About our Chief Instructor
Shozo Kato-Sensei
8th dan Kyoshi Kendo, 7th dan Kyoshi IaidoShozo Kato has been practicing kendo and iaido for more than 45 years. He served as head coach for the U.S. national kendo team for the 10th World Kendo Championships in Kyoto, Japan, in 1997 and again for the 11th World Championships in Santa Clara, California, USA, in 2000. In 2012 he served as team manager for the U.S. national kendo team for the 15th World Kendo Championships in Novara, Italy. He performed the enbu in the 8th Dan division and served as shinpan at the World Combat Games in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia in October 2023.
He was selected by the International Kendo Federation (FIK) as one of the judges for the following events:
- The 13th World Kendo Championships, 2006, Taipei, Taiwan
- The 14th World Kendo Championships, 2009, Sao Paulo, Brazil
- The 1st Combat Games, 2010, Beijing, China
- The 2nd Combat Games, 2013, St. Petersburg, Russia
- The 17th World Kendo Championships, 2018, Inchon South Korea
- The 19th World Kendo Championships, 2024, Milan, Italy
Shozo Kato was born in Hiroshima Prefecture and he moved to the United States in 1982 to study at the Pratt Institute of Art. He currently operates his own photography studio, Shozo Photo-Art Studio. He is the founder and head instructor of Shidogakuin, which is based in New York City and has affiliated dojos in New Jersey, Washington, D.C., Connecticut, and Florida.
New York City now has its own hometown virtuoso in the swordsmanship of the samurai.
At 54 Shozo Kato became the third person from outside of Japan to pass the notoriously difficult exam for eighth dan in kendo - the highest rank in the martial art of Japanese fencing.
The pass rate is about 1%, earning it the reputation of being the toughest test in Japan.
"I feel the real training for eighth dan is just now beginning," said Kato, a fine-art photographer by day who has been teaching kendo at the Shidogakuin dojo in Manhattan for some 25 years.
Shu-Ha-Ri — My Philosophy of Kendo
守破離 — Shu, Ha, Ri
Learn the form. Understand the form. Transcend the form.
Shu-Ha-Ri is a traditional Japanese concept describing the lifelong process of learning, growth, and mastery. For me, it is more than a method of training. It is one of the fundamental principles through which I understand Kendo, teaching, and the pursuit of any art.
Shu — 守 — To Preserve
At the beginning, we must learn to follow.
We listen to our teachers, study the fundamentals, and repeat what we have been taught with patience and sincerity. Before seeking individuality, we must first build a strong foundation.
This stage is sometimes the most difficult because we naturally want to find our own way. But without understanding the fundamentals deeply, what appears to be originality may simply be a departure from principles we have not yet understood.
In Kendo, as in life, freedom begins with discipline.
Ha — 破 — To Break
Once the fundamentals have become part of us, we begin to question, explore, and understand why they work.
We learn from different teachers and experiences. We examine what we have received, adapt it, and gradually discover what is appropriate for ourselves.
To “break” does not mean to reject what we were taught. It means to understand it deeply enough that we are no longer merely imitating it.
Technique begins to become understanding.
Ri — 離 — To Transcend
Eventually, we move beyond conscious imitation and deliberate application.
What we have learned has become part of us. Technique becomes natural, and our Kendo begins to express our own character, experience, and understanding.
But Ri does not mean abandoning the fundamentals.
The deeper our understanding becomes, the more clearly we recognize their importance.
When we encounter a wall in our training, we return to the beginning. We examine our basics again, now with different eyes and greater experience.
And so, after Ri, we return once again to Shu.
Shu → Ha → Ri → Shu
This is not a straight path with an end.
It is a circle.
Each time we return to the fundamentals, we return as a different person. What once seemed simple reveals another level of meaning. We learn again, question again, transcend again—and continue the process throughout our lives.
This is how I understand the pursuit of Kendo.
We should not rush to become original.
We should first learn sincerely.
We should not remain trapped in imitation.
We should learn to understand.
And even when we develop our own Kendo, we should never forget where it began.
The higher we climb, the more deeply we must understand the foundation beneath us.
For me, this is the meaning of Shu-Ha-Ri—and the meaning of lifelong practice.