Sadakazu Uyenishi
Sadakazu Uyenishi also known as S. K. Uyenishi and under the stage name Raku, was a jujitsu practitioner, a professional wrestler and a figure of London Edwardian establishment from 1900 to 1908. He was one of the first Japanese jujitsu practitioners to both teach jujitsu and to compete using the art outside Japan. Uyenishi is credited with introducing jujitsu to the British army and police and with opening the first jujitsu dojo in the UK, known as the School of Japanese Self Defence.
Early years and martial arts training
Sada Kazu Uyenishi was born in 1880, probably at Osaka Prefecture in Honshu, the main island of Japan. His father, Kichibe Uyenishi, had been a famous athlete, noted for his unusual physical strength and skill at kenjutsu, horsemanship, swimming and sumo wrestling. Sadakazu's first martial training was in kenjutsu. As he was contemplating a military career, his father encouraged him to begin training in jujitsu and he enrolled in a local dojo; in an interview, Uyenishi noted that it had been the school of Yataro Handa in Osaka, where Mataemon Tanabe taught. Uyenishi also later referred to having won several jujitsu competitions during his teen years. Uyenishi was also a skilled exponent of rokushakubō and hanbō.Life and work in Europe
In the year 1900, aged twenty, Uyenishi travelled to London at the invitation of Edward William Barton-Wright, the founder of the eclectic martial art of Bartitsu. Soon after his arrival in London, Uyenishi joined fellow expatriate Japanese wrestler Yukio Tani on the teaching faculty of Barton-Wright's Bartitsu Club in Shaftesbury Avenue. Tani and Uyenishi also began to distinguish themselves as professional wrestlers, competing successfully against much larger opponents in the contests promoted by Barton-Wright.After the Bartitsu Club closed down, Uyenishi continued his work as a professional wrestler and also taught jiujitsu classes at the self defence academy that had been established by his former Bartitsu Club colleague, Pierre Vigny. His abilities as a teacher were often remarked upon, and by 1903 he had established his own dojo, the School of Japanese Self Defence, at 31 Golden Square, Piccadilly Circus. Uyenishi adapted enthusiastically to life in Edwardian London society. He was an exotic "character" whose stylish dress-sense and gentlemanly bearing were considered noteworthy by several interviewers. In 1905, with the assistance of his student E.H. Nelson and writing under his professional wrestling alias of "Raku", Uyenishi produced his Text-Book of Ju-Jutsu, which became a popular reference work. Within, his credentials were listed as: "Instructor to the following Colleges in Japan: Riku-gun yo-nan gako ; Tai-iku-kai ; Shi-han-gako ; Jun sa ki-shun-sho ; All Government Schools in Osaka; And to The Army Gymnastic Staff, Headquarters Gymnasium, Aldershot". Three years later, while continuing his wrestling as a sideline, Uyenishi was also employed as a hand-to-hand combat instructor at Aldershot Military School and at Shorncliffe Army Camp. During the period of 1907–8, Uyenishi embarked on a highly successful professional tour of Spain, Portugal and other European countries, teaching jiujitsu classes and performing exhibitions and challenge matches with local wrestlers.