My sons attend the Bellevue Kendo Club and love it. Having trained martial arts in Japan, and in the U.S., I picked this dojo for my family. The head instructor, Marsten-sensei, created a community of at least fifteen 3rd to 6th-degree blackbelts, each good enough to open their own successful dojo. Instead, they choose to stay at The Bellevue Kendo Club. The students range from six-year-old children to seniors in their seventies and older. Marsten-sensei's teams and individuals regularly win and/or place in the top five at the U.S. national championships. Several instructors at the Bellevue Kendo Club raised daughters to become kendo blackbelts. Additionally, several high-ranking blackbelts are women. As a result, women are both welcome and expected to achieve at the highest levels, and many are national champions. Yes, the Bellevue Kendo Club is crowded, but the beginner and intermediate students train in separate rooms with great instructors. Serious students also study on Monday and Thursday nights, with the same folks at the Highline and Sno-King dojo locations for smaller classes and more individualized attention. Marsten-sensei is careful to cultivate talent, as kendo practitioners, as teachers, and competition judges. He is strict on the outside but has a warm heart on the inside. We love Seattle, but The Bellevue Kendo Club alone would have made our family relocation worth the trip.
All USA
My sons attend the Bellevue Kendo Club and love it. Having trained martial arts in Japan, and in the U.S., I picked this dojo for my family. The head instructor, Marsten-sensei, created a community of at least fifteen 3rd to 6th-degree blackbelts, each good enough to open their own successful dojo. Instead, they choose to stay at The Bellevue Kendo Club. The students range from six-year-old children to seniors in their seventies and older. Marsten-sensei's teams and individuals regularly win and/or place in the top five at the U.S. national championships. Several instructors at the Bellevue Kendo Club raised daughters to become kendo blackbelts. Additionally, several high-ranking blackbelts are women. As a result, women are both welcome and expected to achieve at the highest levels, and many are national champions. Yes, the Bellevue Kendo Club is crowded, but the beginner and intermediate students train in separate rooms with great instructors. Serious students also study on Monday and Thursday nights, with the same folks at the Highline and Sno-King dojo locations for smaller classes and more individualized attention. Marsten-sensei is careful to cultivate talent, as kendo practitioners, as teachers, and competition judges. He is strict on the outside but has a warm heart on the inside. We love Seattle, but The Bellevue Kendo Club alone would have made our family relocation worth the trip.