A woman in flowing silk robes demonstrates a low fighting stance in the courtyard of a Tang palace with red pillars, while court officials watch from the steps.
A woman martial artist at the Tang court

Gyokko-Ryū

Its movements took shape at the Tang court, its first sōke lived in the Hōgen era. The Gyokko-Ryū is the oldest of the Bujinkan’s nine traditions.

Chapter
7, The Legacy of the Ninja
Sections
3
Reading time
3 min

School of the Jeweled Tiger

The Bujinkan (武神館) unites nine warrior traditions. The oldest of them is Gyokko-Ryū (玉虎流) koshi jutsu 骨指術, and it is without question the core of most of the Bujinkan’s arts. Hatsumi Sensei established that koshi jutsu is the foundation of these systems: Togakure-Ryū (戸隠流), Kotō-Ryū (虎倒流), Gikan-Ryū (義鑑流), Shinden-Fudō-Ryū (神伝不動流), Gyokushin-Ryū (玉心流), and Kumogakure-Ryū (雲隠流). Gyokko means “jeweled tiger” or “tiger jewel”, which may refer to the tiger’s eye.

Origins in China

Its way of moving and its basic principles were developed in China during the Tang dynasty (618–907). The movements suggest that it was created by a small man or a small woman. According to tradition, a woman at the court in Chang’an (today’s Xi’an) was famous for her martial arts.

A woman in flowing silk robes demonstrates a low fighting stance in the courtyard of a Tang palace with red pillars, while court officials watch from the steps.
A woman martial artist at the Tang court

When the Tang dynasty was overthrown in 907, many nobles are said to have fled to Japan. The names Yo Gyokko (Yao Yu Hu) and Cho Gyokko are linked to the arrival of the martial art in Japan; perhaps they were one and the same person. General Ikai (or Ibou) is also associated with the origins of the Gyokko-Ryū. According to Hatsumi, the name could also simply mean “someone” (bou) “from a foreign country” (I).

A ship with matting sails, crowded with nobles in colorful robes, sails through heavy seas toward a rocky coast; a man in a dark robe stands at the bow.
Tang nobles fleeing to Japan

Tozawa Hakuunsai

The first true sōke 宗家 of the official Gyokko-Ryū was Tozawa Hakuunsai. His name may point to a link with the Hakuun-Ryū, a school of ninjutsu that no longer exists. All this took place in the Hōgen era (1156–1159), which, according to the Bujinkan’s lineage records, makes the Gyokko-Ryū the oldest documented fighting system in Japan.

Fighting Style

Koshi jutsu means “the art of bone fingers”. Striking training is correspondingly hard: above all for the fingers, toes, and knuckles, but for every other part of the body as well. Typical of the style are powerful knuckle blocks that destroy the attacker’s muscles, tearing and drilling techniques with fingers and toes, heavy stomping kicks, grappling, and throws. At the same time, the Gyokko-Ryū taught its students to use only as much force as was needed to defeat the opponent. The school was also known for its skill with the sword, the roku shaku bō 六尺棒, and the tantō 短刀.

The Nine Rules of Gyokko-Ryū

  • The character nin 忍 stands for protecting the nation, with your own life if need be.
  • Put yourself aside, stay patient, have no fear of death.
  • In danger, say nothing and show nothing.
  • Faced with a strong enemy, keep your spirit unbending.
  • Serve and protect your master as you would your parents.
  • Crime scatters your abilities.
  • Drunkenness clouds your judgment.
  • Break the opponent’s strength, but let them live.
  • Teach no one without the master’s permission.

Sōke of the Gyokko-Ryū

  1. Tozawa Hakuunsai
  2. Tozawa Shōsuke
  3. Suzuki Saburō Shigeyoshi
  4. Suzuki Gobei
  5. Suzuki Kojirō Mitsu
  6. Tozawa Nyūdō Gen’e
  7. Yamon Hyōun
  8. Katō Ryū Hakuun
  9. Sakagami Gorō Katsushige
  10. Sakagami Tarō Kunishige
  11. Sakagami Kotaro Masahide
  12. Sōgyokkan Ritsushi
  13. Toda Sakyō Isshinsai
  14. Momochi Sandayū I
  15. Momochi Sandayū II
  16. Momochi Tanba Yasumitsu
  17. Momochi Tarō Saemon
  18. Toda Seiryū Nobutsuna
  19. Toda Fudō Nobuchika
  20. Toda Kangorō Nobuyasu
  21. Toda Eisaburō Nobumasa
  22. Toda Shinbei Masachika
  23. Toda Shingorō Masayoshi
  24. Toda Daigorō Chikahide
  25. Toda Daisaburō Chikashige
  26. Toda Shinryūken Masamitsu
  27. Takamatsu Toshitsugu
  28. Hatsumi Masaaki

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