Martial Arts Training in Japan. David Jones

as of last count) that teach the Kyokushin style of karatedo.

      Mr. Hashizume Hidehiko

      Kansai Hombu

      2-5-9, Nakasaki, Kita-ku, Osaka-shi 530-0016, Japan

      Tel: [phone]

      Mr. Kamio Nobuyuki

      Asakusa Dojo

      Hanakawado Bldg. IF, 1-3-6 Hanakawado, Taito-ku, Tokyo 111-0033, Japan. Tel: [phone]. Fax: [phone]

      Mr. Kamio Nobuyuki

      Kanda Dojo

      108 Tokyo Bldg. 8F, 3-20-6 Uchi Kanda, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 101-0047, Japan. Tel: [phone]

      Mr. Sugimura Taichiro

      Yotsuya Dojo

      Yamaichi Bldg. BF, 3-11 Yotsuya, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 160-0004, Japan. Tel: [phone]

      Mr. Shokei Matsui

      Sapporo Dojo

      Nakanoshima Com-Square Bldg. 7F, 1-7-20,

      Nakanoshima, Toyohira-ku, Sapporo-shi 062-0921, Japan

      Tel: [phone]

      Mr. Yokoyama Makoto

      Hakodate Branch Dojo

      98-192 Jinkawa-cho, Hakodate-shi, Hokkaido 041-0833, Japan

      Tel: [phone]

      Mr. Sekikawa Hiroaki

      Niigata Branch Dojo

      1-7-1 Nishikoharidai, Niigata-shi 950-2012, Japan

      Tel: [phone]

      Mr. Ito Kazuma

      Akita Branch Dojo

      45 Numabukuro-aza, Matsubuchi, Kawabe-machi, Kawabe-gun, Akita-ken 019-2613, Japan Tel: [phone]

      Mr. Hamai Yoshiaki

      Toyama Branch Dojo

      6-40 Akebono-cho, Toyama-shi, Toyama-ken 930-0847, Japan

      Tel: [phone]

      Mr. Kawabata Koichi

      Kyoto Branch Dojo

      Nuiville Ninsei 4F, 23 Ninsei Shogo-cho, Chukyo-ku,

      Kyoto-shi 604-8812, Japan. Tel: [phone]

      Mr. Hata Takanori

      Nara Branch Dojo

      Excellence Bldg. lF, 3-1-33 Omiya-cho, Nara-shi 630-8115, Japan

      Tel: [phone]

      Mr. Masaki Takao

      Osaka East Branch Dojo

      2-3-13 Egeyama-cho, Hyogo-ku, Kobe-shi, 652-0043, Japan

      Tel: [phone]

      Mr. Takami Nariaki

      Ehime Branch Dojo

      3-10-1, Nagahori, Uwajima-shi, Ehime-ken 798-0082, Japan

      Tel: [phone]

      Mr. Abe Kiyofumi

      Fukuoka Dojo

      Kouyou Bldg. 2F, 15-16, Tamagawa-cho, Minami-ku,

      Fukuoka-shi 815-0037, Japan. Tel: [phone]

      Shorinji Kempa

      Shorinji Kempo (Shaolin Temple Fist Method) was created by its founder So Doshin in the 1940s in Tadotsu, Japan. Shorinji Kempo, perhaps more than the other styles discussed so far, looks to China for its inspiration. The founder studied martial arts in China for seventeen years while working as an operative of the Japanese government, and upon returning home combined them with Japanese fighting arts to form an empty-handed fighting style that bears a superficial resemblance to a combination of karatedo and aikido.

      So Doshin’s inspiration was the mind and body training methods of the monks of the Shaolin temple, while the direct instigation to his creation of Shorinji Kempo was the disastrous state of Japanese society after World War II. So Doshin created Shorinji Kempo to help the Japanese, especially young people, to develop the spirit and strength of mind and body to enable them to rebuild a new and better Japanese society.

      Shorinji Kempo is a registered religion in Japan. This came about in the aftermath of World War II when, for obvious reasons, the Occupation forces banned the study of martial arts. However, a variety of new religions sprang up from the ashes of Japanese defeat, one of which was a “dancing religion.” So Doshin argued that if such a thing was tolerated, then why not a “fighting religion”? He won his point. The British forces on Shikoku even allowed the Shorinji Kempa group to use its boxing ring, gloves, and training facilities. The “religious” coloration of Shorinji Kempo must not be seen in the Western sense of a system of worship of a supreme being, but rather in a more Asian sense of a code of life, a “Way.”

      Shorinji Kempo stresses the following basic principles (from www.shorinjikempo.or.jp/wsko/guide.html):

       1. Ken zen ichinyo (body and mind are the same). Zen refers to the spirit. Ken to the body. Students of Shorinji Kempo should seek to develop both body and mind.

       2. Riki ai funi (strength and love stand together). Strength supported by love, and love supported by strength. The condition in which the two apparent opposites are unified as one, is what a man’s way of thinking and acting should have as the core.

       3. Shushu koju (defend first, attack after). Shorinji Kempo is a method of self-defense. It begins with defense, not with attack.

       4. Kumite shutai (pair work is fundamental). In Shorinji Kempo training there are two roles: an attacker’s and a defender’s. Cooperation among the two is the most important requirement for learning.

       5. Fusatsu Katsujin (protect people without injury). Never seek a fight. Protect yourself. Hurting people is not the purpose of training in Shorinji Kempo.

      For information concerning training in Shorinji Kempo while in Japan, you may write the Headquarters at the following address:

      World Shorinji Kempo Organization

      3-1, Tadotsu-cho

      Nakatado-gun

      Kagawa-ken 764-8511

      Japan

      Judo: The Gentle Way

      Judo, an Olympic sport as well as a way of life for its thousands of practitioners worldwide, was the creation of Professor Kano Jigoro (1860-1936). As a young man, Kano Sensei traveled Japan, studying jujutsu (systems of unarmed combat) with some of the finest instructors available. Jujutsu, some say, was introduced into Japan in the seventeenth century by a Chinese master named Ching-Ping. Again, as we have seen in discussing the schools of karatedo, it is typical of Japanese traditional culture to revere Chinese arts and claim that in some way China was the source of the arts of Japan. There is no doubt some truth in that, but it is also true that the Japanese did not sit around defenseless until the Chinese showed up to teach them how to fight. The very earliest Chinese documents concerning contact with the Japanese describe the Japanese warriors as formidable characters.

      Jujutsu is characterized by attacks against joints of the body that are intended to break and cripple and by throwing and pinning techniques. It was a form of fighting that the samurai learned as an adjunct to their weapons studies. Unarmed methods of fighting became even more significant after the Meiji Restoration of 1868, and especially after 1876, when wearing of swords in public was forbidden. Kano Sensei was not merely a martial arts enthusiast, he was first and foremost an educator. It was Professor Kano who personally influenced much of the physical education program of the newly structured Japanese educational system. He sifted through the techniques of jujutsu,