03/31/2026
FOR over twenty years, Higuchi sensei and I taught thousands of students the magical techniques of jūdō, kendō, iaidō, ninjutsu, taihojutsu, jūjutsu, and other lesser-known arts of Nihon Būdō and Būjutsu, Japan's Martial Way and Art. I recall, with amusement, the regular calls we received from prospective students who expressed interest in training but felt they had become too old for this challenge. When I asked their age, I was astonished to hear them utter 17 or 22, as if they were already too feeble to begin training! Hmmm, so what’s the best age to start martial arts training?
WHY can Master Higuchi, at 88, as well as many other elderly Japanese martial artists, still challenge their bodies daily? I'm not a gerontologist, not a highly paid personal trainer, nor a geriatric doctor, but here's my two cents (now fifty cents with inflation). In Japan, lifetime devotees of Būdō often begin training at an early age. Higuchi sensei's long training journey began with jūdō at the age of 7. His uncle gifted him an old, tattered jūdōgi (uniform, usually just called a gi). The young Tetsuya was grateful to receive it, even though it was clearly too big for him.
B/W photo on left: Practicing his favorite throw, Sensei throws me with Taiotoshi (Body Drop), a fast and powerful throw, often combined with Ouchigari (Major Inner Reaping), Haraigoshi (Sweeping Hip Throw), or Uchimata (Inner Thigh Throw). Photo taken in 1985 at our first dōjō in Mentor, Ohio.
Photo on right: Another Taiotoshi, taken almost 20 years later at our Willoughby, Ohio location. Even with a sore back from a car accident back then, Sensei had no trouble throwing the much larger Laurent, a skilled student from Paris, France.
