{"id":2946,"date":"2026-06-23T11:08:40","date_gmt":"2026-06-23T02:08:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/budobooks.jp\/?p=2946"},"modified":"2026-06-23T11:08:41","modified_gmt":"2026-06-23T02:08:41","slug":"budo-beat-64-skin-in-the-game-people-people-people","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/budobooks.jp\/?p=2946","title":{"rendered":"Budo Beat 64: Skin in the Game – People, People, People"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The \u201cBudo Beat\u201d Blog features a collection of short reflections, musings, and anecdotes on a wide range of budo topics by Professor\u00a0Alex Bennett<\/a>, a seasoned budo scholar and practitioner. Dive into digestible and diverse discussions on all things budo\u2014from the philosophy and history to the practice and culture that shape the martial Way.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The other day I found myself at Gakush\u016bin University in Tokyo filming an interview with Akiyoshi-sensei of the university\u2019s Shorinji Kempo club for a new Nippon Budokan video series. Shorinji Kempo is something I have experienced a number of times at the annual International Budo Seminar, but not even enough to scratch the surface. What I expected was a fairly standard university budo club visit, but what I encountered left me thinking about something that has as much to do with Shorinji Kempo as it does with modern life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first thing that struck me was the number of women in the club. They made up the clear majority of the 40 or so members present. In my university days, budo clubs (except for naginata) were overwhelmingly male. How times have changed! The second thing I noticed was that many of them were beginners. Apparently, the intake of first-year students in April\/May this year numbered around 20. It was a sudden influx, enough to stretch the club\u2019s resources to the point where there weren\u2019t enough white belts to go around, and many had to use higher-ranked green belts instead. An enviable problem, and one that most budo clubs would gladly have.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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More than anything, however, what caught my attention was the atmosphere. The students looked as though they genuinely wanted to be there. There was plenty of laughter, plenty of conversation, and none of the strained seriousness that sometimes descends on university budo clubs when everyone starts trying a little too hard to look serious.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Watching the training, I wondered if part of the appeal lay in something much simpler than martial arts. Most of these students belong to what we might call the \u201cCorona generation\u201d. Their years at junior and senior high school were shaped by masks, social distancing, online classes, cancelled events, and the strange experience of being surrounded by people while simultaneously being told not to get too close to them. Yet here they were in the \u2018post-Covid\u2019 era enthusiastically participating in an activity built around direct physical interaction. It was almost like they were trying to catch up for lost time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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