In the late spring of 2013, Shiloh Bower enrolled into the Austin Kendo Doshikai under the leadership of Tetsuo Komizu. Five years later, Bower decided to go to Texas A&M University for college and Komizu tasked him to “make A&M kendo great again!” With this task on his mind, he found the remnants of the TAMU Kendo Kyokai and slowly began to rebuild it with the help of other classmen. Today, Bower took some time to discuss that rebuilding process and how he continues to assist the club after graduating.
Martial Arts of Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow: Welcome Bower Sensei! Thank you for joining us to talk about your time at the TAMU Kendo Kyokai!
Shiloh Bower: Thank you for having me; I look forward to your questions!
MAYTT: Where did you start training prior to the kendo club and at what moment during your training did you know that kendo was for you?
SB: I started training at Austin Kendo Doshikai (AKD) under the leadership of Tetsuo Komizu Sensei, Kendo Kyoshi seventh dan. I first read about kendo in a martial arts book for children when I was very young. It didn’t seem like anything special at the time, but a few years later, I saw AKD perform at a martial arts demonstration for the Japan-America Society of Greater Austin (JASGA) during one of their yearly festivals. I was in attendance because my older brother had been taking a Japanese language course through JASGA, and his teacher had invited our family to the festival. Although I was young, I was fascinated with the speed, grace, and precision that the kenshi displayed. Several years later, I watched a music video that featured a dramatized version of kendo which rekindled my interest and inspired me to research the martial art extensively until I found AKD. My mother helped me arrange a time to observe a class on May 12, 2013, and I promptly started May 19, 2013. I was hooked from day one. Over a decade has passed, and I am still passionate about kendo.
MAYTT: How did you find kendo on the campus?
SB: In 2018, I was faced with the choice of attending a university. My dojo mates encouraged me to attend the University of Texas at Austin, since our dojo was closely involved with UT’s kendo club. However, I chose to attend Texas A&M University for engineering. As such, my Sensei tasked me, saying, “Shiloh, go make Texas A&M kendo great again!” Which was easier said than done – the A&M club had not attended any tournaments, promotional exams, seminars, summer camps, or other dojos in close to a decade. I began searching for the club contact, which was difficult due to the available information being several years out of date. I was able to contact the club’s president from two administrations prior who directed me to the next president and so on, until I finally reached the active club leadership and began training with the group!
MAYTT: It sounded like it was a big task for you to be tasked with. How does TAMU Kendo Kyokai conduct its practices? How would you say the club’s practices compare to non-collegiate schools?
SB: Previously, the club practices followed common procedure: we would start with stretching and warming up, then would move into ashi sabaki, suburi, striking drills, and finish with keiko. When I lead classes, I vary the focus depending on what I feel my students need to work on and what would most benefit their development.
However, this semester, we are implementing a new schedule. With the Southwest Kendo & Iaido Federation (SWKIF) adopting the Bokuto-ni-yoru Kendo Kihon-waza Keiko-ho into their testing procedures, I have strongly encouraged the consistent practice of this valuable tool. As such, we will be dedicating one of our weekly practices to the study of the Bokuto-ni-yoru Kendo Kihon-waza Keiko-ho.
We have been blessed this semester with the availability to offer three classes per week and intend on maximizing the value of each. Our new schedule has rotating beginner classes during the week and an advanced class on the weekend. By rotating, I mean that if the first class of the week is arranged to practice shinai kendo and the second class is arranged to study the Bokuto-ni-yoru Kendo Kihon-waza Keiko-ho, then the following week, the topics will swap places. This way, if a student has a lab, class, or other consistent obligations during one of our class times, they will still be able to learn from both methods of kendo practice. Our “advanced” class is focused on students with bogu and are at the stage where they must start learning more waza and Nihon Kendo Kata.
Compared to non-collegiate schools, I think we spend a lot more time practicing kihon waza/kendo basics due to a couple reasons. Firstly, TAMU Kendo Kyokai does not have a host dojo, or senior level sensei to regularly conduct practices; and secondly, nearly all our members started kendo at the University – so they are very new to the art. Unlike other universities, located in large cities, the primary reason people move to College Station is to go to school. As such, the city is mostly comprised of young people, most of whom have not experienced kendo prior to attending the University.
MAYTT: You recently became part of the club leadership team. How have other club members received you upon assuming this new responsibility? What plans do you have to help grow the club on the Texas A&M University campus?
SB: When I first joined, the club only had a handful of young practitioners. The kyokai was organized democratically, such that the presidential seat was elected rather than assumed by the most senior kendoka. Although I was sent to A&M to help the club grow, there wasn’t much I could do until I made it on the leadership team in August 2021. I was received well, as Vice President, and was encouraged to remain as coach after I graduated.
Since day one, I have been creating goals to increase membership and facilitate a better learning environment and community. And thanks to the support from my students and the club leadership since I graduated, we have:
- Grown the club to about twenty-five active members as of Fall 2023, including twelve in bogu
- Guided A&M beginners to achieve rank for the first time in several years. from beginning through testing to achieve rank in several years.
- Created a club website that provides critical information related to the organization and kendo as a whole
- Grown a strong community of individuals that support each other and want to grow together as people
- Instituted structure and consistency into practices
- Expanded the number of practices offered per week
- Reinstituted the Purpose of Kendo into the Kyokai
- Grown relationships with other collegiate clubs
I am very proud of how far the club has come and look forward to witnessing the future of the club. My wish for the next generation of student leadership is to continue to foster community both in our club, and with all other university kendo clubs in Texas.
MAYTT: Being a college club, how does the club attract and retain new members?
SB: Most of our members come from the MSC Open House, which is an event held at the beginning of each semester where student organizations table to recruit new members. Usually having a few people walking around in full bogu carrying shinai attracts a bit of attention. It is easy to get people to come to their first practice after witnessing such a spectacle.
However, member retention is a more difficult matter. It doesn’t take long for people to figure out that kendo is hard and not always fun. To retain members, you must effectively convey the value that kendo can provide to someone’s life if they push past the rigors of the discipline. Ultimately, it is up to each student whether they want to continue or not. We don’t try to convince people that kendo is something it is not. Each person must make the decision to do something hard. This approach yields a comparatively low retention rate, but the ones who stick around are here to stay. In this way, no one is wasting their time.
MAYTT: That is an interesting way of looking at the issue. Could you tell us some of the history of the TAMU Kendo Kyokai? How did it get started and who formed it? Why do you think the club has been a staple on the campus since its inception?
SB: Unfortunately, there are no records available through the University regarding the club, so all I can tell you is what I knew about it before going to A&M, and what I have witnessed since being here. From my understanding, the Texas A&M University Kendo Kyokai was active until around 2010. Around that time, the club was still registered with the federation as an active dojo, but they stopped attending seminars, tournaments, and even promotional exams.
In 2018, I was jointly enrolled through a unique partnership with A&M and Austin Community College (ACC). I spent most of my time on the ACC campus, but would commute to A&M a couple times a month to train with TKK. I transitioned to the College Station campus for the Spring 2020 semester, which quickly went online following spring break due to the COVID-19 outbreak. The following fall semester, students were allowed back on campus, but there were heavy restrictions that prevented us from practicing as a group. In Spring 2021, some restrictions were lifted, but it was still very difficult to practice and recruit new members.
By the Fall semester of 2021, the executive members of the previous administration had graduated and the new President assigned me as Vice President. We also gained a new treasurer, Joshua Tia. At this point, the club was in bad shape – the previous year’s pandemic made it very difficult to recruit new members, retain current members, and conduct practice. The University lifted COVID policies, but the club had suffered major losses in membership. The three of us worked to rebuild the organization, and conducted as many practices as we could. However, with the sudden increase in student activity, it was difficult to find reservation availability for the rec facilities, and we ended up having inconsistent practice – each week there was a different meeting time. In Spring 2022, some administrative issues led to TKK becoming “unrecognized” by the University as an official student organization. My hands were tied, as I was graduating that semester, so the club was on the verge of collapsing entirely. Thankfully, we were blessed with a new member in the Fall of 2021, Blake Rhame, who had been studying the sword as long as I have. Blake started his journey at a traditional Korean kumdo school in Alabama and learned kendo there as well. He was a year behind me in school, and was able to take the presidential seat, regain university recognition, and help lead the kyokai into a new era.
After graduating in May 2022, I accepted a job in College Station and stayed on as “Coach” for TKK. Josh, Blake, and I were able to make large strides to improve the kyokai and make a lasting impression on the students. Together, we were able to restructure the club, gain lasting members, and install a leadership team with heart, years left at the university, and a growing passion for kendo.
MAYTT: How well-received is kendo at the collegiate level? Do you feel that colleges and universities are the next domain for the way of the sword to enter?
SB: In general, I think it is difficult for kendo to exist at the collegiate level. I’ve never run a private dojo before, so I can’t speak to those difficulties, but university clubs have the distinct disadvantage of only having its members for a few years before they graduate and move. On top of that, kendo naturally has a high attrition rate due to its physical difficulty and intense focus on self-improvement – most people would rather choose the easy path over the rigorous one. Kendo is also not a widely known martial art, so it becomes even more important to actively promote the discipline. That being said, there is a small percentage of students that find everything they are looking for in an extracurricular activity in kendo. But even this small group of passionate young kenshi will ultimately graduate and move on.
University is a time of personal growth and discovery, and many students, whether they know it or not, are looking for a structured path that builds character and capability to better prepare them for moving into adulthood. In most cases, school by itself is not sufficient preparation for facing life’s difficulties. I believe this is where kendo can make the biggest impact in student’s lives. For example, I teach my students that if you can stand in front of someone who truly intends to cut you down, and bear the weight of their sword without wavering, the task of learning how taxes, bills, or insurance work becomes significantly less daunting. That is the value that kendo provides to these young adults. I absolutely believe that the direct effect kendo has on the practitioner’s life outside of the dojo will be a driving force behind the spread and growth of the martial art at college level.
But for kendo to flourish at the college and university level, there are three critical features that have a direct impact on the success of the club:
1. It is crucial to inspire the students enough that they seek out kendo after graduation.
2. It is crucial to find and maintain a passionate student leadership team to run the club and continue its growth.
3. It is crucial to have a consistent external support system that provides guidance and instruction beyond school term lengths to facilitate a smooth transition into the future.
There is also a fourth point that has less to do with the success of a single club, and more to do with the success of kendo on the college scene – that is relationships. I’ve recently had the pleasure of training with Brock Simonton, the Vice President of the University of Texas at Arlington Kendo Club. Brock is an extremely passionate and ambitious individual, who intends to build bonds of kendo through all the university clubs in Texas, and ultimately the nation, through continuous cross dojo training, seminars, and collegiate tournaments. I share Brock’s belief that by building relationships, we will see an immense growth of kendo at the college level.
MAYTT: Who would you consider to be a pioneer or a major player in spreading kendo in Texas and in the Southwest? What sets these individuals apart from their peers?
SB: Every leader in the Southwest does their part to help the kendo community – but I think Shozo Kato Sensei from Shidogakuin NY Shidokan has gone above and beyond in terms of supporting the current and future kendo leaders both in Texas and the US as a whole. I have had the pleasure of attending several seminars led by Kato Sensei and have learned an incredible amount from him in terms of kendo mindset, philosophical principles, instructional methods, and of course, technique.
Though I may be biased, I also believe that Tetsuo Komizu Sensei and Jeff Chen Sensei from Austin Kendo Doshikai have also done great things for the kendo community in Texas. They have recently reinvented the kendo club at the University of Texas at Austin, which had collapsed during the pandemic. Additionally, I believe that the raw, back to the roots, traditional kendo that these sensei teach is a vital part of maintaining the old school principles that built the foundation of kendo as we know it. The individuals that have been forged in the AKD fire have a level of dedication, drive, and character that is uncommon in society. Komizu Sensei and Chen Sensei focus on the development and cultivation of the self, rather than the sporty skill required for winning tournaments. This kind of kendo translates to the practitioner’s everyday life in how they interact with others. In my opinion, these valuable lessons of life are being diluted as kendo spreads – so it is critical that organizations like AKD exist to keep true to the heart of kendo.
These three sensei don’t just teach kendo to the general populace but work to sculpt passionate leaders that will go out and create new avenues for more people to learn kendo. This butterfly effect method is one of the characteristics that makes them strong proponents of kendo.
MAYTT: Absolutely. In speaking with other kenshi, many have emphasized self-cultivation over competition while others asserted that competition is slowly corrupting the art. What are your views on this issue and how has the TAMU Kendo Kyokai tried to balance competition and self-cultivation in its training?
SB: I don’t believe that competition is corrupting the art. I do believe that there are many people who have the wrong mentality when it comes to competition, and that is what threatens the value of kendo. Kendo is meant to be a way of developing good character and a vigorous spirit so that we can associate with others with sincerity, respect, and honor. In this way, we can promote peace and prosperity among peoples and develop a better society. Thus, it is very important to maintain this mentality of true kendo spirit even when you compete. Many practitioners are too focused on wanting to “hit” the target and at the same time fear getting “hit.” This combination voids all efforts to develop discipline, mental fortitude, and spirit, and yields sloppy sport kendo with the singular purpose of beating the other guy rather than beating the self.
At A&M, I stress the importance of doing sincere kendo with the goal of becoming beautiful. It doesn’t matter if you are struck – in receiving a strike from someone else, that person is showing you where you are weak, so that you know how to improve. Thus, it should be with humility and thanksgiving that you receive someone else’s strike. This is difficult and goes against human nature, but it is the necessary mindset for growth. A kenshi should stand tall in front of their opponent to not be crushed by their spiritual pressure, take the initiative, and strike without hesitation. If your spirit is unwavering, your mind focused, and your body disciplined, you will not lose. If you lose, you know with certainty that there is still work to do.
MAYTT: Final question; regarding the future of kendo, where do you think kendo will go in the next ten to fifteen years? How will the art evolve or change in that time period?
SB: The only thing I can say for certain is that it will grow and spread farther across the US. I believe that there are many passionate individuals that will work to increase the geographical influence of kendo. I certainly plan on opening my own dojo one day, if wherever I end up doesn’t already have one. It will be interesting to see how kendo as a martial art will develop, considering it is relatively young in the world of martial arts. What we know of as “modern kendo” is less than 100 years old.
For reference, the idea of practicing kenjutsu with the use of bamboo practice swords and armor developed in the 1700s. During the Meiji Restoration, swords and the practice of kenjutsu were outlawed with the exception of the Battotai (Drawn Sword Corps), a special police group that was created in the late 1870s. The training curriculum of the Battotai was the compilation of Japanese sword arts boiled down to ten kata. This integration of sword styles became the basis of modern kendo. The use of the word “kendo” wasn’t established until 1920 by the Dai Nippon Butoku Kai. Kendo was outlawed by the Allied Forces during the Occupation of Japan (1945-1952). The All Japan Kendo Federation was created in 1952, promoting kendo as part of the Japanese school curriculum. This marked the beginning of “modern kendo.”
The Concept of Kendo was not established until 1975. The next major event was the compilation of the Bokuto-ni-yoru Kendo Kihon-waza Keiko-ho in 2001. From my observation, this set of kata has been slow to propagate in the kendo community. The Southwest Kendo & Iaido Federation (SWKIF) won’t be requiring this kata as part of the testing curriculum until 2024. So, it would seem that major events and developments take around twenty years to occur; the creation of modern kendo (1952), the Concept of Kendo (1975), the creation Bokuto-ni-yoru Kendo Kihon-waza Keiko-ho (2001), and the widespread implementation of this kihon kata taking place now and into the near future.
Of course, these are just my observations, but I think we may be on the verge of rapid population growth in the kendo community. In the next ten to fifteen years, I predict further refinement and structuring of kendo teaching methodologies, and an increasing spread of interest in kendo from young people in universities and even in high school.
An important part of martial arts growth is of course availability of information – most people I have encountered have never even heard of kendo. That is why it is so important that organizations like MAYTT exist to educate society on the amazing world of martial arts. That said, thank you so much for this opportunity to discuss the current state of kendo in the US, Texas, and the Brazos Valley!
MAYTT: You are welcome, Bower Sensei! And thank you for joining us today to talk about kendo!
Martial Arts of Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow 