Warrior Togakure Daisuke founded the Togakure Ryu in the 12th century. He had retreated into the mountains of Iga where he met a mystic priest called Doshi Kain (the name suggests a Chinese origin). From this priest Daiksuke learnt to forge his body and spirit through new methods of combat. This Ryu influenced the Ninjutsu of the IGA and KOGA regions and in addition it was taught at the Hattori School in Kushi Fife until it was passed to the Toda family. The speciality of the school is Ninpo.

History & Traditions

The Ninjutsu ryu of the Togakure family was not formalised until three generations after Daiksuke Togakure began to develop it. Allied with a clan that was defeated in a series of battles against superior forces, Daisuke lost all, including his Samurai status, and escaped into the mountainous wilderness south east of Kyoto. Wandering among the pine forests and marshes of the Kll peninsula in A.D. 1162, he met the warrior monk, Kain Doshi, who had fled to Japan from political and military upheaval in China.

There in the mountain caves of the Iga province (within the present day Mie prefecture), Daisuke studied with this mystic, learning new concepts of warfare and personal accomplishment based on Chinese and Tibetan ides about the order of the universe.

Daisuke was taught the practical application of the balance of the elements in diet, in combat, in thought and emotion, and in utilizing the forces and cycles of nature to his advantage. Thus, away from the limiting conventions of Samurai conduct that he had never thought to question, he was able to discover a completely new way of working his will.

It was Daisuke’s descendants that developed and refined these notions into the Togakure Ryu of Ninjutsu and came to be called by the name Ninja. The Togakure Ryu’s secret was Shuko, a spiked iron band worn around the hand enabling the ninja to stop sword blades or climb trees and walls "like a cat".

Another device utilized by the Togakure ninja was the Tetsubishi, a small spiked weapon used to slow pursuers or protect doorways. Made with spiked sticking out in all directions, the Tetsubishi were scattered on the ground to be stepped on by the unsuspecting. They also used and kept secret the use of the Senban Shuriken or four pointed throwing star, originally made from a metal building washer, it looked so harmless that it was ignored by Samurai soldiers.

Most important to our training today is the Togakure Ryu Ninpo Taijutsu, or unarmed methods of moving the body with subtle rather then forceful movements which controls the actions of the attacker and allow the ninja to win whilst expending minimum energy and, giving himself a minimum exposure to the least amount of danger.

Mount Hei the home of the Tendai monastery. There was a monk at this place called So-O, but he left to live for three years in a cave as an astic, it was here after receiving a vision in a dream that he formed the Shugendo sect of Buddhism. Today these monks still exist, and it is within this sect in a small village called Togakure (Togakushi village) in a province of Shimano, that a temple was erected.

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