The First African American Samurai
by
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In 1954, when nineteen-year-old John Womble left a racially segregated United States of America as a para-ranger for the US Army to be stationed at Camp Wood in Kumamoto, Japan, the American perception of Japanese culture had been severely affected by the anti-Japanese propaganda that had taken over the country a decade prior, during World War II. The Japanese people had been portrayed as savages, “mere prints off the same photographic negative, devoid of individuality,” unable to think for themselves as they mindlessly obeyed Emperor Hirohito; their popular Samurai class as nothing more than disciplined killers.
However, when the young Black soldier began his life in the country of the Rising Sun, he didn’t meet the same violent and dehumanized people that the anti-Japanese propaganda had tried hard to sell—much like he himself didn’t fit the stereotypical representation of the dangerous, illiterate, and immature Black man that many American corporations of the time depicted through their ridicule of Black people’s appearance and behavior, plastering the caricatures on everything from cereal boxes to detergent to wall hangings.
Instead, the young soldier found a country with longstanding traditions, a sense of pride that dated back centuries, and a history that highlighted the importance of the country’s core values. He witnessed firsthand where part of Japan’s pride came from when he attended a boxing match between a Black boxer—who had travelled all the way from the United States—and a Japanese karate expert.
At the time, boxing was source of great pride for African Americans as it was one of the very first sports to be desegregated and turn African Americans into boxing legends, both at home and abroad. First among them, Joe Louis distinguished himself when, in 1938, he defeated Max Schmeling, boxing champion of Nazi Germany. After losing the first match, which lasted twelve rounds, Louis knocked Schmeling out in one round, in the second match. Prompting white America to cheer for a man who had clearly defied and broken racial barriers under Jim Crow laws. Louis’s undisputed victory over Germany’s symbol of Aryan supremacy convinced white Americans to see him as a national hero and symbol of American democracy, as opposed to classifying him as a dangerous, uncontrollable Black American. At the beginning of his career, his managers had instructed Louis to please white America by not “gloat[ing] over opponents. He could not be seen in public with white women. He had to be seen as a Bible-reading, mother-loving, God-fearing individual, and not to be ‘too black’.” In 1951 Joe Lewis put on an impressive display of his skills during several exhibitions in Japan.
After being impressed even more by Lewis, he was sure that his hometown boxer would defeat his opponent in a few rounds. He thought to himself, this is going to be a slam dunk and should win against the five-foot tall Japanese martial artist in no time. Womble couldn’t believe his eyes when he witnessed the Japanese combatant evade punches for several rounds and finally end the contest with a single blow to the abdomen.
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About the Book
When John Womble, a young US Army Ranger, arrived at his posting at Camp Wood in Kumamoto, Japan, in 1954, his perception of Japan and its people had been molded by the post-WWII racially charged portrayals of the Land of the Rising Sun in American media. However, he quickly realized that the way American media had portrayed them was not the truth—just like the stereotypical and racist depictions of Black Americans never mirrored reality.
Interested in learning more about the country and its traditions, Womble often ventured outside the base and into the small city, which housed a striking 400-year-old castle that had been the battleground of the great feudal lords of ancient Japan. Drawn more and more into Japanese history and culture, he took the time to learn the language and code of ethics. One day, he attended a boxing match where he witnessed
a Samurai quickly knock out an American boxer. That’s when his life changed forever.
Determined to become a Samurai, he was selected to attend the prestigious School of Samurai, where the training was rigorous. So rigorous in fact, that most students quit. But not Womble. He trained hard physically, handled the mental and emotional toll that the discipline imposed upon him, and eventually succeeded in becoming a Samurai. After being discharged from the military, Womble went back home no longer as the naïve teenager who left, but as the first African American Samurai.
He committed his life to using his Samurai training to serve his community, helping inner-city youth to strive despite all the difficulties they faced, from poverty and gun violence to racism and lack of opportunities. This book, written by one of his students, is the ultimate testament to the long-lasting legacy and impact he had on those lucky enough to call him sensei.
About the Author
The main themes explored in my biography will resonate with those interested in the perspectives of marginalized identities as well as cultural criticism. Standing at around 50,000 words, my book caters to readers of Thomas Lockley and Geoffrey Girard’s African Samurai and Gerald Horne’s Facing the Rising Sun. With a strong historical background, The First African American Samurai tells the story of how Dr. John J. Womble, Sr., a young Black man who left the racially segregated United States of America, found his identity as a Samurai in Japan.
“Loyalty, honor, and sacrifice are the three most important values in every Samurai,” Womble taught students who attended his dōjō in Washington, D.C. His wasn’t just another martial arts school. It was a place where students learned about the mindset, emotional intelligence, and spiritual fortitude that it takes to be a Samurai. Womble had modeled his dōjō after the School of Samurai he attended as a young man in Japan, where he had been stationed with the US Army. In Japan, he found freedom, purpose, and character. Through relentless hard work, strict discipline, and deep meditation, Womble went from being just another man in uniform to being the first African American Samurai. But will he be able to reconcile his newfound identity with his past in a de facto segregated United States of America?
Tyrone R. Aiken is a fifth-degree black belt in Kenpo Bujutsu. In line with the footsteps of his sensei, Dr. Womble, he taught karate, yoga and self-defense to federal coworkers, Karate at the Boys and Girls Club in Martinsburg, WV, and Kenpo Karate at the Northeast Community Center in Chesapeake Beach, Maryland. He is a Brookings Institution LEGIS Fellow, and authored articles published in the Project Management Institute (PM Network), Washington Post, Washington Times, and Federal Times. He received the federal government’s second highest honor, a silver medal for diversity, and the GWU impact award for excellence and exceptional leadership. He is the president of the Japanese Kenpo Bujutsu Ryu USA ( JKBR-USA) a 501 (c) (3) non-profit corporation.