Auckland Kendo Club

GOYA ...morning 2

We are excited to share the outstanding achievements of our Auckland Kendo Club (AKC) members who participated in the 13th Novice Championships in Waikato during the 29th & 30th of November 2025. We would like to express our gratitude to Waikato Kendo Association for hosting this fantastic event finally bringing back after Covid!

Here are the results achieved by our teams this year. We extend our congratulations to the members who secured top places:

Youth Division:
1st place - Kazuma Masuda
3rd place - Lucas Marzuki
Fighting Spirit - Kai Kirihara

Youth Team Championship:
1st place - AKC B (Kai, Leon, Kazuma)
3rd place - AKC A (Lucas, Nicholas, Ricardo)

Men’s Kyu Division:
2nd place - Kazuma Masuda

Women’s Open Division:
2nd place - Akira Nakanishi

Men’s Dan Division:
1st place - Justin Chang
2nd place - Shuhei Kobayashi
3rd place - Mario Marzuki
Fighting Spirit - Hiroto Maruyama

We would like to sincerely acknowledge all the dedicated members and teams who participated in the 13th Novice Championships, as well as our amazing coaches, Oscar Xing Sensei and Kirk Doran Sensei and all the senior members, supporters, and parents who travelled with us to Hamilton.

The Novice Championships is a rare and valuable opportunity in New Zealand, created especially to support junior members. With competitors up to 3rd Dan eligible to enter divisions, the event plays an important role in developing experience, confidence, and competitive spirit.

While many of our kids members are relatively new to competition, it was wonderful to see every one of them earn medals. We are incredibly proud of their efforts, particularly their courage and determination when competing against much larger adult opponents. At the same time, our adult members in the Kyu grades and junior members holding Dan grades clearly demonstrated the results of their hard training, performing strongly throughout the day. Several members fought consecutively during the team matches under the kachinukisen (winner stays on) format, displaying impressive endurance, resilience, and fighting spirit.

Our heartfelt thanks go to the entire team for their hard work and commitment, and to our coaches for their unwavering guidance and support throughout the event. We would also like to extend our sincere appreciation to all the referees involved competitions such as this would not be possible without their dedication.

Last but not least, a big shout-out to all Auckland Kendo Club members who supported us and cheered us on. Your encouragement truly made a difference.

Thank you all once again!

Sanada Sensei from Japan visited our asa geiko last Saturday. This was his second visit to Auckland Kendo Club, and we were delighted to cross swords with him once again!
We learned a great deal from his short visit, and we are grateful for the opportunity to experience his excellent Kendo.

Thank you, Sanada Sensei, for sharing your time and skill with us. We hope to cross swords with you again whether in Japan, New Zealand, or somewhere else in the world!

We're excited to share the outstanding achievements of our Auckland Kendo Club (AKC) members who participated in the 25th Rembuden Kendo Taikai in Wellington during the 13th & 14th of September 2025. We would like to express our gratitude to Rembuden Kendo Club for hosting this fantastic event every year!

Here are the results achieved by our teams this year. We extend our congratulations to the members who secured top places:

Junio Open:
1st place - Kazuma Masuda
2nd place - Lucas Marzuki

Women’s Kyu Open:
2nd place - Akira Nakanishi

Men’s Junior Dan Open:
3rd place - Justin Chang

Women’s Dan Open:
2nd place - Rina Kobayashi
3rd place - Shiho Kamata

Fighting Spirit Award:
Jonathan Chang

We would like to acknowledge all the dedicated members and teams who participated in the 2025 Rembuden Taikai and our amazing coaches, Oscar Xing sensei, Kirk Doran sensei and all the supporters and parents traveled with us all the way to Wellington!

While the results may differ from what we achieved last year in terms of numbers, that does not reflect a lack of progress. In fact many of our members have advanced in grade and thus competed in more challenging categories this year, yet they still performed exceptionally well at their new levels!

This year we brought 19 players, along with coaches and supporters to Wellington. Among them, five were first time participants at the Rembuden Kendo Taikai - an amazing sign of our club’s growth and enthusiasm. We are very prod of each and every one of our members.

Our heartfelt thanks go out to the entire team for their hard work and commitment, and to our coaches who provided unwavering support throughout. It goes without saying that we would not be able to compete without referees. We would like to thank to all shinpan involved in referees.
Last but not least, a big shoutout to all Auckland Kendo Club members who supported and cheered us on!

We held the AKC Monthly Shiai last Monday, which also marked the farewell of Ayako san, a Japanese exchange student from Kyoto University. She had been training with us over the past few weeks during her short stay in New Zealand.

Although she was here for only 3 - 4 weeks, Ayako san brought her bogu and joined our practices with great enthusiasm. We learned a lot from training alongside her and even had the opportunity to compete with her during the shiai.

Thank you, Ayako san, for sharing your excellent Kendo with us. We hope to cross swords with you again whether in Japan, New Zealand, or somewhere else in the world!

Extra training this Sunday focused on revisiting the basics—especially how to properly do Kirikaeshi—led by Kirk-sensei!

The 7th Inoue Hai and the 2025 North Island Championship concluded successfully over the King’s Birthday weekend, bringing together kendo practitioners across North Island. We were proud to host 55 competitors for the Inoue Hai and 43 competitors for the North Island Championship.

We extend our sincere congratulations to all competitors and express our deepest gratitude to the referees, administrative staff, volunteers, and supporters. Your support was a big part of what made this event such a success!

A special thank you to the clubs who participated in both tournaments: North Shore Kendo Club, Waikato Kendo Association, Rembuden Kendo Club, Yōshinkan Kendo Club. Your continued involvement and supports are truly appreciated!

Here are the members who secured top places from our club:

Inoue Hai Team Competition:
2nd place - AKC E [Justin Chang, Pawel Szymonczyk, Yoko Maruyama]
3rd place - AKC A [Jonathan Chang, Shiho Kamata, Rina Kobayashi]

Inoue Hai Kata Division:
1st place - AKC B [Andy Kung, Pawel Szymonczyk]
2nd place - AKC C [Yi Biao Ang, Zach Hernandez]

Fighting Spirit Award for Inoue Hai:
- Kazuma
- Justin Chang
- Pawel Szymonczyk

North Island Championship - Women's Individual Open:
1st place - Rina Kobayashi
2nd place - Yoko Maruyama

North Island Championship - Inter-Club Team:
Justin Chang, Shiho Kamata, Rina Kobayashi, Pawel Szymonczyk, Yoko Maruyama

Fighting Spirit Award for North Island Championship:
- Justin Chang
- Hiroto Maruyama

We are proud of all our Auckland Kendo Club teams who participated with great spirit and dedication:

Inoue Hai Team
AKC A [Jonathan Chang, Shiho Kamata, Rina Kobayashi]
AKC B [Austin Hsu, Jong Lee, Tikhon Tasenko]
AKC C [Akira Nakanishi, Kaden Marzuki, Hiroto Maruyama]
AKC D [Kohaku Matsura, Luca Igor, Shuhei Kobayashi]
AKC E [Justin Chang, Pawel Szymonczyk, Yoko Maruyama]
AKC F [Hunter Ashby, Cody Hsu, Zach Hernandez]
AKC G [Kory Ashby, Oleg Gerasimov, Ashimu Suggate]
AKC Kids A [Lucas, Leon, Kazuma]
AKC Kids B [Ricardo, Kai, Nicholas]

Inoue Hai Kata
AKC A [Yoko Maruyama, Tikhon Tasenko]
AKC B [Andy Kung, Pawel Szymonczyk]
AKC C [Yi Biao Ang, Zach Hernandez]
AKC D [Shuhei Kobayashi, Luca Igor]
AKC E [Mario Marzuki, Jong Lee]

Inoue Hai - Iaido Embu demonstrated by:
Brent Hansen (Iaido 5th Dan)
Desmond Chin (Iaido 4th Dan)
Zach Hernandez (Iaido 4th Dan)

North Island Women's Individual:
Camilla, Shiho, Rina, Liz, Masayo, Yoko

North Island Men's Individual:
Tikhon, Justin, Jonathan, Jong, Kazuma, Kaden, Hiroto, Shuhei, Pawel, Luca, Ashimu

A heartfelt thank you to every member for your commitment and performance, and to our coaches (Oscar sensei and Kirk sensei), whose consistent guidance and encouragement help us grow stronger with every event!

We are especially grateful to the referees for their time, fairness, and skill. Your presence is essential to the success of any competition—thank you for your incredible work.

And finally, a huge shoutout to all Auckland Kendo Club members who came to support, cheer, and contribute behind the scenes. Your spirit and enthusiasm are what make our community so special.

We look forward to seeing everyone again at future tournaments. Until then, let’s continue to train hard and uphold the true spirit of kendo.

North Island championship and Inoue Hai done and dusted. Thanks everyone who participated and senseis from out of town to support the event. Congrats to All competitors who Achieved great result.