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| This is the full interview between Battle Creek Kendo Kai founder, David Christman and John Chu, who was acting on behalf of SEMPO a bi-annual newsletter published by the Midwest Kendo Federation. Parts of which originally were printed in Volume 13, Number 1, Spring 1997. |
| INTERVIEW BEGINS |
| Q: How old is the dojo? |
| A: Our "dojo" has been in existence since November, 1981. The practice place we are at now is only 2 1/2 years old. |
| Q: How did it start? & Who started it and why? |
| A: I had participated in a local karate class, starting in 1973, and had eventually gotten interested in investigating the history and origins of martial arts. At this time, I had already started a small trade on the side of selling karategi, and safety gear, and I had access to books at wholesale prices. One day I came across a book "This is Kendo" by Sasamori and Warner, I was immediately fascinated, and I knew this was the martial art I really wanted to learn. Of course, I knew there wasn't any teachers nearby and if this was going to happen, somehow I would have to make it happen. I was 29 years old then, and after stewing about this for a few months, I thought about the growing Japanese influence and presence here in the mid west, and decided to be bold enough to go out looking for a kendoman with any experience, I wasn't getting any younger. One slack day at work, I hand-drew a postcard with the kanji for "KENDO" and in english below it said "Interested martial artists looking for help in instruction in kendo, kenjutsu, or iaido". I got up enough nerve to walk into a Japanese owned candy factory in our Industrial Park and hand it to the Japanese receptionist, and politely asked if she would post it on a employee bulletin board. She giggled and said she knew what to do with it. Lo, and behold 2 hours later, she called me and acted as a intermediary for a man named Shoji Yoshinaga. He was a high school nidan, hadn't practiced for 15 years, but loved physical activity and wanted to do something throughout the winter months in Michigan. We began to meet once a week at our local YMCA, and a few months later I met Izui and Matsumoto sensei in Chicago. I then visited a BTC practice, as a onlooker and was totally blown-away. I'll never forget that night, that was in early 1982. Later Yoshinaga and I with three others drove down to practice at the BTC. |
| Q: Any problems with its initial startup? |
| A: The YMCA was very nice to me for years, allowing us to meet in whatever room I could find. I would say our biggest problem was after only a year and a half, Mr.Yoshinaga was rotated back home, and I was left in charge of the dojo. At this point I hadn't even earned shodan. To this day, I regret our luck here, it has never brought us a sensei who lived, or worked nearby to help teach on a weekly basis. Ours is truly a "backwoods" dojo. |
| Q: How many members are there now? |
| A: We'll have anywhere from 4 to 9 people lately. |
| Q: What does a typical practice consist of? |
| A: We always start with lots of kiri kaeshi, move into kihon waza, then do some various small variations on kihon waza, onto kakari geiko, followed by maybe 10 minutes of jiyu geiko. Of course finishing with kiri kaeshi. Beginners are separated for a while, doing footwork and suburi. |
| Q: Do you do kata regularly? |
| A: I try to keep a ratio of at least one hour out of eight hours on the kata, but I'm afraid it frequently gets pushed aside at times. |
| Q: Location of the dojo? Practice Times? |
| A: We are located right on the I-94 business loop, at 2851 W. Dickman Road, the storefront has "West Dickman Fitness Center" above the door, as I also rent the dojo out to other martial art clubs, and I wanted a generic sounding name for the place. We have a nice new clean dojo with 2 locker rooms & showers. The floor is about 30 ft. x 30 ft. Not real soft, but not hard either. Best of all, I'm the landlord! We practice Tuesdays 6:30 to 8:30 and Sundays 6:00 to 8:00. |
| Q: Who are your instructors? |
| A: I am, and if I'm lucky I'll have help in the form of a Japanese high school exchange student shodan or nidan for a few months. If your asking about my instructors, first and foremost the teachers with the most influence over me has definitely been Izui and Matsumoto sensei, they adopted me and took me under their wings, and at long distance sometimes encouraged and cajoled me to stick it out. Also Miyazaki (Choyokan) and Attone (then Wisconsin, now California) sensei had impressed me greatly when ever I was with them. |
| Q: Best moment in history of dojo? |
| A: I really hope the best moment is yet to come, yet there has been many memorable moments. The summer camps I've hosted, working on and building 2 dojo floors in 10 years, traveling with Ron Fox and Mike Murphy, the Masumoto boys, (remember them?), but as any father can tell you, it's great when your son is involved, and has some success, and makes you proud of his performance, as my son Chase has done as a junior player. |
| Q: Worst moment in history of dojo? |
| A: I can't think of a worst moment, other than the 4 or 5 times a year when no one shows up at all for a practice, I get discouraged when that happens. |
| Q: Are there any dojo Slogans? |
| A: A long time ago someone gave me a tenugui that was hard to decipher, yet I kept asking around until I was told it said "Senyu goraku" roughly translated it means "At first its difficult, later, it is pleasurable" Izui sensei likes to say "the first ten years is hard, then its kind of fun!" This kanji is the only motto I have posted in our dojo. I remind beginners of this when they show me blisters on their feet! |
| Q: What is the dojo's participation in the MWKF? |
| A: We try to have some kind of showing at all the MWKF sanctioned events, I admit sometimes its only me, but that's because I'm not a hard sell kind of guy with my students. There is several annual events I never miss, but I'm proud of the consistency of a Battle Creek presence at events on this side of the Mississippi over the years. |
| END |
| Note from Dave: (2007) Practice times are now Sundays 6:00 to 8:30 p.m. & Tuesdays 7:00 to 9:30 Iaido switches around a bit, call ahead. Also we have added the addition help of Matsuura Yutaro. Joining in March '99 his experience and energy has been a great asset, and his help is immeasurable. Now a gondan, born in raised in Montreal, he is a strong fighter and very knowledgeable. Also coming on board to help was Yoshida Kotaro, a Waseda graduate, who not only was a strong university kendo player in Japan, but has been a positive force in the SEUSKF living in North Carolina for a few years. |
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