Feb. 10, 2010

Christopher Yang knows that to win big, you have to work hard. Yang, an associate at Latham & Watkins’ Los Angeles office since 2003, has been a member of the U.S. National Kendo Team since 1997, captain since 2006 and most recently helped his team snag silver in the 14th World Kendo Championships in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Yang also was part of Team USA when it made history by beating Japan in the semi-final round of the last World Championships three years ago. “That was the first time Japan had ever lost,” said Yang. “It was groundbreaking.” Yang has been practicing Kendo, which is the Japanese martial art of bamboo fencing, since he was 7-years-old. “[Kendo] is one of only three or four national sports in Japan so it’s very popular,” he explained. Yang joined the U.S. National Kendo Team when he was an undergrad at UC Berkeley and continued during his law school years at Georgetown. The sport has proven to be a good networking tool as well. “I’ve met clients through Kendo … it makes for great conversation and is a relationship builder,” Yang commented. Before the 2009 World Championships in Sao Paulo, Yang trained an average of 20 hours each week for an entire year, including hourly sessions early in the morning, 2-3 hour sessions with the team after work and weekend training camps. “As you may know, Latham is a very busy place. I would often leave and then come back and work afterwards,” said Yang. Two months before the World Championships, Latham allowed Yang to take a leave in order to move to Japan to focus on his training with the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Special Forces Kendo Team. “It requires a great flexibility from Latham to allow someone to do that, and it speaks volumes about Latham’s dedication to developing not only top-notch attorneys but also well-rounded individuals. I was very grateful,” he said. Yang also volunteers around ten hours each week as an instructor at the Torrance Kendo Dojo, a Torrance City Charter Club. There he teaches the martial art to around 90 students, ranging in ages six to 60-years-old. “[Kendo] is something you can do for a lifetime,” he said.