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An important concept in the Kongo Zen philosophy of ShorinjiKempo is en, a Japanese term which loosely translates as "fateful connection(s)." ShorinjiKempo is itself a practice method for, among other things, nurturing our connections with other human beings. The links listed on this page show many of the specific connections that our dojo members have to other dojos, teachers and students throughout the world; the construction and maintenance of this page is thus a gyo, or exercise, in ShorinjiKempo.
Color key:
Former branch members
Outside kenshi with whom we have special ties
Other branches with which we have special ties
Branches without websites (not underlined, not links)
Note: 'garbage characters' (文字バケ) may appear in places if your browser is not set up to display Japanese fonts.
Please submit any corrections, additions or queries to the webmaster.
Hiroshi Onaka (branch master):
1. Seinan Gakuin University (西南学院大学) - started ShorinjiKempo in 1978
2. Yamanote Doin in Tokyo under Matsuda Kinichiro-sensei
(山ノ手道院、松田欣一郎先生) - joined after college graduation. It is a small world! Pankaj Rastogi (below), who kick-started the future Seattle branch with Konoya-sensei (below), also practised with Onaka-sensei at Yamanote, as did Michael Eastwood, founding master of the Chicago Branch
3. Yamaguchi Saikyo in Yamaguchi, under Nagata Masaki-sensei (山口西京道院、長田正紀先生)
KG Fukumoto is an OB of the Kanazawa University club.
Andrew Crowder started at Yamasaki Doin in Hyogo prefecture, under Toyotoshi Azuma-sensei.
Colin May (personal webpage) started at Senshuu Byakuren branch in southern Osaka prefecture under Hosokawa-sensei.
Jun Tsuneoka (personal webpage) :
1. Waseda Jitsugyo High School under Terumasa Kanekawa-sensei.
2. Portland, Oregon under Yasunari Tanaka-sensei.
Benni Jönsson is from Sweden's Gothenborg branch.
Adam Sedgley studied at Hinata Mura dojo in Yamagata prefecture under Yokosawa-sensei.
Andrew Freeman trained at Sanuki Miki Branch (now called Sanuki-shi Doin) on Shikoku during his time in Japan on the JET Program.
Andrew Schneiderman transferred to Seattle from the Portland Branch. He connected with the Seattle Branch under the strangest circimstances: while working at SeaTac as a customs officer, he inspected Onaka-sensei as a random sample and discovered the dogi in his checked luggage. Andrew promptly saluted with the gassho-rei to Sensei's great astonishment.
Christian Curtis, a Spokane branch alumnus, is now living in the Seattle area, studying acupuncture at Bastyr University. He spent some years in Japan, training at TopRun Onoenomatsu branch in Kakogawa under Nagano-sensei.
Sadato Konoya, founding master of the Seattle branch, moved away in 2003 and currently resides in suburban Detroit.
Pankaj Rastogi, our defacto co-founder, has founded the Westminster branch in southern California.
Kazuyuki Sato moved to Yakima, WA, from Japan in 2006, and established the Yakima Branch in 2007. Until his branch was established, he was a registered member of the Seattle Branch and joined us for our monthly black belt training sessions, which he still sometimes attends. He first took up Shorinji Kempo at Nishiarai branch in Tokyo, then moved to Adachi branch (also in Tokyo). His main mentor is Motohisa Kuroda-sensei.
Peter Kolb trained with us for a couple of years on loan from Australia's Brisbane branch, leaving us in the summer of 2007.
Aaron Keating studied in Japan at Ueda Doin under instructors Osuga Yoko and Hideyaki Mitsui.
Jeremy Sieg earned his brown belt with us before moving to New York City to begin practicing Chinese medicine (see jeremysieg.com. He attended the New York branch for a short while until the requirements of his new business overtook him.
Roland Hall, our club's erstwhile English contingent, has returned to London and trains at Abbey Centre.
Megumi Shigeyama, who was with us in the early days of our club, trained with the Edinburgh branch in Scotland in 2002.
Ai Munakata, who earned her first (sankyuu) belt with us, has joined Ginza Doin.
Shinya Sakai trained with us in 1998 before returning to Japan and joining the Sanuki Miki Branch, now called Sanuki-shi Doin.
Masaki Nagata, WSKO Instructor and branch master of Yamaguchi Saikyo Doin, led the North American West Coast Training Camp we hosted in 2007.
Joichi Tagami of Ohgaki Doin (大垣道院) in Gifu prefecture has visited us and joined our springtime public demonstration at the Seattle Cherry Blossom Festival most years since 2001. Two of our kenshi, Daniel Willard and Jamie Stevens, visited Ohgaki Doin in 2006.
Andrew Sparks, a veritable Johnny Appleseed of Shorinji Kempo, instructed us and shared great times at our joint training camps with the Spokane banch back when he was their branch master. Nowadays he is branch master in Phoenix, Arizona.
Al Louie, now branch master of Eglinton (outside Toronto), Canada, used to be with the Spokane branch and has dropped in on us as an independent visitor on a couple of occassions.
Akari Rokumoto Eastwood of the Chicago Branch has visited with us a couple of times thanks to family ties to our area.
David Todd of the Alabama Branch visited with us in 2001.
Ben Lagrange of the Davenport Branch, Iowa, visited us in March of 2003 and returned again for the 2007 camp.
Noboru Sasaki of the Chitagatani Doin (千駄ヶ谷道院) in Saitama prefecture visited us in the summer of 2000.
Yoshihisa Kobayashi, a friend of Konoya-sensei and professional chiropractor, is a member of the World ShorinjiKempo Organization headquarters staff. He visited us in 2000.
The Boise Branch is the newest branch in the Northwest. Yokoyama-sensei regularly attends our black belt training sessions.
The Spokane Branch is special to us as the only other ShorinjiKempo branch in our state. We have a history of joint training camps dating back to 1997.
The British Columbia Branches - Vancouver, Coquitlam and UBC - and the Portland Branch round out the Pacific Northwest area, all within a morning's drive of Seattle. As ShorinjiKempo continues to develop here, we will have more and more opportunities to practice together.
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