NW Kendo

This past weekend was 2026 AUSKF National Championship Tournament in Las Vegas, NV. Six of our club members were selected on the PNKF Team, and they worked hard leading up to the tournament and performed very well.

Michael Fontana placed kantosho in individual mudansha division.
Michael Fontana, Shin Wu, and Alina Soto were part of mudansha team along with Brandon Ridler (Kirkland) and Adam Chhor (Bellevue) which placed 3rd in team division.
Clara Kim placed 1st in individual junior girls division.
Clara was also on junior girls team with Kiki Sato and Violet Lapitan (both Kirkland) which placed 3rd in team division.

Overall, the entire PNKF Team gave it all and did outstanding job to make all of us very proud. Whether win or lose, shed tears of joy or disappointment, everyone took away something to work on for their next challenge. Thank you to all the PNKF coaches, managers, and volunteers. And special congratulations to PNKF Women's for placing 1st in women's team division!

And thank you AUSKF for the awesome job hosting!

5 of our NWKC members participated in Rose City Taikai in Portland this past weekend.

Nathan Kim placed 1st in 13-14 division,
Clara Kim placed 2nd in 15-17 division,
Shin Wu placed 2nd in Women's Kyu division,
Alina Soto placed 3rd in Women's Kyu division, and
Michael Fontana placed 1st in Men's 1-2 Kyu division.

Thank you Obukan Kendo Club and all the shinpans and volunteers for the excellent taikai! Well done everyone~!

NWKC participated in 49th PNKF Taikai today. Our juniors Nathan Kim, Clara Kim, and Ryu Yokoo, along with free agents Jonas Kelley (Tacoma) and Carter Goodin (Hawaii Kendo Federation) placed 3rd in junior team division.
Clara Kim was also awarded the PNKF Shoji Award voted by PNKF board for outstanding PNKF Junior.
All our members gave it all, learned something new, and had much fun and excitements making new friends.

Thank you for all the volunteers who made the event so memorable!

NWKC hosted a PHantastic taikai yesterday in Snohomish, WA. This being our 3rd time hosting the NW Jr Taikai, we are proud to say the taikai has gotten better each year. This year, we welcomed 76 juniors around PNKF and BCKF. We witnessed awe inspiring skills by some of experienced kenshis's as well as many juniors participating in their first taikai. More importantly, we saw so many juniors making new friends, cheering on and laughing with each other, all while making great memories.

Many sensei's, senpai's, and friends around the area came to volunteer their time and talent to make the event such a success. Thank you so much~

Hope to see everyone again in few weeks at the PNKF Taikai~!

NW Kendo Club had our BBQ today at North Seattle Church where we hold our practices.

We enjoyed beautiful Pacific Northwest fall weather by the lake, with great food and friends!

Thank you Chefs Scott and Trinh for manning the grill, and setting up!

And happy belated birthday Koike sensei!

Five of our members participated in 2nd annual Tacoma Women's Taikai yesterday.

Clara Kim placed 1st in kyu division, and Shin Wu placed 3rd in kyu division.

Overall everyone did great and learned something new about their kendo. Keep up the good work!

Thank you Tacoma Kendo and Iaido Club for hosting!

Medals for 2025 NW Jr Taikai have arrived, and they are bigger and better than last year's!

Remember, deadline to sign up is September 28th before fee increases!

See you at the taikai on Oct 12th!

northwestkendo.com/taikai

Mark your calendars, on Sunday Oct 12th is 3rd annual NW Jr Taikai in Snohomish, WA!
Last year we had 70 participants from OR, WA, and BC testing their kendo skills while building friendship with fellow kenshi's.
Please encourage your juniors to participate and please sign up to volunteer and shinpan!
Information can be found at

NW Jr Taikai | Northwest Kendo Waivers: Each dojo is to collect waiver signature from parents of all participants and submit during registration on the day of taikai.

Members of NWKC participated in 9th North America Women's Taikai today in Seattle. They also took part in week long seminar with other women kendokai's who traveled from near and far. Thank you Maruyama sensei for coming all the way from Japan to share your knowledge. Thank you Marsten and Chen sensei and others for hosting!

Just reminder there will be no practices at NW Kendo Club next week, as the gym will be unavailable.
See you on the following Monday July 28th, practice starts at 6:30pm sharp!