From ancient records it appears that Aikijujutsu was originally developed by Minamoto no Yoshimitsu and his elder brother Yoshiie, sons of Minamoto no Yoriyoshi, the fifth generation descendant of the Emperor Seiwa.
According to these records, the research done by these two brothers into the bone structure and functioning of the human body led to the first forms of Aikijujutsu. It is believed that this research took the form of dissecting cadavers to learn how bones and related muscles and tendons functioned, and from this knowledge the techniques were developed.
The eldest son of Yoshimitsu, Yoshinko, moved to an area known as Kai and founded a new branch of the family called the Kaigengitakeda; Kai, the area, Gengi, the original root name of the family, and Takeda, the new family name. The Takeda family developed its own forms of martial arts including archery (one of only two schools of mounted archery still in existance today), horsemanship, spear, sword, and Aikijujutsu techniques.
Through Takeda Kunitsugu, Takeda Ryu (also called Yamato Ryu) “Kogusoku” (Kogusoku is a grappling martial art wearing half or partial armor and the wakasashi, or short sword), was passed to the samurai of Aizu provence, an area rich in martial arts. There, it was mixed with the Aizu clan jujutsu, (particularly the oshiki uchi techniques) and became Daito Ryu Aikijujutsu (the kanji for Yamato and Daito are the same, with Yamato being the older reading).
Takeda Sokaku was born in Aizu in 1860. In his youth he studed Ono Ha Itto Ryu swordsmanship, from which he received a Menkyo Kaiden in 1876. From his father and grandfather, he was taught Daito Ryu Aikijujutsu as a complete fighting system which included nage waza (throwing techniques), osae waza (controlling techniques), and the major weapons systems. Sokaku Takeda was a member of the last generation of samurai, and as such, perfected his skills in actual combat. He became the 34th headmaster ( soke ) of the Daito Ryu, until his death in 1943. Takeda Sokaku is universally credited as being responsible for preserving the pure way of Aikijujutsu into modern times.
Takeda Tokimune, (1915-1993), Sokaku’s son, and the last soke of the ryu, was responsible for introducing Daito Ryu to the modern day. He was charged to preserve unchanged those techniques and traditions which had been part of Japan’s history, and yet at the same time, he needed to create a contemporary structure that would preserve the system from extinction. Tokimune had the courage to follow the only road which could grant survival to the school – he opened the doors of the ryu, and made what was historically a secret and highly guarded martial system available to the world.