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Mountain Views-News Saturday July 12, 2025 


CHRISTOPHER Nyerges 

 [Nyerges is an educator and the author of over two dozen books including “Urban Survival 
Guide,” “Extreme Simplicity,” “Foraging Californai,” and other books. More information at www.
SchoolofSelf-Reliance.com. ]

BOOK REVIEW: 

“Lessons from a 21st Century Samurai. SEIKEN WAY. 

Completing the Circle, A True Story” 

by Barton Boehm (with Don Howell).


Okay, folks, here are all three 
together: MERMY, CINCO, & 
JACK! 

OMG, you can't believe 
how cute they are in purr-
son! They're soooo sweet, 
friendly, funny, curious, playful--everything kittens should be! 
WHY have we not received ANY applications for them? 

Do yourself a favor and submit the application to meet them 
We do prefer that 2 get adopted together unless there is another 
young kitten at home, although we might be purr-suaded to 
make an exception.

 https://www.lifelineforpets.org/babies.html. They're now 3 
months old and fully vetted, ready to go HOME!


By Christopher Nyerges

 [“Seiken Way” is available as a 
paperback from Amazon.com, or as a 
Kindle download].

I met Barton Boehm in the late 
1970s through my association 
with the non-profit WTI. The 
founder of the non-profit, Richard 
E. White, introduced Boehm 
to me as a martial arts master. 

After the Korean War, Boehm 
sought out and found a master 
living in Japan, and moved into 
the master’s home and became 
his full-time student for five 
years. His story is remarkable!

As I got to know Boehm better, 
I became his student, taking 
classes in his home dojo. There, 
during my private evening classes, 
I learned about holds, and 
getting out of holds, and falling, 
and punching, and all the ways to 
quickly avoid a fight, or to never 
start it in the first place. But the 
highlight of the evenings for me 
were always the discussions we 
had each night after the workouts. 
It was then that Boehm shared his philosophy of martial arts that he developed from his 
Japanese training.

MARTIAL ARTS ON TV

“You don’t want to fight,” Boehm would tell me in his gregarious voice. “People get hurt when 
you fight. You want to end a fight as quickly as it begins. You want to dispatch your opponent as 
rapidly as possible, and get out of there.” Needless to say, Boehm was not a fan of the martial arts 
movies where fights go on for 30 minutes, with actors flying from rooftop to rooftop, breaking 
bricks, and continuing the battle in every possible position. “Don’t get your information about 
martial arts from watching kung fu movies,” Boehm would tell me with a laugh.

When we discussed the popular Kung Fu TV series with David Carradine, Boehm pointed out 
that “Caine” often had many opportunities to avoid a fight, and when he did fight, it often went 
on way beyond what was necessary to end it. Boehm stated that he found the original Kung Fu 
TV pilot and some of the very first episodes of some value. “They had hired a Taoist priest as 
an advisor to the show,” said Boehm, and so the show actually had some of the pure philosophy. 
But, since TV is so driven by ratings, as soon as the ratings dipped, they had Carradine (“Caine”) 
fighting more often to show off his skills, but not because he really needed to.

DISCUSSIONS

In our discussions, I particularly enjoyed the stories Boehm shared about his training with his 
master, Peter Kiyoshi Suzuki. I taped many of those conversations because they were so full of 
insight. Plus, they were highly entertaining: Some were funny, some deeply profound, and all had 
a highly pragmatic nature.

I taped all my conversations with Boehm with the goal of working with him to one day produce 
a book of his experiences and insights. I knew it would be a book like no other, for Boehm’s five 
years of daily training, living with his blind Master, was unlike any I’d ever heard. But we never 
finished the book project.

Years went by. Eventually, my wife and I sponsored stick-fighting classes with Boehm in our 
backyard where he shared the psychology of the Samurai, and ways to stop the fight before it gets 
started. More years went by. That was 10 years ago, and Boehm moved too far away for regular 
lessons.

“LESSONS FROM A 21st CENTURY SAMURAI: SEIKEN WAY”

Imagine my great happiness at receiving a package in the 
mail with Boehm’s book! He did it! The book is an incredible 
introduction to his Master’s system, Seiken. The 
book’s full title is “Lessons from a 21st Century Samurai: 
Seiken Way, Completing the Circle, A true Story.”

During my off and on training with Boehm, I got 
glimpses of how Boehm met his Master after the Korean 
War, Peter Kiyoshi Suzuki. His book filled in many of 
the gaps of his story that I found insightful. Boehm was 
in Japan and began asking around for a martial arts master 
to train with. Eventually, Boehm found Suzuki and 
became his full-time student. 

Boehm then lived with his master for about 5 years, 
sleeping barely more than 4 hours a night, 7 days a week, 
and losing 50 pounds after his first two years. When 
Boehm described his ambitions to me, he said that he 
was seeking “Power.” But, he added, “I didn’t know what 
that meant at the time.” 

“The Seiken Way” points out that the full system taught 
by Suzuki is not just training the body, but also training 
the mind and the spirit. Boehm’s book explores all the 
major aspects of his training, and how a blind man developed and mastered several entire systems; 
this book focuses only on Seiken, meaning “kind hand,” the system taught to Boehm. The 
full name of the system is Wado Goshin SeiKen Jitsu, the wide, deep, kind hand system.

 

If you’re looking for a how-to book on martial arts systems, this is not that book. (In fact, no one 
learns martial arts from a book – you must learn directly with a teacher). 

Boehm, now 71 and retired from an engineering career, continues to teach the few students 
who’ve stayed with him.

His book is highly recommended to anyone seeking an insight into the world of Japanese martial 
arts. I regard the book as both a standard, and a classic. Interestingly, in a disclaimer in the beginning 
of the book, Boehm states that the writing is biographical based on real events “but is a 
work of fiction” because the actual conversations and details of the interactions were necessarily 
re-created from memory or imagination in order to re-tell the story. This admission does not 
diminish the quality or the significance of this work.

 

 [Nyerges is a teacher and author, who can be reached at www.SchoolofSelf-Reliance.com]


Pet of the Week

 
Lula is a stunning brindle Dutch Shepherd 
mix at Pasadena Humane with striking blue 
eyes that will stop you in your tracks. She is 
nearly two years old and came in as a stray 
during the Eaton Fire. She has been searching 
for her forever home ever since! Full of energy 
and intelligence, Lula thrives with consistency 
and structure, and she’ll do best with an active 
adopter who can provide her with the training 
and outlets she needs to shine.

 Lula would do best in a home without young 
children and no other dogs. She’s a spirited 
and loyal companion looking for someone 
who understands her needs and can help her 
thrive. If you’re interested in an adventure 
buddy, come meet Lula today!

From now until July 20th, dogs over 6 months 
old, like Lula, will have their adoption fee 
waived as part of the Hot Dog Summer 
adoption promotion at Pasadena Humane.

 The adoption fee for dogs is $150. All dog adoptions include spay or neuter, microchip, 
and age-appropriate vaccines. 

Walk-in adoptions are available every day from 10:00 – 5:00. View photos of adoptable 
pets at pasadenahumane.org.

 New adopters will receive a complimentary health-and-wellness exam from VCA 
Animal Hospitals, as well as a goody bag filled with information about how to care for 
your pet. 

 Pets may not be available for adoption and cannot be held for potential adopters by 
phone calls or email.


Mountain Views News 80 W Sierra Madre Blvd. No. 327 Sierra Madre, Ca. 91024 Office: 626.355.2737 Fax: 626.609.3285 Email: editor@mtnviewsnews.com Website: www.mtnviewsnews.com