In his younger days many people would challenge my father to "kake-dameshi" (challenge mach, or exchange of techniques) after they heard that he was practicing "te". He accepted these challenges and would choose a quiet corner of the town for the match. Each contestant would bring a second. There were no special dojo's like there are today.

We used to train and fight on open ground. There were no street lights, so after dark we used lanterns during the challenges. In this dim light, the contestant fought, and then after a period the seconds would intervene and stop the fight.

They would then declare who would be the winner and who needed more training. Such challenges were often made to my father, and he frequently acted as a second to others. He pointed out though, that people might easily get the wrong impression from these events.

Kenei Mabuni

Courtesy Sensei A. Tanzadeh

Kenei Mabuni at the age of 13

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