The Ogasawara-ryū began when Ogasawara Nagakiyo, instructor to Minamoto-no-Yoritomo, founder of the Kamakura Shogunate, was invited to Kyoto in the year 1186. On the 15th of August in the following year (1187), the ritual of Yabusame* was conducted at the Tsurugaoka Hachimangū shrine (located in present day Kamakura city, Kanagawa Prefecture), and rituals of “Yumihajime*”, “Hōsha”, “Ōmato” and “Kasagake” were established as Shintō rituals for the warrior class of the time. Ngakiyo, along with the help of his father Kagami Tōmitsu and Ōe-no-Hiromoto, abbreviated many of the ceremonial rituals that were based off of old customs and practices of the court. Taking into account the time period that they lived in, Nagakiyo had established rituals that would befit the warrior class. An example of one such training which took place at the base of Mt. Fuji and its surrounding areas is known as “Fuji-no-maki-gari”, and was a way to teach archery to vassals who were missing their targets during hunting trips.
By the end of the Kamakura period, the Ogasawara family directly served emperor Go-daigo*, and along with being instructors of horse training and archery techniques, they were also known to have passed down the secret teachings of “Meigen” and “Yatakebi”. It is thanks to this that the Ogasawara family became famous as a household of “Mounted Archery”. Regulations of everyday actions, command of language, along with the equestrian commands, were consolidated into a discourse known as the “Shūshin-ron”. At presenting this discourse to the Emperor, an imperial edict was conferred to transform these teachings into a family code, and to this day and age, these teachings remain at the heart of the Ogasawara-ryū.
During the Muromachi period*, the Ogasawara family served the Ashikaga shogunate, and were active instructors to both shoguns Yoshimitsu and Yoshimasa. Thus, the Ogasawara family was able to perennate through the warring-states period to the Edo period. In the year 1604, the 17th generation head of the Ogasawara family, Ogasawara Tsunenao was invited by Tokugawa Ieyasu to Edo (present day Tokyo) to act as instructor, not only to his son Hidetada, but to various Daimyo* and Hatamoto* of the time.
The 20th generation head of the family, Ogasawara Sadamasa, had enacted a new type of Yabusame during the time of the eighth shogun Yoshimune, and was in charge of conducting matrimonial, Genpuku*, and birth rituals of the house of the shogun.
It is from this rich past of warrior martial techniques that the Ogasawara-ryū tradition of etiquette was developed. This development includes techniques of breathing, efficient use of muscles, and taking into account training and movement that promotes overall general health.
The Ogasawara-ryū is a school of etiquette, archery, and mounted archery that views etiquette as the building block of its techniques. Performing movements correctly one at a time, the movements become a part of the practitioner as they begin to correspond to the needs of space, time, and man. The movements of etiquette then flow to become the basic footwork required in archery. These in turn become the cursive movements of mounted archery that the practitioner learns within the Ogasawara-ryū tradition.
Starting with mounted archery, education of warriors during the Edo period encompassed the spear and sword, along with a multitude of weapons and techniques. As techniques were practiced and refined, the Samurai were able to gain an appreciation and mastery of the prepared state of mind. Whereas rules define victory and defeat within the world of sports and winning is of high importance, in mounted archery, the process of polishing one’s skill is far more important.
After the Meiji Restoration, the 28th generation head Ogasawara Kiyokane was appointed as vassal to the imperial household in the western part of the imperial palace, and in 1880, the Ogasawara School of etiquette, archery, and mounted archery was established and opened its’ doors to the public in Kanda, Tokyo. Henceforth, the Ogasawara household decreed that it is forbidden to make a livelihood from teaching etiquette, archery, and mounted archery. This precept was adopted to insure that techniques and teachings are not compromised, and so questionable means are not used for the sake of increasing attendance within students, which would ultimately only lead to the degradation and corruption of the warrior traditions. This is why, along with being the head of household, the late grandmaster made a living as a university professor, and I myself held the position of public officer.
In the Ogasawara family, there is a proverb that says: “by mastery, one becomes colorless, formless”. Though this appears a daunting task, I tend to think of it as merely cultivating daily practice, and seeing one's entire life as a journey of discipline.
*Yabusame: Name given to the Japanese ritual of mounted archery. *Yumihajime, Hōsha, Ōmato and Kasagake: Ogasawara-ryū archery rituals. *Emperor Go-daigo: (1288~1339 A.D.) 96th emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession. *Muromachi period: Period of Japanese history approximately spanning from 1336 to 1573A.D. *Daimyo: Feudal lords, or territorial lords that ruled most of pre-modern Japan. *Hatamoto: Literally “under the banners” or “under the flag”, is a term used to refer to samurai in the direct service of the Tokugawa shogunate in feudal Japan. *Genpuku: Japanese coming of age historical ceremony held for males.
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