is a common name for one of several different martial traditions founded in Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

 in the Edo Period

Edo period

The , or , is a division of Japanese history which was ruled by the shoguns of the Tokugawa family, running from 1603 to 1868. The political entity of this period was the Tokugawa shogunate....

. The most popular and well-known was the Yōshin-ryū line founded by physician Akiyama Shirōbei Yoshitoki in Nagasaki in 1632. The Akiyama line of Yōshin-ryū is perhaps the most influential school of jūjutsu

Jujutsu

Jujutsu , also known as jujitsu, ju-jitsu, or Japanese jiu-jitsu, is a Japanese martial art and a method of close combat for defeating an armed and armored opponent in which one uses no weapon, or only a short weapon....

 to exist in Japan. By the late Edo Period, Akiyama Yōshin-ryū and its descendants had spread all over Japan. By the Meiji Era, Yōshin-ryū had even spread overseas to Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

 and North America

North America

North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...

.

Curriculum

This line of Yōshin-ryū is noted for a curriculum including kyūsho-jutsu atemi

Atemi

In Japanese martial arts, the term designates blows to the body, as opposed to twisting of joints, strangleholds, holding techniques and throws. Atemi can be delivered by any part of the body to any part of the opponents body. They can be percussive or use 'soft' power. Karate is a typical...

(vital points striking) and the development of internal energy, teachings most likely influenced by Chinese sources. It is believed that these teachings were eventually absorbed by many other jujutsu traditions.

Only the Yōshin-ryū buki/naginata

Naginata

The naginata is one of several varieties of traditionally made Japanese blades in the form of a pole weapon. Naginata were originally used by the samurai class in feudal Japan, and naginata were also used by ashigaru and sōhei .-Description:A naginata consists of a wooden shaft with a curved...

 school in Hiroshima, Japan currently headed by Koyama Takako and attributed to Akiyama has been successfully transmitted and survives. The school was prolific, however, with its teachings surviving in many descendant ryū

Ryu

* Ryū , a school of thought or discipline ., a book by Ryūnosuke Akutagawa* Ryū , a series by Masao Yajima and Akira Oze* Ryu , a common Korean family name...

.

Descendants

Schools descended from Akiyama Yōshin-ryū jūjutsu include:

Danzan ryu

Danzan Ryu

Danzan-Ryū is a Ryū of jujutsu founded by Henry Seishiro Okazaki in Hawaii. Danzan Ryū is ubiquitous in the United States, particularly on the west coast....

, Shin Yōshin ryū, Shin Shin ryū, Sakkatsu Yōshin ryū, Shin no Shindō ryū, Tenjin Shin'yō-ryū, Shindō Yōshin-ryū, Takamura ha Shindō Yōshin ryū, Wadō-ryū (a modern Jūjutsu Kenpo/Karate school based on Shindō Yōshin-ryū), Ryushin Katchu ryū, Ito ha Shin'yō ryū, Kurama Yōshin ryū, Kōdōkan Jūdō, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is a martial art, combat sport, and a self defense system that focuses on grappling and especially ground fighting...

.

Takagi Yoshin ryu and Hontai Yoshin ryu

The schools of Takagi Yōshin ryū / Hontai Yōshin ryū are not really Yōshin ryu lineage schools but are instead descended from Takenouchi-ryū

Takenouchi-ryu

is one of the oldest jujutsu koryū in Japan. It was founded in 1532, the first year of Tenbun on the twenty-fourth of the sixth lunar month by Takenouchi Chūnagon Daijō Nakatsukasadaiyū Hisamori, the lord of Ichinose Castle in Sakushū...

. They are said to originate from an earlier un-named tradition. It is thought they may include later influence from the Akiyama Yoshin-ryu but this is not supported by documentation.

Various names used for this school:

Hontai Yōshin ryū, Takagi ryū, Hontai Takagi Yōshin ryū, Takagi Hontai Yōshin ryū, Kukishin ryū, and Minaki Den Kukishin ryū.

Schools descended from Takagi Yōshin ryū:

Shingetsu Muso Yanagi ryū.