Kenchikai is a Kendo club that practices in Portland, Oregon, USA.
The name Kenchikai (剣知会), in Japanese, refers to a group that knows the sword. In our practice, we strive to not just practice, but understand kendo to the best of our ability—whether that's from a physiological, psychological, character, or mechanical perspective.
We break down our learning into three categories: Knowledge, Understanding, and Practice. We started Kenchikai with the idea that the first two points (knowledge and understanding) are just as important as practice. We think this way of learning and improving can be learned and applied to one's self-development, too.
Like most kendo clubs, Kenchikai teachers are volunteers and we teach and do kendo because of the satisfaction, development, and relationships we gain from it.
Jaered Koichi Croes (left) is kendo 4-dan and has been doing kendo for nearly twenty years. His professional background is in education, how people learn, and developing methods for teaching difficult concepts. He tries to apply modern teaching practices to kendo, which usually trends towards more traditional ways of teaching (“just do it and don’t ask why!”)
Katsumi Banno Croes (right) is kendo 4-dan and has been doing kendo since she was five or six years old, when her grandfather, Takeshi Banno (Kendo 7-dan), took her to his practice in her hometown near Nagoya, Japan. Katsumi wants to encourage you to enjoy kendo and have fun.