Has anyone heard of this style or Teacher?

[Tucker Peterson]

I am not writing out of suspicion, but ignorance. Has anyone heard of a Sakurai-ha (kohgen) Itto Ryu or a Dr. Sadao Kotaka, of the US Classical Kendo Federation? He is evidently the only instructor of Iaido in Columbus Ohio. I thank-you for any assistance you might provide me.

Tucker Peterson

[Lito Ramirez]

Tucker -

I am a student of Sadao Kotaka Soke. Please feel free to email me at lito@columbus.rr.com for any questions, etc.

Regards,

- Lito Ramirez

[Tucker Peterson]

I'll e-mail you with my questions. Thanks again.

(I think I found a teacher! Oh happy day!):D

[Charlie Kondek]

Lito, Tucker,

As a member of the Midwest Kendo Fed. that has run into some of Kotaka-sensei's students from time to time, I have to say I have been an admirer from afar! Everything I've heard and seen tells me Kotaka-sensei's Classical Kendo Federation is a great experience to plug into. You have, indeed, found a great teacher!

[Kit LeBlanc]

The website mentions a Portland, OR group but I have never received a response on e-mails...

[Lito Ramirez]

Charlie -

Thanks very much for your comment. I have to admit, we sometimes feel apart from the rest of the kendo community because of our adherance to the classical kendo tradition (i.e. non-sport), so I accept your complement with great thanks.

As you may already know, Kotaka Soke was actually one of the three original founders of the Midwest Kendo Federation when it was established in 1974.

If you ever find yourself in Columbus, please look us up. Which club do you belong to?

Regards,

- Lito

[Lito Ramirez]

Kit -

We're still in the process of establishing a dojo in Portland. Please feel free to email me at lito@columbus.rr.com with any questions/comments.

Thanks.

- Lito

[A Shinsen Gumi]

Gentlemen,

I would like to introduce myself as a member of the US Classical Kendo Federation who started training Sakurai ha Kogen Itto ryu under Kotaka Soke a year ago. I am Carlo Micu.

I would like to thank you all for your complements about our school. I strongly believe that Sakurai ha Kogen Itto ryu that is being taught by Kotaka Soke is a very powerful style of swordsmanship as it was proven during the Bakumatsu by the Shinsen Gumi - the most powerful police force established in the history in Japan. I am very lucky to be a part of the school and thankful to Kotaka Soke's undying passion in passing down his art to dedicated students.

If you have any questions or inquiries, please feel free to email me atMics21@aol.com.

We, the students of Kotaka Soke, would gladly entertain questions from interested kenkakus. Also, we hope that someday you will have a chance to train with us and experience this beautiful art that Kotaka Soke has to offer.

Thank you very much.

Carlo Micu

[Charlie Kondek]

Thanks, Lito. And thanks for jumpin in, Carlo. I'm from the Eastern Michigan University dojo up in Ypsilanti, MI. I had a chance to hang with some of Kotaka-sensei's students at the Cleveland tournament in years past, and even do some jigeiko. What a swell bunch of folks.

I totally understand how you feel, though, about feeling out of synch with the rest of the kendo community around here. You nailed it when you said the difference is in the attention payed to the sporting aspects. I suspect you have a lot more in common with some of the kenshi in the midwest than you think, though. In years past, there's been encouragement on the part of the senior senseis for midwest kenshi (and elsewhere in the U.S.) to undertake iai when they are ready (ZNKR and eventually whatever other art you can get into) as a way of better rounding out the kendoist's swordsmanship.

I did know that Kotaka-sensei was one of the founding midest kendo members! He was also, as I understand it, a former president. I've been able to read some of the essays that were up on the web site.

Kit, if you can get in with these guys, I think you'll find it a valuable experience, as, from what I understand, they are particularly interested in cross-training and the de-emphasis of the sport aspects. (Which is not to say that they don't keiko!) I'm a sportsman, myself, but I respect where these guys are coming from.

Thanks for the invite, Lito. I'd love to take advantage of that some time. Same goes for you if you ever get this far north.

[Lito Ramirez]

Charlie -

At Kohbukan Kendo Club we practice Itto-ryu based iaido, kata and shinai kendo in equal parts, at every practice. My modern kendoka friends like to give me grief about this because it makes for a fairly long practice session (typically 4-hours plus). But they are absolutely surprised when they see even our ikkyu students confidently perform all seven kendo kata, all three kodachi kata, and the first set of Sakurai-ha Kohgen Itto-Ryu kata which involves full bokken strikes to Onigote (big, padded kote; "demon kote").

It has always been Kotaka Soke's philosophy that the "parts" (meaning iaido, kata, shinai kendo) provide a greater understanding of the "whole." It's interesting to hear that there is a growing interest in this approach among our MWKF friends.

As you mentioned, there are obvious distinctions between modern kendo and our classical kendo style, mainly sport vs. non-sport. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy and admire modern kendo shiai for its speed and intensity (that's the sportsman in me talking, too).

However, I think the one thing that truly distinguishes Sakurai-ha KIR from other itto-ryu branches as well as other modern kendo schools, is our fundamental emphasis on "hyoritai" - offense and defense in the same cut. In "hyoritai" there is no distinct offense or defense; parry, counter-attack, and defeat of the opponent all occur within the same sword stroke.

This concept is the core of our entire philosophy. And when done correctly, it can successfully negate virtually any strike or counterstrike. Responding in this fashion with any kind of fluidity or consistency is of course another matter(haha).

I think another distinction between modern and classical kendo is also in the scoring of ippon. In Sakurai-ha KIR, we are constantly taught not to fear the strike or counter-strike, and to accept it as a traditional samurai would accept death: freely and openly. For us, ai-uchi (simultaneous cuts by two opponents) is still considered a victory. Why? Because even though you cut me, I have succeeded in cutting you down as well and prevented you from harming anyone else in my clan.

Finally, I think we differ from modern kendo in that we are also taught to fight from every conceivable kamae: chudan, gedan, jodan, wakikame, hasso, yotoh, kagetoh, etc. Even beginners are encouraged to do this. Whenever I keiko with my modern kendoka friends, they always seem a bit confused whenever I drop into gedan or take hasso; even more so whenever I take jodan since they have faced this kamae very few times. Within the historical context of our ryu and the Shinsen Gumi samurai, this approach provides greater flexibility as well as unpredictability. If you always fight from the same kamae, your opponent will always know where the strike is coming from and where it is likely going.

The 2002 Cleveland Taikai is right around the corner, and we hope to see all of you from EMU there. Maybe we'll get the opportunity to jigeiko and have some beers later.

Regards,

- Lito

[Charlie Kondek]

Nothing would please me more! But would you believe it, this is the first year since I started doing kendo that I am unable to attend the Cleveland tournament. I'm really bummed, because it's always a great time. You'll most likely see some other Eastern kendoists, but, alas, I won't be there! So give me a rain check on that keiko and beers, Lito, I'm looking forward to it.

Can you tell me more about the Itto-ryu-based iaido? What's that like?

[Budoka 34]

May I ask the daates of the Cleveland Taikai?
I may be in the Akron Area in May and June and would love to see it.

R. Kite
Budoka 34:smilejapa

[Lito Ramirez]

I believe the Cleveland Taikai will be held May 4-5, at the Woodling Gymnasium of Cleveland State University. You can contact T. Inoshita Sensei (the organizer of the tournament) at pcancer@zoomnet.net for more details.

Regards,

- Lito Ramirez

[Budoka 34]

Lito:

Thanks for the info. Hope to be in Ohio around that time.
Maybe I'll see ya there.

Thanks again,

R. Kite
Budoka 34

[hyouriittai]

Hey, all.

My name's Matthew Hope. I live north of Portland, OR, and was training with Roger Macphail-sensei, the person establishing the PDX Sakurai-ha dojo, last year. As sort of an update to the questions on this thread (old as they may be,) there hasn't been a place to practice for a while. The athletic club in Hillsboro in which we were training changed ownership, and Macphail-sensei, who worked for the club, was laid off. This, coupled with a knee problem and some other issues has made it difficult to get together. Macphail-sensei was talking about starting a club at one of the Portland Community College campuses, however I haven't heard from him since December.

Currently, I am training at the Obukan Dojo, headed by Robert Stroud-sensei. I am still very interested in Kotaka-sensei's school and staying in touch with the various Sakurai-ha kenshi here in the states. If possible, it'd be great if I could get into the habit of communicating with those that have already identified themselves on this forum.

My e-mail is hyouriittai@comcast.net.

Thanks, everyone.

[Charlie Kondek]

Excellent. Good luck, man!

[Sherman Chow]

Originally posted by Lito Ramirez
Tucker -

I am a student of Sadao Kotaka Soke. Please feel free to email me at lito@columbus.rr.com for any questions, etc.

Regards,

- Lito Ramirez

Hey Lito,
is that email you gave correct? I tried to email you quesions about the classical kendo federation club that may or may not be in Gainesville, FL, but the email bounced back. :(


Sherm

[hyouriittai]

Originally posted by Sherman Chow
Hey Lito,
is that email you gave correct? I tried to email you quesions about the classical kendo federation club that may or may not be in Gainesville, FL, but the email bounced back. :(


Sherm

Sherman,
I just talked to my USCKF sensei, and he said that there are some slightly major changes going on with the federation. I'm not sure about the whole story, and if I was, I wouldn't feel at liberty to publicly disclose any of the information. I'm going to try to keep in touch with my sensei, as he is moving to Utah where one of the other USCKF dojos are. If you keep in touch, maybe I can relay to you some information about Watchman-sensei's Gainesville dojo.

My e-mail is hyouriittai@comcast.net.