Soke Fumon Tanaka
Old Schools of Budo
Koden Enshin and Kukishin

Soke Fumon Tanaka has carried out demonstrations and training courses in France (Nice Monaco) in 1988, Sweden in 1989-1998, Italy in 1990, Germany in 1991, London (the U.K.) in 1989, 1995 and 1996, and Denmark in 1998. He forms part of the Masters of Budo who like Otake Riské Sensei of the school Tenshin Shoden Katori Shinto Ryu, are recommended by the Japanese government, when a request to the Government is made in the Western countries for one of the experts of martial arts for official demonstrations and seminars. Soké (leader of the school) Fumon Tanaka was born on December 13, 1943, in the district of Is of Amagasaki, in the city of Osaka, prefecture of Hyogo. He began the martial practices with Kendo (Way of the Sword) at 13 years old. "At the beginning,” he acknowledges, “I hardly appreciated the techniques with the sword, which I found obsolete and dusty, as well as the methods of jujutsu which seemed to part of an already completed history. With time I realized that they were deep and full of lessons ". He obtained a 4th Dan when he was 25 years old. From his grandfather, a samurai in charge of the protection of the Emperor, he developed as a very young person a drive for learning Kobudo (old martial arts) of the schools: Yagyu Shinkage and Shingan, Muso shinden and Jikiden ishin ryu, Nen ryu and Shinto ryu, Asama ichiden ryu.. and was to earn a 5th Dan. He stopped practicing modern budo when he realized that it is not in conformity with the tradition of the culture of Bushido! He studied Nô theatre at the same time as his uncle: Shihan Keiji Haségawa, to the title of Jun-Shihan (Master Assistant) which he obtained at 32 years old. Soke Tanaka is a real estate agent and has his own office in Osaka. At 20 years of age, and again at 30 years, Fumon Tanaka experienced two important meetings:

The first important meeting:
In 1963, Soké Tanaka was accepted as a disciple by the Master-monk Nichikan Kobayashi, 10th Head-Master (Soké) of the old school of Enshin-ryu sword. The sword employed in this school is more than 2 meters long, a compromise between the large sword, the lance and the halberd. In 1975, Fumon Tanaka was selected to succeed his Master as the head of the school and became the 11th Soké after having received, in 1973, the certificate of complete mastery (menkyo kaiden); He thus receives in 1975 Gokui kaiden, (transmission of all the major techniques) of the school Enshin ryu, concerning: the art of quick drawing the large sword (Koden iai), kenjutsu and jujutsu, kumiuchi hyogo (fusion of kenjutsu and jujutsu), bojutsu (staffs), sojutsu (spears), naginata (halberds) and Honmon suémonogiri kenpo (techniques of cutting objects with the sword). Soké Kobayashi did not teach these techniques to his own son. Only Tanaka Soké became the repository of this knowledge.

The second meeting took place in 1973. Soké Tanaka is accepted as a secret disciple of the Head-Master Minaki Saburoji Masanori 17th Master of the Kukishin Ryu and Hontai Yoshin Ryu Jujutsu (staff of 1m80 and 90cm; bojutsu and hanbojutsu). "Secret Disciple" means that he was the personal training partner of the future 18th Soke. In 1985, he receives the title of Menkyo Kaiden. 18th Soké of the Kukishin and Yoshin Ryu schools, Mr Kyodo Matsuda was Soké only one day. He then named Soké Tanaka as 19th Soké of the Kukishin Ryu (whose name means School of the 9 Demons) and Takagi-Hontai-Yoshin-ryu jujutsu.

In 1969 Soké Tanaka began research on Kô-Shinto (traditional animist religion of Japan). The Headmaster of Kuki transmitted more than 15 secret parchments on the Koshinto (old religion) of the Kukishin school. In 1989, Tanaka became Soké of a very old martial tradition, related to the religious practices of the mountain warriors, Yamabushi: the school Tenshin Hyoho Shoden Kukami-shin Ryu whose martial field extended to 18 arts of war: bugei juhappan; Swords, spears, staff, horsemanship, firearms, espionage and infiltration, military strategy, medicinal herbs, etc... In 1997, Soké Tanaka was named Soké-dairi, for the schools: Fudo ryu, Shindo Tenshin ryu, Asayama Ichiden ryu, Hontai Takagi Yoshin ryu and Bokuden ryu. All the official documents relative to these schools are in possession of Soké Kaminaga Tenshin who is one of the best friends of Soké Tanaka.

Soké Tanaka is:

• 19th Soké of the school Kukishin ryu Bujutsu
• 11th Soké of the school Koden Enshin ryu (old school)
• 4th Soké of the restored school Honmon Enshinryu suémonogiri (cut with the sword)
• 19th Soké of the school Tenshin Hyogo Shoden Kukami-shin Ryu
• Soké dairi for many other old schools of budo.
• He is also: 7th Dan in Swordsmanship obtained in 1974, at 31yrs old, for Yawara jujutsu and Iai-jutsu by Japanese Zen Kobudo Sogo Renmei (the Japanese federation of all the traditional martial arts). In 1989, he received the title of Hanshi 8th Dan, at the age of 46 years, he is the youngest person so highly graded in an Official Japanese Federation. He is 9th Dan of the World Jujutsu Federation.
• He is also the successor and holder of several old documents on the ninjutsu of Iga and Koga. Since the summer 2002, he is the technical person in charge, in the place of Nawa sensei, for the ninja museum of Koga.

His daughter, Sensei Midori-Ukyo Tanaka has been involved under his supervision since her birth. She teaches the sword within the dojo school in Osaka. She is 36 years old and will be the next heiress, the first woman with to be named Soke for a Japanese sword school. Her astrological sign is Taurus and her preferred color is the red of Bordeaux wine. She is 7th Dan of the World Jujutsu Federation. She and her father gave a demonstration enthusiastically applauded by 15.000 people in Paris-Bercy in March 2003 (during which Soke Tanaka cut a bamboo section balanced on my head). At present Soké Tanaka is actively engaged in the drafting of books on the martial arts with the publication of 2 books in Japan: Koryu kenjutsu(classic art of the sword) and koryu kenjutsu gairon (beyond the classical tradition of the sword). An English book was released in 2003, published by Kodansha International! Soké Tanaka has a passion for thrown weapons (shuriken). He manufactures some weapons himself according to old parchments.

The Enshin School

This school of sword was founded about 1520 at the time of the feudal wars in Japan, by a judge of the imperial guard by the name of Hayami Nagato-No-Kami Enshin (another name for Inukami-No-Shogen Nagakatsu). Thanks to an uninterrupted line of Masters with disciples, it survived to modern day in its ancestral form (Koden Enshin ryu). It is a school which is practised in its old form according to the 18 arts of war (bugei ju-happan, spear, sticks, halberds.. fighting in armour..etc.). The characteristic of the school is the use of No-dachi or O-tachi, a large sword more than 2 meters long. 8th and 9th Soké of the school (Kobayashi Masahira and Kobayashi Nichikan Masanori) renovated the style adding at the beginning of the century, modern kata, solo and partnered, for the iai-jutsu (to draw fast) and the suémonogiri (test of cutting various materials). The Master of Soké Tanaka, Kobayashi Nichikan was a Buddhist priest of the Nichiren school, 78th superior and chief-abbot of the Myorenji monastery.

The Schools of Kukishin and Kukami-shin

Founded at the time of the "2 imperial courts" (Nanbokucho) by the monk soldier yamabushi: Hyakkushimaru Kurambô who helped the Emperor Go Daigo to flee Kyoto to the village of Yoshino (which became thereafter the place of residence for second imperial court). He was made a noble in thanks by the emperor and accepted the name of Takazané Kuki and the stronghold of the village of Kuki (Northern of the town of Kumano) with the title of Viscount. The Kuki family proved itself at the time by great feats of arms, since one of its descendants, Kuki Yoshitaka, built the military seaport of the town of Toba, in the bay of Isé, and became the chief of the fleet of Shogun Oda Nobunaga. In addition to the bugei ju-happan, the characteristic of this school are the art of the long stick of the monk-soldiers of Shugendo (1m80), the spear of 1m80, and the short staff of 90cm (which was actually the stick of command of the feudal military chiefs). The study of the school includes Kumi-uchi and jujutsu-yawara, coming from the school Takagi Yoshin ryu, founded by Oriémon Shigétoshi Takagi. There is a very secret version of the Kukishin school, created by one of the patriarchs, Nakatomi Shinden, which received the teaching of following the vision of the Konjin god-demon, guard of the door of the demons located at Western North (ushi-tora) in Asian astrology: Tenshin Hoyo Shoden Kukami-shi ryu. This school comprises the same techniques as Kukishin ryu, but the study is done through the vision of the yamabushi monks of Shugendo. Ku or kyu in Japanese means 9; Ki which is read oni (demon), if it is written while omitting to affix the comma on the top of the ideogram, it is read then: kami (god). This goes with what is said to the holder of the secret parchments of the school: "When the demons lose the horn (the comma of the Japanese ideogram of the word demon) which decorate their face, they become gods" These 9 gods are in connection with a constellation. All the documents are not written in old Japanese or Chinese, but with characters which the gods themselves employed, and whose origin would go up to several thousands of years old. I could see it my eyes: The characters employed do not resemble ideograms at all, but rather with Hebraic inscriptions... These recopied parchments are more than 300 years old, explaining the military strategy, divination and astrology. The makimono (parchments) of the martial school held by the Kuki family were given in 1989 to Soké Tanaka. For many generations to present times the head of the Kuki household is also the superior of the Shinto sanctuary of the town of Kumano, a high place of Shugendo, formerly under the responsibility of the imperial temple Shogoin-Monzéki in Kyoto, temple-mother of the Honzan branch of Shugendo (to which I am affiliated, as a Yamabushi priest of Shugendô).

Here is what Soké Fumon Tanaka says :
"To be understood, the technique must be seen 5 times, if it is shown to a 50 year old man, 4 times if to a 40 year old person; 3 times if to a 30 year old, but 1 only time to a 20 year old. It is said that I am demanding with my pupils but since they do not miss any classes, I think that they very much appreciate me! I teach Bushido (way of the warriors)! It is a message difficult to teach nowadays. In practice, it is important to test oneself. There is no shame to have a failure from time to time, if one gives the best of oneself to the moment. The important thing is to transmit the "sense of responsibility". Young Japanese tends to forget these principles: To do oneself what one must do, without asking others or depending somebody. What I teach is the devotion and spirit of sacrifice: If ‘opening the belly’ can help other people (or protect the family, as at times of the feudal lords in Japan), it should be done without any hesitation. At the time of Seppuku in Japan (to kill oneself in ritual sacrifice, by cutting open the belly and to have your head sliced off by your ‘second’), there were 2 things to master: To know precisely how to open the belly by inserting the point of the sword at the proper place and to know how to quickly and properly slice the head of the condemned, so that he suffers as little as possible. A beautiful death is sign of honor in Japan. To know how to sacrifice oneself, not to bend or give up, to have the spirit of decision, are important values for the youth of today. I do nothing but teach these 2 techniques: How to know to open the belly and to slice off the head properly! This statement should be taken figuratively of course!"
Soke Tanaka is known for having a great sense of humour.

Waka-Sensei Midori-Ukyo Tanaka 20th Soké

She is incarnate form of martial beauty, the glare & hardness of the rarest emerald! She was born on May 13, 1968 in Osaka,Japan and has practiced since the age of 9, the traditional schools to which her father, Tanaka Fumon 19th Soké, is the heir: The sword of the schools of Enshin and Kukishin. The long and short staff (bôjutsu and hanbo-jutsu) of the schools Kukishin and Kukamishin, the jujutsu of the schools Takagi-Yoshin Ryu, Shinden Fudo Ryu, and Koto Ryu. The art of throwing the dagger, straight and stars shaped steel blades (shuriken) and more generally the 18 warlike fields of study (buggei ju-happan) that all samurai of high rank were expected to learn. It is she that will become the first woman Soké, following the traditional continuity as her father has, to perpetuate the tradition of the samurai!

When she slips her tantô into her hakama (divided skirt) before greetings at the beginning of short training course as the samurai of high rank did (who were never separated from their dagger), she gives a strong impression of a panther about to leap onto her prey. The energy which emerges from her is impressive, even her father recognizes it and acknowledges it somewhat embarrassedly. As her father, who is a Master of Nô-kagaku, she studied near the warlike dances of Nô whose steps and breathing are regulated in a way similar to the katas of karate but much longer : Imagine a kata which would last 2 hours! "Since I was born, because of the position of my father who is the heir to several schools of Traditional Japanese Budo, I practise the kobujutsu: old and traditional Japanese martial arts. Because of my position since birth, my drive is different from those of other practitioners. I one day will have the responsibility for these old schools of traditional martial arts. My training is thus made with this direction and goal. The majority of Japanese forgot the techniques and the spirit of the old martial arts. In "traditional Japan", there are splendid things to bring to the world. Respect and study are two of these important principles that our ancestors knew well. I think that these principles cannot be learned through modern martial arts "gendai-budo" like kendo, aikido, karate, judo.. which became sports at the beginning of the Meiji era, more than one hundred years ago. The schools of traditional martial arts related to the art of the sword go back sometimes more than 700 years and even before the Heian time, to the first Japanese warriors: Mononofu, ancestors of the Samurai, appeared in 600 BC and they were overcome by prince Shotoku in the 6th century AD.

For the festival of Bercy, she began her demonstration, alone in front of 15.000 people with one minute of sword dance from the thousand-year-old repertory of Nô entitled: "Tsurugi No May", dance of the sword. The Tsurugi sword is the weapon of the Japanese gods and this kata, of which Midori Sensei is the only person in the 21 century with the capacity to fully present in its entirety, is a petition to link the spirits of those who the following day will have to go to offer their lives on the fields of battle. It is an offering to the Shinto gods, performed around a fire with weapons whose steps form either a square, a triangle or a circle. With the sound of the Wadaïko drum and flute in bamboo (Yokobué), Sensei Midori-Ukyo carries out this purifying kata! Sensei Midori hopes to be able one day to study Japanese Drumming, because their rhythm is of comparable nature that of the martial arts, in her opinion!At the time of the execution of "Tsurugi No Maï", I could "feel" that she had received the blessing of all the martial divinities of Japan! A single person, her preferred colors are the blood red blood of an old Bordeaux wine, the turquoise blue-green of the Polynesian lagoons and the black of unsoundable space. She was born under the astrological sign of the "bull" and works in the offices of a Japanese company in Osaka which sells conduction components for computers. In the evening, she supervises training courses with her father as 12th Soké of the Enshin-ryu school and 20th Soké of the Kukishin-ryu school. The qualities which she appreciates most in men : Reserve, "the immersion in the study" (uchikomu) and honesty. To be the daughter of Soké and to one day herself become Soké requires many sacrifices. She wishes to show all the depth of the traditional martial arts and to spread the teaching of the schools of Japanese sword, which she will become Soké of, throughout the world.

Married in October 2005, she says that since she was born in this family, it is her destiny (shukumé) to become Soké and she will pursue this duty until the end. Unlike other pupils who choose to come out of passion for the arts, (to divert themselves to some extent) and who can stop when they wish to, she does not have the option of making this decision. She has the obligations and will face them to become a worthy "servant" (samurai) of her father! For example: She has suffered from acute tendonitis in the elbow since the summer 2002 when she made her demonstration in Paris-Bercy hall. The pain had become intolerable, but she had to achieve with her father all courses (seminars and demonstrations) in Japan and abroad. She did not have the option of losing a few weeks for a surgical operation which would immobilize her during the weeks these course were scheduled. For Bercy, she received cortisone injections prior to leaving Japan to try to help! The effects of analgesics and even of cortisone do not affect her much. Her body does not react much to allopathic drugs. Even the "rest" thanks to sedative or pain killing drugs is not granted to her by the gods of Japan. She must always be ready to fight. It is with this fierce heart that she carried out the exhibition at Paris Bercy.

Born as a daughter of a Soké, it is a duty to carry the torch, even if often the moments of happiness also go hand in hand with extreme moments of pain. One cannot have her father as an instructor without a few moments of tension, as in all families. It is by rubbing one with the other, like two pieces of paper on glass that the characters end up being polished! Her mother and her father are very proud of their daughter! She started as a very young person studying courses which were generally given to the elder. Never did her father give her a particular lesson. She has Nô, like the martial arts, running in her veins!

Many men are practitioners of the martial arts in Japan and there is tendency for the martial arts to be ‘masculine’ but the women can be frightening effective when fighting and just like the men, to see themselves entrusted with responsibilities (such as the example of her becoming the heiress of traditional martial traditional) while remaining very feminine : See the case of the gracious Frenchwoman Valerie Hénin, a practitioner of Thai Boxing. In the animal kingdom, isn’t it the lioness who goes out hunting while the lion lounges in the sun? The clan of Soké Tanaka demonstrated only one small part of his ancestral knowledge in Bercy. He also holds lineage and teachings of other schools like the shuriken of Iga and Koga, the taijutsu of Koto Ryu and Shinden Fudo Ryu, the jujutsu of the Hontai Takagi Yoshin Ryu, the art of the staff of the schools Kukishin and Kukamishin ryu, the sword of Bokuden Ryu... the medieval combat in while wearing armour (Yoroi-kumi-uchi) as it was during feudal times, archery (kyujutsu), the method of cutting with the sword (suémono-giri), the art of the sword while on horseback (bajutsu)!

Soké Tanaka taught with his daughter that to cut straw or bamboo with the sword was not an act to test the blade; which would have been regarded as an insult to the blacksmith who signed his swords tang like a painter would his work of art. The cut performed as a demonstration in front of ones feudal lord was regarded as the action requiring more development of the samurai. A high level of cut demonstrated the nature of the warrior: "Bushi No Seishin" or "Bushi No Meiyo". It is for that method that in the school of Enshin ryu, the bamboo is just balanced on a support. The bamboo are not “tied up" or “impaled" as in other schools. This cut is the most difficult to perform. The cuts where the bamboo or bales of straw are tied up are compared by Tanaka to : Hinnin-giri! Cut of ‘Lowest’ (those which are not human) made by the brigands (sanzoku) or the pirates (kaïzoku). Hinnin was the lowest caste of the 5 castes of the hierarchical basis of feudal Japan : Warriors or bushi, tradesmen or now businessmen, the peasants (nogyo), Eta, tanners and all those which handled the death of animals and at the bottom of the social scale: Hinnin, those which could not bear a family name. They are the pirates and the brigands who tied up people and practiced cutting on them; not samurai! It is for that reason that the Tanaka clan continues to place the bamboo carefully balanced to cut them; the way how a persons head is always moving in the search for balance on the neck! Midori Sensei says that: "the study of the martial arts follows 5 ways in Japan:

1. Tendô, the way of the sky
2. Chidô, the way of terrestrial nature
3. Jindô, habits and traditions human
4. Shintô, the way of the gods
5. Butsudô, the way of Buddhas

But the true religion of the samurai is Shinsenkyo: Shin=kami=god, Sen=sennin = the ascetic of the mountains and kyo for path. That means that the training of the ways of divine nature is done as a recluse for a warrior and the way carries us sometimes to: Tarari, (Ta=tanoshi, Ra=koso, Ri=sato) the "village of joy" which remains in each one of us.

We at Iaido Toyama Ryu Web Site Bow in Honour of you both !