Tsurugi Bashi Kendo Kai

2005-08-31: One of the 18 non-Japanese kendoka selected to take part at the Aichi World Expo near Nagoya in Japan, wins his shiai with a double kote in front of an audience of two thousand that included Kobayashi hanshi.
Chief instructor Sergio Boffa in an "International Exhibition Match.

2005-08-01: Second Tsurugi-Bashi gasshuku, in Cambridge, with 33 kendoka (!) including guests from Japan, Belgium and elsewhere. Gold sponsor: Toshiba; bronze sponsors: Riichi Kato, Clare Hall (no silver sponsors). The delegation from the Toshiba Komukai dojo in Kawasaki consisted of Teruaki Shirakata (6-dan), Akio Tsuruma (5-dan), Wakana Tsuchino (3-dan), Wakako Araki (3-dan), as well as "ex-Komukai" Yuuichiro Niikura (3-dan) now resident in Germany. Our chief instructor Sergio Boffa (5-dan) brought along our old friends Naoko Hamada (5-dan), Dominique De Paepe (3-dan), Ronni Verspreeuwen (3-dan) and Herold Pettiau (1-kyu). Dominique was awarded a Tsurugi-Bashi zekken. At the exam, Richard Rowley was promoted to 5-kyu, Joaquim Guerreiro Ho and James Bunnett to 4-kyu, Barry Rutter and Richard Boothroyd to 3-kyu and Adam Jackson to 2-kyu.

2005-06-17: Sergio and Dominique visit briefly, to allow us to hold a kendo exam. Joe Clark, Mikyung Jang, Barry Rutter, John Cheung, Luke Holland get 4-kyu; Adam Jackson gets 3-kyu; Adrian Gallo, Theo Rutter, Jake Barber get 2-kyu.

2005-05-13: First Meibukan gasshuku in Butgenbach, Belgium attended by Kristiina Jokinen, Theo Rutter and Frank Stajano.

2005-04-10: Frank Stajano is promoted to 3-dan in Kawasaki, Japan.

2005-03-05: Cambridge performs fantastically in the university championships at Imperial College London. The team reach the semi-final, with Masato Yokoi finishing 2nd in the individual dan, and Emily Kay reaching the semi-finals of the individual ladies.

2005-02-25 Sergio Boffa visits with a large group from Belgium, to train and act as chief examiner. At the kyu grading, Barry Rutter, Kai Kwong Hon, David Hall, Jenni Thorne, Mikyung Jang, Joe Clark get 5-kyu; Richard Boothroyd, Ian Scott get 4-kyu; Jake Barber gets 3-kyu. A large group also take part in a guided tour of a Japanese sword exhibit at the British museum.

2005-02-12: Cambridge wins the Varsity match for the third consecutive year, on home soil.

2005-02-07: A seminar about Japanese swords
Japanese Swords.pdf

2004-12-17: Makiko Osaki and Frank Stajano attend the Nakakura cup and seminar in Brussels. Makiko defeats many opponents in the Nakakura cup, yielding only at the third direct elimination round in the Ladies competition and at the fourth in the Open Individuals.

2004-11-24: Hiroo Naganuma sensei is promoted to 7-dan in Tokyo.

2004-11-20: Mumeishi 3's in London. We enter the taikai with two teams: team A is Makiko Osaki, Adrian Gallo and Masato Yokoi, while team B is Jay (Chan-Do) Jung, Theo Rutter and Frank Stajano. Ryu Kato competes in the Junior Individuals. Unfortunately, both of our teams and our Junior competitor are knocked out in the first round of their respective competitions despite brave fights from everyone.

2004-10-22: Sergio Boffa visits us with a strong Meibukan delegation: Naoko Hamada, Dominique De Paepe, Olivier Hautier and Herold Pettiau. At the kyu grading exam, John Cheung and Muz Mohd-Muktar get 5-kyu; Miri Kato, Ryu Kato, Reuben Sharma, Jake Barber get 4-kyu; Theo Rutter gets 3-kyu.