Taneda Karate Dojo

The Daily Sun – Body & Soul, July 19, 2009

by Tara Miller

Movies show martial arts in such a vivid, dynamic and sometimes brutal way that it’s not surprising if there are some of us that have only had exposure to the traditions of karate through those forms of media. My level of exposure had been limited to movies showing strict training, a lot of yelling, and massive bloody brutality. And while I admit that I appreciated the entertainment value of it I had never taken a class or watched a real one in progress. My witness at the Taneda Karate Dojo in Westbank for one of their summer classes gave me a fresh perspective and respect for the training.

Sensei Chris Taneda

Taneda Karate Dojo’s website shows the slogan “Traditional karate for an evolving society.” It couldn’t be a more accurate description of the training not just in karate but in life preparation that goes on at the Taneda dojos throughout the Okanagan. Owned by Sensei Chris Taneda, a 7^th Degree Black Belt, he has the title of Kyoshi which translated from Japanese to “professor or philosophy” or a “polished teacher”. Training in karate for the past 35 years, Taneda has won pretigious awards and international recognition for not only personal competition but also that of his students.

Born in Kelowna, his father born in Westbank behind Paynter’s market, Taneda is pure Okanagan. He started training in karate in his last year of high school and continued, competing around the world, representing Canada, winning medals well into his 40s. The reputation and 28 years of serving the Okanagan is something that makes them look good on paper, and your first choice out of the yellow pages, but Taneda Karate is much more than that.

Whatever questions I had for Chris Taneda soon lost forefront in my mind after I observed his students entering class. I watched how his students bowed to their Sensei when entering or leaving the room – every time. I watched how they brought their own rags to wash the floor in straight lines, one after another. I watched how they acknowledged each other at every age and level of belt with the same bow of respect. I found the entire thing fascinating.

Taneda explains the activities as preparation for training. “Students take of their shoes and line them up outside the door, the bow as they enter the room not just to show respect but as a way of stopping them from whatever they did before they got there and showing a human acknowledgment. Some people think it’s just a Japanese tradition but there’s a purpose to it. Cleaning the floor that way is a way of cleansing and preparing for training – and it’s actually a good workout too!”

Taneda starts the class on his knees, his students in lines behind him in the same posture. Whatever directives that are given are in Japanese followed by a long gap of stillness and silence. There’s a reverence that falls on the room and it feels like a different world. One with values that seem so contradictory to what we observe outside those doors.

“I don’t use the word meditation because that means different things to different people but the quiet time we have is to prepare for training. Especially with children, when they learn how to be still in that posture for quiet time it actually balances the left and ride sides of their brain so that they learn better.”

Taneda explains how 7-9 year olds learn to sit still, using their breathing and posture to find the ‘switch’, the switch that puts you into the kind of focus you would need if you were under attack and needed to fight. Children can start training at Taneda’s dojo at age 7 when he feels they are at the right age to really be able to focus and learn and absorb the training.

The benefits of karate training go for anybody. Physical fitness is a given, two men I talked to in the class had lost 15 and 30 pounds respectively just from the fitness component alone. What is more intriguing is the universal accolades given to its ability to increase mental focus, improve self esteem, confidence, and respect for others and self. The life benefits are resounding. The self defense aspect seems lost in my awe of the practice and yet it wouldn’t be karate without it, and I wondered why everyone hasn’t learned karate for just the simple benefit of being able to defend yourself, let alone every other inherent positive quality.

“Parents often see a change in their children. Children need boundaries and borders, they’ll test the edges to know where the parameters are. Sometimes children are not given boundaries, when they are here, there are boundaries and once they know them, they love them. It’s so impressive to see a class of 30 kids all behaving and listening. Our dojo is a family. Everyone sees you on a bad hair day when you’re all sweaty – it’s a team experience. We are here to just point them in the right path as we see them come through different levels.”

Where some dojos find they lose a lot of children during the teen years after they’ve been training for a while, Taneda says that they haven’t witnessed that. “As they grow you treat them differently. It’s mutual respect – here everyone is the same. If you expect that you will lose your teenagers then you will.”

Parents at the dojo all said the same thing – they had witnessed confidence, self esteem, focus, increased physical fitness, self control…but respect being the quality most reported. Respect for themselves first and respect for others across the board regardless of age, belt colour, or experience. It’s a quality of humanity that often seems lost in the shuffle and in the world of Taneda Dojos, it seems an essential one that’s infused back in.

More than any other feature of the dojo is the warmth and sense of family. Taneda has an enthusiasm for the people that have come through his dojo, his family, making him a man of many stories, and relevant metaphors. His mannerisms are quiet, friendly, engaging and as my friend told me, he has a presence that envelops your full attention. He would prefer to talk about the stories of people who are so scattered and diverse and yet have the dojo as a connecting point with his dojo and their experience there than talk about himself or his own life. His satisfaction seems not in what he has accomplished at all, a level of humility exudes from him that is more satisfied by how people’s time at the dojo with him has been a positive element in their lives, for the rest of their lives.

A former student that wrote a book inspired by his training at the dojo wrote Taneda a letter saying “He who gives the bouquet has scent on his hands”. Taneda’s stories are less about training and technique and far more an example of the scent on his hands from the people that have weaved the dojo training into their lives.

Taneda calls this phenomenon circular. It all comes back to the same place of commonality. The dojo is not only family, it brings families. Many of his students that had trained and then left training for a while have now come back to restart training with their children. In most sports parents do not train with their children – here families train side by side and Taneda says a level of respect within the family even occurs. “It’s circular, It all comes back to here.”

“We’re so fortunate – we’ve attracted people of a certain nature – they like something that we’re doing that fits into their life. It’s balanced athletics and academics. Our students are smart, are nice people, with good character that excel in life.” He calls them smarty pants actually. It’s well roundedness that adds to their world class standards of karate. At the same time, it’s not all warm and fuzzy. Students that compete in events train seriously around the world are top of their class. They recently attended the world championship in Norway where every competitor came back with a medal. His students won in four out of five of the top class categories with the host country of the games only taking home one medal where Taneda’s totaled over 40.

Traditional karate training is for anyone and everyone, says Taneda. Seemingly teaching skills and qualities that in addition to self defense can enrich a life, the training does bring essential qualities for this evolving society from a safe place of family.

The Daily Sun – Body & Soul, July 19, 2009 – KELOWNA