Auckland Kendo Club

Auckland Kendo Club members recently competed at the 16th New Zealand National Kendo Championships, hosted by Yōshinkan Kendo Club over the Matariki weekend.
A total of 11 competitors and 5 sensei represented AKC at this prestigious event.

The National Championships are held only once every three years, making this a particularly significant occasion. This year's championships were made even more special as they were held in conjunction with the 50th Anniversary of the New Zealand Kendo Federation. We understand that dojos from across the country worked incredibly hard in preparation for this milestone event, contributing to the high standard of competition throughout the tournament. For several of our members, this was their very first opportunity to compete at a National Championships. We planned well in advance, trained hard, and worked together as a team towards this goal.
We are proud to say that our efforts resulted in outstanding achievements!

With only up to seven competitors permitted to represent each club in the men's and women's individual divisions respectively, our members had to earn their places through dedication, commitment, and performance. We believe everyone fought with great spirit and determination, and the results achieved were truly well deserved.

Here are our results and achievements:

Women's Individual Open:
1st place: Rina Kobayashi
2nd place: Shiho Kamata
3rd place: Yoko Maruyama

Women's team:
1st place: Auckland Kendo Club (Yoko, Shiho, Rina, Nicole Creegan)

Men's team:
3rd place: Auckland Kendo Club
(Kento Tanimukai, Pawel Szymonczyk, Jonathan Chang, Justin Chang, Hiroto Maruyama, Ashimu Suggate, Kaden Marzuki)

Kate Division:
2nd place: Auckland Kendo Club (Kento & Pawel)

Veterans:
3rd place: Yoko

Fighting Spirit Award: Pawel

We would like to extend our heartfelt thanks to our coaches, Oscar Sensei and Kirk Sensei, for their ongoing support, guidance, and motivation. Their dedication to our development, particularly in the months leading up to the championships, played a significant role in our success.

AKC is also very proud to have provided five dedicated referees (Alan sensei, Ken sensei, Oscar sensei, Kirk sensei and Brent sensei) who represented our club and officiated throughout the two-day event. Their contribution was invaluable to the smooth running of the championships.

We would like to give special recognition and thanks to all Auckland Kendo Club members not only those who competed, but also those who trained alongside us and supported us throughout our preparation!
A very special thank you goes to Mario Marzuki, whose support throughout the Championships was greatly appreciated. Thank you for being there for our team and contributing to such a memorable event!

Lastly, thank you to Yōshinkan Kendo Club for hosting such a fantastic event. Although only two weeks have passed since the championships, our members have continued training without pause and are already looking forward to the next event, Rembuden Kendo Taikai, to be held in early September.

We look forward to seeing everyone again at future tournaments and continuing to grow together through Kendo!

The 8th Inoue Hai was held successfully on Saturday, 23 May 2026, bringing together Kendo and Iaido practitioners from across the North Island. The event marked a significant milestone with the first Iaido shiai to be conducted under the Inoue Hai in New Zealand, attracting nine competitors. In addition, a total of 37 competitors took part across the Inoue Hai Classic Team Shiai, Kata Division, and Junior Opens, contributing to an exciting and spirited one-day event.

We extend our sincere congratulations to all the competitors who took part in this event, and 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!

We would like to give very special thanks to the referee group whose time and effort were invaluable:
Alan sensei, Jason sensei, Ken sensei, Oscar sensei, Kirk sensei and Brent Hansen sensei, Ronald sensei and Stuart sensei.

Iaido Shiai:
1st place: Conan Pun
2nd place: Alex Chiu
3rd place: Dale Ogden

Junior Open:
1st place: Kazuma
2nd place: Ricardo
3rd place: Nicholas

Inoue Hai Classic Team:
1st place: AKC E [Gary Cui, Justin Chang, Rina Kobayashi]
2nd place: AKC A [Shiho Kamata, Kento Tanimukai, Yoko Maruyama]
3rd place: AKC C [Hiro Kagawa, Hiroto Maruyama, Jonathan Chang]

Inoue Hai Kata:
1st place: AKC E [Kento Tanimukai, Yi Biao Ang]
2nd place: AKC D [Yoko Maruyama, Tikhon Tasenko]
3rd place:
AKC H [Andy Kung, Camilla Bae]
AKC A [Mario Marzuki, Shuhei Kobayashi]

Fighting Spirit Awards:
Kai
Leon
Lucas
Hiro Kagawa
Hiroto Maruyama

A heartfelt thank you to all the clubs for your continued participation and support North Shore Kendo Club, Waikato Kendo Association, Yōshinkan Kendo Club. Your ongoing involvement is truly valued and greatly appreciated.

We look forward to seeing everyone again at future tournaments!

AKC Monthly Shiai Result (April 2026)

Kyu grade champion: Kazuma
Dan grade champion: Kento Tanimukai

AKC Monthly Shiai Result (March 2026)

Kyu grade champion: Kohaku
Dan grade champion: Justin

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!