Historic picture depicting in the front row, from left to right: Mifune Kyūzō 三船久蔵 (1883-1965), 6 th dan (later 10 th dan) and Toku Sanbō 徳三宝, 5 th dan (later 9 th dan). In the back row, from left to right, Mifune's uchi-deshi: Itō Kazuo 伊藤四男 (1898-1974) (later 9 th dan), Shirai Sei'ichi 白井清一 (1902-1972) (later 9 th dan), Sone Kōzō 曽根幸 蔵(1903-1973) (later 9 th dan, and also grandfather of the winner of the Second World Championships, Sone Kōji 曽根 康治, in 1958), Kanda Kyūtarō 神田久太郎 (1891-1977) (later 9 th dan), Minagawa Kunijirō (?) 皆川 (no further details available), Terayama 寺山 (no further details available), and Kurosu Shunji/Haruji 黒須春次 (1888-1973) (later 9 th dan), at Meiji Daigaku 明治大学 [Meiji University]. 

Contexts in source publication

Context 1

... previously indicated, the main expertise in Japan regarding ura-waza was Takahashi Kazuyoshi with whom Mifune was clearly acquainted. Indeed Mifune will likely have practiced new ideas and variations with his deshi, but we have found no evidence to support any claim of a role for Itō in developing nage-waza ura-no- kata that would be of more importance than that of any other of Mifune's students and this irrespective of what Satō Shizuya may have claimed. On the contrary, we note that Itō in the foreword to his book on the Jūdō no nage-to katame-no-ura-waza 柔道の投げと固めの裏技 [ Jūdō's throw-an control-reversing techniques] [1] does not claim a role of any importance in the development of nage-waza ura-no-kata to the extent of Satō's assertions. Besides Takahashi Kazuyoshi, the only other people who at the time that Mifune created the kata would likely have had enough seniority and technical expertise to inspire Mifune and with whom he closely collaborated, would have been Toku Sanbō (Figure 3(19)) and Nakano Shōzō, not his own deshi. Given Mifune's personality, it is also highly unlikely he would have accepted much input from people he would definitely consider far junior to himself. Sufficient anecdotes have survived of Mifune lashing out at one of his 8 th dan deshi telling them to shut up about jūdō as according to him they would have neither a clue, nor the ability to begin to understand it … This is hardly the personality of someone who would consider his students on a peer level allowing them to make suggestions for improvement and the ...

Context 2

... and avaIlabIlIty of nage- waza ura-no-kata Instructors and popularIty of the kata We could not find any evidence in the literature of nage-waza ura-no-kata ever having been a popular kata outside the group of people who as jūdōka are or con- sider themselves to be to some degree direct or indi- rect descendents of Mifune (Figure 17(33)). Despite the merits of Mifune's kata, probably contributing to its lack of popularity is that it currently is not considered an official Kōdōkan kata [3, p. 238] and consequently does not ordinarily appear in dan-rank promotion exam requirements. This is hardly a surprise if one considers that even the kata which were or are official Kōdōkan kata (jūdō joshi goshinhō, sei-ryoku zen'yō kokumin taiiku, gō-no-kata) but are absent from any official dan-rank promotion program equally lack popularity. In Germany, nage-waza ura-no-kata is now part of the rank promo- tion requirements for 3 rd dan 35 , where it replaced gonosen- no-kata [48,70]. Since then, regular kata seminars have been held in which nage-waza ura-no-kata has been fea- tured [71,72], which, at least in Germany, has led to an increase in popularity of this kata. This is no surprise either, but it raises the question to what extent the objec- tives of most jūdōka are anywhere near Kanō's objectives for recommending the study of kata ...

Context 3

... Figure 7(23) earlier), but in the later recording [10] uke grabs the belt from above, which is also what we observe in Sugata's and in Ochiai's recording [51,55]. Either option does not significantly alter the essence of technique hence uke is at liberty to choose the option he pleases. and is an English translation of the Japanese text Jūdō Kyōten -Michi to Jutsu [13], which had been published two years earlier. Jūdō no Shinzui -Michi to Jutsu [11] is a posthumously published revised edition for which the original text was retained but expanded with the news of Mifune's death, funeral and other memorial items. The description and pho- tographs of nage-waza ura-no-kata (referred to as nage-ura-no-kata in these books) is identical in all three. This text is probably the definitive reference standard for the kata given that it represents the words of its creator who is also performing the kata. The role of uke is performed by Mifune's faithful deshi Shirai Sei'ichi, who in 1954 when the book was first published, held the rank of 8 th dan. (Figure 14(30)). There is no text describ- ing the techniques, background or history in the brochure, which is made available at no cost. For those reasons the brochure represents a good prac- tical quick-reference guide on the tatami rather than a resource for serious ...

Context 4

... a single person is officially recognized as Mifune's teacher, and that is Yokoyama Sakujirō 横山 作次郎 (Figure 1(17)). Yokoyama is a crucial figure in were laid to rest. The cemetery is located at Jūniso 512, Kamakura-city, Kanagawa 神奈川県鎌倉市十二所 512, Japan: 35°19'44"N 139°35'6"E. While the paragraphs above attest to Mifune's excep- tional career and skills, they do not reveal many clues regarding the origin of his actual technical expertise. Yokoyama, who had been dead since 1912, does not include kaeshi-waza in his book, nor is he associated with particular expertise in such techniques, which makes it doubtful that he was the source to Mifune's deeper interest in, and inspiration for, these matters. A major part of Mifune's skills seems to have come from his own research and his intense practice with his most gifted rivals, such as notably the equally leg- endary though much physically larger Toku Sanbō 徳 三宝 (1887-1945) 13 ( Figure 3(19)). before gonosen-no-kata existed. However, it is likely that Mifune may also later have visited Waseda's jūdō department, or, given that his main rival Toku Sanbō became an instructor at Waseda in 1924 [31], Mifune's exposure to gonosen-no-kata could have occurred in this way, provided that the kata actually ever existed in Japan, for which so far there is no evi- dence (see Part ...

Context 5

... late Sugata Setsuo (姿節雄) ), 9 th dan, in 1951, ten years after he had entered Meiji University and had become an uchi-deshi [live-in dis- ciple] to Mifune (Figure 15(31)), became the suc- cessor to Mifune as head teacher of the university's jūdō department [65]. During his life Sugata, simi- larly to Kuhara Yoshiyuki and Itō Kazuo, kept this kata of his legendary former teacher alive by teach- ing and demonstrating it. This demonstration is pres- ent together with Ochiai's demonstration on a later edition of Ochiai's DVD [51]. Technically, the per- formance by Sugata is similar to the one by Ochiai, and also appears more rigid and less fluid than those by Mifune himself. The uke to Sugata Setsuo is Hara Yoshimi 原吉実, at the time Kōdōkan 6 th dan ( Figure ...