Tadayoshi "Chabbo" Chabara, The Teachers’ Teacher Until now, I hated the idea of taking a snowboarding lesson. It’s bad enough that I have to take flack at work but at least I’m getting paid for it!

If you think I am about to spend what little free time I have shelling out my hard(ly) earned Sosekis so some two-toned snowboard coolie can tell me I’m doing something wrong, well, you can just think again!

Unfortunately, like many of you, I have reached a dead-end in my snowboarding ‘skeelz’. My self taught method of hurling myself down the hill while waving my arms around like an ill-prepared trapeze artist has given me just about all of the joy it can muster. I realize that, in order to take my technique up a couple of notches, I have to take a dreaded lesson. But I am not about to participate in just any lesson, we members of the board require nothing but the very best and, I have found a teacher worthy of our attention, Chabara Tadayoshi.

Chabo, Board Approved!

Few people snowboard for money and I’m not one of them so, the only thing I am really looking for in a day of snowboarding is…fun. If I can have fun while a top-notch rider is telling what I need to hear, then sign me up, I’ll listen. I knew, right from the start, that I would be willing to listen to Chabara Tadayoshi and his team of instructors located in Hakuba Iwatake when I heard him describe the ideal instructor as: "A snowboard instructor who helps his students to recognize that snowboarding is a social sport. Snowboarding is not just skills and technique, it’s fun!"

You can read a book on snowboarding and understand that book. You can study a snowboarding video and understand that video. You can even study a pro and understand that pro but Chabara Tadayoshi is different, he understands snowboarding which means that he understands that it is supposed to be "fun!"

Students who turn up in Iwatake looking for an A to Z list of snowboarding objectives will be sorely disappointed. Each class begins with a conference, where students identify their individual snowboarding goals. As Chabara-sensei explains, "The students come first. They are paying a lot of money for a lesson (5000 yen) so we want them to have a positive experience here." They do. A common goal for the class is decided right at the beginning and the result is a lesson that meets the students’ expectations, mostly. Mostly? There is a small twist that requires a bit more explanation…

Chabara-sensei started his life down south in Kyushu and, together with his family, moved farther and farther north each year until one fateful day Chabara-san found himself in Hakuba. Though he traveled around Japan working through the early years of his adult life, Chabara-sensei could never quite erase the image of Hakuba from his mind nor could he forget the ease with which he snowboarded on Hakuba Iwatake’s slopes. Unable to deny his Hakuba-bound fate, he soon found himself one of its permanent residents.

Chabara-sensei took on snowboarding at the age of 24 and has had one strapped to his feet for the past ten years. He spent his early years working various part time jobs, including stints as a paragliding instructor to keep him fed during the summer months. Chabo learned many valuable psychological lessons during those trying summers attempting to get various groups of complete strangers to relax before they took on the high-risk sport of paragliding. His favorite way to ‘calm’ his students which, he has now adapted to his popular snowboarding classes, was to throw them into a completely unexpected challenge that would require them to come together as a group.

There is a scene in the beginning of Dead Poets’ Society where Robin Williams instructs his disbelieving students to rip out the first chapter of their poetry books. The combination of shock and excitement that those students felt while collectively rejecting their own pre-conceived notions of the world is exactly the type of sensation Chabara-sensei seeks at the beginning of his classes. As Chabo explains, "It is important to try and loosen things up so everyone relaxes and has a good time." Man, go tell the congregation!

Loosening up the atmosphere on the slopes of Iwatake means, "Taking the students on a first run they might not expect." No throwbacks to my childhood ski lessons like wide groomed slopes dotted with orange cones and stiff old men barking out directions? Nope. Not so in Chabara-sensei’s school. "I might take them off course, or over a series of jumps, you know, something they simply aren’t expecting. The ensuing confusion really helps the students to relax and realize that snowboarding is not about buying lift tickets and sticking to groomed runs, it is a ‘whole mountain’ sport. You never know what is going to happen. Nobody ever knows so, sticking to some pre-determined plan is inane." Brother, you are preaching to the choir!

"Chabara-sensei discovers the ‘unexpected’"

An example of ‘something a student might not expect.’ "Once I took this group off the course and ran them into some deep powder. The powder was a little deeper than even I expected and a member of the class - a 65-year-old lady - found herself up to her shoulders in Iwatake’s finest. Digging her out, well, I’ve never sweat so much in the middle of winter, let me tell you that!" The powder stays fresh in Iwatake but the ice melts in seconds! That 65-year-old member still attends class regularly, which Chabara-sensei finds "inspiring."

Other than unintentionally attempting to rid Japan of its aging population, Chabara-sensei’s biography is solid snowboarding, like a BC Bullet. The fireworks began when he was first "asked if he would like to become a pro or a demonstrator." He explains it so simply, like a bartender is asking if he would like his martini shaken or stirred, but the truth is much more complex.

I went into some detail in November about the tremendous amount of effort that goes into becoming an official pro in Japan but let me take a few moments to explain about becoming a Demonstrator. As you may know, the JSBA, Japanese Snowboarding Association, has a number of bureaucratic arms that reach out and squeeze the freedom out of snowboarding like a giant hungry octopus squeezes the life out of, well, whatever it wants. OK, Maybe I am exaggerating about the JSBA, it actually can be a great aid to guys like Chabara-sensei who intend to make a living on a snowboard. In any case, the smart arm of the JSBA – even smarter than the head – consists of the Demonstrators.

"Watch out, lest the JSBA gets its tentacles around you!"

Demonstrators are like super-pros who decide to take on not only the physical limits of snowboarding but the academic aspect as well. In order to become a Demonstrator, you have to compete in a series of competitions that are held only once every two years. You also have to pass a series of written examinations on everything from technique to rescue methods to avalanche prediction. Oh, did I forget to mention that you also have to rank among the 15 best snowboarders in the nation? This is no Harvard picnic either, once a Demonstrator, you have fight to keep your position by passing a series of technical written and performance examinations every year! As you can see, only the most dedicated snowboarders earn the title of Demonstrator.

Forget about shaking the martini, after choosing to become a Demonstrator, Chabara-sensei went on to shake the entire world of Japanese snowboarding. His lists of accomplishments paint the picture better than anything I could write:

What have you done with the last six years of your life? Chabara-sensei has been busy like James Brown, shaking his thang to advance snowboarding in Japan:

Bumps Master
Beginning Snowboarding Strategies
Intermediate Snowboarding Strategies
Beginners Badge Test Curriculum*
Intermediate Badge Test Curriculum*
Chabara Tadayoshi, Carving Master
How To Snowboard

* Chabara-sensei explained to me that Badge Tests are required of those who want to become snowboarding instructors.

Improving Freeriding Technique
Beginners Snowboarding
Sports Graphic Series "Snowboard."

Yum! Yum! Snowboard!
WOWOW Badge Test Curriculum

Board BC Stream (Which he helped to design!)
Binding Act Gear
Boots Raichle
Wear Fit Systems
Goggles Swans

Others Da-Kine, Roko Tune-up Service, Ridge Tune, Shidasu Insole, Hakuba Iwatake Ski and Snowboarding School.

Right now, Chabara-sensei is at the top of his game. Not only is he currently the number one Demonstrator in the country, his school is also ranked number one in Japan in terms of ranking staff members. His partner in the school, Haoshi Makao, is currently the Number 2 ranking demonstrator in the country, and the great majority of his 25 instructors are Badge Test Certified.

Chabara-sensei himself specializes in Alpine boarding but his team of instructors can handle anything from Freestyle to Alpine to Back Country. With this year’s creation of his technical specialist group, Legends, his school is prepared to teach all levels right down to day-one beginner. Bu the question you really want to ask is, does he speak English?

Chabara-sensei claims that his English isn’t very good but he has successfully risen to the challenge of teaching English speakers before. Although we were speaking Japanese throughout our discussion, I noted that the few English words he did mention to me were pronounced perfectly. He also made the mistake of mentioning that he has lived in the U.K. I imagine he is being modest about his English Skills. No, Chabo may not be able to have an in depth discussion with you about the finer points of avalanche prediction but, if you suggest that your goal is to feel something akin to the sensation you get when you bite into a York’s Peppermint Patty, I have every confidence that he will be able to show you the way.

For those of us who won’t get the chance to visit Chabara-sensei’s Iwatake school this year, I asked this fascinating man, who has conquered snowboarding in Japan, if he could spare a few crumbs of wisdom for we, the lowly amateurs. He was more than happy to oblige. Referring to the crippling wave of seriousness that overcomes many snowboarders who want to improve their technique, he said, "Don’t let your head get in the way. Try and get in touch with the ‘feeling.’ Most importantly, have fun!"

I love this sport.