Mataemon Tanabe

Mataemon Tanabe (1869-1942) was a Japanese jiu-jitsu practitioner and master of the Fusen-ryū school. He was famous for defeating multiple members of the Kodokan in challenge matches.^[1]

Biography

Tanabe was born in Okayama to Torajiro Tanabe, head of the Fusen-ryū founded by Motsuge Takeda. He started training in jujutsu at 9 years old, and at 14 he started accompanying his father to competitions and challenges, often fighting grown-up men and much heavier opponents. Over the years, he devised a personal strategy composed of enduring his enemies's holds for enough time to get them tired, and then coming back and submitting them. His main field of strength was ne-waza, being nicknamed "Newaza Tanabe" for his mastery of ground techniques.^[1] He defined his style as devised "practicing catching eels in his bare hands and watching snakes swallow frogs."^[2] At 17 he received his menkyo kaiden, and he and his father became teachers of their art around the country.

In 1890, Tanabe travelled to Tokyo, where he was appointed hand-to-hand instructor of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department. It would be in January 1981, however, when he became famous due to a challenge fight against a fellow police instructor, 3º dan Kodokan judoka and former Tenji Shinyo-ryū exponent Takisaburo Tobari. During the match, Tanabe pulled him to the ground, where he was the better man, and there submitted him by choke.^[3] The same year, Tanabe faced another judoka, Hajime Isogai, ending up in a draw which was professedly dominated on the mat by the Fusen-ryū fighter.^[4] The matches were the first defeats suffered by the Kodokan school against jujutsu challengers, and it was made public that Tanabe had found the style's weak point thanks to his dexterity at groundfighting. He would face more judokas in this time, coming undisputed from them.^[4]

In 1982, Tanabe was challenged to a rematch by Tobari, and although the judoka came with improved ground skills, he was choked out again by Mataemon.^[3] The rivalry didn't end without a third match, celebrated in an event on the police department of Izumi.^[5] Before the match, Tanabe would have an altercation with another challenger, the Kito-ryū fighter Kanaya, ending up with both worn and battered. Still, Tanabe proceeded to defeat Tobari for third and last time, countering a throw attempt with a tomoe nage, and then applying ebi-jime and gyaju-juji-jime for the victory.^[5] At the same event, Tanabe accepted having another match against Kanaya which ended in a 30-minute draw.^[5]

After those fights, Tanabe's renown was such that he was one of the twenty representing masters chosen in 1985 to open up the jujutsu division at the Dai Nippon Butoku Kai, an idea promoved by Kodokan founder Jigoro Kano. Tanabe taught at the Butokukai for a long time, and also competed against martial artists from other styles. In one of those occasions, he faced Hajime Isogai, now 3º dan, in a rematch of their first encounter. This time Tanabe was unable to take the fight to the ground, and he was repeatedly threatened by Isogai's mastery with the hane goshi, being declared in a draw.^[4] In 1897, Tanabe became an associate teacher in Yataro Handa's Daito-ryū dojo in Osaka (actually a filial of Sekiguchi-ryū; not to be confused with the late style Daitō-ryū Aiki-jūjutsu),^[6][7] where he taught his signature style of newaza. Taro Miyake and Yukio Tani would be his most known apprentices.

Tanabe suffered his first defeat to a judoka in 1898, when Soji Kimotsuki threw him over his head in a challenge fight, knocking him out. The Fusen-ryū master got his retribution the next day by sitting on the mat and goading Kimotsuki to meet him on the ground, where he choked him out. After those matches, Tanabe and Kimotsuki became friends and training partners.^[5] Only months after, Tanabe was involved in an exhibition fight against jujutsuka and judoka Yuji Hirooka in Kyoto, in front of Emperor Taishō. Tanabe won the fight after half an hour by performing an ashi garami, which broke dramatically Hirooka's leg, causing a gruesome spectacle.^[1][4][5] This is reputedly the reason why ashi garami was included in the Kodokan list of forbidden techniques, kinshi-waza, although Tanabe advised to include it in the katame-no-kata.^[5]

In May 1900, Tanabe had his last match against Hajime Isogai, challenging him to an event which was going to take place in Okayama, Mataemon's land. The bout would be refereed by Kotaro Imai, Takenouchi-ryū exponent and Isogai's personal enemy. However, this time Isogai had trained with Kaichiro Samura, a judoka came originally from Takenouchi Santo-ryū, and had improved greatly his ne-waza skills. After a lengthy ground battle, in which Isogai managed to neutralize all of Tanabe's movements, Mataemon reportedly tried to drag them both out the tatami zone in order to force a restart, but Isogai dragged them back while the crowd cried for a tie. At the end, Imai stopped the fight and declared a draw.^[4]

Tanabe always declined to join officially the Kodokan school, but it's known that he taught its members in his ne-waza style.^[8] He was appointed judo kyoshi in 1906, teaching at the Butoku Kai until his retirement in 1922, and was promoted to hanshi in 1927. He died in 1942 in Osaka.^[1]

References