Kenyu – August 2015

Volume 29, number 8

August 2015

PNKF DATEBOOK

September

• 9/11: Daito Ryu Seminar, Fri, 6-8pm, Yoshinkai, Burnaby, BC.
• 9/12: Jodo Seminar, Sat, 7:30am-12noon, Justice Institute of BC, New Westminster, BC.
• 9/12-13: 2015 UVic Ted Davis Memorial Seminar, Sat/Sun
  • Led by Kendo Kyoshi 8th Dan Hiroshi Ozawa, University of Victoria, 3800 Finnerty Road, Victoria, BC.
• 9/13: Jodo Seminar, Sun, 8-12noon, Rain City Fencing Center, Bellevue, WA.
• 9/19: PNKF Board, Sat, 3-5pm, Kent.
• 9/25-27: PNKF Iaido Seminar
  • Rain City Fencing, 1776 136th Place NE,
    Bellevue. Teachers: Iaido Kyoshi 8th Dan Hideo Noguchi; and Iaido Kyoshi 7th Dan
    Shigehiro Aoki and Kaoru Suzuki. Schedule: Fri, 7-9pm Jodo/Iaido; Sat, 9am-5pm Iaido;
    Sun 9am-12noon Iaido Tournament; 1-5pm Iaido.

October

• 10/3: PNKF Shinpan Seminar, 12noon-4pm, open keiko 4-5pm, Kent.
• 10/24: Tacoma Taikai
  • 9:30am Opening Ceremonies (doors open at 8:30am), Curtis High School, 8425 40th Street West, University Place, WA 98466.

November

• 11/7: PNKF Taikai, Sat, 9:30am, Kent.
• 11/7-8: Muso Jikiden Eishin Ryu Seminar, Sat/Sun,
  • Led by Iaido Kyoshi 7th Dan Goyo Ohmi, Iaido Renshi 7th Dan Kim Taylor, and Iaido Renshi 6th Dan Carole Galligan, Kenshokan Iaido group, 780 Argyle Street,
    Petersborough, Ontario, Canada. https://www.facebook.com/events/1454734658189785/
• 11/14-15, AUSKF Board, Sat/Sun, TBD.
• 11/21: PNKF Board, Sat, 3-5pm, Kent.
• 11/21-22: SCKF Iaido Seminar and Shinsa, Sat/Sun.
  • Led by Kendo Kyoshi 8th Dan and Iaido Kyoshi 7th Dan Shozo Kato. Seminar open to all AUSKF members and Shinsa open to those eligible for any Kyu rank or 1st Dan. Location in Los Angeles/Orange County area TBD. Registration packet coming by early October.

December

• 12/12: Kent Taikai, Sat, report time 9am, start 9:30am, Kent.

June

• 6/17-19/2016: 9th US Nito Kendo Camp, Boise State University Campus, Boise, Idaho.

5th AUSKF JUNIOR OPEN NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS – August 1, 2015, Huntington Beach, California

9 and Under Boys                       10-11 Boys
1st place - Taiyo Ariga, SCKO          1st place - Akira Fujiwara, SCKO
2nd place - Ryosuke Yamamoto, SCKO     2nd place - Josh Kim, PNKF
3rd place - Peter Yu, SCKF             3rd place - Eugene Kae, WKF
3rd place - Kaisei Shinozaki, SCKO     3rd place - Haru Sakamoto, SCKO

12-13 Boys                             13 and Under Girls
1st place - Toshiki Nakashimo, SCKF    1st place - Kotone Ariga, SCKO
2nd place - Riki Orii, SCKO            2nd place - Betty Park, PNKF
3rd place - Yuto Takeo, GNEUSKF        3rd place - Rinka Ogata, SCKO
3rd place - Tomohide Katayama, ECUSKF  3rd place - Haruka Taniguchi, SCKO

14-18 Girls                            14-15 Boys
1st place - Courtney Yoon, SCKF        1st place - Brandon Wang, WKF
2nd place - Hanako Kiuchi, SCKO        2nd place - Ian Kotake, SCKO
3rd place - Kasey Tada, SCKF           3rd place - John Yoon, SCKF
3rd place - Hana Yamamoto, SCKO        3rd place - Sean Small, GNEUSKF

16-18 Boys
1st place - Brian Wi, WKF
2nd place - Daniel Lee, WKF
3rd place - Kenichiro Mizobe, SCKF
3rd place - Tatsuya Horii, SCKF

Team
Senior Boys              Junior Boys             Girls
1st place - WKF A        1st place - SCKO        1st place - SCKF B
2nd place - SCKF A       2nd place - WKF B       2nd place - SCKO A
3rd place - SCKO A       3rd place - SCKF A      3rd place - SCKO B
3rd place - SCKF B       3rd place - SCKO A      3rd place - NCKF A

1st ALL VIETNAM KENDO CHAMPIONSHIPS, August 29-30, 2015, Da Nang, Vietnam

Men's Individuals                        Woman's Individuals 
1st place - Tran Tuan, Kenyukai          1st place - Nguyen Thuy Linh, Hanoi
2nd place - Nguyen Xuan Vinh, Hanoi      2nd place - Nguyen Quynh Trang, Hanoi
3rd place - Nguyen Manh Hung, Thang Long 3rd place - Hoang Thu Trang, Hanoi
3rd place - Nguyen Manh Ha, Hanoi        3rd place - Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao, Kenyukai

Men's Teams
1st place - Hanoi A (Vu Van Minh, Pham Duc Ngoc, Nguyen Manh Ha, Khuong Ngoc Thong, Nguyen Xuan Vinh)
2nd place - Kenyukai A (Tran Tuan, Tran Huy, Tran Trung Hieu, Du Hai Kien, Le Hoang Son)
3rd place - Sai Gon A (Tran Hui Hoang, Le Thanh Son, Dao Tuan Anh, Ngo Tan Dat, Nguyen Khanh Toan)
3rd place - Thang Long A (Nguyen Manh Hung, Kieu Quang Hong, Ha Hai Long, Nguyen Anh Van, Nguyen Quoc Hiep)

Women's Team
1st place - Hanoi A (Nguyen Thuy Linh, Hoang Thu Trang, Nguyen Quynh Trang)
2nd place - Kenyukai A (Do Thi Lan Anh, Tran Phuong Ha, Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao)
3rd place - Hanoi B (Tran Thi Van, Phan Thi Hanh, Trieu Hong Ngoc)
3rd place - Kenyukai B (Vu Do Uyen Vy, Dinh Nhu Thien Nu, Pham Yen Linh)

SHINKYU SHINSA


AUSKF KODANSHA SHINSA, July 26, 2015, Richardson, Texas

5TH DAN: Makiko Adachi (SWKIF), David Cooper (SWKIF), SungHo Han (AEUSKF), Mitsuishi Hayato (SCKO), Daisei Konno
(AEUSKF), Shinya Nishi (MWKF), Huy Nguyen (SWKIF).
6TH DAN: Sung Kim (MWKF), Dongsu Lee (WKF), Sei Wakuta (GNEUSKF), Yasuhiro Yoshida (GNEUSKF), Munik Zo
(WKF).
7TH DAN: Hajime Sugawara (MWKF).

PNKF IAIDO SHINSA, August 8, 2015, Kent

3RD KYU: Adam Clark (AiShinKai).
2ND KYU: Callie Anderson (Everett), Thane Mittelstaedt (AiShinKai).
1ST KYU: Aleasha Jay (AiShinKai), Richard Milde (Tonbo), Robert Neff (Tonbo).
1ST DAN: Alden Vanderspek (AiShinKai), Kathleen Shipley (Tonbo), Lynda Shipley (Tonbo).
2ND DAN: Garrit Pillie (AiShinKai), Christopher Parkins (RenMa). 3RD DAN: Victor Kwok (NCKF).


PNKF KENDO SHINSA, August 8, 2015, Kent

6TH KYU: Alec Yuen (Seattle), Hana Koob (Bellevue), Michinari Tawara (Bellevue).
5TH KYU: Kira Campbell (Sno-King), Lucien Jesequel (Obukan), William Wellborn (Highline).
4TH KYU: Noah Larson (Federal Way), Grant Suyama (Cascade), Brayan Valdez-Cruz (Northwest), Yun-Ming (Jasmine) Shih
(Northwest), Hyunjun Jang (Cascade).
3RD KYU: Yura Campbell (Sno-King), Evan Kriechbaum (Portland), Natalie Imanishi (Cascade), Amanda Lockwood (UW), Eric
Soo (Obukan), Joshua Zheng (OSU), Long Le (UW), Adrienne Wilburn (Portland), Chris Vitale (OSU), Greg Veilhaber
(Portland), Timothy Jaybush (Bellevue), Joshua Wigant (Portland).
2ND KYU: Jihan Kim (OSU), Tyler Yamashita (Seattle), Dan McLean (Portland), Vincent DeBellis (Portland), David Nash
(Edmonds), Eric Bortz (Alaska), Rick Goral (Northwest), Clyde Bailey (Portland), Stephen Ting (Northwest).
1ST KYU: Betty Park (Bellevue), Hannah Kim (Bellevue), Drake Imanishi (Seattle), Jun-Wing Chen (Bellevue),
Addison Knappett (OSU), Howard Hwa (Bellevue), Andrew Miller (Portland), Fritz Borchardt (Edmonds), Mikiyo Ohashi
(Edmonds), Vincente Matsunaga (Edmonds).
1ST DAN: Lowell Kim (UW), Caleb Ogier (UW), Corey Chan (UW), Jake Colter (Cascade), Trinh Ho (Northwest), Nicholas
Cook (Portland), Brandon Sweezea (Northwest), Teo Morca (Northwest), Ronen Totonchi (Everett), Jason Yu (Northwest).
2ND DAN: Ken Tawara (Idaho), Jongwon Lee (Portland), Andrea Kayser (Pocatello).
3RD DAN: Bernice Lin (UW), Taryn Imanishi (Cascade), Hwan Choi (UW), Jose Cabrera (NCKF).
4TH DAN: Ian Morgan (Kent), Ron Risher (Northwest).


CKR 2015 WESTERN CANADA JODO SHINSA, August 15, 2015, Vancouver, BC

1ST KYU: Narbeh Bagdasarian
(Pasadena), Garrett Evans (Hoshu), Terry Fukui (Ken Zen), Kathleen Jorgensen (Tonbo), James Maestas (Yamakage), Mineko
Matreyek (Hoshu), Gary Moulder (Palo Alto), Norman Otani (Fresno), Levon Sukiasyan (San Fernando Valley), Naoki Tamesue
(Yamakage), Bruce Vail (Hoshu).
1ST DAN: Patrick Allard (Hoshu CKF), Lance Lloyd (Hoshu), Arthur Wolak (Hoshu CKF).
2ND DAN: Brian Blomquist (Everett), Hiroaki Fukumoto (Seattle), Gao Gai Tian (Hoshu CKF), Jeffrey Kamo (Hoshu CKF),
Kathleen Newcomer (Tonbo), Michael Park (Hoshu).
3RD DAN: Ivan Andrews (Hoshu CKF), Tim Archer (Hoshu CKF), Ben Lew (Hoshu CKF), Edward Olson (Tonbo).


AJKF KODANSHA SHINSA, August 22, 2015, Sendai City, Miyagi

7TH DAN: Takao Mizuno (Kanagawa).

THE LAST WORD

I was ashamed, however, when I was with Miura Sensei, to realize that I was interested in my own welfare and having
fun, unlike the Samurai warrior. In fact, I questioned whether I truly had the right desire and drive to learn Kendo
beyond my current skill. I was satisfied with where I was, second in rank to Miura Sensei, and swinging a sword to “create
my life” seemed crazy since I was quite satisfied with my life. Except, I had never been to dances with girls in high
school. “Holding a lady is not good,” my father said. “Do kendo.” And that is what I did.

I had had no girlfriend, no social life, and no parties but I enjoyed what is probably a typical teenager’s life in
Hawai’i. I pole vaulted beside the garage, and my best friend Walter and I made fishing poles to catch catfish and bass
while wandering along the banks of the Wahiawa River. Travel to Ka’ena Point, the desolate northern tip of Oahu that still
has only a rough, dirt road was a special treat. I, together with several other men and my brother, would set camp in the
rock caves, build a fire, and fish all night for ulua. Ulua were fierce fighters and landing one was the like winning a
battle, though with no threat of death to the fisherman. My world was small but I was happy. I had friends and was
satisfied by my travels to what seemed the huge city of Honolulu, and my journey to Hilo was further than most of my
friends in Wahiawa had gone.

But my father and Miura Sensei had once again decided my fate. I was told to go to Japan, learn more Kendo, become a
professional Kendoist, return to Hawaii and teach. “Study well the true Kendo from the world’s top Sensei.” Miura Sensei
told me. “Know it in your hara. Chew, digest, absorb it well from Ogawa Sensei, and when you return, adapt it to the
Hawaiian way. Develop it as Yankee Samurai Spirit! You cannot directly import Japanese Kendo to Hawaii, but you must never
compromise the spirit of Kendo.” There was no discussion, just as there had been no discussion when they decided that
football was pau for me. This was the “way” of the Japanese father. It was just that simple. I would leave, September,
l938 just after my twentieth birthday. Well, whatever would happen, I would return in two years. I could endure almost
anything for such a short time, I thought. Moreover, I was sure I wouldn’t be lost because I learned Japanese from my
mother and the Japanese language school at the Hongwanji Buddhist temple. And Miura Sensei implied I would have no
trouble: “Play dumb and learn everything, good or bad.” I was already a 2nd Dan kendoist and everyone expected that I
would quickly rise in rank in Japan to return as a young sensei. Moreover, teaching would provide me with a livelihood to
support a family with significantly less effort than being a blacksmith or a laborer in the pineapple fields. That was the
plan. It would bring honor to my family, especially my father. Kendo has been synonymous with the samurai class and
nobility since the eighth century. If peasant boys played at stick-fighting, as I had played chambara, they did not become
professional kendoists. My father’s move to Hawaii stirred a bigger aspiration. In a new country very different from the
class conscious Japan, he could nurture hopes of becoming more than a peasant and bring honor and respect to his family
name. He always identified with Japan, and his yamato-damashi (Japanese spirit) grew in this distant land. A man who
constantly worked for his family, his reward would be my success in becoming a Japanese trained professional Kendo
Sensei.

That summer I continued working in my father’s shop and practicing Kendo. I almost envied my brother Tomio who had
developed his interest in electronics after quitting kendo. He patiently gathered parts, studied late at night, and made
his own ham radio. I, too, was fascinated by radios, and when Tomio joined the ham radio club and began communicating with
people around the world, I wished I could do that, too. Talking around the world, trips to Honolulu and the other islands,
were all the international relationships I really thought were exciting. Perhaps, because I was more active and
mischievous as a boy than my quieter brother, the path my father and Miura sensei chose was better suited to me. Perhaps
the martial arts suited me more, with my temper and stubbornness, traits much less apparent in my gentler, more
contemplative brother. I would train relentlessly, more than any other student, if necessary, to overcome any shortcomings
in either my technique or my nature. To disappoint my father was unthinkable.

No one discussed what I might face when I went Japanese who had learned the Japanese language. I think my only
preparation was to consult a map of Japan to determine the location of Kyoto. All I knew was that I would take a steamship
to Yokohama and then a train to Kyoto to the Dai Nippon Butoku Kai Budo Senmon Gak’ko. Commonly called Busen, it was a
professional martial arts academy with four departments: kendo, judo, naginata, and kyudo . The history of Busen was
written by kendoists, and indeed, kendo seemed favored in the school; the first head of Busen was a Naito Takaharu Sensei,
a kendoist.

Busen’s history began with a concise telegram to Naito Takaharu Sensei, “Michi no tame ni kitare!” or “Come for the
sake of the Way.” Leaving his very successful business and dojo in Tokyo, he answered the call. On October 1, l905 Bujutsu
Kyoin Yoseijo, the first name for Busen, was started with Naito Sensei as the head master. On July 1912, the name was
changed to Budo Senmon Gak’ko and on March, l914, the first class of eight students graduated. The 35th and last class
graduated 15 students in January, 1948. During its 42 year history, students from the most northern most island of
Hokkaido to Kyushu, the most southern, usually the best kendoists from high schools, and often from wealthy families,
attended Busen. It was well regarded and perhaps comparable in Japan to West Point and Annapolis in the United States,
though it was not a governmental institution nor nearly as large.

I don’t know what my father and Miura Sensei did to gain my acceptance by Ogawa Sensei. I was one of two who entered
Busen from a foreign country in the whole history of Busen. Odate Isao, the second student from Hawaii, studied judo and
graduated in the 27th class in March of 1941. And only two from Busen later became permanent residents of the US, myself
and Mikio Hattanda of Santa Barbara, California. I would have graduated in the 31st class in l944, but by then, the
Japanese had been defeated in World War II, and Busen was closed by the Allies. But that is another story.

My major preparations were to put my three shinais into perfect condition and pack them. I also checked my kendo bogu
very carefully and even ironed my hakama for the very first time. My bogu and keikogi still was one of my major concerns.
I had mixed feelings about learn more kendo, and I was quite sure there would be no ice cream in Japan. Moments of
philosophy and stories with Miura Sensei, which seemed so serious and inspiring and fascinated me at the time, without
full comprehension, were forgotten. I was still a happy-go-lucky Hawaiian kid. But I would go; there was no choice. And I
would bring honor to my family, and especially Miura Sensei, by succeeding.


–Rod Nobuto Omoto,
Autobiography, edited by Charlotte Omoto, 2014, p. 18-21. Available as free download at lulu.com.

Kenyu – Monthly Newsletter of the Pacific Northwest Kendo Federation Kenyu Online
Tom Bolling, Editor – 7318 23rd Avenue N.E., Seattle, WA 98115