 In 1934, Abbe moved to Kyoto with his mother and his sister Toyoka so that he could attend Busen, training in both the judo and kendo programmes.Abbe learned kendo under the direction of Busen's head sword instructor, Kinnosuke Ogawa, a master who held the rank of 10th "dan".He recalled that his instructor, at the age of 75 years, was so skilled that he could not be touched by any of the students or younger instructors.