Traditions describe the origin of Daito ryu as the creation of Shinra Saburo Minamoto Yoshimitsu (1056-1127), a legendary warrior, and a descendant of Emperor Seiwa. The tales surrounding the skills of Yoshimitsu portray him as a man proficient in the arts of the bow (Kyu jutsu), the spear (sojutsu), and the sword (kenjutsu), among others, besides being a great horseman. Yoshimitsu, according to legend, seemed to have been inspired into creating some of the techniques of his art by the movements of a spider trapping its prey. Also, he is said to have dissected the bodies of dead enemy soldiers in order to look into the structure of the joints, the resistance of the ligaments, muscle structure etc. Based on these observations, he devised principles of unarmed combat. The Daito ryu in itself would never have been as widely known as it is today, were it not for the teachings of one man: MASAYOSHI MINAMOTO SOKAKU TAKEDA (1859-1943). He was a descendant of Emperor Seiwa, and of Yoshimitsu, and a man strongly attached to the old ways, the ways of the samurai.
Sokaku Takeda received the advice of his own teacher, Tanomo Saigo, to teach the art of oshikiuchi publicly. First called Yamato ryu, and later changed, by suggestion of Kotaro Yoshida (oral tradition tells us) to Daito ryu, the secret art of the Aizu clan began to be taught to many prominent members of Japanese society, among which was Morihei Uyeshiba, the founder of Aikido.

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