Mugairyu

The founder, Tsuji Gettan (born Heinai) was born in the first year of Keian (1648 at the time of Tokugawa Iemitsu's Shogunate) in Umasugi Miyamura village in Omi province. At 13 years of age, he learned Yamaguchi-ryu kenjutsu from Yamaguchi Bokushinsai, the head of Yamaguchi-ryu at that time, in Kyoto. He was awarded menkyo (license) at 26 and left for Edo with his teacher's permission to open a Yamaguchi-ryu dojo in the Kojimachi district. No one took much notice of him, however, since he was a country warrior, so he trained only a handful of pupils. Heinai felt that he needed to cultivate his mind and studies, so he studied under Zen master Sekitan at Kyukoji in Azabu (Tokyo) where he learned about Zen and Chinese classics. He continued his studies under another Osho (monk) after master Sekitan passed away, and at 45 years of age Heinai attained enlightenment. He was given the following poem in master Sekitan's name.

Ippo jitsu mugai (There is nothing but the one truth.)
Kenkon toku ittei (It is universal, constant.)
Suimo hono mitsu (The wind-blown feather truly obtains this secret.)
Dochaku soku kosei (To know harmony amidst confusion is to be illuminated.)

Heinai became Gettan Sukemochi, and he created the name "Mugairyu" from the first line of this poem in the sixth year of Genroku (1693). Through his 20 years of zen training, he was no longer merely a sword master, he was also a zen practitioner and scholar, so it can be said that Gettan was an equal of the daimyo that visited Kyukoji as well. Among these daimyo were men such as Ogasawara Sadorinokami Nagashige, the Lord of Umayabashi; as well as Sakai Utanokami Tadataka, the Lord of Tosa; and Yamanouchi Toyofusa. In the eigth year of Genroku (1695), Gettan's home burned down in the great fire of Edo, so the number of his students until that time is unknown. According to the oaths sworn by his pupils during the fourteen years between the ninth year of Genroku (1696) and the sixth year of Hoei (1710), there were daimyo from 32 houses making over 10,000 koku, 156 jikisan (bushi under direct employ of the shogun), and 930 retainers. Gettan hoped to live the life of a seeker of truth, so he declined the occassional opporunities extended to him to teach as a master instructor for various daimyo. However, he did send his nephew, the second generation Mugairyu soke Tsuji Uheita, to the Sakai family of the Umayabashi clan (later changed to the Himeji clan) to work as a master instructor. He also recommended that his adopted son, Tsuji Kimata Sukehide (who would later be the third generation Mugairyu soke) be sent to the Yamanouchi family in Tosa as their master instructor. Isoda Nagishi of the Sakai family of Iseizaki (a branch of the above mentioned Sakai family) learned from Uheita as well, and the teaching (he received) was passed down through the Naito family of the Komoro clan.
When Gettan was 61 years of age, he was granted an audience with the fifth Tokugawa shogun, Tsunayoshi, through an arrangement made by Sakai Tadataka. Unfortunately, Tsunayoshi died and this meeting never became a reality. Yet for a ronin swordsman to be granted an audience with the shogun was an unprecidented achievement at that time. Gettan was both a zen practitioner and a swordsman, and believed that the two were inseparable. In the conclusion of the unparralled and enriching book that Gettan wrote it states, “Mugai Shinden Kenpo is taught with zen principles, so only upon understanding this should you ask for this swordsmanship instruction, and moreover, you should train sincerely.” Gettan required that his students practice zazen, and they would not receive this book unless they had achieved an understanding of these zen principles. In the months before he passed away, Gettan had his portrait drawn as a monk wearing a kesa (robe) and holding a whisk. In another portrait, the sharp-eyed Gettan is wearing a kesa and holding a wooden sword in his right hand.

And so Gettan, who was without family or regrets, died on the 23rd of June, 1727, the 12th year of Kyoho, which was the same day and month that his zen master Sekitan had also passed away. He sat in zazen with his rosary in his left hand and his whisk in his right. He was 79 years old.

Mugairyu Iai is actually Jikkyo-ryu Iai, but since Jikkyo-ryu was taught by Mugairyu instructors, it was generally refered to as Mugairyu Iai. The founder of Mugairyu, Tsuji Gettan, learned Jikkyo-ryu from its founder, Taga Jikkyo Kan Morimasa, and subsequent generations of the Tsuji family continued to learn Jikkyo-ryu from the successive soke (heads) of that style.
After six generations, Jikkyo-ryu found itself without a successor, and so the successors of Mugairyu inherited Jikkyo-ryu. The Jikkyo-ryu iai that had always been taught alongside the traditional sword tecuhniques of Mugairyu was amalgamated with Mugairyu by Mugairyu’s revivalist, Nakagawa Shiryu shihan, and renamed Mugairyu Iaihyodo. Nakagawa Shiryu Seiichi sensei was the eleventh Soke of Mugairyu and was the one who coined the name “Mugairyu Iaihyodo”.
The sixth Soke of Mugairyu, Takahashi Hachisuke Mitsusuke, and his brother, Hidezo, were the ones who genuinely adopted Jikkyo-ryu into Mugairyu training after training under the fifth Soke of Jikkyo-ryu, Yamamura Tsukasa Masashige. Nakagawa Shiryu Seiichi sensei organized this iai into 20 kata and 3 naiden (internal teachings).
 
Currently, we practice the “Mugairyu Iaihyodo” as it was organized and named by the eleventh Soke of Mugairyu, Nakagawa Shiryu Seiichi sensei.

Born Niina Toyoaki in the city of Tsukumi in Oita prefecture on October 2, 1948 (23rd year of Showa), he began learning budo at a young age by starting with aikido. In his twenties, he found a teacher of Shinto Musoryu Jodo and Mugairyu Iaihyodo.
He subsequently began working for Mitsubishi Heavy Industries while devoting himself to budo training in the Mitsubishi Aikido Association. In 1986, he assumed Jodo and Iaido teaching duties in the Association, and in 1987, at the age of 39, he established the Tokyo Jodo Federation and set about popularizing Jodo and Iaido. In 1994, with his Iaido students as the central members, he founded the budo instruction group Suimokai, and subsequently divided Suimokai in 14 organizations. The Non Profit Organization Mugairyu was founded in 2007.
Niina sensei also devised Gyokushin Shinto-ryu, an Iaido and Kumitachi style for handicapped individuals. In 2008 he established the Mugairyu Foundation for which he still currently serves as the representative director. As a practitioner of Mugairyu Iaihyodo, he became a shihan (master instructor) in 1986, received menkyo kaiden (full transmission license) in 1996, hanshi (the highest level of master instructor) in 1998, and soke successorship in 1999. (He established and became the soke of Mugairyu Meishiha in 2004.) He is also the soke of Tosei-ryu Tanjo-jutsu and Gyokushin Shinto-ryu. He holds eigth dan hanshi in Shinto Musoryu Jodo, Uchida-ryu Tanjo-jutsu, Isshin-ryu Kusarigama-jutsu, Ikkaku-ryu Jitte-jutsu, and Chuwa-ryu Tanken-jutsu.