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==The Legend of Kukishin-ryū== Ryushin Yakushimaru, the founder of Kukishin-ryū, was born to Dōyu Shirōhōgan at Kumano-Hongu in [[Wakayama prefecture]] on January 1, 1318. He was born into one of the most influential clans in [[Kumano Region|Kumano]], who were the descendants of the [[Fujiwara clan]] who served for generations as ''[[bettō]]'', or “Shrine Supervisors." The family eventually entered into the Taira-Minamoto War and commanded the Kumano Navy. Ryushin's mother was Chigusa-hime, whose brother was Suketomo Dainagon Hino, a member of the Southern Imperial court. Because Chigusa-hime had difficulty in conceiving she made a pilgrimage to [[Enryaku-ji]] temple at Mt. Hiei where she prayed to the [[Bhaisajyaguru|Yakushi Buddha]] (Bhaisajyaguru-Vaiduryaprabha) for help. Soon after, she became pregnant and gave birth to a baby boy, which she named Yakushimaru after the deity. Ryushin learned the martial arts and military sciences (Shinden Fujiwara Musō-ryū) handed down in his family from his grandfather Dōjitsu and Shingu-Bettō Ariie. After learning [[shugendō]] (mountaineering asceticism) from his father Dōyu, Ryushin then went to Kyoto where he learned esoteric [[Buddhism]] from the Buddhist monk Jōkai at Sanmaku-in temple. He also trained in martial arts at [[Mt. Kurama]] and was said to be master of [[Kuji-in|Kuji-hihō]] and [[Onmyōdō|Onmyo-do]].<ref name="Shinjin history 1"/> In 1335, when Ryushin celebrated his coming of age, he joined the Northern Court under [[Takauji Ashikaga]] in a war against the Southern Court. In June, 1336 Ryushin and his vanguard led an attack on the Southern Court's fort on Mt. Hiei. The fort eventually fell and the Southern Court Emperor, [[Go-Daigo]], and his loyal vassals were captured and kept at the old palace of former Emperor Kazanin. Takauji's treatment of the prisoners was so abhorrent that Ryushin was quoted as saying "It is possible to loose the emperor from the harsh treatment he receives. I will plot his rescue." With other conspirators Ooe Gyōbu Daiyu Kageshige, Bessho Saburō Takanori (Kojima Takanori), Hiyoshi Iga Nyudō and Kisshuin Sōshin Hōgen, Ryushin broke into the palace of Kazanin and escaped to [[Yoshino, Nara|Yoshino]] with Emperor Go-daigo.<ref name="Shinjin history 1"/> Tadayoshi Kuragari-Tōge, the younger brother of Takauji, was alerted of the escape and sent an army of about ten thousand men in pursuit. The army caught up with Ryushin and the conspirators at Kuragari-Tōge, a mountain pass situated on the borders of [[Osaka Prefecture|Osaka]] and [[Nara Prefecture|Nara]] prefectures. It was here that they made a stand against the army, each choosing a weapon they were proficient with. Kageshige took a sword, Takatoku a bow and arrow, and Ryushin a halberd ([[naginata]]). As the army outnumbered them completely, it was a battle of strategy and evasion; eventually the blade of Ryushin's Naginata was cut off. So Ryushin used the remains of his naginata to knock down enemies near him and put enemies at bay by swinging the staff in the air, drawing out the [[kuji-kiri]] as he did. It is said that the [[Bōjutsu]] in Kukishin Ryū was later devised on the techniques Ryushin used on this occasion.<ref name="zensho">{{cite book | last = Kiyotaka | first = Ago | title = Kukishinden Zensho | publisher = Shin Kokumin Sha | place= Tokyo, Japan | year = 1983 | isbn= 4-915157-36-9 |language=ja}}</ref> Reinforcements from Yoshino eventually arrived and they could safely take the Emperor Godaigo to a small temple-like hut located at Mt. Kinpusen. Ryushin also succeeded in re-capturing the “Three Treasures of the Imperial House” which he had concealed in a scripture-warehouse at Yokawa in Mt. Hiei. The Emperor Go-Daigo praised Ryushin's dedication and inquired about his secret techniques. Ryushin answered, "It is a secret technique passed on in my family. It is The secret art of Kuji." The emperor then made an announcement as follows: "God knows your loyalty. You shall change your surname Fujiwara to Kuki." The "Ku" of Kuki stands for "Ku" or “nine” in Japanese. "Ki" can be pronounced "Kami" if the character is pronounced in the Japanese way, meaning "Oni-gami"(holy spirit) as opposed to "Oni" (evil spirits). "Ku-ki" is therefore actually "Ku-kami." However, it has been customarily pronounced Kuki since the Edo period.<ref name="zensho"/> After the war Ryushin's mother Chigusa Hino, whose family belonged to the Southern Court, lamented over the fact that Ryushin took the side of the Northern Court. She traveled to Musashi (modern day Hino city in Tokyo,) where the Hino family still lived and she died despondently. After his mother's death, Ryushin created the Kukishin Bojutsu in honor of his mother which he called "Juji-Roppou-Kujidome" devoted and himself to protecting the Emperor Go-Daigo The records of the Kuki family are kept in scrolls and transcriptions which have been rarely shown, but which have been seen and accounted for by scholars.<ref name="zensho"/><ref name="yawa">{{cite book | last = Kuki | first = Takahiro | title = Sontoku Okina Yawa | year = 1843 |language=ja}}</ref> These ancient documents came to be known to the public when Miura Ichiro published ''A Study of the Kuki Archives'' in 1941. The scrolls are known for containing supplementary records concerning the mythological age, complementing the [[Kojiki]] and the [[Nihon Shoki]], the two major ancient documents in Japan. Volumes on [[shinto|Ko-shinto]], [[martial arts]] and Kumano Honzan [[Shugendō]] were accounted. Until Miura's publication, the only mention of the scrolls was in volume two of Sontoku Okina Yawa<ref name="yawa"/> that detailed Kuki Takahiro, the 24th head of the Kukis, giving "ten volumes of books concerning Shintoism" to the scholar Ninomiya Sontoku. After Miura's publication came Kuki-shinden-zensho by Ago Kiyotaka, a leading figure in the study of ancient history, detailing some of the contents of the scrolls, including the origins and history of Kukishin-ryū.<ref name="zensho"/>
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