Torrance Sensei

Christopher Yang Christopher Yang Sensei holds a 7th Degree Black Belt and has been practicing kendo for over 38 years. As Head Instructor of the Torrance Kendo Dojo, Yang Sensei has built the dojo into one of the largest and most recognized Kendo dojos in the United States. Yang Sensei has taught hundreds of students from ages six to over sixty years old, and has developed many students who have gone on to succeed on the regional, national and international stage. In fact, many of his students at Torrance Kendo Dojo have become U.S. National Champions, and currently six members of the U.S. National Kendo Team are students training at Torrance Kendo Dojo. Yang Sensei started kendo at the age of eight at the Torrance Kendo Dojo, and has gone on to study and train at many of the top Kendo institutions around the world, including the University of Tsukuba and the Tokyo Metropolitan Police. His experience teaching kendo has contributed to Torrance Kendo Dojo having over 20 active instructors teaching at the dojo every week, including 4 U.S. National Champions and 14 current and former members of the U.S. National Kendo Team. Until recently, Yang Sensei was also very active in competition, representing the U.S. National Kendo Team in the World Kendo Championships from 1997 through 2015, and as the U.S. Captain from 2006-2015. During this time, he led the United States Team to Silver Medal finishes twice (2006, 2009) and the Bronze Medal three times (2003, 2012, 2015), and placed individually in the Top 8 of the World Kendo Championships in 2000 and 2003. Yang Sensei is also a former U.S. National Kendo Champion (2005). Yang Sensei believes that Kendo teaches students the mental focus and inner discipline needed to succeed not only in Kendo, but in life as well. He is a strong believer of balancing Kendo with school or work obligations, and encourages his students to succeed in the classroom as well as the Dojo. Yang Sensei holds a B.A. from the University of California, Berkeley, and a Juris Doctor from Georgetown University Law Center, and is currently the Group Vice President of Business Development and Deputy General Counsel at Toyota Motor North America.

Song Yi Yang Song Sensei holds a 7th Degree Black Belt and is one of the highest ranking women kendo practitioners in the United States. Song Sensei has been practicing Kendo for over 36 years, and started practicing Kendo in her native country of Korea. Song Sensei trained under one of the most famous kendo teachers in Korea, Chun Young Sul sensei. As a college student, Song Sensei represented Korea at the 11th World Kendo Championships (2000), and went on to Captain the Korean National Team at the 13th World Kendo Championships (2006), where Korea won the Silver Medal in the Team Championships. After moving to the United States, Song Sensei coached the United States Women’s National Team in 2009 and 2012, and was the United States National Women’s Kendo Champion in 2008. Song Sensei graduated from Ewha Womens University in Seoul, Korea, with a degree in Sports Science. Song Sensei is currently the Coach of the U.S. Women's National Kendo Team. Song Sensei is the proud mother of a 11-year old son who also practices kendo. In 2016, Song Sensei was the first woman in the United States to ever pass the 7th Degree Black Belt Kendo examination, making her the highest ranking woman Kendo Sensei in the United States at the time. She strongly encourages both women and children of all ages to learn kendo, and hopes to teach as many students as she can at the Torrance Kendo Dojo.