Complex sentence: From 1997 he was also a member of the Japanese national kendo team but as a substitute, and as such he was allowed to participate only in the preliminary bouts of the WKC team event in 1997.
Split into simpler sentences: From 1997 he was also a member of the Japanese national kendo team. But his rank on the team was a substitute, and he was allowed to participate only in the preliminary bouts of the WKC team event in 1997.