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The official seal of the Matsumoto family
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"Kyushu-Ryu" translated literally from the Japanese means "Kyushu-System" or "Kyushu-Style", Kyushu being the name of the southernmost of the islands of Japan. "Ju" is translated as 'flexible' or 'adaptable' and "Jutsu" refers to combat. This is not to say that this is the only system of combat indigenous to the island of Kyushu during the times of Feudal Japan. Nothing could be further from the truth.
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Kyushu-Ryu Ju-Jutsu was developed by the Samurai family Matsumoto and was passed down from father to son for centuries. Its origin is attributed to the great founder Taisho Matsumoto dating back to the 12th Century AD.
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This martial combat system was not developed as a means for self-improvement, a hobby, or a training regime for just "getting in shape". It was developed by warriors for war. Its techniques have never been altered, discarded or bastardized by other styles.
It is a pure system that exists today as it did in the time of the Feudal Japanese warrior, the Samurai.
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Kyushu-Ryu Ju-Jutsu was brought to North America by Tadanory Matsumoto, who was employed as a cook on a Canadian Air Force base in Ottawa, Ontario. It was there that a 6-year-old Jacques Dionne began his training in this system. Jacques was a small child who, at age 5, was the victim of a vicious abduction and torture only blocks from his parents' home.
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Jacques's fighting spirit enabled his escape and it was shortly after this tragedy that his father, a ranking officer in the Air Force, enrolled him in Ju-Jutsu classes with Matsumoto. Training was held everyday after school and all day on the weekends and during the summer months. Throws and breakfalls were taught on a piece of cardboard laid out on the base's parade square and the striking, joint-locking and weapons techniques were nothing less than full-contact. The lessons were fierce and unlike anything seen in modern martial arts training.
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Depiction of Tsuba (sword guard) on katana passed to Master Dionne - experts believe it was manufactured in Higo province between 1600-1700
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Matsumoto left for Japan 6 years later and returned in 1971 as Jacques was preparing to marry his then wife-to-be, Brenda. The training resumed for approximately 3 and a half years until Matsumoto again left for Japan, never to return.
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Master Dionne's licence of total transmission from his teacher, Tadanori Matsumoto
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Matsumoto died in 1986 with no offspring to whom he could pass on Kyushu-Ryu Ju-Jutsu. With failing eyesight, Matsumoto wrote a transmission scroll to Jacques in ancient Japanese script. In traditional Japanese fashion, he took his prize student, Jacques Dionne, as his adopted son, bestowing upon him the rank of Menkyo Kaiden (everything passed) and giving him the Japanese name Tadanobu Matsumoto.
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Jacques Tadanobu Matsumoto Dionne dedicated his life to teaching what he had learned. One of his ultimate goals in passing on his knowledge was that no one would ever have to suffer anything even remotely similar to what he had endured as a young victim. Jacques competed in international martial arts tournaments, developed RSAD (Rape Self Awareness and Defence) system for women and for decades taught, inspired and befriended countless students the world over.
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Tragically and unexpectedly, Jacques suffered a fatal heart attack at his home in eastern Ontario on the 8th of January 2004. He leaves behind his loving wife Brenda, his two adoring children, Todd and Robyn and innumerable friends, students and people whose lives he touched by just being "Jack".
The Kingsville Kyushu-Ryu Ju-Jutsu dojo and this website are dedicated entirely to the memory of Jacques Dionne. His wisdom, charisma and absolute greatness cannot be expressed in words. If he had lived a thousand years on this earth, his death still would have come far too soon.
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