Keep the Fire Burning

You have to love it. And you need the fire inside. And you have to keep it burning. Then, it works.

Starting at twenty-seven

I started kendo at twenty-seven. My parents did kendo — I grew up with the dojo. But as a child, I had to train karate.

For my father, karate came first. After many other sports, I came to kendo at 27. I always liked it — but there was no children's class back then.

So I started as an adult, after my first child. My first training was with my father. I liked it from the first moment.

I trained hard from the very beginning. And it just got more and more.

To Katsuura

All the rules we have in kendo — the behaviour. It is so important for education. And I think that comes from Japanese culture.

Once a month, we hold our "Katsuura training". The training we did at the Budo University, in the afternoon. We keep it running — so we don't forget.

In 2015 I fought at the World Championships in Japan. Before that — two weeks of camp at the International Budo University. I liked it so much, I came back as soon as I could.

Iwakiri-sensei is my favourite sensei. His training, his teaching, his person. That's why I take my students there.

A dojo since 1977

Yes — it's difficult. My parents opened this dojo in 1977. I've run it since 2009 — it keeps growing.

I stopped my other work — now it's only the dojo. It takes a lot of time — and the money always works out, somehow. Shodo, ikebana, koto — kendo and karate. And zazen meditation — yes, it's a lot.

Keep the fire burning

——Difficulties?

You have to love it. And you need the fire inside. And you have to keep it burning. Then, it works.

About this series

Way of Life is a series of short portraits of people who live the way, filmed by KAIDO Inc. in dojos across Europe and Japan. One person, one word, a few minutes.