清華 “Seika”
Amanda Charrier de Assis
忍虎 “Oshi Take”
Kenneth Letendre
清華
Dojocho Amanda Charrier de Assis (martial name 清華 “Seika”) began training in 1996. She initially met Manaka Sensei at the very first Jinenkan seminar, which was held in the spring of 1997. Impressed with the attention to detail and respect given to proper fundamental movements, she shortly thereafter joined the Jinenkan.
She took trips to Japan to train with Manaka Sensei in the years prior to his announcement that he would be moving to America to live and teach for a time, and she was extremely fortunate to already be living in Baltimore when Manaka Sensei announced that this was the very city he had chosen to make his home for the duration of his time spent living and teaching in America. So from April of 2001 to May of 2004 she had the great fortune to live less than 10 miles from the Honbu Dojo and Manaka Sensei. Since Manaka Sensei has returned to Japan she has continued to travel there to train with him, as well as to locations around America and Europe when he was still teaching abroad.
She received her dojocho license in March of 2004, just two months before Manaka Sensei returned to Japan. She was the first person ever to be awarded menkyo kaiden in any Jinen Ryu lineage (Jinen Ryu Tantojutsu, April 2013). Since then she has attained the rank of nanadan, and has been awarded menkyo kaiden in the entire Jinen Ryu (including Jinen Ryu Bikenjutsu, Jinen Ryu Nitojutsu, Jinen Ryu Kusarifundojutsu, Jinen Ryu Juttejutsu, and Jinen Ryu Tessenjutsu).
She holds a PhD in geology and is currently living and teaching in Baltimore after having lived for over two years in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where she also studied capoeira, the Portuguese language, and Brazilian culture.
忍虎
Dojocho Kenneth Letendre (martial name 忍虎 “Oshi Take”) began training in Japanese martial arts in 1996. He first met Manaka Sensei on a trip to Japan in 1999, when he visited the Honbu Dojo in Noda. He was fortunate enough to be living in Baltimore when Manaka Sensei temporarily relocated the Honbu Dojo here from 2001 to 2004 and many excellent martial artists were visiting or moving to Baltimore to train with him.
In 2005, Kenneth moved to New Mexico to study the biological origins and psychology of warfare. He formed a small training group in Albuquerque and continued to travel to train with Jinenkan instructors around the country, and to seminars around the US and abroad. After completing his graduate studies and postdoctoral work in 2015, he moved back to Maryland and began training regularly again with the Baltimore Ryusui Dojo.
He was chosen by Dojocho Seika to lead the Baltimore Ryusui Dojo in her absence during the years that she was living in Brazil. Kenneth attained the rank of sandan (third dan) and received his official teaching license in January, 2019. Since the return of Dojocho Seika to Baltimore they have together been guiding the students and sharing teaching responsibilities at the dojo.
For information on Jinenkan training or how to become a Jinenkan member, please send email to info@ryusuidojo.com