The Spirit of Kenryu Budo

"If the match before you were the last one in your life, perhaps you could focus on winning at all costs, disregarding everything else.

However, if you aim to face battles continuously throughout your life, at some point, your perspective must shift from 'how to win' to 'how not to lose.'

Pursuing the path of 'how not to lose' eventually transforms into a mindset of 'how to accept and coexist with your opponent.'

Imagining the view at the peak of that path, one sees this:

True strength is kindness.

True strength is tolerance.

True strength is sincerity.

A long time ago, a master said,

'The ultimate technique is to become friends with the person who comes to kill you.'

Rather than pursuing techniques to defeat an opponent in the present moment, I find purpose and fulfillment in pursuing the lifelong path of mastery.

This is the meaning I see in living in today's world.

Kenryu Budo was born from this aspiration."

 

Background

Kenryu Budo is a unique style based on my own personal philosophy (Ken). For this reason, it does not belong to any existing organization or group.
However, when we speak of an original style, no one can create it entirely from nothing with their own creativity alone. I too have studied several traditional Budo disciplines with great dedication. During this journey, I encountered Master Kenji Tokitsu, the founder of the Budo called Jiseido. From him, I learned the meaning of practicing Budo in the modern world.

It was not about faithfully copying tradition in order to pass it down, but rather about learning the precious wisdom within tradition, enhancing one’s own creativity, growing as an individual, and then transmitting that to future generations in the same way.

My approach to Budo was deeply influenced by this teaching: it became my habit to constantly reflect on the meaning and effectiveness of techniques, training each time on different levels of understanding. In this way, as I continued to practice, my understanding was repeatedly renewed, and over time, my personal ideas gradually developed into a philosophy.

Before I knew it, Kenryu Budo had been born within me.

 

Overview

At Kenryu Budo, we offer children’s classes, Qigong & Tai Chi classes, Kendo classes, and Budo bare hand classes.
In the children’s class (for ages 8 and up), we focus on exercises that develop body awareness and muscle use appropriate for this stage of growth. Through this training, children build a fundamental physical strength that allows them to respond to various situations.

In the Qigong & Tai Chi class, we cultivate an ideal state of mind and the corresponding body movements that help daily life become healthier and more enjoyable.

In the Kendo class, students refine their practice of competitive sparring based on the traditional Japanese philosophy of the sword and learn the core concepts of Budo.

In the Bare-Hand-Budo classes, we pursue techniques that can be polished throughout a lifetime within the context of person-to-person sparring. To achieve this, we apply the principles of Kendo and the theories of Tai Chi.

In this way, as the exploration of the bare-hand Budo has deepened and broadened, Kenryu Budo has come to encompass Qigong, Tai Chi, and Kendo. Since these disciplines are organically interconnected, except for the children’s class, students may participate in any class regardless of which field they wish to focus on.