Sensei Boylan is the founder and president of Michigan Koryu Kenkyukai.

Peter has been studying Japanese martial arts for over thirty years.  He started with Kodokan Judo while in college and added iaido and jodo after moving to Japan, where he lived and studied for nearly seven years.  Currently, he is a sixth dan in All Japan Kendo Federation jodo, fifth dan in All Japan Kendo Federation iaido, third dan in Kodokan Judo, and holds a Shomokuroku in Shinto Muso Ryu and a Jun Shihan certificate in Shinto Hatakage Ryu.

Kiyama Hiroshi Sensei was born in 1925 in Shiga, Japan. A lifelong student of budo, Sensei’s grandfather introduced him to a branch of Yoshin Ryu jujutsu at the age of five.  In elementary school he also studied Shito Ryu karate. In Japan in the 1930’s opportunities to study budo were everywhere, and by the time Sensei was in junior high school he was studying kendo, iaido and jukendo.

In addition to his budo activities, Sensei played outfield in his school’s baseball club.  He maintained a lifetime affection for the game, and was an avid Seibu Lions fan.

 In 1942 Sensei entered the air division of the Japanese Imperial Army and served as a pilot on the Korean peninsula until the end of the war in 1945.

In 1952, after the GHQ ban on kendo was lifted, Sensei resumed practice. He trained in both gendai and koryu budo from then on. He trained and taught kendo under Noda Shigeyuki Sensei, from whom he also learned Shinto Hatakage Ryu Iai Heiho, a small but vibrant form of iaido. He also studied Muso Jikiden Eishin Ryu intensively with Ito Hakuen Sensei. In addition, he studied Shinto Muso Ryu Jodo with Nakajima Asakichi Sensei.

After returning from the war, Kiyama Sensei settled in Kusatsu, married Emiko, and started a family. He found work in the Kyoto City planning office, where he worked until his retirement.

Kiyama Sensei earned the rank of 7th dan kyoshi from the All Japan Kendo Federation in Kendo, Iaido and Jodo. He taught kendo and iaido at the Kusatsu City Kendo Federation for over 50 years, and had innumerable students. He continued teaching and training well into his 90s.  He credited his long, healthy life to growing his own vegetables in a small plot outside his home in Kusatsu. He was especially happy with a large persimmon tree - the coffee table in his living room never failed to have cut persimmons in a small dish when they were in season.

Kiyama Sensei passed away in 2022 at the age of 97.