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SM: But in other activities, well, they had these kendo and judo and things like that. We even had a Boy Scout troop there at the Buddhist church.

TI: And so were these things that you all participated in, like Boy Scouts?

SM: Yeah, I did most everything. But judo was my favorite, you know, or I was better at it, so naturally...

TI: And so when you did tournaments and things like that, were you pretty good at that?

SM: Yeah, yeah. We used to, every, twice a year, we used to have a tournament in Japanese, J-town. And all the people from around the area, from all over southern California used to come together, have tournaments there. Team tournaments and individual tournaments.

TI: Wow, so there would be hundreds, or how many people? It must have been a large gathering.

SM: Oh, yeah, it was quite a few people.

TI: And so in your, kind of your bracket, your age group, how many would be competing, did you compete against?

SM: Well, see, each community used to send a team. The Yonen, which is the young, under twelve, twelve and under, and then the middle group, which was seventeen and under. And then the elder group, eighteen and over.

TI: And so like in each group, though, like how many, like the under twelve group, how many would your...

SM: Well, in the team, there used to be five. And they used to have substitute besides that, but each team had five members. And they used to compete against different group, and if you're eliminated, then they go on to the final and you win the division.

TI: And so when you were doing teams, so you have five members. Did you have like a number one seed, a number two seed, like that, or did they just... like how did they determine who you would go against?

SM: Well, before, they used to have, when you had the one strong guy, they can take all of 'em down. But then they said that wasn't fair, so they used to, you know, pair each one against, and then the one that won the most won the tournament.

TI: And so in your group, were you one of the five that would be on the...

SM: Yeah.

TI: And then in general, how were you rated in that five? Were you one of the stronger...

SM: Well, I was usually around the top end of the group.

TI: And how would you do against all of the other teams then?

SM: We did pretty good.

TI: Okay. Well, I heard you're very good, so that's why I'm asking all these questions. [Laughs] I had to bring this out, because you probably wouldn't tell me how good you were. Good, okay. Well, that sounds exciting. That must have been a pretty big event for the whole...

SM: Well, yeah. And then like Terminal Island, you go down to L.A., it was a big thing twice a year. We used to go down there and had a good time. [Laughs]

TI: So when you think back, were there some... oh, what's a good question, like rivals or key competitors that you always had to fight and you always thought about?

SM: Yeah. There is quite a few people.

TI: So who was, like your toughest opponent that you always kind of dreaded to go against?

SM: Well...

TI: Or enjoyed to go against, maybe.

SM: There were a couple of guys that, you know, I didn't get a chance to compete against.

SM: You did not get a chance?

SM: Yeah. You know, there were a couple of them that were in our, in the same age group, and they were considered pretty good, but I never came across in competition with them.

TI: And it seems like you regret that. You wanted to go against them.

SM: Yeah, yeah, I would have wanted to.

TI: It sounds fun; it sounds interesting.

<End Segment 4> - Copyright © 2009 Densho. All Rights Reserved.