about us

About us...

Ohio Budōkan, Inc. is a center for the practice of Budō and Japanese cultural arts. Instruction is offered in Tenshin-Ryū Kenjutsu, Yamate-Ryū Aikijutsu, and Genwakai Karate-dō. In each of these arts a student strives for enlightenment through a strict series of physical and mental exercises. Although the arts may seem very different to an outsider, they lead to the same goal. Instruction is also offered in other Japanese disciplines including, Shodō (calligraphy), Chadō (tea ceremony), and Nihongō (Japanese Language). Additional activities such as Kantei (Japanese sword evaluation) are available by appointment only.

New Students are allowed to train in more than one of the arts we practice, if approved by the Sensei (teacher). For most individuals attaining the rank of Shodan (first degree black belt) requires approximately 1,000 hours of training over the course of about three years. All students are encouraged to participate in "open mat" training periods, special seminars, and social occasions.

The founder and chief instructor of Ohio Budōkan, Mr. James Rodriguez, has trained in martial arts since 1973, taught since 1977, and been awarded teaching licenses in kenjutsu, aikijutsu, and Karate-dō.

The Ohio Budōkan is located at 601 East Fifth Street (near the corner of Fifth & Wayne) in the Historical Oregon District. The Ohio Budōkan can be contacted via phone at: 937-443-0800 Or via the email addresses below - please note that the addresses below are 'munged' to avoid excess spam. To contact us via email - replace (at) with the @ symbol, and (dot) with . to create working email addresses.

James Rodriguez, Kancho: kancho(at)ohiobudokan(dot)org

Brad Adams, Sempai: shiki-san(at)ohiobudokan(dot)org