The Life and Times and Accomplishments of Kenshiro Abbe

1933/5 - 1941/5

In 1933 as the finishing of lower school approached Kenshiro took an entrance exam for Busen, prepared by his teacher Nakano san and endorsed by Tabata san and others from Botuku-Kai. Kenshiro's successful entry was aided by the fact that another student just one year older than he had already been accepted for Busen.

In those days the best way to enter Busen and become expert in Judo and Kendo was to be recommended by a school Judo teacher or a similarly qualified city police instructor. Alternative specialist schools were Tokyo Kushi Taikuka, Tokyo Taiku Senmon Gakko and Kokushikan Senmon Gakko. Abbe took the exam of Kokushikan a year earlier but only because this organisation allowed it to be taken earlier than Busen.

That year 300 candidates applied to take the Busen Judo and Kendo entrance exam. Only twenty students would be accepted each year.
The exam was in two parts - one written and one active, the latter being a session between candidates. Abbe won two contests, drew a third and gained a 2nd position among all candidates. The 1st position went to Isao Tose san who decided to leave Kokushikan in the middle his course there to take the Busen exam.

One of the judges at Abbe's Sandan grading examination was Shotaro Tabata san (8th Dan) from Botuku-Kai. Tabata san praised Abbe very much and recommended Nakamoto san allow him to enter to the Busen. In those days, Kodokan and Busen were both issuing Dan grades up to 5th. Kazumi Kudo san from the Kodakan asked Abbe whether he would enter Busen if he passed. The 19 year old answered that without hesitation he would.

Having passed entry for Busen, Abbe set about finding accommodation in Kyoto.
He was not the sort of person who cared much for every day chores such as washing, cooking and cleaning so Nakamoto san suggested Abbe's mother also move to Kyoto to look after him. She agreed saying Kenshiro was the last of her sons and therefore this would be her last task in life. At the age of 56 she sold half of her fields, asked someone to look after the other half and then rented a house in Kyoto to look after Abbe and help him in his new life. Later Abbe's elder sister Toyoko moved in as well. Clearly, Abbe's mother and sister supported his Judo life with all their might.

On the 8th of May in 1933 Toyoko was deeply moved by the beauty of a ceremonial demonstration of Naginata given at a school festival by a lady named Mitamura san, so she applied for a course with her and hence devoted herself to that and looking after her brother.

Like all the members of the Abbe family, Toyoko had an extraordinary stubbornness. After her Naginata lessons she would quite often look in at the Dojo of the Busen and watch Kenshiro in training and practice. This
often meant that Abbe was to Randori (free fighting competition) with at least fifteen or more other students before session ended with students gasping for breath all around the Dojo.

Every Saturday afternoon there was a tournament held at the Busen and Toyoko san was always there to watch Kenshiro fight, and very seldom saw him defeated.

Someone very strong like Abbe usually had to fight five opponents in succession. Each contest was of five minutes duration with the referee judging a winner, and invariably, this was Abbe.

When Kenshiro suffered a sprained ankle, this being a quite common occurrence during a practice session, Koto changed the compress several times while he was sleeping. Her devotion knew no bounds.

In those days everyone else washed "Judo-Gi" (heavy duty cotton uniform) with their feet, by stamping on it many times over. However Koto always washed Kenshiro's by hand which invariably proved to be very difficult and arduous.
After drying the Gi she neatly folded and stored it away for his next training session. She explained to her bewildered neighbours that she went through this process because for the "Bushi" the Gi held the same values as armour.

"My potentiality has got a limit"
At the Busen he was bewildered at the antics of new students. He was widely known as a serious person when it came to social activities. They tried to ply him with alcoholic drinks which he politely declined, but could not refuse to take part in some form of entertainment. He was invited to sing a children's song, and in reply he said that he would not sing but he would recite a Waka (a 31 syllable poem). He sang: "Ukikoto no arumi no chikara tamesan" - an approximate translation being "my potentiality has got a limit". He recited it in a very serious and solemn manner, as if expressing his real and current feelings. In fact, the rest of his life was indeed like a trial that challenge his own limitations.

In his first year at Busen Abbe gained his 4th Dan Judo - again, he was the youngest ever to do so. In the autumn of the second year he gained his 5th Dan in Judo.

In one tournament Abbe had to take on two 2nd Dans, two 3rd Dans and one 4th Dan student for a trial and took less than a few minutes to defeat them all. He was then instructed to repeat the line up again. He did so - and the result was the same! Sometimes he was instructed to fight three or more trials involving as many as twenty opponents in succession. His teacher Sensei Isogai san was a very hard task master who demanded a lot from Abbe. Sensei's expectations were exceeded. Aside from Judo Abbe also studied Kendo under Sensei Ogawa Hanshi san, the Butokukwai 10th Dan Sword Master.

Kenshiro always enjoyed his training and was never known to shirk his obligations. On Saturday evenings, many of the students went off to indulge in drinking and seeking out prostitutes for their enjoyment. AT this time Abbe of course did not drink or smoke, neither did he mix with the other students during their jaunts or get close to any one of them. Deciding to remain aloof he was never interested in girls at that time, or to show himself off.

Every evening, when it was not raining, Abbe and Toyoko would train in the playground of a kindergarten school near "Nanzen Temple" and would begin skipping with a rope in spells of five minutes each. Abbe would, on the instruction of Toyoko, rest when the five minutes elapsed. Abbe said that he believed skipping with a rope gave him strong legs in which to be efficient in Judo and stated that 80% of mobility would depend on momentum of the legs.

At home he was a prolific reader of Philosophy, which most other students found to be far too difficult.

During his third year at the Busen he read a book called "Tetsugaku Tsuron" (an introduction to Philosophy) written by Gen Tanabe but could not understand it. So he decided to attend one of Sensei Tanabe's lectures in Kyoto Teikoku University hoping that he might then be able to grasp his line of thought. Having made the effort to attend Kenshiro still could not grasp the thinking of Sensei Tanabe's Philosophy and felt quite upset. He felt this way despite the fact that he was the only student from the Busen to attend the lecture. This study was to eventually lead Abbe into his own theory of "Kyushindo" though he did not officially 'launch' or expound it publicly till many years later.

Genius Abbe
Abbe placed great importance to the function of legs, so much so, his Okuri Ashi Barai, Tsubame-Gaeshi and especially Harai Tsurikomiashi were admired as incredibly fast and sharp. On beautiful moon light nights, Kenshiro gave himself more training than usual. Rope skipping made him sweat profusely. As soon as he had finished skipping he would remove his shirt and carry out a series of somersaults on a sand pile, and on rainy nights, he would spread a Futon on the veranda and several times do hand stands from a lying position. He also did training to strengthen his muscles in both legs and arms. His nickname was gradually changed from "Mr Abbe of Busen" to "Genius Abbe", which rapidly spread throughout Japan.

Sensei Nisao Hosoya san of Kyoto Commercial High School had longed for the opportunity of seeing Abbe in a contest in the cultural festival of the Busen and in 1933 he had the chance.
Abbe was matched with Hiroshi Naito san (3rd Dan). He was 166 centimetres in height and 90 kilograms in weight. He was not a very tall person but in his heyday he had a tremendous fighting spirit.

In the match Abbe followed Naito's movements very lightly and dodged Naito's left Ashibarai and countered with Tsubamegaeshi. "Wazari" was awarded.

Naito san raised himself to his feet and attacked immediately with Ko-uchi Gari then a Taiotoshi. These attacks were easily avoided and Abbe blasted in with a right Uchimata and Naito was thrown for Ippon.

After the match, Hosoya's teacher commented that Naito did a very good job, although he had lost. Hosoya san also commented that he was surprised that another meeting had been arranged between Abbe, Miyake and Naito.

Miyake san was far taller and heavier than Abbe, but the contest went ahead anyway. In the first match Abbe took a grip on Miyake's collar with his right hand and his sleeve with his left - and without any hesitation entered for Uchimata. Miyake tried to cling to Abbe so as to execute an "Uranage or Tawara-Gaeshi". At that instant Hosoya san thought Abbe was going to lose the match, but Abbe kept catching Miyake's leg with attacks of Ashibarai and subsequently opened up an opening on the left by twisting his body. Miyake flew through the air and was rolled by the centrifugal force of "Osotomaki".

The Physiology of Fatigue
It was apparent that an unusual show of mobility was necessary to complete the technique from such an unusual position. A distinguished Professor of the time used Kenshiro Abbe as an exception to his theoretical explanation of "The Physiology of Fatigue". He broke down the process of reaching exhaustion into five levels and termed this "the system of fatigue". Normally, when fatigue reaches the 5th level a sense of balance ability to walk straight would be lost, and the central nervous system would be paralyzed. Kenshiro Abbe was an exception because, as shown on x-rays, Abbe's heart was enlarged and swollen out into the chest cavity. Since Abbe had suffered this since birth; his body had somehow learnt how to cope with greater levels of fatigue. However, and as a result, his mental condition was affected and this manifested as eccentricity. Abbe's body and mind, he insisted, very often fell into that state, and would continue to do so for the rest of his life.

Enlistment
In1939 Abbe was required to enlist into the Japanese army. He was sent to join the 43rd Regiment which at that time was based in Tokushima Province. Abbe's call to arms had on various occasions been postponed because of his commitments to the Busen but in the June of that year the military finally caught up with him. Abbe's students were sorely disappointed that he had to leave the Busen because of this conflict. Abbe himself must have also been disappointed by the governments' decision to enlist him at the most critical time of his young life. Many other young Judoists endured the same fate as Abbe.

Back in his fourth year at the Busen he was in a practice match for Judo beginners and partnered a very enthusiastic and rough student who, when Abbe was bowing, suddenly tackled him with a technique that dislocated his right shoulder. He was still suffering from the effects of this injury at the time of his enlistment and indeed, he never did recover from it fully. Had he brought this to the notice of the military at the time he would have without doubt been exempt from military service.

Shortly after his enrolment he was sent to a garrison in "Toan-Sho" Province in Manchuria where he spent the following four years. During that time, no Judo was practised whatsoever. The army had no time for such antics.
Prior to his enlistment, Abbe had trained his body and mind to become a fighting machine of the highest quality. Stopping training for such a long period naturally took its effects on him and he began to increase his weight and become flabby. For Abbe, these four years were wasted years.

In March 1943 he finished his service and returned to the Busen in Kyoto. He was 28 years of age at the time, and had already gone quite bald.

Like a fish released into water
His mother and sister prepared a congratulatory dish of Japanese rice and red beans to celebrate his safe return from Manchuria. His mother was then 65 years old and his sister Toyriko was 30. After exchanging pleasantries with each other Kenshiro picked up his "GI" and then left to practice at the Busen, anxious to make up for the previous four 'wasted' years.
He greeted the teachers who were in the staff room and proceeded to the Dojo. Whilst practising Uchikomi, Isogai san who was not in the staff room when Abbe first came in, rushed into the Dojo to greet Kenshiro as soon as he was told that he has returned and said "welcome back, it is very good to see you", and gave him a big hug. Isogai san was on the verge of tears. He had never really taken to Abbe even when he had won top tournaments, but on this occasion he was genuinely overjoyed.

Like a fish released into water, Abbe began training and worked extremely hard to get his fitness back to what it was before Manchuria.

After Abbe had been in training for only about ten days he was drawn to contest against a person named Matsumoto san. Matsumoto san had been taught by Abbe some years earlier and was there at Busen at this time for a years rest from his normal occupation. Matsumoto san was still an excellent Judoist but his speed and movement had somewhat diminished, and he was no longer the competitor that he was, having first entered the Busen in 1933. Abbe in fact had no problem in defeating him way back in 1937.

A person named Hosoya san was also at Busen at this time. Hosoya san had also practised with Abbe in the past, and noticed that he was breathing quite heavily, due to lack of fitness. Abbe pledged to concentrate and proceeded to step up his training drastically. A few months later he was almost back to his peak when, by chance, he met his old army commander of the 43rd regiment, Ochi san. Abbe was invited back his quarters for talks. As he arrived Ochi san said, "It is ridiculous that you have been released, you must stay in the army as a lieutenant. You are an officer of the Imperial Army".
With that, call-up papers were sent to him again and he was assigned to a supplementary unit in Tokushima Province. It was altogether an oppressive story. Abbe himself thought that teaching Judo was a more worthwhile occupation than kicking his heels in the army. However, Abbe moved into a rented flat in Tokushima and very soon after met a young lady called "Keiko" whom he was to marry.

Daughters
On the 1st of June 1943 his first Daughter Junko was born, and in the following year a second daughter, Noriko, was born. Abbe yearned for a son but this was not to be. In March 1947 Abbe's wife had their third child, another girl that they named "Yayoi".