Photo by. T. Patana This past weekend our dojo participated in the 38th annual Pacific Northwest Kendo Federation Taikai. This year we had over 200 competitors from all over North America. Washington, Idaho, Oregon, Calfiornia, Hawaii, even Texas and Alaska were represented there, as well as Canada and Mexico. We had twelve competitors ourselves, Ranging in ages from 16-40+, and all yudansha. What took place over the weekend was one of the best taikai and kendo trips that I've ever had the pleasure of experiencing. We headed out on Friday, as per our usual routine, so that we could make practice at Bellevue that night. One big difference we had on this trip was the absence of Sinclair Sensei. He had been in Hawaii all weekend for Doshinkan Karate training (lucky!). He was definitely with us in spirit, though, and we were able to talk to him a bit that night at the hotel. He told a fun kendo story and then wished us all well the next day. I was actually surprised that
One man's Kendo journey