My great uncle Bill Nelson (born Christmas Day 1925) was the first generation of our family to study Japanese martial arts.  But he was actually the third generation to serve in the armed forces and study hand-to-hand combat.

Bill's grandfather was August Nilsson, a member of the Swedish royal navy who emmigrated to England round about the time the Samurai era was ending in Japan. August was a formidable man who stood about 6ft 4ins - very big for the 1800s. His son William Henry Nelson served in WWI as an infantry soldier.

William Henry's two eldest sons Jim Nelson (my grandad) and William Henry "Bill" Nelson (my great uncle) were taught boxing and unarmed combat by their father and when WWII started both were called up.

Bill joined the merchant navy aged 14, a scrapper and something of a troublemaker (in a nice way of course) he travelled the world. When the war ended he discovered a Jujutsu school in Liverpool.

 

Skyner's Jiu-Jitsu was apparently established in 1928 by Shihan Mikonosuke Kawaishi and his student Gerald Skyner. This club, along with the Alphas Jiu-Jitsu institute were not only the first clubs in Liverpool, they were also among the first in the UK!

Skyner's Ju-Jitsu on Cathrine Street, Liverpool. It began at nearby Mount Pleasant

Kawaishi Sensei is nowadays famous as a Judo master (one of few to be awarded the 10th Dan) but he was also an Aikijujutsu master. Kawaishi studied Aikijujutsu under Yoshida Kotaro who was a master of both Daito Ryu and Yanagi Ryu.

Daito Ryu (as passed to Mikonosuke Kawaishi by Yoshida Kotaro who studied directly under 35th generation Soke Takeda Sokaku) represents the traditions of the Takeda clan dating back to Minamoto Yoshitsune in the 11th century. Sokaku combined the Takeda family teachings with those of the Saigo family's Oshiukiuchi to form Daito Ryu Aikijujutsu.

Yoshida Kotaro, Aikijujutsu teacher of Mikonosuke Kawaishi

Kawaishi's Judo teacher Kurihara

Kawaishi also studied Judo in Kyoto with Master Tomio Kurihara (the 11th man to be awarded 10th Dan by the Kodokan). Kurihara was born in May, 1896. He became the 11th person to be promoted to 10th Degree Black Belt after his death October 8, 1979. He graduated from the Kyoto Budo Senmon-Gako (Martial Art College) and became "shihan" (Master Instructor of Judo) at Kyoto 3rd higher school.  Because his father was a physician Kurihara initially wanted to follow Japanese tradition and also become a physician. However his Judo sensei appreciated his talent and persuaded his father to allow him to pursue Judo as a career. "There are many physicians in Japan, we should not waste his talents as a judoka. Your son will be a Judo champion of Japan in the future." Kurihara's Judo teacher told this to his father. In 1915 he entered Busen (Professional Martial Art Academy) in Kyoto. One of his sensei's, Isogai 10th dan, told him early on, "You are not very talented, therefore you need to practice harder than others." Kurihara took his sensei's advice seriously and jogged daily at Yoshita hill and tachiki uchi-komied (practiced against a tree) twice as much as his rivals. His hard work definitely paid off. When he graduated at the age of 23, he was Yon Dan, the youngest judoka of that rank in his school.
Kurihara is pictured below, second from left wearing headband.

 

Kawaishi in Europe

Kawaishi sailed from Kobe to Seattle and then went to New York in 1926. He is even reputed to have fought legendary boxer Jack Dempsey.

When Kawaishi came to Liverpool in 1928 he taught only Aikijujutsu. He then left and made his fame in France and the USA. But in Liverpool when he was scraping a meagre income as a wrestler (under the name Matsuda) he taught the very deadly skills of Jujutsu, Aikijujutsu and Hakuda. Founded in 1928 at 67 Mount Pleasant by Professor Kawaishi and Professor Skyner, the club was originally called the Liverpool Jiu-Jitsu School.

The lineages are as follows:

Jujutsu
Takeda Sokaku (Daito Ryu, 1859-1943)
Yoshida Kotaro (Daito Ryu & Yanagi Ryu, 1883-1966)
Kawaishi Mikonosuke 10th Dan (Kawaishi Ryu, 1899-1969) 
Gerald Skyner (Kawaishi Ryu, 1907-19??)
Bill Nelson (Bushin Ryu, 1925-2008)

Judo
Kano Jigoro (1860 - 1938)
Isogai Hajime 10th Dan (1871-1947)
Tomio Kurihara 10th Dan (1896 -1979)
Kawaishi Mikonosuke 7th Dan (1899-1969)
Gerald Skyner (1907-19??)
Bill Nelson (1925-2008)

Above: Kawaishi pictured in Liverpool around 1930 before he began to wear his distinctive block belt as seen below, pictured with his assistant Awazu.

 

   

Below Tai Otoshi on Henri Courtine

 

 

   Below: Kawaishi sitting with Master Kano in 1933

Professor Gerald Skyner was a formidable man. He was asked to be an army combat instructor but was fired after one day for smashing a recruit in the face with a steel helmet (anecdote courtesy of Liverpool combat instructor Dennis Martin). Among Prof Skyner's students were PC O'Neill, a local police office whose son grew up to be one of the UK's greatest Karateka, Sensei Terry O'Neill.

Prof Skyner was an unarmed combat instructor for the RAF and police, while Kawaishi went on to be a resident instructor at Oxford University and head of the French Judo Federation. While in Liverpool he was famous for taking on all-comers in challenge matches against boxers and wrestlers at the old Liverpool Stadium.

A former student of Prof Skyner, Ronnie Wright (an instructor at Skyner's Dojo in the 1960s along with Ray Davies) was quoted by the Liverpool Echo in December 2003 as saying: "A man stopped Skyner outside the club one night and asked how long it would take him to get a black belt.

``Skyner told him: `Half an hour! Catch the bus at the stop over the road and go to Jack Sharps (sports shop) -they sell them there'.

``Basically he was telling him he might never get one -there is no quick or easy way.''

After opening in Mount Pleasant in the 1920s, the club moved to Catherine Street.

Students of Prof Skyner included:
- Bill Nelson
- Alf ?
- Billy Woods*
- O'Neill**
- Ronnie Wright
- Ray Davies
- Tony Hanrahan
- Bernie Gavan

* Not the same Billy Woods who trained with Kenshiro Abbe at the Busen
** Father of Karateka Terry O'Neill

 

---

Bill Nelson's second Jujutsu teacher after Gerald Skyner

My uncle Bill Nelson trained with Prof Skyner from about 1945 to the 1950s, gaining his black belt before joining another Jujutsu club at Arnot St School, pictured below:

 

Bill Nelson continued training in Jujutsu throughout the 1950s. He studied Kawaishi Ryu  followed by another style of Jujutsu.

He gave many of his manuals and artefacts to my mother's cousin who was studying Aikido and then when I became interested in martial arts he passed some things on to me.

     
Simon with his great uncle Bill Nelson, the first person in our family to study Japanese martial arts. Bill began learning Jujutsu in 1945. He died a few weeks after this picture was taken in 2008. On the 8th day of the 8th month of 2008 Bushinkai held its 8th annual seminar at the Dai Nippon Butokukai UK Headquarters (Hanshi Allan Tattersall's Dojo). It also marked 80 years since 1928 when Skyner's Jiu-Jitsu (Bill's Jujutsu club) was first established. The choice of Dai Nippon was also significant for the course since Mikonosuke Kawaishi (Bill's teacher's teacher) trained at the Butokuden.

While Bill Nelson was studying Jujutsu, his future nephew-in-law David Keegan was also commencing study of Jujutsu. The Dojo in Kirkby was opened by future prime minister Harold Wilson.

My dad, David Keegan and his twin brother Paul began learning Jujutsu at school in circa 1959. Neither can remember the name of their teacher (I suppose it was 51 years ago...) but to be teaching in North Liverpool in 1959 their teacher would have been connected in some way to one of the pioneers of the time, Jack Britten, Gerald Skyner or Jim Blundell. One of their classmates was the legendary World Lightheavyweight Boxing Champion (1974-1978) John Conteh whose record was 34-1-4.Of course, as is apparent from this site my primary art is Toshu Jutsu and my father's is Taiji Quan but Jujutsu/Judo is something close to both of our hearts because it is where our family tradition began.   

Pictured: David Keegan (back row fourth from left) training with Takao Hara (8th Dan Kyoshi), seated (front row fourth from left).

Bushin Ryu Family Tradition
First Generation (Shodai): Bill Nelson (1925)
Second Generation (Shi-fu): David Keegan (1950)
Third Generation: (Renshi) Simon Keegan (1979)

Simon Keegan Renshi, Third Generation Headteacher of the Bushin Ryu Family Tradition, teacher of the 18 Samurai arts of Bushin Ryu and pioneer of the art of Toshu Jutsu. To read more about the style of martial arts practiced by Mikonosuke Kawaishi, Gerald Skyner and Bill Nelson in 1928-1958 see: http://bushinryu.weebly.com