Welcome to the Nelson Kendo Club

The Nelson Kendo Club was founded in 1992 by Sam Hopkinson, as a sister club of the Sei Tou Ken Yu Kai Canterbury Kendo club .

Today the club trains every week at the Stoke Memorial Hall. If you have an interest in Kendo or want to know more please feel free to contact us.

Nana Korobi Ya Oki

Club Motto - "Nana Korobi Ya Oki"


"Fall down seven times and rise eight". Every time we struggle or do not succeed, we must get up again and keep on trying with more strength than before.

At the Nelson Kendo Club we train hard and help each other to rise from that seventh fall. We strongly emphasize the importance of traditional concepts and procedures (or 'reigi') in modern Kendo. Both the mental and physical aspects of Kendo feature in our trainings, because we see Kendo as a philosophy and an art, not just a sport.