Katsuo Oda sensei's name

I had been practising iai (the art of drawing the sword) for a few years, until about a year ago I was forced to become negligent due to personal reasons. Nevertheless the knowledge and experience I gained during those wonderful 3 years will always be cherished as a special treasure.

But today I am not going to write about iai. I am going to write about the name of our Japanese sensei (sensei means teacher), Oda Katsuo (iaidou hanshi 8th dan), a man who always reminded me of Obi-wan Kenobi (maybe I suffer from the princess Leia syndrome hehe) . We only get to see him twice a year, when he travels all the way from Japan to Greece in order to enlighten us with his wisdom.

I think that I represent everyone in my school (the furyu dojo) by stating that Oda Katsuo sensei is more than a sensei to me. He is our link to the land of samurai, our (exotic) guide, and to be honest, I always feel like I am stealing a part from his spirit every time I do iai in his presence - a strange sensation which usually gives me the goosebumps.

So what does his name mean, and how do we pronounce it?

His last name is Oda (the Japanese always put the last name in front) and it is stressed on the last (not the first) syllable.

小田 These are the two ideograms used for his name. The first one means small and the second one  rice field. The first one is spelled "oh" and the second one "da". So his last name means "small rice field".

What about the first name? It is written like this: 克夫 and is spelled Katsuo, stressed on the first syllable. Katsu, the first ideogram means "to overcome, to win". The second ideogram is spelled "oh", and it means "man, husband" So his name holds the meaning of a man who wins.

If we put it all together, we have a name that could be interpreted as a Small Rice Field of a Man who Wins.   It's a humble and glorious name at the same time, but I ll leave all further conclusions to the reader's imagination. Thank you for reading this silly little post and...

...may the Force be with you!