Kenshiro Abbe

Kenshiro Abbe (阿部 謙四郎) was a prominent Japanese master of judo, aikido, and kendo.

Abbe was born on 15 December 1915 in a village in Tokushima Prefecture, on the island of Shikoku, Japan.

He was the son of Toshizo Abbe, who was the local school's headmaster and a kendo instructor, and his wife, Kote Abbe.

The couple had four sons and five daughters, and Abbe was the youngest child in the family.

On 4 September 1919, when Abbe was not yet four years old, his father drowned in a flash flood while training in the mountains.

A young schoolteacher, Manpei Hino, subsequently became a father figure for the young boy and introduced him to the martial arts, including sumo.

Abbe went on to become a local school champion in sumo.

In 1929, Abbe began learning judo from Kazohira Nakamoto, a former police officer.

That same year, he was promoted to the rank of 1st dan in the art and, unusually, he reached 2nd dan the next year, and 3rd dan the year after that.

In 1934, Abbe moved to Kyoto with his mother and his sister Toyoka so that he could attend Busen, training in both the judo and kendo programmes.

In May 1935, Abbe competed in the 5th dan division championship and defeated Masahiko Kimura.

This match was one of only four professional career losses for Kimura, who was already well known as one of the best judo competitors in Japan, and would later gain further fame for defeating Hélio Gracie of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

According to biographers Keith Morgan and Henry Ellis, Kimura was heard to remark after the match that fighting Abbe was "like fighting a shadow."

Abbe was listed at 5' 5" (168 cm) in height and 156 lb. (71 kg) in weight at the time; Kimura was only an inch taller, but much heavier at 187 lb. (85 kg). Two years later, during which time Kimura trained hard, he sought Abbe out at the Kodokan and soundly defeated him in a 20-minute practice session.

While at Busen, Abbe also enrolled in Hajime Tanabe's philosophy class at Kyoto University (then known as Kyoto Teikoku Daigaku, or 'Kyoto Imperial University').

During this period, his sister Toyoko began studying Tendō-ryū naginata under a female instructor named Mitamura Chiyo (in Japan, arts focusing on the handling of naginata have been practiced almost exclusively by women since the Edo period), and she would continue practicing that art for the rest of her life.

Following graduation from Busen, Abbe became an instructor in judo at the college, as well as taking instructor positions with the Osaka police force and a high school in Kyoto.

After introducing aikido to the UK, he established several Japanese martial arts councils there during the late 1950s.

He introduced aikido to the United Kingdom in 1955, and founded the Kyushindo system.

Abbe was a graduate of the Budo Senmon Gakko, having studied judo and kendo there.

Following an illustrious early career in the martial arts, he served in the Imperial Japanese Army before and during World War II.

He then trained in aikido under its founder, Morihei Ueshiba, for a decade.

Abbe held dan ranks in several martial arts, most notably 8th dan in judo, 6th dan in aikido, and 6th dan in kendo.

He returned to Japan in 1964 and remained there for most of the remainder of his life.

There are contradictory accounts of Abbe's final years, but it appears that he was in poor spirits and poor health towards the end.

Abbe learned kendo under the direction of Busen's head sword instructor, Kinnosuke Ogawa, a master who held the rank of 10th dan.

He recalled that his instructor, at the age of 75 years, was so skilled that he could not be touched by any of the students or younger instructors.

Every Saturday afternoon at Busen, following tradition, judo tournaments were held.

Abbe fought five opponents in succession with each contest lasting five minutes, and he won all or almost all of these matches.

In his first year at Busen, he was promoted to 4th dan in judo.

In the autumn of his second year there, he was promoted to 5th dan, by which time he was reported to have been fighting 20 opponents in succession.

Thus, at the age of 16, he became the youngest judo student ever promoted to 3rd dan—an honour he received directly from Shohei Hamano, an instructor of the Dai Nippon Butoku Kai (abbreviated to 'Butoku Kai' or 'Butokukwai'), which was the official governing body for Japanese martial arts.

Abbe also became champion of the Tokushima High School Judo League that year.

During his fifth year at the school, Abbe entered a regional tournament involving 30 towns, serving as captain for the team from the town of Kawashima.

His speed and agility helped him to many victories, and he received the nickname 'Pegasus' accordingly.

At his 1st dan judo examination, Abbe had caught the attention of Shotaro Tobata from the Butoku Kai, who had been refereeing at the event.

Tobata had suggested to Nakamoto and Abbe that the young man should apply for entry to the renowned Budo Senmon Gakko (abbreviated to 'Busen,' and sometimes referred to as 'Busen College'), a specialist college for martial artists.

With the additional help of a teacher named Nakano, Abbe now prepared for the entrance examination in Kyoto.

Out of all the candidates, of which there were around 300 that year, 20 would be accepted into the judo programme and 20 into the kendo programme.

Abbe performed well and was accepted into both programmes.