[ibupronec]

I know several of you practice Kendo at a college or university...and many others of you once did. So, I'm going to ask for a little advice.

The college I'll be attending this Fall (West Virginia University) has no Kendo club. And according to the people I currently practice with (2 hrs away in Bethany WV), WVU has never had a Kendo club. As of right now I drive up to Bethany every Sunday for keiko. And once I move to WVU, it will be almost 45 minutes faster to drive to Bethany. Still, thats a lot to handle while studying for classes on Sunday night. So...I have come to the colcusion that starting a Kendo club at WVU is a good idea. Heres the plan I've developed in my mind...I'd like it if some of you could add a few things or give me advice in this regard.

The Current Plan:
Begin Fall Semester at WVU. One of my classes is Japanese 101. My idea was to ask the teacher, and ask around a little bit to see if I can find anyone who currently (or used to) practice Kendo. Theres also a very casual Japanese restaurant (not cook-at-the-table style) downtown that has a bulletin board with flyers for lots of different things, some of those being for Goju Ryu Karate, Japanese cooking classes, etc. I thought that perhaps if I typed up a flyer, and asked for anyone who currently (or has) practiced Kendo to give me a call, that might attract one or two folks.

Once I have maybe one or two people interested, I could start a practice schedule and reserve a room at the Rec Center for us to use.

Heres the MAIN PROBLEM. We would need a SENSEI! I am not even graded (but will probably go for ikkyu sometime soon). Perhaps if I get really lucky and meet someone who is highly ranked they could teach beginners, so as to increase the number of members in the club. But other than that...I don't know what to do! The only thought I had was perhaps to drive everyone up to Bethany with me on Sundays and do it that way for a while.

Sorry for the long rant...this has just been on my mind a lot lately, and I was hoping that someone who has been through this before could give me a little advice. If not...just ignore the post.