Toshitsugu Takamatsu was born on 10 March 1887 (the 23rd year of Meiji) in Akashi, Hyogo province, Japan and died on 2 April 1972.
He is well known throughout the world as a martial artist who taught
and formed many next generation Grandmasters of various martial art
traditions.
His
real first name was Hisatsugu but he changed it later to Toshitsugu
using the same kanji but different pronunciation. He was also known
under different martial arts names and nicknames : Jutaro, Chosui (Pure
Water), Nakimiso (Cry-baby), Kotengu (Little Goblin), Moko no Tora
(Mongolian Tiger), Kikaku (Demon Horns), Kotaro (Young Tiger). His
house (a motel/tea-inn) was in front of Kashihara Shrine, in Kashihara City (Nara Prefecture).
Takamatsus
grandfather (on his mothers side), Toda Shinryuken Masamitsu, was a
well known martial arts instructor who owned a dojo in their home town.
At the age of nine the weak and shy Takamatsu, often called a cry-baby by his peers, was sent to his grandfather to Kobe to strengthen up. The training was efficient, and by the age of 13 he had become a master that no longer had a peer in Kobe.
From his grandfather he learned several martial arts, including
ninjutsu, and inherited the position of Soke for the following Ryu
(school):
Shinden Fudo Ryu
Koto Ryu Koppo-Jutsu
Gyokko Ryu Kosshi-Jutsu
Togakure Ryu Ninpo
Gyokushin Ryu Ninpo
Kumogakure Ryu Ninpo
From the martial artist Mizuta Yoshitaro Tadafusa he became Grandmaster in:
Takagi Yoshin Ryu Ju-Jutsu
(age 17) and from the martial artist Ishitani Matsutaro Takakage he became Grandmaster in
Kukishin Ryu
Gikan Ryu
Hontai Yoshin Takagi Ryu
Shinden Muso Ryu
He traveled through Mongolia to China
at the age of 21, taught martial arts and delivered many battles on
life or death. He was the bodyguard of the last Chinese Emperor Puyi
and became Tendai Buddhist priest in 1919. In 1921 he was permitted to
copy the Kukishin Ryu scrolls (+ Amatsu Tatara scrolls) of the Kuki family. He was also a good friend of Jigoro Kano (Kodokan Judo) and took care of his younger brother. They both lived in the same region.
During the Second World War
(1945) the original scrolls were destroyed and lost. In 1949 he
presented new scrolls to the Kuki family which he had rewritten based
on his copies and memory. He was deaf on one ear also due to one of his
fights. He said that a Shaolin fighter and a shorinji boxer were the most dangerous enemies he ever met. He was buried on Kumedra cemetery in Nara. He used to write articles for the Tokyo Times newspaper. Toshitsugu was well known in Japan as a Grandmaster of Ju-Jutsu and Bojutsu.
In May 1950, Toshitsugu Takamatsu established Kashihara Shobukai in Nara prefecture. In the post-War era Takamatsu
spent his time developing successors to his martial tradition. At the
same time, he often sponsored Magokuro-kai-musubi tsudoi meeting and
lectures about Amatsu Tatara, especially Izumo Shinpo, and reared many
martial artists and religious leaders.
He taught and formed many next generation Grandmasters such as Fumio Akimoto (considered the senior student of Takamatsu), Kimura Masaji (It is possible that no other student of Takamatsu has had more training with the Grandmaster), Sato Kinbei, Takashi Ueno, Masaaki Hatsumi and others.
More information in Macedonian version.