BKA Seminar and Kyusha Taikai - CANCELLED.

It's with regret that we've been forced to cancel the BKA Seminar and Kyusha Taikai. Unfortunately we did not secure enough pre-registrations to suggest the event would be sustainable. With a couple of other high profile events on the same day it was always going to be difficult to get numbers but the figures were even less than we expected. As a single dojo trying to put on a National event we could not afford the financial loss this would have caused.

We apologise for any inconvenience, all those who have pre-registered will receive a full refund of their registration and entry fee. Kyu grades wishing to compete in a tournament at their own level should look out for information regarding the Lidstone Taikai in London later this year.

Despite this setback we are also in discussion with the other North West dojos in organising a local Taikai. By sharing the competition we hope there will be increased support and shared risk/reward, therefore reducing the chance of cancellation.

BKA Seminar and Kyusha Taikai, online booking now available, book NOW!

Booking for 2012 is available now, click here: http://www.membership.kendo.org.uk/html/book_events.php Don't forget to select the Taikai Entry in addition to the seminar if you wish to compete, and why wouldn't you?

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

Sensei asked me to pass on his wishes that you all have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. This year has been quite a big one for the club. We have entered more competitions than ever before and been out and about with the kendo community, making friends and building on the previous years foundations for good kendo.

We held three beginner's nights and managed to keep some of those eager to start the long kendo journey. We lost quite a few members for one reason or another but a few returned from absences which brought vital skills and spirit back to the club.

We also held our first seminar and Kyusha Taikai on behalf of the BKA, inviting Howell Sensei to impart some of his vast knowledge into our training. The event went with only a few hitches, to be expected considering it was our first time, but overall it was a great success with around 40 people attending the weekend and 8 of the 24 kyusha competitors being home-grown and one of these coming 3rd.

2012 will be very different no doubt. We will still be holding the BKA Seminar and Kyusha Taikai on 31st March/1st April 2012 but whether we can field the same numbers as last year is hard to say. A number of us will be attempting gradings, ranging from ikkyu to sandan and your continued input and support will be invaluable in helping us be successful.

A reminder also that some may need to renew their BKA membership. If you have had problems recently it's because the dojo has also had to renew it's membership, this includes the insurance cover for both Sensei and those of us with the Coaching level. If you've had problems then they should be sorted by the end of the week [or next] so please try again, it should be OK.

And lastly a reminder of the training dates over the festive period and beyond, please try and make Wednesday's last practice of 2011:

Monday 19th December [kata] CLOSED
Wednesday 21st December, last practice of 2011
Wednesday 28th December CLOSED

2012
Wednesday 4th January, first practice of 2012 [Winter Training, tracksuits, no bogu required]Wednesday 11th January [Winter Training, tracksuits, no bogu required]
Monday 16th January [kata]
Wednesday 18th January [Club photograph]
Wednesday 25th January [beginner's night]

Thank you once again for your efforts over 2011.

BKA Seminar and Kyusha Taikai 2011 - Videos

Finally I've got the videos uploaded to Youtube from the BKA Kyusha Taikai, sponsored by http://www.eurokendo.com/

Knockout 4, Enoch Cheung Vs Alan McCarthy - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLBEk5jO6FE
Knockout 5, Philip Law Vs Kimry Coleman - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VTX14eNzTH8
Knockout 6, Graham Williams Vs Kenneth Douglas - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jy_afcBKfk8
Knockout 7, Andy Checkley Vs John Paul Cain - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jgct8hLlDPQ
Knockout 8, Ben Greenhalgh Vs Brenden Roche - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j1IkSHcC-YY
Quarter final 1, Richard Crosbie Vs Anthony Francis - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YB7uhIUT9a0
Quarter final 2, Tatos Shahbazian Vs Alan McCarthy - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJ3fJ1Q7Aik
Quarter final 3, Philip Law Vs Kenneth Douglas - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UihU7UXY-8o
Quarter final 4, Andy Checkley Vs Ben Greenhalgh - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZaoz6v3ksw
Semi-final 1, Richard Crosbie Vs Tatos Shabazian - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPOvF8Df0DM
Semi-final 2, Philip Law Vs Ben Greenhalgh - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8u2KGnpOAqs
Final, Tatos Shahbazian Vs Philip Law - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0z5z4FHcQhk
Presentation ceremony - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zo1jcTDxkOU

Let me know if I've made any mistakes with those titles and links.

BKA Seminar and Kyusha Taikai 2011 - Scorecards

I know it's been a couple of weeks, there's been a lot to get through from the weekend, but finally here's the score sheets from the BKA Kyusha Taikai, sponsored by http://www.eurokendo.com/

https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0B97Rk-BalgZbZDZiNzg3MzYtYTM3Yi00MzhjLWI4NTAtZGRlMGE2MGIzZTM0&hl=en

I've uploaded all of my videos to youtube but a few still need some descriptions filling in so I'll post links here when they are ready. Thanks again to all those who attended once I get the feedback forms to work correctly I'll send them along, but if anyone wants to leave their thoughts on the forum for everyone to see I'd be more than happy [good or bad].

Statistically speaking

I'm continuing the task of recording all the aspects from last weekend and the task 'du jour' was to prepare some score sheets we can use in the future and also that we can record 2011's results for posterity. 24 people entered the British Kendo Association Kyusha Taikai, of which eight were members of Liverpool Kendo Club. These were:

• Mulyo Rutherford
• Joseph Smith
• Andy Checkley
• Anthony Francis
• John Paul Cain
• Richard Crosbie
• Alan McCarthy, and
• Geoff Cunliffe

Of these eight, five went through to the second round of 16 individuals. Four of the five went through to the final eight (that's half the quarter finals were Liverpool Kendo Club!). By the semis there was only Richard left to uphold the dojo's honour and secured a third place spot.

These results were fantastic for us with the statistics proving we can stand tall amongst the other clubs taking part. There were plenty of achievements for all, from first taikais to third time in armour! We showed what we are made of and will build on this foundation for next year. Thanks for your efforts.

BKA Seminar and Kyusha Taikai 2011 - Liverpool

Well that's it for 2011. Thanks go out to Howell Sensei and Schofield Sensei for their patience, tuition and understanding over the two days. I would like to thank all those that traveled to Liverpool, in particular those that believed 'the North' was another country. I hope they all had a good time and will let everyone in their dojo know if they did. We learned a lot from all our kendoka friends who visited and I'll be sending out feedback forms so we can improve the event for next year and their dojo's beginners who will follow in their footsteps.

I will collate all the photographs and videos I took over the weekend and have them online via youtube and flickr [I hope no one minds] as soon as possible and let everyone know here. I'll also write a report but if anyone wants to share their thoughts about the event to other BKA members I'd love to see it. All that's left is to say thank you once again, give you the result and say we'll see you next year.

BKA Kyusha Taikai 3rd April 2011, Liverpool

First - Tatos Shahbazian, Hizen Dojo
Second - Philip Law, UCL [I think]
Third - Richard Crosbie, Liverpool
Third -Ben Greenhalgh, Doshinkenyukai

And I think Fighting Spirit also went to Philip Law

Well done all!

OH, it's kata on Monday, although I will not be there and it will be practice as normal on Wednesday so please put to good use any knowledge you have gained from this weekend we will be discussing things further the week after next...

BKA Seminar and Kyusha Taikai tomorrow

After months of preparations 'the event', first revealed on the 26th November, is finally upon us. If you haven't registered yet [why not?] you can still pay on the day. For any beginners who wish to come along to watch and help out on Sunday they are more than welcome, you should know the address by now - Hope University Taggart Avenue. For everyone else - see you all tomorrow 9.30am for a prompt 10.00am start. Safe journey and don't forget bogu, shinai, tenegui, BKA book and your fighting spirit!

Getting to Hope University for the BKA Seminar and Kyusha Taikai

For all those travelling to Hope University by car and in particular those coming from the M62. Currently there are roadworks in one direction at Taggart Avenue so the best approach is via the Five Ways Roundabout on the A5058 taking Childwall Priory Road. You will come to a triangular shaped roundabout which you can only go one way until you double back to Taggart Avenue. I will adjust the Google map to show what I'm talking about.

Additionally I've been told there should be a refectory open on campus for light food should anyone not bring a packed lunch.

Kiai during warm up

Thanks to everyone for their efforts in supporting the new format for the warm up. Kendo clubs around the country have different ways of doing things. In particular this type of warm up with kiai is very popular in other dojos. It's a high energy start to a lesson, without high impact, builds fighting spirit and dojo cohesion and helps practice your kiai.


I have the firm belief that letting go of inhibitions in your kiai is the quickest way to feel part of the club, to feel like you are actually taking part and contributing. Also your progress in things like footwork, cutting, following through and later waza can seem long winded and often non-existent. At least putting your all into how you shout is something everyone can do, regardless of experience!

As this is such a common warm up elsewhere and it will be an ideal way to set the tone at the BKA seminar and Kyusha Taikai we will be continuing this format. I hope everyone takes the opportunity to give it their best. Just in case here's a reminder of what I say:


"ichi, ni, san, shi " (1,2,34)
and you respond:
"go,  roku, shichi,  hachi" (5,6,7,8)

That's not to say our more relaxed warm up won't return. No doubt on our next Beginner's Night on Wednesday April 27, it will return. It's much easier to get the first lot of warm up exercise done properly and safely with a bit of instruction.

If you have any thoughts about the new format let me know, either by the comments or on the forum.

Eurokendo sponsors the Kyusha Taikai

As previously mentioned Eurokendo the online kendo suppliers will be in attendance at the BKA Seminar and Kyusha Taikai. Young Park will be bringing his stock to the seminar and taikai so if you want to make any advance orders so you can pick your items up in person then check out what's on offer. For many kyu grades this may be the first opportunity to get to 'handle the goods' before you buy, so don't miss out.

The latest news update is that Eurokendo have also agreed to sponsor a new trophy to be presented to the winner of the Kyusha Taikai. Eurokendo has sponsored many kendo events all around Europe and it's an honour to have the Kyusha Taikai acknowledged alongside such events. Thanks to Young Park for his increased support of our event.

Howell Sensei

We are pleased to announce that Sensei John Howell, 7th Dan Kyoshi, will be presiding at the Seminar and Taikai. As the most senior kendoka in the country we are extremely lucky to benefit from his 44 years of kendo experience. Howell Sensei has been Chair of the BKA for 25 years and President for 5 until 2009. He has worked as a Kendo Official not only in Britain, but also in the European and International Kendo scene on the board of Directors for over 20 years. He is also one of only six people outside of Japan to receive the 'Korosho' award, this award is given to mark a lifetime of service to Kendo. We hope everyone will gain much from his instruction at the seminar.

You can read more about Howell Sensei and the 'Korosho' award here:
http://kendo.org.uk/2009/12/10/a-signal-honour-for-our-ex-president/

The morning after the night before.

Thanks once again to our beginners for coming. 10 out of our original 14 were mad/brave/inspired [delete as appropriate] enough to return, with one beginner sending an apology they couldn't make it this week. Hopefully you were suitably impressed by Sensei's words and tuition and we'll continue to see you over the coming weeks and months.

Additionally we had two visitors last night:
Young Park Sensei from Nenriki Dojo, the oldest Kendo club based in London [est. 1966]. Past members include Charles Lidstone and Sir Frank Bowden, founding members of the BKA and kendo in Britain and who's names continue to be associated with National competitions - the Sir Frank Bowden Taikai which we enter each year and what was the Lidstone Taikai is now the Kyusha Taikai, which you're all aware we're hosting.

Young Park Sensei also runs the online kendo shop Eurokendo and will be attending the BKA Seminar and Kyusha Taikai with his stock so please check out his website to make advance orders. He has specifically chosen to attend our event instead of a well known competition in France so make his visit worthwhile.

Also Tom Widdows, from our neighbours Kobudokan Dojo in Manchester, was in attendance. Tom was recently picked to represent Britain at the upcoming 5 Nations Taikai. It was a pleasure to have him visit, hopefully we will see more of him as he prepares for the competition. I know my brief fence with him was extremely enjoyable and challenging, I really should get to Kobudokan more often...

Thanks again to everyone and don't forget it is Kata on Monday, everyone is welcome!

BKA Seminar and Kyusha Taikai Registion NOW online!

Despite the cyber terrorists [the BKA's website was the target of a malicious hack the other night] the Membership Secretary has managed to get the online registration for the BKA Seminar and Kyusha Taikai in Liverpool [April 2nd and 3rd], erm, online.

You can register here www.membership.kendo.org.uk/html/book_events.php [you'll have to log in to your BKA membership account to do so]. Don't forget if you are competing to also tick the 'Taikai option [which is an additional £5]. Sadly, I think only full BKA members can enter the competition.

Please try to book as soon as possible, particularly those who just got membership, we need to know if their registration will be 'problematic'. Any issues, let me know as soon as possible and I will move heaven and earth to help!

Eurokendo Visit

Young Park, the proprietor of eurokendo will be making a visit to the North West next week. He'll be hitting both Kobudokan and Liverpool Kendo Club on Monday and Wednesday respectively. He's a really nice guy and his kendo is also very good so hopefully we'll all get a lot from his visit.

Additionally he mentioned if anyone wants to order any kit he can bring it with him so please check out what he has on offer. He will be bringing his store to the BKA Seminar and Kyusha Taikai we are running on April 2nd and 3rd so it's a perfect opportunity to meet someone who knows a thing or two about bogu.

LAST REMINDER - British Kendo Association Membership

A LAST REMINDER that everybody should now be members of the British Kendo Association. Temporary membership is available to new starters in Kendo, Iaido and/or Jodo.  This is intended as a cheap entry to cover you while you are deciding if this martial art is for you.

Temporary membership lasts 3 months and covers you for practice in your local dojo. It does not allow you to participate in seminars, taikai or gradings. We expect everyone who is able to participate in the Kyusha Taikai to do so BUT the Kyusha Taikai rules state

All participants must be fully paid up members of the Association for a minimum of 3 months prior to the date of the Taikai and will be required to show their BKA membership at registration.

Which means you may have already missed the boat if you haven't joined up. You will definitely have had to have joined by the end of the month regardless as we expect everyone to be members of the BKA if they wish to continue practicing at the dojo.

Mike has a list of all registered BKA Members, and it isn't pretty. I would recommend everybody make a concerted effort between now and tomorrow to get their membership in order! Fundamentally, your membership is your insurance to train. In a full contact martial art the importance of insurance coverage cannot be understimated. We will NOT risk training with you if you are not fully covered.

You can find all the information regarding membership and online registration on the BKA's website here.

Website update

Hopefully if you're reading this you should have noticed the website has had a minor update. The text is marginally bigger and a little bit brighter. Mike has already put in a claim for singed retinas!

More importantly there's an orange button to send you to the new page on the BKA Kyusha Taikai on April 2nd and 3rd that we are hosting!

Additionally I've addressed the issue of the missing newsfeed. The Springwidget we used didn't work because their website was down so I've swapped to some other way of doing from a site called Blastacasta [probably too good to be true]. On the one hand it renders the feed seamlessly which is what I had originally envisaged when I set up the blog within Mike's page, on the other I'd just got the Springwidget to include the BKA's news feed as well so it'd have been nice to have wider kendo news available from our home page, "c'est la vie".

Anyway if any of this is beyond you you can always check out the news blog separately. The downside to all this is some pages are acting a little funny but I don't think you will notice any problems if you refresh your browsers, they're more aesthetic errors my picky nature has found. Any comments just drop them in the forum.

Google Advert

A while back I registered Liverpool Kendo Club as a business with Google. This means when you zoom into The Egg on Google Maps we have a little marker that hopefully has been seen by people browsing the area [7420 views since I set it up in June and 562 clicks for 'More info' or click-thru to our website!]. This then links through to another page in Google Places which has a descritption, links, reviews, pictures and videos of the club to drive traffic to our Beginner's Nights. Hopefully it has, the success of our recent Beginner's Nights back this up. Although not many people [here I mean none] have filled in my simple survey to find out how they discovered the club.

One of the unexpected benefits of this was Google sent us a £50 voucher for Google Adwords. So I set up a campaign to advertise our upcoming Beginner's Night on Wednesday 26th January. Half the voucher will be used to promote this event, the other half will be used to promote the British Kendo Association Kyusha Taikai and Seminar we're hosting in Liverpool on April 2nd and 3rd.

So, if you do a Google search [or map search] for 'Liverpool' and 'kendo', for instance, you might see a little box at the top of your search results saying:

Liverpool Kendo Club
Learn the Japanese Martial art of
Kendo free Beginners Night 26.01.11
www.liverpoolkendo.co.uk

So far there have been over 1,400 views of this advert in 3 days, which isn't bad and that translates to 7 clicks through to our website. It's very exciting and when I see the advert I do get an urge to click it myself. I shouldn't have to explain to you all but this would be a mistake. Every click costs part of the advertising budget. So, I would ask if you do see the advert you now know what's going on behind the scenes and please resist the temptation to click it.

It's almost as if we're actually getting organised with stuff!

The Event - 2nd and 3rd April 2011

Some may not know this but I was asked to be Events Officer for the club. Not really along the lines of the Christmas meal coming up [that's Joe's baby], more towards organising an Event for the club and other BKA members to take part in, a BKA weekend seminar for instance.

Now this may be a little premature but I've gone public with a date for our event, which is particularly brave considering we don't have a venue, funds or high grade Sensei to take the seminar, but those are just minor details... ;)

Anyway, as the headline suggests the Liverpool Kendo Seminar will take place on Saturday 2nd and Sunday 3rd April 2011. Put it in your diaries and use it as a goal to aim for because hopefully we'll get a big turn out and we can put our dojo and all the other North West kendo clubs on the map and show what we're capable of.

There's still a lot to do and organise, if you think you can help in any way let me know. Things will become a lot clearer over the next few weeks and we can get most of the organisation started. Now that I've announced it on the BKA forum I'm cacking it a bit because failure's not an option but the rewards will be great for all of us, who knows what we may do if this succeeds (!) so your support is appreciated.