.Introduction

 SHIRO SAIGO, 1863-1922, was adopted by Tanomo Saigo,( it is suspected he was actually the illgitimate son of Tanomo Saigo . born out of wedlock ) but joined Jigoro Kano , founder of Kodokan Judo, where he helped establish Judo as a viable martial art by winning several contests against rival jujitsu clans. ( He later relocated to Nagasaki, then Horoshima, where he taught Daito-Ryu and other arts until his death.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

    * Shiro Saigo was the adopted son of Aikijujutsu master Saigo Tanomo. Shiro was a master of Daito-Ryu at a young age and was trained for the headmastership of the Takeda tradition, but was recruited by Kano to be his "showman" for the Kodokan system.  Shiro was known for his great ability and strength at a young age.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

          In fact, he was a Godan (5th degree) in judo by the age of 21.( based most likely on the fact that Judo was crude compared to Daito-Ryu of which Shiro Saigo was an expert) In the contests set up between the Kodokan and the area Jujutsu schools, Saigo easily defeated all opponents, mostly with his favorite Daito-Ryu technique called YAMA ARASHI. .( similar to seonage and harai-gishi )

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kodokan judo was "proving" its worth by using Aikijujutsu" although most of the Daito-Ryu techniques Saigo used were never taught by Kano. As a matter of fact, whereas Aikijujutsu had over two thousand techniques, the Kodokan system boasted only about 150. After many years Saigo Shiro left the Kodokan due to pressures from outside that art and became a reporter and master of Kyudo (archery). He taught a select number of students, but after his death,two senior students assumed the headmaster position, one was Yamashita Houeii, a military officer, the other was Toshio Takeda, who has bloodlines to Soemon Takeda who taught Tanomo Saigo, (see the Black Dragon connect page) Only when Saigo left the Kodokan did the style move totally into the realm of martial sport.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   
    Saigo Shiro, perhaps one of the world's greatest Jujutsuka died on 23 December 1922 at the age of 57. after teaching small select groups of students throughout Japan. Facts surrounding his life after leaving judo are obscure and clouded in mystery, but it is known that he continued to compete occasionally, eventually suffering a serious injury to his spine which haunted him in his later years and is probably why he is remembered by many as having a mean disposition.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

    note * Even though Kano had, in fact,used successfully Shiro Saigo' s Daito-Ryu Aikijujutsu to make his art ( Kodokan Judo ) famous, he did un-intentionally do Daito-Ryu Aiki Jujutsu a great service, for if it were not for the renewed interest in the grappling arts caused by the introduction of Judo into the Japanese school system , there is a distinct possibility that Jujutsu as a whole would have never survived as a martial art

 

The DAITO RYU CONNECTION WITH FOLLOWERS OF SOGAKU TAKEDA explained:

 

.The only person who was adopted by Tanomo Saigo was Shiro Saigo (many think he was his iligimate son). Sogaku Takeda did not master the art of Tanomo Saigo-he only trained under him for 1 1/2 years. Shiro Saigo, on the other-hand, was taught by Tanomo Saigo from childhood, so, being there is no written evidence to support Sogaku Takeda as inheritor, it holds that Tanomo Saigo's adopted son would, under traditional Japanese protocol be the legal inheritor of the art of the Aizu & Minamoto clans.

 

Add to that the fact that Sokaku was not instructed by Takeda Soemon ( Sogaku was only 3-years old when Soemon died!) although he may have been taught by his father before studying very briefly under Tanomo Saigo, this was poor preparation to teach this traditional art to the general population. ( We know that after training with Tanomo Saigo for a mere 1 1/2 years in the temple, Sokaku travelled throughout Japan for the remainder of his life giving seminars to the descendants of Samurai and the upper classes of society and he kept written records of everyone he taught, which was well over 30,000 people although he was totally iliterate.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sokaku Takeda usually used the term DAITO-RYU ( Great Eastern Style)

to discribe his version of SAIGO-HA AIKIBUDO, but that name was used in the 12th century to describe the unification of the arts of the Minamoto & Takeda clans. The last true samurai, Sokaku killed dozens of men with the sword or spear and was known as the "little demon" because of his constant duels with both the live sword and other weapons, but he did not inherit Daito-Ryu from Tanomo Saigo.

 

It is tradition that the eldest son of the grandmaster inherites the systrem, and there was only one such person under Tanomo Saigo, his son, Shiro Saigo, but those who claim Sogaku Takeda inherited the Daito- ryu system taight by Tanomo Saigo, have yet to produce a menjo of succession known as a Menkyo Kaiden, by Sogaku Takeda.

 

We know that he was associated with the Black Dragon Society, but we dont know to what degree, but his interaction with the heads of China suggests he was working with Lin Po who is said by Pok Shen to have opened the connections for the Black Dragons to operate their spy network there.

 

Since the black dragon society used the martial arts to recruit members, they were said to have staged MMA competitions throughout Asia, but the modern black dragon fighting society has no connection to the real black dragon society, being it was created by an american in the 1960 or 70's, and the original one was disbanded by the year 1950, nor is it possible that they staged death matches meets such as portreyed by the movies,  when others claim they competed in them based on this time frame.

 

Modern saigoha daito ryu has no connection with criminal activities nor any such organized crime groups. The mention of the Black Dragon Society is purely to show why the art of the Aizu & Minamoto clans survived into the modern era, while the others did not.