Throughout his life, Takamatsu suffered from low blood pressure and therefore drank a glass of salt water every day. He liked to paint in the morning, going to bed every day at 9 p.m. and getting up at 6:30 a.m., then rubbing himself with a wet, ice-cold towel.

He ate three meals, which consisted of bean paste, sesame seeds, vegetables and buckwheat flour. He also ate many small fish.

Takamatsu is said to have never done warm-up exercises before training, even when he fought with real weapons. In a real fight, you don't have time to warm up, he always said.

When he first saw judō on television, he is said to have been indignant because they arched their backs during a technique in the sport.

Childhood

He was separated from his biological mother Fushi before he was one year old and had nine different foster mothers until he was twenty.

His father was Takamatsu Yasaburo, also known as Takamatsu Gishin. He often changed professions, he was a representative for Sanyo Railroad, later he owned a match factory in Kobe.

Takamatsu attended the Akashi no Miyas English School and later a Chinese educational school. He was a weak and whiny child, which is why he had the nickname Crybaby.

The Sumō Fight

At that time, Takamatsu was also a spectator at a sumo wrestling match. A great fighter, called Oni no Yama (Demon Mountain), who had already defeated many fighters, fought Raiden (Lightning). Oni no Yama simply threw Raiden to the ground and threw him out of the ring. Takamatsu jumped up and entered the ring in his normal clothes. When asked his name, he said his name was Akebono. Takamatsu defeated Oni no Yama and eight other men. Then a man who called himself Osakayama climbed into the ring. He was huge and weighed 112 kilograms.

Cruel training with Master Toda

His father wanted him to become a strong warrior. Therefore, at the age of nine, he began to study martial arts at the request of his father. To do this, he went to the dōjō of his uncle Toda Shinryuken Masamitsu in Kobe, who also ran a chiropractic practice there. Toda was a samurai from the Iga region whose ancestors were ninja, but this did not come out until after Takamatsu's death. He had been a sword teacher at a Tokugawa military school.

Toda, however, did not teach Takamatsu any techniques, but pushed him around in the dōjō with his students and tried throws on him. Takamatsu vowed never to go to the dōjō again but came back every night.

Every day he came home with bleeding elbows and knees. Takamatsu recalled that he felt like a lamb on its way to the slaughterhouse every day. But soon he became stronger and gained weight.

After a year, Master Toda taught him the first techniques of Shinden-fudo-Ryū. Toda realized that Takamatsu was very gifted at learning Budo. At the age of thirteen, he mastered the Shinden-fudo-Ryū.

While attending the Akashi no Miyas English School in Kobe, he attended a Chinese educational school. Every other day he went to the dōjō of Mizuta Yoshitaru Tadafusa and learned the takagi-yōshin-ryū jū tai jutsu.

At the same time, he learned from Toda the Togakure-Ryū Ninpō, the Koto-Ryū koppō jutsu, the Gyokko-Ryū koshi jutsu, the Gyokushin-Ryū Ninpō and the Kumogakure-Ryū Ninpō.

Takamatsu liked the Koto-Ryū, the Togakure-Ryū appealed to him less. The Koto-Ryū strengthened the hands and feet, especially the fingers and toes. Through years of intense training, where he slammed his hands against rocks and other hard objects, his fingernails and toenails were 4 to 5 millimeters thick, so he couldn't cut them with regular nail scissors. He could use it to tear the bark from a tree. He himself later said that in this day and age, such weapons are no longer necessary.

One Sunday evening, Takamatsu was walking through the park on the coast when he saw two children fighting with each other. One child was about 8, the other 12 or 13. At that moment, 4 men appeared and helped the older child. When one of the men hit the child, Takamatsu intervened and took action against the men. He managed to drive all four away.

Later he learned that the men were professional sumo fighters, and one was a fighter whom no one had ever defeated.

Takamatsu as a local hero

At the age of thirteen, he defeated ten of the 60 attackers in a street brawl provoked by about 60 furyō (delinquent young people) and put the rest to flight. The attackers, some of whom were armed with swords, wanted to force him and a friend to bow to the leader. Takamatsu knelt down, grabbed a stone and hit it on the leader's foot. He fell to the ground and screamed loudly. The others attacked Takamatsu. He managed to neutralize 5 to 8 attackers when the rest fled. The next day, a policeman came to his house and took him to the station. He wanted to know how many were still there. The policeman did not want to believe him that he had defeated the attackers alone, but the friend confirmed this and stated that he had not fought himself.

The next day, the newspaper said: 13-year-old judō expert easily puts 60 gangsters to flight.

Takamatsu weighed only 59 kilograms. The two fought hard, but no matter how hard Takamatsu tried, he couldn't move the heavy man. Osakayama grabbed his wrist and squeezed it hard. Takamatsu managed to throw Osakayama off balance, causing him to step out of the ring. The crowd cheered and threw their seat cushions into the air.

The next day, Osakayama came to Takamatsu's father and told him he was a professional sumo wrestler from Osaka. He wants to train his son to become a sumo wrestler. But Takamatsu's father refused because his son was to become a soldier. It was only through the visit that he had learned that his thirteen-year-old son had defeated a professional sumo wrestler.

Fight against karate students

At the age of fifteen, his master asked him to compete against two karateka of Musashi-Ryū, who were 27 and 28 years old. The first underestimated Takamatsu and was defeated by a gyakunage.

The other fighter was forewarned and when Takamatsu tried to throw him, he hit him in the right ear and arm in the fall, whereupon Takamatsu became unconscious.

When the fighter learned that his opponent was only 15 years old, he was very impressed and said that he could not win against him again because Takamatsu now knew the secret technique of Musashi-Ryū (mushadori).

As a result of the fight, Takamatsu suffered hearing damage to his right ear throughout his life, which is why he was later not admitted to the military school.

At the age of seventeen, he received the menkyōkaid of the Takagi-Ryū from his teacher Mizuta Yoshitaru Tadafusa. At that time, it was not uncommon to give a student the menkyōkaiden at an early age so that he would try harder.

Training with Ishitani

In the same year, Takamatsu met Ishitani Takakage Matsutaro, who worked as a bodyguard in his father's match factory. Ishitani, who was known throughout Japan as a famous fighter, set up a small dōjō in the factory and taught Takamatsu the Kukishinden-Ryū happōhikenjutsu, the Gikan-Ryū koppō jutsu, and some other aspects of Ninjutsu.

When Takamatsu was eighteen years old, he fetched 330 gallons (1 gallon = 4,546 liters) of fresh water for his father's factory from a well every morning. The spring was at the foot of Maruyama Mountain and 7 to 8 blocks from the factory. He had to carry home five times against, and each time 240 kg of water. That strengthened his body a lot.

The nocturnal attacker at the bridge

One day, a man from the factory told him that someone had stopped him at Shinbashi Bridge the previous night. Whenever he swerved, the man blocked his way again. Finally, he grabbed him and threw him into the water.

The following night, Takamatsu crossed the bridge several times without anything happening. He thought that the attacker might know him and disguised himself the next night. And as expected, a person blocked his way the next night. She wore a hat that hid her face. The attacker tried to throw Takamatsu, but he couldn't. He then tried to punch and kick him, but Takamatsu dodged the punches and kicks. When the man was confused, Takamatsu threw him to the ground and the attacker ran away. He lost his hat while fleeing, and Takamatsu realized that it was a disciple of Master Mizuta. He called after him to be ashamed to shame his school in this way.

Takamatsu received from his grandfather Toda the menkyōkaiden of the Shinden-fudo-ryū, Togakure-ryū, Kumogakure-ryū, Gyokushin-ryū, Koto-ryū and gyokko-ryū. Soon after, in 1909, Toda Shinryuken Masamitsu died. Takamatsu was appointed the next sōke.

Before his death, he is said to have said to Takamatsu: Even if you face certain death, die laughing.

In 1910, Ishitani Takakage Matsutaro also died, and Takamatsu was appointed sōke of the Gikan-Ryū and Kukishin-Ryū.

Trip to China

Soon after, he quit his job at the match factory and traveled to China, partly because he wanted to test his skills, because he was dissatisfied with his life, and because he wanted to make money. At that time, there was a turbulent situation in China, many warlords were fighting for the country.

On his way to China, he met Kim Kei-mei in Korea, who taught him eighteen Korean and Chinese martial arts.

Illness and return

Then he fell ill and went back to Japan. He wanted to visit the grave of his friend Kogane and pay a visit to his grandmother. She was happy when she saw him and offered him to cure his illness with her. He was ill with beriberi (vitamin B1 deficiency, occurs with the predominant consumption of peeled rice).

But after a month, a messenger came who told him that Takamatsu's father would stop making monthly payments to his grandmother if she continued to give his son shelter. Takamatsu was very ill, the disease had severely damaged his lungs. Nevertheless, he could not allow his grandmother to be harmed, and two days later he left the house with only his clothes on his body.

The hut in the mountains

His legs were heavy and swollen from the disease as he dragged himself towards Mayasan Mountain. Without his Ninjutsu training, he would not have been able to walk anymore. He crawled up the mountain on his hands and knees until he came to a waterfall. There was a small hut that was about 4 meters wide and long. The cottage was very airy.

At the foot of the mountain, he had bought 2 liters of rice. He had forgotten matches and therefore could not make a fire. But he recalled that his master had once told him that it was important for a ninja to eat natural food. So he washed the rice and put it on a stone. The sun made the rice floury as Takamatsu ground it with his hands. He only had a photograph of Master Toda with him, to whom he spoke. When he thought that all his masters, Toda, Ishitani and Mizutani, had already died, the raw rice tasted to him as if it were the best in the world.

He felt a little better and rested for a few days. Only the birds and the wind kept him company.

One evening someone shouted: Go home!. But Takamatsu couldn't see anyone and fell asleep again.

Healing by a Yamabushi

After a few days, an old man came to the waterfall and asked why he was doing asceticism. Takamatsu replied that he wanted to cure his illness. The old man said it wasn't that hard, he had beriberi and tapeworms in his stomach. He said that he could cure Takamatsu. First, he would fight the tapeworms. He folded his hands and murmured a few sounds. Takamatsu was a little surprised, and wondered how that would help. Then he stabbed Takamatsu in the stomach and said he would come back in a few days.

A few days later, Takamatsu felt a severe pain in his stomach and relieved himself. He found two tapeworms in the excrement. After ten days, the old man returned. He said this time he would cure the beriberi. After the procedure, he disappeared without making a sound.

After seven days, Takamatsu managed to get up. He began to train Taijutsu again and regained his strength. He changed his name Jutaro to Kikaku to remind himself that he could always do what he set out to do.

The yamabushi returned once again to inquire how Takamatsu was doing.

Second trip to China

After that, Takamatsu returned to China. He stayed in northern China and Manchuria for ten years.

In the mountains of China, he was once attacked by some bandits. One of the culprits grabbed him by the waist. Suddenly he began to scream and held his face. Takamatsu didn't know what he had done to the man, but then he felt something soft, warm in his hand and he realized that it was the bandit's eye. He gave the bandit first aid and then accepted money for the help.

Martial Arts Instructor in China

By the time Takamatsu was 26 years old, he had already won 19 fights in various places in China, of which only 7 were competitions. Prince Ren, the uncle of the Emperor of China, regarded Takamatsu as his own son. Takamatsu was a famous teacher, he had already trained more than eight hundred Chinese, Japanese, American and French students. Every day he trained 70 to 80 students. Even in the heat of summer, he didn't show a drop of sweat. A master of Shaolin Kung-Fu, Choshiryu from Santo Province, challenged Takamatsu to a competition twice, but he refused each time.

Takamatsu's dream

One night he had a dream. A huge, red demon tried to kill a butterfly with an iron bar. But the butterfly flew away until the demon collapsed sweating and shouted enough.

The next morning, he created a new technique. When Choshiryu challenged him again, he accepted. The challenger was 37 years old and weighed 112 kilograms, Takamatsu weighed only 74 kilograms. The tournament took place in an English settlement. Takamatsu dodged Choshiryu's punches and kicks for 2 hours. As he slowed down and sweat dripped from his forehead, Takamatsu saw his time had come and wanted to attack.

But Lord Ren stopped the fight because everyone saw that Choshiryu had no chance. After the tournament, they congratulated each other and drank to their new friendship.

When Takamatsu returned to Japan, he became the head of the Nippon Minkoku Seinen Botoku Kai (Japanese Martial Arts Organization).

Monk of Tendai

He went to Mount Hiei near Kyoto to become a monk in Tendai Monastery. Perhaps in this way he tried to erase the sins of his youth.

He became a respected monk and representative of the monastery and was also intensively involved with Shintō and Mikkyō.

In his absence, the Kuki family had transferred the menkyōkaiden of the Kukishin Ryū to Iwami Nangaku, believing that he would not return to Japan.

During World War II, the scrolls of the Kuki family were destroyed by fire during an Allied bombing raid. Takamatsu reconstructed the scrolls through his notes and his memories and presented them to the Kuki family 3 years later. For this he received permission to create a subschool, the Kukishinden-Ryū.

Marriage and founding of a dōjō

He married 23-year-old Uno Tane and adopted a girl, Yoshiko, because they were not granted children of their own.

He founded a small dōjō, the Sukisha Dōjō (place for people who love martial arts) and trained with a small group of students. Some of them were Koba Koshiro, Sato Kimbei, Hanaoka Nangaku, Ueno Takashi, Takeuchi Kikakusai, Kimura Masaharu, Fukumoto, and Akimoto Fumio.

He ran a small teahouse and hotel in Kashiwabara in the Nara region.

Hatsumi

In 1958, he accepted a new student named Hatsumi Yoshiaki, who was 26 years old. For the next fifteen years, he taught only Hatsumi, who traveled through Japan every weekend to see his teacher. Takamatsu taught Hatsumi things he had never taught a student before. A few years before his death, he said to Hatsumi, "I have taught you everything I know and thus repaid Toda Sensei, Ishitani Sensei and Mizuta Sensei for their kindness. He decided to put his inheritance in the hands of Hatsumi because he was the most suitable.

The Challenge

In the late 60s, Takamatsu wrote an article in which he said: When you fight, you have to prepare to be killed by an attacker or to kill him.

About Takamatsu Toshitsugu

The birth of Takamatsu Toshitsugu

Takamatsu Toshitsugu was born in the 22nd year of the Meiji period, on March 10, 1889 in Akashi, Hyogo Province, Japan. His name was Hisatsugo, but he later changed it to Toshitsugu. As a child, he was called Jutaro.

Throughout his life, Takamatsu had many names: Nakamushi (crybaby), Kikaku (demon horns), Kotora (little tiger), Moko no Tora (Mongolian tiger) and, after his death, Bujin (Divine Warrior). His student Hatsumi Masaaki named the 9 traditions Bujinkan in his honor.

As a result, a Japanese karate teacher gave an interview on television and said that what Takamatsu had said was no longer up to date today and called him an old man whose time had run out.

Takamatsu saw this as a challenge and said on television that he was still far from the end and accepted the challenge. He would give the man three days to apologize publicly, or he would fight him and kill him. The karate teacher apologized publicly.

Takamatsu continued to train martial arts until he was eighty, after which he only observed Hatsumi's training.

The Death of Takamatsu

He died on April 2, 1972 in his home in Nara (east of Osaka) and was buried in the Kumedra Cemetery near Nara.

Hatsumi, in memory of his teacher, decided to name his dōjō Bujinkan Dōjō, which means The Hall of the Divine Warrior.

It was only after his death that the neighbors learned of his eventful life and were very impressed. Few knew he was a ninja.

This story taken from kogakure