In Memorium – Sensei Woody Jensen

On Friday night, September 22, 2023, my friend and Sensei, Woodrow “Woody” Jensen, passed away. Here are a few of my memories of “Uncle Woody”, as we affectionately called him.

First Contact – In January of 1975. I had just moved into Downey Hall, one of the dormitories at the University of Wyoming. I looked over the class schedule to decide which classes I would try to get into. In those days, “online” didn’t exist. We had a paper booklet listing all the classes available. We went through the schedule picking the classes we wanted, along with a few alternates. We were given a date and time to enter the class card area, based on our name (alphabetical) and class (Frosh, Soph, Jr, Sr). We would enter the gym at the appointed time and go to each class’s station to collect a computer class card. If the class you wanted was out of cards, you were out of luck. The first station I went to was the Introduction to Karate station. There was still a card available. Great!! I had been trying for over 6 years to find and join a martial arts class. Finally, I was in.

That first class, I felt a combination of excitement, apprehension…fear? Yes, “fear” is a good description. My experience up to that point had taught me that I had no innate talent for fighting. The mere thought of fighting made the adrenalin pump, the sweat to flow and I would become incredibly clumsy. Woody came in wearing his P.E. t-shirt and warm-up pants, introduced himself and explained how the class would run. Then he started teaching, started very basic; how to make a fist. I had no idea there was a specific way to make a fist. I think I ran around for 2 days with my hands in fists, afraid I would not be able to repeat the process. My apprehension about the class was gone. Woody made me very comfortable.

After the second class, I knew that 2 hours a week was not enough. I approached Woody about the possibility of getting more involved, more training. His response blew me away, “You could join our Karate Club”. “You have a Karate Club?!!” I screeched. I was in. Woody had things set up so that it was possible to get a workout in everyday, a habit I still have to this day.

Near the end of that first semester, Woody sponsored a small open tournament at the University. It was then that I learned Woody’s philosophy towards tournaments. We were allowed to compete, but if we did, we had to compete in all events we were qualified for. Back then, that meant Kata (forms) and Kumite (sparring). He had noticed a trend where karateka were starting to specialize in just one of the two facets of competition. Woody wanted us to be well-rounded, complete karateka. He also made it clear that our tournament success or failure would have no effect on our belt rank.

A week or so later, there was another tournament in Cheyenne. Woody took a few of us over to compete. I ended up breaking my big toe. I spent most of the rest of the semester on the sidelines. Very educational, watching my dojo mates practice.

Woody loved having visitors to his classes. He would often invite other instructors into our class, bringing their students with them. He felt it was an important part of our education to have some familiarity with other styles. He would often take some of us to the other instructors’ classes, too. We were so fortunate to have Woody as our Sensei. He was a great role model. I thought the Brotherhood of Martial Artists was a universal thing and conducted myself with that in mind. Years later, in California, I discovered it was not universal.

“Not Very Professional”

One day I stopped in to visit Woody and had not shaved. Woody’s comment? “Not very professional, Rod”. I did not neglect to shave after that. When Covid hit, like many others, I had grown a “Covid beard”. I was Skyping with Woody one day and about 5 minutes into the call Woody asked, “Rod, are you retired?”

In late 1976 or early 1977, Green Belt and broadcasting major Mike Donnell produced a video documenting Sensei Jensen’s University of Wyoming Okinawa-te Karate Club. He basically used Woody’s outline for promotional demonstrations. It paints a pretty clear picture of Woody’s regular classes. Originally recorded on Super 8 film with a separate soundtrack on cassette tape. the video was later digitized, and the soundtrack added. That video is viewable at https://okinawa-te.info/special-videos/ or https://youtu.be/jURJr_SWPkQ

In 1977 at the end of the Spring Semester, Woody sponsored the Wyoming Invitational Karate Tournament. It was his effort to combat the specialization that was becoming prevalent in competition karate. It provided advantages to those who were well-rounded martial artists. There were no prizes for individual events. Everyone had to compete in all three events; Kata, Sparring and a floating event which was determined by random draw. It might be board breaking, bag kicks, Shobu line, Breaklocks, etc. Everyone knew what was on the list of possibilities, but not the specific skill that would be used. The contact rules in sparring, as well as safety equipment, size and shape of the ring, were determined by random draw. Stalling was considered a legal tactic. Your finish in each event provided you with a number of points, one point for first place, two for second, etc. The competitor with the lowest point total was declared the overall winner. If there was a tie in total points, the floating event was re-drawn and used as a tie-breaker.

We did more than Karate. One of Woody’s students was Layne Kopishka, Laramie High’s award-winning swim coach and rock climbing teacher. Woody talked Layne into taking a group of us over to Vedauwoo for a rock climbing lesson. Vedauwoo, located between Laramie and Cheyenne off I-80, is famous as one of the finest training grounds for rock climbers in the world. Tomi-san and I took several trips up to Vedauwoo with Woody and Layne. It was a good time. Woody and Layne enjoyed climbing Devil’s Tower. When Layne passed on, Woody took his ashes to the top of Devil’s Tower.

Woody finished his PhD and headed to South Dakota. I did not have much contact with him after that, until we reconnected several years later and maintained that connection ever since. Woody was my teacher and my friend. He made a major impact on my life and serves as a model of the ideal man. He will always be remembered.