THE PROVING GROUND:
THE NEW JAPAN DOJO
By Jasmine Olan
It’s one of the toughest training grounds in all of professional wrestling. It’s the place where champions are made, forged by time honored tradition, hard work and passion. It is home to NJPW’s young lions, talented, hungry young rookies who are the promotion’s stars in the making. In many ways the NJPW dojo remains a second home to them long after their return from excursion. It also remains a second home to New Japan’s top stars. The memories made living in the dormitory and hours of grueling training give this one place so much emotional and spiritual significance in the hearts of those who’ve walked through its doors.
The New Japan dojo first opened its doors back in the 1970s after NJPW was founded by the legendary Antonio in 1972. It was originally Inoki-san’s house until being converted into a wrestling dojo about forty years ago. Over time it gained its reputation for its hard nosed approach to training and its ability to create major stars through the young lions program. Among the young lions and senior wrestlers there is a unique dynamic that is rooted in the old sumo tradition. The dojo is maintained by the young lions who are responsible for cleaning, meal prep, and laundry there in addition to training and their responsibilities on the road. They often work in rotation, and someone is always on “Chankoban.” Today it is home to about thirty NJPW wrestlers.
Through living and training in the dojo, young lions end up forming strong bonds with each other and their seniors who they often act as assistants to. Some senior wrestlers even have crash pad rooms at the dojo. Given the grueling nature of training for the young lions, the boys often lean on each other for moral support during tough times. A lot of times those bonds last long after leaving the dojo. NJPW wrestlers who are products of the dojo system never forget their time there and develop a very strong connection to the place. Even those who graduated from young lions program decades ago again still come by the dojo to visit with the young lions and train.
That connection could be seen when super typhoon Hagibis hit Japan earlier this week. The first level of the dormitory and training room were flooded about waist deep. Many New Japan wrestlers were heartbroken when news broke of the damage sustained by their second home. Some even came over to help with the clean up. Mercifully the dorm rooms are all upstairs and remained untouched by the storm. A similar situation also occurred twenty-eight years ago. Over the past nearly five decades, the New Japan dojo has evolved quite a bit.
In 2012 the dojo underwent a huge renovation after having been falling into disrepair for a long time. Around ¥4,000,000 ($331,000) Went into all the work that was done. This was all in an effort to make the dojo a more comfortable place for the young lions to live and train. Most of the work was done to the dormitory and baths. There was also work done to the floors in the gym or training room area. One thing that has never changed throughout its existence is the connection NJPW wrestlers feel to this very special place.
Despite the fact that being a young lion is a 24/7 very structured life, the dojo remains more than a place for them to train. It is a place where they walk in as young boys and molded into fully rounded grown men and wrestlers. There they learn humility, self discipline, and respect for the opportunity placed before them. It’s where they find out what they are truly made of. A piece of their heart remains there long after graduation. In a way it will always be home for them. For anyone coming up through the ranks in New Japan Pro Wrestling, the NJPW dojo is more than a training ground. It is also their proving ground.
