Announcements/News

Congratulations to Catherine Ikeda who placed 3rd in the NCKF tournament held on October 19th, 2025! Once again, Catherine fought her way up to becoming a medalist in the Women's division (any rank). All of our dojo members who participated gave their absolute best effort. From every loss, there is a lesson to be learned. Let's keep training! We're already looking forward to the next tournament!

San Mateo Kendo Dojo participated in a demonstration at the Millbrae Japanese Cultural Festival on October 5th, 2025. The event proceeded smoothly as dojo members demonstrated basic strikes, kata, and a match for the local community. Many attendees were curious and eager to try swinging a shinai for the first time. And even though it was not pictured, Yamaguchi-san also dedicated his time to organizing kids' activities at his booth throughout the festival. Special thanks as well to Mark Shigenaga, who took these wonderful photos! We hope this demonstration will inspire more people to take up kendo in the future!

Congratulations to Catherine Ikeda who won in the Women’s Yudansha division at the Hashimoto Hai Kendo Tournament in Palo Alto, CA on September 28, 2025! The Hashimoto Hai Kendo Tournament is an annual event hosted by Palo Alto Kendo Dojo. It’s a “serious but not so serious” tournament held in honor of Dr. Walter Hashimoto, a beloved instructor and friend of the kendo community. While Catherine was battling her way through the serious division, her sister Carolyne joined in on the fun with a special match against three younger girls. Let’s just say… the next generation proved too much to handle—but Carolyne’s good spirit and laughter reminded everyone what makes this tournament so enjoyable!

San Mateo Kendo Dojo is pleased to announce that we have a new sensei, Mr. Daniel Ying. A couple of years ago, Ying sensei became our lead for warm-up exercises, and this past May, he passed the 4th dan exam and has recently been certified. Ying sensei has been practicing kendo with San Mateo Kendo Dojo since 2014. He has been a dedicated member of the dojo since then and has shown great commitment to the art of kendo. Congratulations! All of your efforts have paid off!

Thank you for your patience while we worked on the new website. We hope you enjoy the improved design! Big thanks to Mrs. Konopka for managing the website prior to this. She was always quick to announce updates and make changes to the website. We are grateful for her contributions. And also thank you to Tessier, Ota, and Konopka sensei for providing the content for the new website, as well with helping proofread the content. I, Akia Vongdara, am the new maintainer of the website. If you have any feedback, questions, or suggestions, please let us know! You can contact us via the contact form on the website!

On June 1st, volunteers from San Mateo Kendo Dojo performed a demonstration at the San Mateo County Fair. Thank you to those who participated in the event. You all showed a lot of energy and enthusiasm!

Happy New Year! On January 21, 2025, San Mateo Kendo Dojo held its annual Mochi and Ozoni party after practice. Thank you to all the members and their families who attended the event, and special thanks to Mrs. Konopka for preparing the delicious Ozoni soup and mochi.