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This section of the curriculum has its roots in the Shintō Tenshin Ryū school (also known as Tenshin Kōryū Kenpō, as it started to be called in post WW2 times), which includes Tai-jutsu, Jū-jutsu, Torite-jutsu, Koppō-jutsu, Kenpō, Bō-jutsu. Kakushibuki-jutsu.
Primary characteristics of the Shintō Tenshin Ryū method of unarmed and armed close-quarters combat, include a thorough study of detailed body mechanics and its manipulations to achieve complete control to subdue an opponent that may have superior physical strength and size. Developed as a form of combat to be applied in any type of situation, draws its origins from the battlefield, armoured combat methods, but expands them to the flexibility of unhindered movements of daily attire. Supple yet powerful, fast yet not rushed, and simple yet effective, are words that come to mind to describe the techniques of the curriculum. Great emphasis in the studies of the curriculum is placed on learning about the human body, its anatomy, strengths, and weaknesses.
This traditional Kōryū (old-school) is said to have been founded sometime in the Keichō era (1596-1615). The original name was Shintō Tenshin Ryū and originated from Ueno Tatsuzaemon Takaiyuki. Not much is known about the life of the founder as the original documents of the Ueno family are said to have been destroyed by a fire in the residence of the 8th Headmaster Ueno Takashi.
What is known is that the 1st Headmaster, Ueno Tatsuzaemon, was a Samurai of Gōshi rank (Country Samurai) and for generations, his ancestors were located in Iga region. During Tenshō era his family moved to Banshu Ako (present day Hyōgo Prefecture) to escape Iga’s capture by Nobunaga Oda. Ueno Tatsuzaemon was an expert of Ichiden-ryū Torite, Yōshin-ryū Jū-jutsu and Katori Shintō Ryū.
Throughout the centuries, the system was perfected by subsequent generations of headmasters and influenced by other schools they had studied. Most notable is the incorporation of the Ichijō Fuji Koppō Torite-jutsu, by the 4th Headmaster Ueno Hikozaemon Yoshiyuki, and the Takagi-ryū/Kukishin-ryū Bō-jutsu, by the 5th Headmaster Yamamoto Kansuke Katsushige.
The 8th Headmaster, Ueno Takashi Tenshin reorganized the school and incorporated teachings from the schools he had mastered in his lifetime, including other Jū-jutsu and Tai-jutsu schools, Ryūkyū Karate Kenpō and Kōbujutsu. Among those other schools, the Asayama Ichiden Ryū Tai-jutsu curriculum (of the line of Ōkura-den) is taught within the Bushin Ryū in its entirety as a separate system.
Sōke Ueno Takashi (1931-1976) was born in Natsumi-cho, Funabashi (Chiba prefecture) into a family of Samurai heritage. His grandfather, the 7th Headmaster Ueno Kujūrō Nobuhisa, was a loyal retainer in the Odawara Domain and lived through the last part of the Edo period and through the ending of the Samurai cast and feudal Japan.
Sōke Ueno Takashi added into the curriculum elements from Tenshin Shinyō Ryū, Asayama Ichiden Ryū and Ryukyu Karate Kenpō (mainly Shito-ryū Karate). To modernize the school, he changed the name of the school to Tenshin Kōryū Kenpō (dropping the old Shintō “way of the Gods” which allegedly sounded at the time controversial and potentially could lead to prosecution by the Allied Forces occupation of Japan after WW2). Sōke Ueno Takashi was one of the most influential and prominent figures in Japanese martial arts during those years, and a founding member of the Nihon Bu-jutsu Kenkyūjō, a society for the preservation of traditional Japanese Martial Arts that created close cooperation among the top exponent of Kōryū during the difficult times after WW2. He mastered, besides Tenshin Kōryū, the following arts:
Ueno Tatsuzaemon Takaiyuki
Shimizu Hanzaemon Shigehisa
Ichikawa Yomiji Hideoku
Ueno Hikozaemon Yoshiyuki
Yamamoto Kansuke Katsushige
Ueno Ryukichirō Toshihide
Ueno Kujūrō Nobuhisa
Ueno Takashi Tenshin
Ueno Yoshiaki Tenshin (Renseikai) Fujita Seiko (Nihon Bu-jutsu Kenkyūjō)
Iwaki Hideo (Seibu Tenshin Kōryū Kenpō) Fujitani Masatoshi (Myōbukai)
Mukaida Takeshi Jitsutōshi (Bushin Ryū Bu-jutsu Heihō)
