CT084 The Kendo Podcast with Hiro Imafuji

This week, Masahiro Imafuji joins the show. Imafuji Sensei is the host of the Kendo Podcast, which you can find at www.kendo-podcast.com.  He is also the author of the Kendo Guide website www.kendo-guide.com, where you can find a TON of great information on kendo including books, videos, and web courses, this is for kendo practitiors of every level from complete beginners, intermediate, and  all the way to advanced students.

You should also check out the Kendo Guide channel  on YouTube, which has great videos, including  interesting discussions on its Kendo Talk Show, and some recent videos giving tips on training at home during the Covid Qurantines.

Hiro Imafuji he started kendo at 7 years old, under Juichi Tsurumaru, Keisuke Maruyama, and Masayoshi Miyazaki at the Shubukan Dojo in Itami City, Japan. This dojo is over 250 years old. In today's show, we talk about Imafuji's early training at this dojo, the differences in promotions between Kendo & Karate, his experiences teaching in New Zealand, South America, how he came to the U.S, and how his podcast and website got started.

As a kendo practitioner, of course he is a member of the national organization the All United States Kendo Federation, and the regionional federation the East Central US Kendo Federation. Which I belong to, as does our dojo the Kosho School of Karate here in Cincinnati. Now not everyone realizes this, but the Kendo federation also includes Iaido and Jodo. Last year, Imafuji Sensei was the Acting President of the ECUSKF, and he played a major part in organizing the 2019 Cincinnnati Jodo Seminar & Promotion Exam. So thanks again to Imafuji Sensei for helping with that!

If you would like to know more about Masahiro Imafuji, check out www.Kendo-Guide.com, www.Kendo-Podcast.com, or the Kendo Guide channel on YouTube.  Imafuji Sensei's dojo is right next door in Indiana, and you can find out more about that at www.gotokukan-imafuji-dojo.com, and www.mudokwan.com.