Name

Yamaoka Tesshu (山岡鉄舟)

Born

10th June 1836 - 19th July 1888 Edo (Tokyo)

Where Trained

Edo & Takayama

Teachers

Died

Yamaoka Tesshu also known as Ono Tetsutaro, was a famous Samurai living during the period known as the Meiji Restoration.

He was born in Edo (modern day Tokyo) as Ono Tetsutaro on June 10, 1836. His father was a retainer of the Tokugawa government and his mother was the daughter of a Shinto priest from Kashima Shrine. Yamaoka practiced kendo from the age of nine, starting in the Jikishinkage Ryu Tradition. Later his family moved to Takayama where he began the Ono Ha Itto-Ryu style of fencing. When he was seventeen, he returned to Edo and joined the Kobukan Military Institute and the Yamaoka School of Spear Fighting under Yamaoka Seizan. Not long after Yamaoka had joined the dojo, Seizan died, Yamaoka went on to marry Seizan’s sister in order to carry on the Yamaoka name.

From an early age, Yamaoka showed dedication and talent in the practice of martial arts. As he grew up, Tesshu became well-known for several things: his swordsmanship, calligraphy, drinking, and sleeping.

Yamaoka died at the age of fifty-three on July 19, 1888 of stomach cancer. Prior to his death, he allegedly composed his death poem first, then sat formally and closed his eyes, slipping into death.

you may be interested in the book that Tesshu wrote;-

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