Tokuji-san: A family heirloom.

J-Ma told us that her uncle (by marriage) Tokuji-san (78 years old) used to do kendo and iaido. As a fireman, he was required to participate in some kind of martial art It had been about 3 weeks since I first met him. so we wanted to see him and show him my new iaito. We also took him some dango (a Japanese sweet dumpling made from rice flour) as a treat. He quickly ushered us in out of the cold and to his cozy sitting room with kotatsu.
Our visit really seemed to energize him. He left the room to rummage around in a small shed in his front yard and returned with his iaito. J-Ma remembered correctly. Tokuji-san is a 4-dan in kendo and a 2-dan in Omori Ryu iaido. I asked him if I could take a picture and he was more than happy to pose. He explained that he'd do a couple of standing techniques. I was able to snap a few pics of him in action. I asked him if he'd like to have a student and he just chuckled and shook his head. Maybe I'm supposed to hang outside his house now, practicing my overhead strike, until he takes me in.

Tokuji-san demonstrating

The proper way to hold a katana

After about another hour of chatting, he offered us some tea. He left again and returned with a sho-to. It's the one that he used for his kendo 1-dan test. He presented it to me and told me it was for me. I didn't know what to do, except bow and say "Domo arigatou gozaimasu." To which, he replied, "Ganbatte!" We sat and talked for about another hour. He explained that while kendo, judo, aikido and iaido are all different, they share the same bushido kokoro. He left again to rummage around in some closet and returned with two weapon bags. One held his tournament shinai and the other one held two of his other shinai. He told me that if I did 100 daily suburi with his tournament shinai that it would help my iaido. He then told us to take it too. I didn't really know what to do but bow some more and tell him thanks for everything and how much I appreciated it. Before we left, he gave us a towel to wrap my iaito in. He said that in the past, policmen used to practice iaido and could tell the difference between a real sword and a practice sword. Now they don't, so it's illegal to walk around with a sword that's not in its case. He probably just saved me from getting arrested. So now, in addition to J-Pop's warped bok-to, I have Tokuji-san's shinai, bag, and sho-to.

For a little more on Tokuji-san, see this entry at my other blog: http://muskogeeyokie.blogspot.com/2006/03/uncle-tokuji.html