Tsuji Gettan Sukeshige tells us nothing concrete about the way of Mugai. However, he recounts that he saw Mugairu in an expression similar to the phrase "sword and zen are one truth" (kenzen ichi nyo).A complete existence is united with the sword. That is to say, in the end there is only one existence (or "one life"), and even though it can be said that the manifestations of sword techniques are endless, one always returns to the "one truth," or "one way." Gettan asserts that to grasp the concept of the "one sword" requires many years. To stray slightly from topic, it is generally (and oddly enough, widely) believed that Mugairyu = Iaido. While this is not completely incorrect, it is a fact that the founder, Tsuji Gettan Sukeshige did not establish the Mugairyu-iai of today.Today's Mugairyu Iaido was established by Takahashi Hachisuke Mitsusuke and his younger brother, Hidezu. In the mid-Edo period, in Tosa (present day Kochi prefecture), the family of the Governor Yamanouchi had a deep relationship with Mugairyu, and through this relationship, they are well known today. But Hachisuke and his brother began learning Mugairyu under fourth generation Mugairyu practitioner, Tsuji Bunzaemon Sukekata. The brothers of Takahashi were learning Jikyoryu from fifth generation master, Yamamura Masashige, while living in Tosa. This is a clue to the introduction of iai in Mugairyu. In September of the sixth year of Bunka (1809), Hachisuke died at the age of 60. Therefore, there was no iai in the Mugairyu established by Gettan [compare dates below].Tsuji Gettan was born in the first year of Keian (1648) in the town of Masugimura, Omi (Shiga prefecture) as the second son of a local samurai. He was called Sukeshige (sometimes read Sukemochi); the name Gettan was the name he took as a young man and Mugai was a penname he used later.Gettan left his home at the age of 13 in the third year of Manji (1660) and went to Kyto where he prepared to train at the Yamaguchi-ryu dojo. The teacher he revered, Bokushinsai Yamaguchi, began his training in Kashimashinto-ryu and later learned such styles as Shinkage-ryu and Awaga-ryu. He then contrived to establish his own Yamaguchi-ryu. However, aside from stories regarding Gettan, it is safe to say that there are no records for Yamaguchi-ryu along with the name Bokushinsai. In all likelihood, similarly as there would be later with Gettan's kenjutsu, there is a strong possibility that the old traditions of the Warring States Period (as followed by Yamaguchi) caused the popularity of the style (and its founder) to wane. Gettan learned from Bokushinsai for 13 years. He was allowed "kaiden" (full transmission) at 26 years of age in the second year of Enpo (1674).