Nov 11, 2020
We renamed Shugi-jutsu to Sofu-jutsu. This article shows the story behind the new name and what became different.
Sofu-jutsu (双桴術: art of twin short sticks) was introduced by Yoshinaka Suzuki in 2020. It was named by Hiroyuki Watanabe (渡辺 裕之), a Japanese novelist famous for his profound knowledge of old school martial arts. Aiki Ishin-ryu used to have a similar art called Shugi-jutsu (手木術: art of hand stick) which originally came from Takeda-ryu Nakamura-ha. Just like Shugi-jutsu, Sofu-jutsu involves two sticks, sometimes one, to fight and defend against armed opponents. Fu (桴), which Sofu-jutsu was named after, is a short stick used in playing percussion instruments.
In 2020, the pandemic struck people all over the world with severe restrictions on various activities, and martial arts were no different. In Aiki Ishin-ryu, it was difficult to continue practicing inside our dojo, which is a closed environment. We were forced to think of a new way to let our trainees practice all the techniques precisely in their own houses without Sensei's supervision. Thankfully, our ancestors had already created a perfect way to overcome this difficult situation; the use of Kata.
When Soke founded Aiki Ishin-ryu, he organized the techniques of Shugi-jutsu and listed basic movements so that students can practice them thoroughly and separately. Meanwhile, the combination of those techniques in a flow had only been practiced with partners. Therefore, those combination techniques became impossible to practice under the pandemic. Accordingly, Soke arranged those movements into Kata(型), a combined movements in a sequence so that students can practice alone. Three were made to cover most of the basic techniques, and two were made with Ougi (奥義: hidden teachings) involved. These five Kata is the minimum requirement for students at home to keep improving their skills. At the same time, Soke decided to give this powerfully evolved art a new name, because he had taken in various techniques from other martial arts to maximize those Kata's learning effect.
Soke pays respects to Takeda-ryu Nakamura-ha, and he has no intention to offend their Shugi-jutsu. Thus, he decided to rename his invention in order to avoid people's confusion. Fortunately, one student of Aiki Ishin-ryu, Hiroyuki Watanabe who works as a novelist, came up with an excellent name Sofu-jutsu (双桴術) with So (双: SOU/TAGUI/MORO, twin) and Fu (桴: FU/IKADA/BACHI/MUNAGI, short sticks for playing Taiko, traditional Japanese drums). Soke approved it as the new official name of stick fighting in Aiki Ishin-ryu, and Sofu-jutsu became a part of our 6 jutsu.
As mentioned, Sofu-jutsu is practiced through 5 Kata each of which comprises techniques from Shugi-jutsu, Kubotan, Baton, Tanbo-jutsu, Tessen-jutsu (or iron fan) and others. This is because Soke intended to evolve the movements into something compatible with modern blunt weapons too. The 3 Kata of basic attacks and defenses can be performed with daily goods such as collapsible umbrellas, rolling pins, or anything with similar size. The details of the remaining 2 Kata are only revealed to the skilled members of Aiki Ishin-ryu. In addition, the former training of Shugi-jutsu still remains, as training through the list organized by Soke is even now efficient when in Dojo.
The word "双桴術" (Sofu-jutsu in Japanese) is registered in Japan Patent Office as a trademark owned by Soke.
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