First Year in Japan. Middle. Dorm life- Train Harder, Party Harder

Even though I was living in the dorm my former host family was still willing to help me. I wasn't even gone a week when I visited a traditional Japanese Kobudo dojo for some kengaku, or "study from observation". I gave a big thank you to Mrs. Takeyama who got me the teacher's information and dojo location. I was a little surprised at what was waiting for me however. I was under the impression that I would be observing this teacher instructing his students. The reality was that this master and one of his high ranking students had allowed me into their dojo for a private demonstration they put on just for me.
I was honored. Even more so by the fact that this dojo was located in the man's home. Yoshimoto Fukushima Sensei. The dojo was absolutely beautiful, so much so that I asked if a picture would be ok. He agreed, and unfortunately, the pictures do not do his dojo justice. The room was well organized and had plenty of windows to bath the room in warm sunlight. A low volume CD of nature sounds was gently playing in the background.
I was told to take my seat in seiza on the tatami. The teacher's Japanese was so polite, I was not yet familiar with it. It took almost 30(very long) seconds for me to get that he was asking me how old I was.
After minor pleasantries the training/ demonstration began. First the weapons. These included katana, jo, and dagger. First the kata would be demonstrated, then it's application against various weapons. After weapons came the old style jujitsu. From standing and seated positions, grabs and attacks, with and without weapons. His jujitsu was definitely strong.
When all was over, we sat and talked about his martial arts. He informed me that other weapons are practiced as well, such as the jitte, and not only the ones I had witnessed. Fukushima Sensei mentioned that in his style there is no ranking system. There is only hard work and acquired skill, and rank will help with neither. He spoke on the subject of his jujitsu and how the maximally effective techniques have no (physical) power and emanate from the tanden.  He said that developing your ki is of the utmost importance. Without it, your techniques are dependent on muscle alone, and this will fail in time. Fukushima Sensei mentioned that many Chinese martial arts are good at utilizing this concept, and that most arts that use it came from China. Then he mentioned how his techniques conformed to these principles and gave me a look. I was afraid he was going to ask me to grab his wrist.
Then he asked me to grab his wrist.
I wasn't afraid of what would happen to me, but rather, I have a history of techniques not working on me, and I did not want to embarrass the man. But he told me to, so I did.
Immediately I felt an overwhelming power. His ki felt like it was weakening me, and I felt like my strength was draining away. He then said to grab as tight as I could, so I did. I felt his power overwhelm me; but even so, whatever it is that is in my body that makes techniques not work on me wasn't going to let this technique work. And it didn't.
He was shocked.
To be honest, so was I. If my body didn't act on it's own, I don't think I could have even grabbed his wrist, much less held tight.
He said my body was absurdly powerful...but my ki, while present, was severely underdeveloped and weak. It was enough to overcome his decades of training though...
He then asked if I had any questions. I asked about the meaning of his black dogi. In a nutshell, basically, that is the way they wore their gi in the old days, for war purposes, and he was keeping the tradition alive. I then asked if I could take his picture. He agreed, but only if we took it together. I was a little embarrassed, but I said ok.
After I left the dojo, I had lunch with mrs. Takeyama, and we talked about what I had learned.
She then said that because what Fukushima sensei had done for me was so unheard of, I should wright him a thank you letter. I agreed. She then produced stationary from her purse and had me wright it there on the spot. She said a thank you letter is always good in such occasions, plus, it never hurts to make friends in high places. I agreed. I thanked him for his various kindnesses, and complimented him on his art. I ended by saying that I will do my best in cultivating, strengthening, and utilizing my ki. If what he said was true then I didn't have much of a choice. A chain is only as strong as it's weakest link, and I didn't want any weak links. So, I sought out a similar dojo for comparison.


The previous Kobudo dojo I visited, while technically kobudo, was more of kobujitsu, because of that,  I decided to visit a different kobudo dojo. The Takeyamas heard of this and used the internet to find a small dojo in Nakano. So, off I went to Nakano.
Armed with nothing but a poorly drawn map from Mr. Takeyama, I sett off.
While I was in Nakano, wandering around, I saw an Englishman.  About 6 inches shorter than myself and very, very muscular. He was carrying a large bag of weapons, including: Bo, Jo, Bokken, Shinai, and dagger. I decided if I followed this man, he would probably lead me where I wanted to go. After a little bit of tailing him, I caught up to him at a stop light. I asked him if he knew where the kobudo dojo was, and he said he was on his way there. I asked if I could walk with him and he said yes. On the way we talked, and after I found out he was from London, we switched to English.
He told me about his teacher, and the style he practiced. His teachers name was Shimizu sensei, and the style's name is Takeuchi Ryu. He informed me that Shimizu sensei had just come back from Kyoto, studying with other teachers, and that they would probably be working on whatever he had learned there. He said that Takeuchi Ryu Kobudo was so vast one could study only that their entire life, and be satisfied.
Shimizu Sensei arrived and the Englishman performed the introductions. What I noticed right away, was his striking resemblance to my own teacher. The picture I took doesn't quite capture it, but Shimizu sensei looks strikingly similar to my own teacher.
It was explained to me that since the group of trainees all live so far apart, they only get together once a week: Saturday. However, they make a day of it. Training starts at 9 am and ran until 12 noon, when they took an hour break for lunch, and then from 1 pm until 5pm. Now that is what I call a Saturday! Since there is only one official day of training, you are of course expected to train on your own the rest of the week.
Training then commenced. Their basic preparatory exercises lasted at least an hour. The ukemi in particular was quite impressive. Very extensive and thorough, ranging from the basic, to the gymnastic. I also learned a fantastic neck exercise from watching Shimizu Sensei. It is a combination bridge and wall stretch handstand.
As is the Japanese way, During their training they took a 2 minute break every 20 minutes to rehydrate and practice on their own. During this time, Shimizue sensei would fill in a training log that he kept. It included the date, what exercises he did and taught, the time he did it, how long it took, and who was in class and what time they arrived. I thought this was a fantastic idea. This way, he would always now what he taught, how, when, and to whom. This surely improves his teaching abilities. Plus, the ledger he wrote in was gorgeous.
After training would resume, the trainees would all go back to where they where after training suspended. They spent a good deal of time on impressive and effective situational assassination techniques that day. Though the tone, and focus was serious, there was a good atmosphere of close friendship. It was a nice spring day, and training makes you hot, so the windows where open. The spring breeze felt great, and as the cherry petals fell to the ground like snow outside the window, butterflys flew up against them. The whole scene mixed with the training was certainly romantic.
Training ended and after brief talks with Shimizu sensei, I left.
Walking into the spring breeze, cherry petals, and butterflys as the sun hung gently, I thought of how to incorporate the lessons I'd seen into my own training, and noticed even more how much I don't like the hustle and bustle of forced modern society life.


Naturally I was still training at the Kyokushin dojo, so I guess there is at least one kind of hustle I like. I checked my emails and received a message from Mori that read:


OSU!
It's Mori.
This sunday is University club special training.
Shinjuku Dojo, 10:30 am.
There will be much fighting. party.


And with that, I grabbed my bag and I set off.
The day was when all the neighboring university kyokushin clubs met at Shinjuku dojo for training, lots of fighting, and a get to know each other party afterwards. The place was packed wall to wall.
Everyone fought hard for about 5 and a half hours. There was a girl there, the strongest kyokushin girl I had ever seen. I'm sure her initial popularity was because she was fairly easy on the eyes, but her strength and technique where what made her really stand out. She was as strong as an untrained man. She even beat a few guys that day. This was the first time I had seen a highly skilled female fighter beat up a bunch of guys.
After the fighting it was time for the fighting party to end and the drinking and eating party to begin.
I looked over at Mori to see him lying on the ground on his back. I went over an asked if he was alright. Turns out, in the very last fight he got hit in the back, and he wrenched it. He was now stricken with enough pain to be paralyzed on the floor. I asked what he was going to do. He said he would have to call his current teacher. He did. Afterwards I asked what he was supposed to do He said that his teacher was on the way, and that he was just going to keep laying there. I asked if he wanted me to do anything for him. He laughed and said that I am great at destroying things, but probably not a good healer.
I told him I could fix things...I'm just better at breaking them.
His teacher arrived. A man named Komine sensei. He was a direct student of Masutatsu Oyama, the founder of Kyokushin. He actually bears a striking resemblance to Oyama in his later years. His hands where thick and muscular, a massage man by trade.
He told Mori to roll over on his stomach. After about 30 seconds of Mori trying to do it, Komine sensei just did it himself, to the sound of Mori screaming in pain. Komine sensei then got to work massaging and readjusting Mori's muscles and tendons. I had never seen a hand penetrate so far into a body before. Mori screamed and winced the whole time, and the whole time Komine sensei was cracking jokes. The same dismissive old man jokes my teacher would use. He would say " that can't hurt, I don't feel a thing." He then said Mori would be fine by the next day.
After Komine sensei was done he said he would adjust the rest of his top ranked fighters, since they had been fighting all day. One after the other, he would press in, and manually adjust their muscles and tendons. They all screamed in agony. While this was going on, Mori decided he would slowly crawl to the bathroom. Very slowly. While the last fighter was getting adjusted, and screaming, I told him he was lucky, and it probably didn't hurt. I laughed with Komine sensei, and then he said " I don't know what you're laughing at Nash, you're next."
I was honored.  I didn't even know he knew my name. Mori must have mentioned me. I thanked komine sensei in advance. I layed down and he went to work. Everyone was amazed. I didn't make a sound, and it didn't hurt at all. When he got to the side of my thighs, it did tickle though. Everyone was impressed, even komine sensei. He then used my body to teach his fighters about how your body is supposed to be. He seemed to take a liking to me after that. One student asked why it didn't hurt. I told him I didn't know, I'm just special I guess? "Damn, I was hoping there was another reason..." he said. Then, Komine sensei asked why it didn't hurt. I said because I'm a boy. He said " that's right isn't it? Having a penis makes you strong, maybe you guys should get one?". and we laughed. Classic dismissive old man humor. He had a really good sense of humor, though it could be crude at times. After the massage, I felt like my legs where twice as strong and fast as before. It was like his massage had unlocked a potential strength that I had, but was not using. It felt great.
Finally, what most regular people consider a party, got started. Instead of going from place to place though, the party was held in the dojo. A tarp was laid down, like a picnic, and copious alcohol and food was placed on it. Komine sensei said goodbye and the drinking began.
Though it was nice to have a party in the dojo, I'm not sure it was the safest idea. As the kyokushin fighters became more and more drunk they became more and more rowdy. Rocky the Muay Thai fighter even showed up. He had just returned from a month in Thailand. After everyone was thoroughly drunk random fights would start. None with ill will, but all dangerous. Grappling matches, wrestling matches, sword fights, group brawls, and one guy even fought another guy with a lead pipe. Rocky would disappear and before you knew where he was, he would launch a flying knee at whoever was closest. Good times. Also, clothes started disappearing, as is common with alcohol.
The whole thing lasted about 10 hours and was great fun. As we where parting ways my friend Inoue said " Don't forget, party tomorrow night. That's right, Kyokushin party 2 days in a row... It may as well have just been one big party. The middle of April is the start of the new fiscal year in Japan, and it is during this time that apprentices officially enter the company they work for. New teachers enter schools, ect. Because of this, many welcoming/ get to know each other parties are held. This was one of those parties. A party for all the new trainees in the dojo to get to know each other, and their senpai (seniors). It took place on a Monday night, from 8pm onward.


When I walked in at 7:45 there was already a ton of people there, picnic tarp spread out, and food and alcohol placed on it. Mori had recovered from the day before, and Inoue had sobered up. They where taking 2000 yen from people for the party, to pay for the food and drinks. I only had 1000, so I told them I was going to the ATM, and I would be back in a few minutes. 45 minutes later I returned, with my money, though I had gotten quite lost. When I came back, the party was fully underway. After about half an hour, Komine sensei arrived, and brought homemade InariZushi with him. It was delicious. It was his specialty, and it was the moment I got hooked on inarizushi. He sat down right next to me, and he and I talked about the martial arts for a few hours. Some interesting things I gleaned: Komine sensei was in his 60's and still very strong. He told me stories of training directly with Mas Oyama. The most important part of Kyokushin is the significance of the bow, though they bow differently. He does not smoke, drink, or eat convenience store food. He trains all the time. In a Kyokushin tournament, stamina is the most important. His fighters do not drink milk, or eat anything cold. This includes ice cream, and ice water; anything cold. He had a love for "outdoor games", like fishing and hiking.  Komine sensei's wife and mother were Japanese, his father was Mexican American. He was born in the U.S.A., but moved to Japan when he was seven years old. He said that Kyokushin is stronger today, than it was in the "old days", the same went for Muay Thai.
During my talk with komine sensei I was asking him about Kyokushin tournaments and he asked me if I wanted to compete, and I told him yes. He said "you're first tournament will be new, you will be confused because you have never done this style of tournament in Japan. Win or lose, it doesn't matter. You will just be figuring it out. After that, you won't have anything to worry about. You're strong and have good technique, you'll do fine". That made me happy. Then he said " In kyokushin tournaments, stamina is most important. Do you see Mori? He is strong. His stamina is great. You should strive to make your stamina that good. Can you?" Yes. I really want to. But to be honest I want to be even better than Mori, I said. " Yes, that is the spirit, and I am sure you can do it. Please, do you're best."
Then I went to go mingle with other students. One of Komine's fighters asked me what I thought about him. I said I thought he was really nice. He said "no, do you think he is a real master?" He actually valued my opinion on the subject. I told him yes, I did think so. His technique is good, his body is strong, he knows all about his art, and he has a good heart. That is a master. He seemed pleased I thought so highly of his teacher, though I am not sure why it mattered to him.
After a while Komine sensei went home, and many people followed suite. However, many more continued partying. As the tarp was picked up, and trash collected ( in an effort to tidy the dojo mid party) all the wasted beer was poured into a bucket that had to have been at least a few gallons, and that paled in comparison to the alcohol that had actually been drank up to that point. During this time Mori presented Suzuki with his black belt. It was a surprise to everyone but Mori and Inoue. At everyone's request, suzuki changed into a Dogi for a photo opportunity. Now that this had become a black belt party, everyone was inclined to drink and celebrate that much more. As time went on and it became later, more and more people would leave, making the party smaller and smaller. At one point a couple people came back. When everyone looked at them they said " trains are no good". In Japan, the trains stop running between 11pm and 12pm. So if you miss the trains, Japanese people just party until about 5:30 when the trains start again. It was now 1am. I guessed I would be partying all night.
Now that there was only about 13 of us, we could have small game fun. I became the drunken arm wrestling champion. They taught me a what would become my favorite drinking game. It is part rhythm game, part trivia game. Lots of clapping and laughing. The Yamanote line game. I still hadn't been fully indoctrinated into the drinking culture, so I didn't yet have too many chances to play it. Mori and I took turns telling each other jokes. I won't repeat what they where about, but mostly juvenile humor. Penis jokes and gay jokes. About 2 hours of them. Now it was about 3:30 in the morning, people where beginning to pass out, either from drunkenness or exhaustion. They were curling up in kicking shields and going to sleep, or just fading out wherever they where laying down. Now, if you have ever seen a guy pass out in front of other guys, you probably know what happened. Sharpy marker. One guy was a particularly hard sleeper and the game became " what can we do to this guy before he wakes up?" The answer? Anything. Including: writing on him, covering him in tape, prodding him with a stick, and giving him props to hold. I was medium sure the guy wasn't dead because he was breathing. Other than that though, he could have fooled me. Now it was about 5:30 am and time to head out. Party officially over. It was great times, and served it's purpose well. By 6am I was on the train back to Yokohama. I was really glad the following day was a holiday and there was no school... partying is harder than martial arts training! I rested up and went back to training.


In conversation with Mori one day, he said that if I wanted to fight in a Kyokushin tournament, I would have to join the KyokushinKaikan. Really? "Yes." What about the open tournament? I asked. That was the whole point of having an open tournament. "Well, it is open... but only to kyokushin practitioners." oh, so it's still called the open tournament...but it's only as open as any other tournament. "Yes."
Gone are the days when one could stumble dirty off the street and enter a kyokushin tournament. At least the open tournament, anyway. So it looked like I would have to join the kyokushinkaikan, which involved some of my least liked activities. Activities such as: paper work registering with the headquarters, filling out a lot of paper work-in Japanese, paying dues, and getting archive photos taken of myself. Also, I was informed that you must be ranked by the organization to compete. I never cared about rank and had been training as a white belt, which is recognized as no rank at all. I would need to take a ranking test, and pass, or I could not compete. The students at the dojo are all very encouraging, and one said "good luck with your black belt test. You should be able to pass." I'm just testing for an orange belt, I said. "What!? that's 10th kyu. That's the lowest possible rank!" Should be good enough, I think. "Oh, well...good luck. I think you'll do alright."
And so I would take the ranking test.
The day of the test came, and the site chosen was also hosting a kendo tournament. As a result, I was treated to quite a bit of entertainment.
As far as tests go, Kyokushinka don't use that word lightly. After changing into our dogi and lining up in formation, we where told to ready our pencils. Then we knelt in seiza as a paper exam was handed out. The timer was started. 15 minutes. 7 essay questions (in Japanese). Some harder than others. Questions like "please write the dojokun","what are 5 areas you strike with in kyokushin?", "name 5 vital areas", "What does the word 'OSU' mean?", and so on. I couldn't remember the majority of the kanji for the dojokun, so it was written in the alphabet. Also, there where 2 questions I couldn't read... I wasn't sure I could pass based on that alone.
Then came some warm ups to get us ready for the physical test. We then broke into groups of rank, and the instructors each took one of the groups and tested the physical techniques the students where supposed to know. This went on for an hour or so. Afterwords, it was time for sparring. White belts are not allowed to spar, and so I had to make due with watching. The sparring was hard, and one side was determined to win over the other. It was a test, after all.
Afterwards, it was back to the group formation. I heard the command to stretch, so I loosened up for a bit and then sat down. Then a man with a clip board came over and stood over me. He looked down at me, and I looked up at him. We didn't move for what seemed like a minute. I didn't know what he wanted...Finally he said "Spread your legs." I did. Then he said "Go." go where? I didn't know. He said down. Oh, he wanted me to spread my legs and touch my belly button on the floor. No problem. "Good." Then he moved down the line. I then realized that our flexibility was being given a numerical value for the test. These guys quantify everything.
We where then dismissed, and my friend Yusuke asked me why I wasn't at special Saturday training. What? I didn't know what he was talking about. "special Saturday training. It's the toughest. All the strongest people show up." Oh, I didn't know there was Saturday training. "Oh, well, it's 5-8pm. You'd like it, lots of fighting and hard training." Sold.


The following Saturday I walked into the dojo, and everyone seemed glad I had come. My friend Inoue was leaving. He said "oh, this is going to be tough, Nash...good luck, I'm leaving". What? Oh well, 3 hours of Intense training. It was great. At the end, a man came up to me and started talking to me. He was probably the strongest person there. We where changing and talking. He then took off his shirt, and had the single most impressive physique I have ever seen. Ever. He stood just under 5 feet in height. He asked how old I was and how long I had been training. I replied and asked the same of him. He said he had been training for 22 years, and was 44 years of age. I was shocked. I thought he was in his twenties. I asked what his name was. Nishimura. I said my name was Nash. He then replied in perfect English "oh, I know who you are." Really? How? " Yes, I saw you at the ranking test, that's how I knew you studied before." Oh. I told him his English was great. He said he was a little shy about using it, because once in Los Angeles, California a waiter couldn't understand his order, and he had to wright it down. I told him a lot of native English speakers can't understand each other; so he shouldn't worry. I said I was shy about speaking Japanese because sometimes I don't know enough to be as polite as I would like. He said not to worry " you're pronunciation is beautiful." I thanked him, but assured him it was not. He then explained that he used to be a body guard for Mike Tyson, but quite because he didn't condone his attitude at the time. In fact, he has been a body guard for quite a few famous people. I was surprised someone of his rank and caliber would come up to me and start a conversation. Then he said something that really shocked me.
He said "I had been watching you at the rank test and today. You have the spirit and heart of a True samurai. I am honored to have met you. Thank you."
I was speechless. What do you say to someone who seems so high up the food chain that tells YOU they are honored to meet YOU? I managed to thank him and try to return a compliment, though there wasn't one I could come up with that could top that. On the subject of the rank test-after it was done, one of the instructors mentioned the dojo had been given a couple free tickets to some fight that night. He asked if anyone wanted them. I thought sure, a day full of fighting deserves to be wound down by watching some relaxing fighting.
I didn't know what kind of Bargain I had been given...


With my two free tickets to some unknown fight, I headed to the dorm to drop off my bag and find someone to go with me. My dorm neighbor David filled the role.
We headed to Odaiba speculating how much each ticket was worth. 1,500 yen?, 3,000 yen? I decided they might even be worth 4,500 yen. David asked me what kind of fight it was. I didn't know. Free, that's what kind!
We arrived at the Ariaki Collesium to find the place packed. Looked like we where going to see an event called Sengoku. A combination of the "Pride" and "UFC" style events. People where everywhere.
When we got to the ticket gate, we realized there where different lines for different kinds of ticket holders. As we where being escorted to our seat, we came closer and closer to the ring, until finally we where right behind the VIP section. Our seats where amazing. We looked at the fliers we where given, one of which had ticket pricing for the event. Individually our tickets where 30,000 yen, or added together: 600usd!
I had gotten them FREE!
The fights were, for the most part, fantastic and the first one was over in 5 seconds. The atmosphere was great, and there was plenty of theatrics.
Speaking of theatrics, the "King of Sengoku" was a prowrestler, who was an actuall fighter.Other fighters included Kevin Randalman, and Roger Gracie. It was a nice event. On the way back we saw a drunk guy on the train who could not stop vomitting on himself, and then he forgot his hat on the train. I'll tolerate as many puke guys as I need to in exchange for 60,000 yen worth of Fight Tickets!


Back at school it was time for our once a term field trip. This time we went "hiking". Not to be confused with hiking. The "hiking" is a casual walk with a guide through a park. So, the school went to a large park. Since this doesn't take much time, the classes where assigned games to play against other classes. Namely, relay-race and dodgeball.
In the Relay, teams of 6 would race (about 10 at a time) to see who would win. I was chosen as one of the six without any say in the matter. 3 people on one side run to 3 people on the other side of the field, alternating until all 6 have finished. Good idea except my group was displaced. The class formation looked like this:


A B C D E F G
A B C E D F G
^
mixed up


We lost.
The dodgeball was done better as the whole class would battle another whole class. 2 balls where in play, 50 vs. 50. The koreans in the class didn't seem to understand that one ball could be used as bait to lure them out. I rolled one ball across the border, and when they went for it, I would hit them with the ball. Hard. I was right on the line, about 1 meter away from them when I would throw the ball a fast as I could. I might have caved one girl's head in. I'm not sure you can still play games like that in school in the states. My team was the victor.
After all that we went flower viewing and walking around. The park had a water park, and the girls went frolicking in the water. We then went back to the main field and had a huge picnick. We ate for probably an hour while some people decided thy would rather just go to sleep.
After a bit, the teacher decided we should play a game the Koreans had taught us. "bird fight". You stand on one leg and hold your other foot in your hand. You then use the knee that is raised to try and knock your opponent down. If you are still standing, you win. I beat everyone one on one. Then the teacher decided I should take 2 at a time. Then 3, and then 4. She asked me how many I thought I could beat at once. "all of them". I then beat all of them. My school mate Chris from a different class saw the action and came over to challenge me. He was beaten the fastest.
I told the teacher I wanted to play more of the versus games. She asked the class if any of them wanted to play. "NO! we're tired, we want a nap. He's too strong, find someone else for him to use up all his energy on..." The teacher then nominated 2 of them to sumo with me. At the same time. Victory. Then 3 at a time. I won again. I then found out that all the people I had gone up against where older than me. I felt good. We finished the whole day off with an hour of frisbee.
That's my kind of school day. If school was regularly more like that than righting speeches and spelling, I may have liked it more.


My dorm mate Matt had a birthday coming up and it coincided with the Yokohama port festival so a bunch of us went out and partied for the occasions. The Yokohama port festival is always good, it usually has things like cheerleaders, dance competitions, bounce houses and whatnot. We met up with Matt's old host family and they threw him a birthday party with 3 cakes, and I did sumo with their 6 year old son for over half an hour! I decorated Matt's dorm room door with “fantastic plastic” blow up plastic stuff, but it deflated on his door and wound up looking like a penis and testicles stuck to his door.... then they got stuck and stained the door. If only the dorm had rules against stuff like that...


Finally it was time for the Japanese equivalent of Spring Break. I was so ready for a week break from school. I new just how I was going to spend it... extreme training!


-NASH