Harbor Japanese Community Center

It’s a small place but there is kendo, taiko (japanese drumming), japanese language school, ikebana (flower arrangement), judo and a few carnivals throughout the year.

Well, a couple years ago, I decided to get off my fat ass and find something fun to do for a workout.
Running? Nah, did that in high school and was always injured. Swimming? Nah, if God wanted me in water, I’d be like Phelps or a fish. Kendo? Japanese fencing with bamboo swords? Looks like fun!
Half the fun with kendo is the footwork and miai (distance between opponents); get those wrong and you’re fuxor’d…just gave the other guy an easy point. Unlike European-​style fencing where you take turns, in kendo you yell out your attack as soon as you deliver it. So, if I’m going to head shot you, I yell «Men!» real loud as I’m swinging. It’s said to develop a healthy aggressive bushido-​type attitude.
Most of the folks are obviously Japanese and are friendly, in a courteous, quite sort of way. You’ll learn to count to ten very quickly here while doing the stretching and warm up exercises. Sensei likes to light up once in a while (heh, it’s his dojo, you gonna tell him to stop?) but he’s nice enough and stands by the door.
I didn’t take it for very long as, at the time, my work schedule wouldn’t allow it. Now, me being unemployed and needing to get my fat ass back working out, money’s tight. As far as the fees went, you had to be a member of the center and some kendo federation membership, combined was something like $ 60. Lessons were $ 20/​month, which is super affordable. Starting out you just needed a halfway decent shinai, those are about $ 20, and some workout clothes (sweatpants and T-​shirt worked for me). Before I stopped, we just started learning kendo kata, so you’ll need a bokken (the wooden sword) eventually.
Other than my schedule conflicts and current unemployment situation, the center’s not exactly in the most savory neighborhood. When I was leaving one night, I was stopped at a red light on PCH and Santa Fe. Some homeless guy, evidently not of sound mental capacity, decided just to lean on my car and stare at me. I pop my trunk and tell the guy to get the fuck off my car. Guy doesn’t budge. I get my bokken out of the trunk, take a chudan no kamae stance (basically hold the bokken over your head at a 45-​degree angle, but leaves you open to body strikes) and kept dropping F-​bombs and threatening to beat his ass. Lucky for him (and me, b/​c I didn’t wanna beat on a homeless guy) a LBPD unit hung a U-​turn and told me to drop my weapon. Ok, bokken on the ground and I’m still yelling at the homeless guy, but with the local law enforcement there, he bailed.
I recount the situation to the police and they were cool, didn’t site me or anything. They told me to «be more careful» and I asked which was better: thumping the guy a couple times with a stick, like you do, or just running the guy over. That got a couple chuckles out of the guys, so don’t go saying the LBPD officers are completed devoid of a sense of humor.