A Modern Swordsman
(appeared in The Idaho State Journal – February 2007)
You might recognize Jonathan Byrd as a jazz guitarist who plays at the Bistro, BJ’s Bayou, or Vino Rosso. You may even know him as one of the instructors at ISU’s College of Technology, in Computer Software Development. But one of the most interesting things about Byrd is perhaps the least well-known. He’s in charge of the Pocatello Kendo Club. Kendo, most simply defined as the Japanese form of fencing, can be a difficult sport to learn for sheer lack of availability. While dojos (practice halls) for Kendo can be found in major cities like Seattle, Los Angeles, Chicago or Detroit, it’s rare to find instruction in smaller cities and rural areas. Yet Byrd, who’s been teaching Kendo for over a decade, admits, “I don’t look at myself as a teacher. My role is to show people what I know so far.” Though that attitude may seem overly modest, Byrd points out that his rank of 3rd dan anywhere else would make him just a senior student, not the teacher. (While the traditional belts used to identify rank in other martial arts are not worn in Kendo, the ranking system is the same; “dan” denotes a black-belt level of skill and the higher the number, the higher the rank.) Officially, instructors must hold the rank of 4th dan to teach; exceptions are made in such cases where no higher ranking persons can be found.
Born in Hollywood, Florida, Byrd moved to Price, Utah when he was still in elementary school. He attended the University of Utah in Salt Lake City where he got his bachelor’s in Biology and his master’s in Medical Informatics. While at U of U he also studied Karate. “When I was a kid, martial arts instruction wasn’t readily available,” Byrd says, and his dedication to Karate saw him through his black belt promotion and into teaching. In time he developed an interest in Kendo, particularly when, he says, “I was taking a serious beating in Karate.” Byrd, like many martial arts students, hoped to find a sport he could study without risking serious injury. He was also interested in Kendo’s rich history and the fact that “it’s evolved along such a narrow lineage” – the sport hasn’t changed since people stopped fighting with swords. “It’s a very Japanese sort of thing,” he adds, “Japan is known for the sword, where America is known for the gun.” His Karate instructor introduced him to Ken Takeno. Takeno, then 72, had retired following a heart attack, but agreed to teach Kendo. “I went in with all these vague ideas,” says Byrd, “and they were really wrong.” Like most people, he had seen swordplay in the movies and on television but says he learned that real sword combat is very different. “The pay-off doesn’t come for a long time,” Byrd explains. “Especially if you’re just in it to hit people.”
He starting studying with Takeno in 1988, and their group grew to 15 students. Even before reaching his 1st dan rank, Byrd was helping teach class. Upon Takeno’s death in 1993, Byrd took over the instruction of the class. “Teaching is not something I wanted to do,” he says, adding that besides lacking the rank, he knew that teaching would slow his own progress as a student. But with no one to hand the responsibility to, Byrd kept teaching. When he moved to Pocatello in 1995, he found three other students to practice with but still found himself in the instructor’s role. It wasn’t until a trip to Boise in 2000 that he began to affiliate with Pacific Northwest Kendo Federation (PNKF). There he met a Sensei from the Seattle area – Mr. Shinichi Koike. Koike, a 7th dan, is one of the highest ranking Kendo players in the nation. Byrd’s wife, Michelle, was so impressed with Koike that she decided to begin studying Kendo herself. And Byrd, after taking part in so strenuous a workshop with such dedicated players, “came away from the experience knowing it was time to get serious or quit.” He didn’t quit. He listed Kendo practices with Community Education to recruit new students and before long had Koike coming from Seattle to do workshops. Koike serves as the sponsor for the Pocatello Kendo Club until Byrd reaches the necessary rank to teach with full autonomy. Aside from giving the club support and workshop instruction, Koike takes time to work one-on-one with Byrd whenever possible. During a recent trip to Seattle, Koike took the time after a promotion exam to help him fine-tune a few points in the opening exercises for class.
“Kendo’s the kind of art that depends on what you can do physically, mentally, and creatively,” says Byrd, “but if you have the right attitude, you can persevere and your natural ability to learn will get you through.” A student of Kendo’s history as much as the sport itself, Byrd explains that in Japan, swordsmanship came to be revered not as a method of killing, but establishing order. He says the samurai were respected not for their fighting skills but for their sense of discipline. The importance of self-control, he says, is a huge part of studying any martial art and so is developing a connection to your opponent. “The key is acknowledging that it isn’t about something as petty as ‘me vs. you.’ Kendo isn’t about fighting. It’s about understanding.”
###