Ted Davis passes on

[allan]

I have been sad to learn that Ted Davis passed away last week.

He was a fine teacher of kendo and Muso Jikiden Eishin Ryu. He was also a father, a husband, a professor of biology at the University of Victoria (where he made his home) and much more.

In the days before he took up kendo and iai he was a big-wall climber and mountaineer.

I was privileged to study with him on and off through the 1990s and as recently as 2001.

He was a kendoka of the old school. I believe he trained with the Japanese police regularly. When he taught me kendo, he was not unknown to throw me to the ground and pull off my men. I believe that his approach softened up a bit after those days. Now I find myself reminiscing about those rough and hard hours of keiko.

Ted Sensei never talked much in practice and instead I learned through his crisp technique, his demeanour and his commitment.

Goodbye Sensei.

[allan]

The following comes from the website of the Canadian Iaido Association(iaido.ca) and was written by Ted's wife:


As you know, in early June, Ted had an operation to remove a tumour from his spine. This left him with minimal ability to use his legs. It turned out that this tumour was caused by a very aggressive cancer. After a month in hospital, he came home, where he was comfortable and happy. He worked hard to get more movement back into his legs, with some success.

But the cancer came back and he had to return to hospital. We knew that he had limited time left and brought him home after 10 days. He had two days at home, supported by me, Logan, his daughter, Jeannine, Logan's mother, and Sue, his sister.

Yesterday, Friday, he died.

Although Ted lived only 60 years, he lived it to the fullest and accomplished more than most people could imagine. He had a strong influence on the lives of a great many people. He was a teacher right to the end - whether it be iaido, kendo, biology, philosophy, or just sharing his understanding of life as he knew it.

I cannot tell you how much I will miss him, as will all of you. But his spirit lives on in each of us, and each in our own way.

We will be holding a memorial service for him this month - the date is not yet chosen but we will let you know. If you would like to send flowers, please wait till then so many people can enjoy them. We are also planning to set up a Ted Davis Biology Scholarship fund as an alternative to flowers. More later when the date is chosen.

Thank you for all your well wishes during the past few months. Ted received them all and was happy that so many of you cared so deeply.

Sincerely, Colleen Kasting

[Charles Mahan]

There are others who could do this much better than I, but I feel like saying something.

This is truly a loss to the North American Iaido community. Ted Davis was not only a phenomenal MJER sensei, he was the founder of the Canadian Iaido Association, which now has 8 dojos. The group picture from the 2006 seminar has 70 faces in it. No small accomplishment.

He was a very accomplished kendoka and iaidoka, having started training in Iaido back in the early '70s. He was one of those truly gifted individuals who could not only show you his own iai, but could show you the iai of other folks in other lineages, and do it well. Very well.

Davis-sensei was also one of the nicest gentlemen you could ever meet. He was clearly knowlegable about all sorts of things and a real pleasure to talk to. He will be sorely missed, even down here in Texas which he visited for the US Iaido Embukai on a number of occasions. My wife and I were lucky enough to host him in our home a couple of times.

[Ren Blade]

This is sad news. I met Ted Davis Sensei a couple years ago in Victoria, Canada. He was a pleasure to have met and known. My deepest sympathy goes out to his family and all that loved him.

Regards,
Walter

[SamHaLe]

Sad news indeed. My MJER Iaido teacher Wout Verschuren from Eishin-Ryu Belgium spoked in our Dojo with much praise about Mr. Davis. He also said Mr. Davis was an extraordinary Iaidoka, a phenomenal teacher and one of the nicest gentlemen you could ever meet. He was the one that putted my teacher to the right track on MJER and opened the doors for him to the ZNIR and Seitokai etc...

In de Belgian Eishin-Ryu Dojo, we did a very long Mokuso the first training after the said news and he arranged a special mini seminar on saterday 18 august 2007 from 8.30AM until 6.00PM. All the money he collected from the seminar is going straight to the Ted Davis Foundation. At the end of the seminar, all the participants performed one kata in pure silence for Mr. Davis.


I can truly see that it really gets to Wout, he obviously knew him well...