Reputedly, Sōkaku spent some time as a live-in student of Kenkichi Sakakibara, headmaster of the Jikishinkage-ryū and considered to be one of the most famous and skilled swordsmen of the era.

What is known, however, is that Sōkaku engaged in many matches and duels with both shinai and live blades and was considered a swordsman of great skill in a period of time when such things were beginning to be forgotten.

[8] With the outlawing of the samurai class and the prohibition against carrying swords (Haitōrei Edict) apparentally Sokaku decided to emphasize the empty handed, jujutsu oriented, techniques of his ancestor's art.

He made it as far as Kyushu but was unable to reach his destination, so he returned to Osaka where he spent the next ten years as a guest in the Kyōshin Meichi-ryū dojo of swordsman Momonoi Shunzō.

[15] His most famous student was the founder of aikido, Morihei Ueshiba and it is the popularity of this modern martial arts form that is responsible for much of the interest in Daitō-ryū today.

[16] The influence of the teachings of Sokaku Takeda are readily discernible in the physical techniques of aikido, Hakko Ryu, Nippon Shorinji Kempo, hapkido and judo's goshin jutsu self-defense kata (via Kenji Tomiki) today.