Japanese koryū martial art school founded by Tsuji Gettan Sukemochi on 23 June 1680. Its formal name is Mugai Shinden Kenpō.

History

The founder of Mugai-ryū, Tsuji Gettan Sukemochi was born to Tsuji Yadayū descendant of Sasaki Shirō Tadatsuna, in the second year of Keian,
in the Masugi village area of Miyamura, in Kōga region of Ōmi, now Shiga Prefecture.
When he was 13 he went to Kyoto to study swordsmanship and at the age of 26 he received kaiden and opened a school in Edo. The school he studied is controversial. The most accepted theory is that he learned Yamaguchi-ryū swordsmanship under Yamaguchi Bokushinsai, but earlier documents state he studied under Itō Taizen.
Also, he studied Zen Buddhism and Classical Chinese literature under Zen monks Sekitan Ryōzen and Shinshū at Kyūkōji temple in Azabu Sakurada-chō. At the age of 32 he reached enlightenment and received from his Zen teacher a formal poem taken from the Buddhist scriptures as an acknowledgment and proof of his accomplishment. Tsuji Gettan Sukemochi used the word Mugai from this poem as his nom de plume and hence, later generations alluded to his swordsmanship teachings as being "the style of Mugai", or Mugai-ryū.
The name "Mugai" comes from the following poem:
The earlier documents on the school opened by Tsuji Gettan were lost in 1695, when a great fire hit Edo. Later records show that he had 32 daimyō as pupils, including the rōjū Ogasawara Sado-no-kami Nagashige, Sakai Kageyu Tadataka, the feudal lord of Maebashi, and Yamauchi Toyomasa, the feudal lord of Tosa. The list also included 150 jikisan, and 932 baishin.
Tsuji Gettan Sukemochi was known not just as a master of the sword, but as an enlightened Zen philosopher and scholar. As an evidence, his writing Mugai Shinden Kenpō Ketsu shows heavy influences from Zen and Chinese philosophy.
He died on June 23 in the 12th year of Kyōhō 享保 at the age of 79. The tombs of Tsuji Gettan Sukemochi's successors are kept at the Nyoraiji temple, which is now in Nishiōi, Shinagawa, Tokyo.
Tsuji Gettan Sukemochi was unmarried and it is assumed that he had no offspring as he adopted the eldest son of priest Sawatari Bungo-no-kami, of Ōkunitama Shrine in what is now known as the Tokyo provincial government area, as his son. Sawatari's eldest son took the name Tsuji Kimata Sukehide and became one of Tsuji Gettan's successors, along with Gettan's nephew, Tsuji Uheita.
Tsuji's school spread mainly in four domains: Himeji, Isezaki, Koromo and Tosa.
In the Meiji Era, two of the most famous swordsmen in Japan were from Mugai-ryū, both being appointed as Hanshi by Dai Nippon Butokukai: Takahashi Kyūtarō from Himeji and Kawasaki Zensaburō from Tosa. The lineage of Takahashi Kyūtarō was kept by his grandson, Takahashi Hidezō, Hanshi of Zen Nihon Kendō Renmei.

Mugai Shinden Kenpō Curriculum

The school has only kenjutsu in its curriculum, having adopted the Jikyō-ryū school of iaijutsu as a complement, and it has a strong connection with Zen due to Gettan's belief that the "sword and Zen are the way of the same Truth".
The curriculum of Mugai-ryū consists of 10 techniques with a long sword and 3 techniques with a short sword. Later, the techniques for duels were also added.
An analysis of the techniques present in Mugai-ryū shows a clear influence of Ittō-ryū, so either the Yamaguchi-ryū studied by Tsuji was a derivation of Ittō-ryū, or Itō Taizen was a master of this style.
The scarce number of techniques in Mugai-ryū reflects Tsuji Gettan's philosophy on the actual effectiveness of techniques, as well as his methods of teaching and grading.

About Jikyō-ryū iaijutsu

Jikyō-ryu is a school of iaijutsu founded by Taga Jikyōken Morimasa, being a derivation of the Shin Tamiya-ryū school. Taga is said to have taught iaijutsu to Tsuji Gettan while in Edo. The Takahashi lineage of Mugai-ryū kenjutsu learned iai from the Yamamura lineage of Jikyō-ryū, generation after generation.
Jikyō-ryū's base curriculum features two sections, which comprises two sets each. They are, in order: Goka 五箇, Kumiai 組合, Goyō 五用 and Naiden 内伝. After those, there is a further "set", taught only to the most advanced students.
Although this school is usually known as being associated to the Mugai-ryū, it is a school on its own. Its most famous lineage is the Yamamura lineage, but there are other lesser known lineages.

About Mugai-ryū Iai Hyōdō

Mugai-ryū Iai Hyōdō is a modern school of iaido founded by Nakagawa Shiryō Shinichi.
Nakagawa was, in his youth, a kendo disciple of Takahashi Kyutarō, but he chose to focus on the iaijutsu techniques that Takahashi knew. Based on those, Nakagawa created Mugai-ryū Iai Hyōdō.
Nakagawa's lineage was formally passed to Ishii Gogetsu Zenzō in the late 1950s. However, this seems to be revoked by Nakagawa himself later on.
Today Mugai-ryū has splintered into several lines and there is no one sōke. Nakagawa Shiryō Shinichi is generally considered the last sōke. He did not appoint a successor, but awarded several menkyo kaiden, and his students continue to teach the school and several new lines have been established, each with their own sōke. Nakagawa also founded an organization called Mugai Kai to help preserve the school.
Although there are some minor variations according to the lineage, the base curriculum of the school can be considered as follows:
Go-yō 五用Go-ka 五箇Go-ō 五応Hashiri-gakari 走り掛りIai no kata 居合之形Wakizashi no kata 脇差之形
Shin 真Suigetsu 水月Muna-zukushi 胸尽しMaegoshi 前腰Hokuto 北斗Kiridome 切留
Ren 連Inchūyō 陰中陽En-yō 円要Musōgaeshi 夢想返しTaihaku 太白Tsukidome 突留
Sa 左Yōchūin 陽中陰Ryō-guruma 両車Mawarigakari 廻懸りRyūsei 流星Ukenagashi 受流
Yū 右Hibiki-gaeshi 響返しNo-okuri 野送りMigi no Teki 右の敵Kasumi 霞Kiriage 斬上
Sha 捨Hazumi 破図味Gyokkō 玉光Shihō 四方Inazuma 稲妻Kuraizume 位詰

Apart from these, there is a set called Naiden, taught only for the advanced students.

The differences between Mugai-ryū Kenjutsu, Jikyō-ryū Iaijutsu and Mugai-ryū Iai Hyōdō

Mugai-ryū Kenjutsu, Jikyō-ryū Iaijutsu and Mugai-ryū Iai Hyōdō are three separate entities, being distinct from each other.
Mugai-ryū kenjutsu is a school of kenjutsu whose practitioners also studied Jikyō-ryū iaijutsu. Mugai-ryū Iai Hyōdō is a gendai budo of iaido, being named after the kenjutsu school due to the fact that Nakagawa Shinichi's kendo teacher was from Mugai-ryū kenjutsu.
Although the lore in Mugai-ryu Iai Hyōdō traditionally places its founder as Tsuji Gettan Sukemochi, this is historically inaccurate. Nakagawa himself states several times that "Mugai-ryū is actually Jikyō-ryū", hence the Mugai Shinden Iai Hyōdō must be seen as a different school from the Mugai Shinden Kenpō, which is a school of kenjutsu.
However, while it can be said that Mugai-ryū Iai Hyōdō was created based on some of the Jikyō-ryū techniques, making several techniques visually similar, both schools are completely different. This can be seen in the actual techniques, as well as their uses, interpretations and variations, and in other teachings.
For instance, a glance at the names of the techniques shows that Mugai-ryū Iai Hyōdō altered the order of the curriculum, removed and rearranged several Jikyō-ryū techniques and added new ones.
The following table maps some of the Mugai-ryū Iai Hyōdō techniques' names to the original Jikyō-ryū curriculum:
TechniqueMugai-ryū Iai Hyōdō setJikyō-ryū original set
Shin 真Go-yō 五用Goyō 五用
Ren 連Go-yō 五用Goyō 五用
Sa 左Go-yō 五用Goka 五箇 and Goyō 五用
Yū 右Go-yō 五用Goka 五箇 and Goyō 五用
Sha 捨Go-yō 五用Goyō 五用
Suigetsu 水月Go-ka 五箇Naiden 内伝
Inchūyō 陰中陽Go-ka 五箇Naiden 内伝
Yōchūin 陽中陰Go-ka 五箇Naiden 内伝
Hibiki-gaeshi 響返しGo-ka 五箇Naiden 内伝
Hazumi 破図味Go-ka 五箇Goyō 五用
Muna-zukushi 胸尽しGo-ō 五応Kumiai 組合
En-yō 円要Go-ō 五応Naiden 内伝
Ryō-guruma 両車Go-ō 五応Naiden 内伝
No-okuri 野送りGo-ō 五応Kumiai 組合
Gyokkō 玉光Go-ō 五応Naiden 内伝