Ōishi Susumu

Ōishi Susumu (personal name Tanetsugu; Kansei 9 (1797) – the 19th day of the 11th month of Bunkyū 3 (1863)) was a swordsman of the late Edo period and the bakumatsu era. A retainer of the Yanagawa Domain of Chikugo, he swept through the Edo swordsmanship world with one-handed thrusts using a long shinai of 5 shaku 3 sun (about 160 cm) and a tall frame said to measure 7 shaku (about 210 cm), and founded his own school, the "Ōishi Shinkage-ryū."

Origins and Early Training

He was born in Miyabe village, Miike District, Chikugo Province (present-day Ōmuta, Fukuoka Prefecture), the eldest son of Ōishi Taneyuki, a swordsmanship and spearmanship instructor of the Yanagawa Domain. From around the age of four or five, he studied Shinkage-ryū swordsmanship and Ōshima-ryū spearmanship under his grandfather, and in Bunsei 5 (1822) he received a full license (menkyo kaiden) in Shinkage-ryū.

Founding of the Ōishi Shinkage-ryū

Around the age of 18, he independently devised a left one-handed thrusting technique and began calling his school the "Ōishi Shinkage-ryū" (written with characters meaning "new shadow"; the name was later written differently). He replaced the conventional men (head guard) and kote (forearm guard) with original protective gear, such as an iron mask with thirteen bars, a bamboo body guard (haramaki), and half-gauntlets (han-gote), and developed a practical training method built around them.

Journey to Edo and Matches Against Other Schools

In Tenpō 3 (1832), Ōishi went to Edo, visited various dōjō, and held matches against practitioners of other schools. His overwhelming one-handed thrusts with a long shinai astonished the swordsmen of Edo. Chiba Shūsaku barely managed to force a draw, but Ōishi is said to have been defeated by Shirai Tōru. The following year, he fought Odani Nobutomo in an evenly matched contest, and reportedly Nobutomo held him in high regard.

Relationship with Swords

Ōishi's swordsmanship rested on a 5 shaku 3 sun long shinai, far exceeding ordinary shinai, and a distinctive system of protective equipment suited to it. He is known for having struck a strong blow to the Edo swordsmanship world through innovations that overturned the conventions of swordsmanship up to that time, namely the length of the shinai and the thrusting technique.

Later Assessment

Ōishi is counted, alongside Odani Nobutomo and Shimada Toranosuke, as one of the Three Great Swordsmen of the Tenpō Era, and his bold fighting style is passed down as an unusual presence in the history of bakumatsu swordsmanship. He died in Bunkyū 3 (1863) at the age of 67.