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. Every Saturday afternoon at Busen, following tradition, judo tournaments were held. Abbe fought five opponents in succession with each contest lasting five minutes, and he won all or almost all of these matches. In his first year at Busen, he was promoted to 4th "dan" in judo. In the autumn of his second year there, he was promoted to 5th "dan", by which time he was reported to have been fighting 20 opponents in succession.