[BliliBoopsy]

Well, sounds like you have the go-ahead. The best thing to do is to get together with other kenshi and just start practicing if you can. The problem you'll run into is other people will want to join (or the university will force you to let them) - now who will teach the newbies? Certainly some clubs have shodan or nidan-level instructors or even ikkyu instructors/coaches, and the best thing to do is maintain close ties to a home dojo like the one you described.

But I think you'd wanna avoid being in a teaching role until shodan or higher, eh? The other thing you could do is get the club to go to WVU once a month and make sure the noobs get instruction there, using your college dojo as a practice space until they can return to WVU for further instruction.

Sounds like you have a good game plan in re: recruiting other Japanese players. May I suggest you also get involved with the Japanese student association?

[ddxbovMQ]

Kent...excellent post! That is a big help. I'm pretty sure I'll go ahead and start printing up flyers as soon as I have a website functioning. Eventually I would like to get officially recognized by WVU...but I think I'll wait till we attract a few more members.

I'm really excited about this! *runs off to work some HTML magic*

[SkeniaInhilla]

Miyu, you said your brother has been to our club a few times. Who is he?

[cucceevevaind]

Regarding being the dojo leader - so long as everybody has had some time with your sensei, you can lead the class. You don't need to teach or correct, just be the one to say "OK, now do 100 shomenuchi". Your teaching should be restricted to simply demonstrating what the exercise is in case people forget the terminology. Talk to your sensei about class plans or just make notes on what is currently happening, then just direct the class. The teaching can occur next time sensei visits or next time you do a class road trip. As people get more comfortable with the situation, perhaps your sensei can suggest a checklist of things that you can watch for in each other.

[elektikaka]

The only thing that I would like to add is that the two best sources of advertisement that I have done is #1 the web site. Seems that’s the first place a lot of people turn to. Make sure that if you do a search on Google of any of the search engines, that your site comes up first or near first. Be specific. Search engines will not spider graphics so use the club name in the header. But there are tons of books out there about that. The #2 place is by my local martial arts store. They send me more not only new students but people that come into town that ask if there is Kendo local. I just had a gentleman from Texas visit here with me. I baby them down at East Coast Marital Arts Supply and they in turn baby me. You know the old you scratch my back routine. The only other thing I would say is once you get established have your web site linked from as many main Kendo web sites that you can.

http://www.auskf.info/
http://www.obukan.com/links.html
http://www.kendo-usa.org./
http://www.ecmas.com/

Any place that people will go to find out more about Kendo. As I said I have had 10 people in the last week seek me out all because of the web. Good luck.

[forebirdo]

what happened to u of t?

Still there along with the rest of the city I expect. Did you hear something about the kendo club? As far as I know it's still ticking along.

[arcalmanard]

As you are practising regularily at Bethany and you have a sensei there, you must ask him permission before trying anything like this. IF he feels you are up to leading a study group AND he has the time/inclination to help you with it, then you can discuss with him how he wants to proceed. Perhaps he will suggest a road trip for your group every 2nd or 3rd weekend, or perhaps he would like to drive over himself and instruct. This is all besides the administrative hassle of getting practice space and all - it may not go quite so smoothly as you think! We used to have a good arrangement with the local university, eventually it got so out of wack we said to hell with it and rented space elsewhere.

[gagagaridze]

i see.. i didnt see u at the tourney..
well i'll be enjoying kendo at the university of waterloo
what program are you going into

[Anaerbguagree]

Phorest,

Bogubag.com has a great deal on bogu.
For $350 you get the Koei GZ-17 (5mm machine stitched) with a zekken, a canvas bogubag, with shipping included.
I don't know if you can do much better even with used bogu.
If you're interested, go to the website and click on the link for specials in the middle of the page.

[MannoFr]

Neil: Thanks for attaching that poster...it gives me some ideas. Among those...a website! I get a free website with my university e-mail account...so I'll look into that.

Alex: Yes thats a great idea! Only thing is that we are not an official club yet. But...once we are I will be sure to participate in the "Student Organization Fair". They had it last week here...I went and it was pretty cheezy. But...yes, good idea.

Thanks guys.

[itepearce]

Kent speaks much truth here, and I have little to add. I have noticed, though, that it seems like in a university setting you get half a dozen or more people that come out every semester and only one or two of them stay. But! After two-three semesters, you have quite a nice little club! (This was the case with my club. I did not found it but I was one of the early "keepers" and now I am the main organizational guy.)

[lookanddiscover]

Lots of flyers posted around campus. You'll get all sorts of kooks, but most of them are weeded out after the first. *Disclaimer: Of course this goes for any clubs in general not specifically a kendo club. I have never tried to start a kendo club* It will be nice if you find more people with experience because it will be full of beginners. Good luck and have fun.

[zoolissentesy]

What plans do you have after you graduate? This dojo will be your responsibility....will you still be able to commit after it serves its purpose to you? You will need a plan my friend, from beginning to end.

[DownloadADOBEsoftware]

Phorrest, I think it is great that you are interested in starting a Kendo Club at WVU. Morgantown is not that far from Pittsburgh and I think there are Kendo Clubs at both University of Pittsburgh and at Carneige Mellon University. I know that you have been at Salem Teikyo and between those three perhaps you can work something out for occassional visits from from the different instructors. Also find out which region you are in (I think it is the East Central US Kendo Federation) and approach that group for either advise and/or assistance. Best Wishes and Good Luck. Drop me a note anytime and I will come and visit you. Jerry

[Nikitka]

Just as an update:

Here is the website I whipped up.

http://community.wvu.edu/~wmf004/

[emily]

Ok heres an update.

I met an exchange student from Osaka that does Kendo. She is a Sandan, Taisho of her highschool team. So needless to say..she is awesome. We had an impromptu keiko today at the Student Rec Center. It was great fun! The only thing is that...the room we used is on the top floor...and the locker rooms are on the bottom floor. So...we had to walk by EVERYONE who was lifting weights or running on the treadmill on our way back upstairs. You wanna talk about people staring at you...wow. Then not only that..but while we were practicing...we drew a little audience outside the room that just watched us for most of the time. It was kinda flattering...yet made me really nervous!

But...I'm glad that I'm finally having keiko here at WVU. I talked to her about the possibility of starting a club, and she seemed to think it was a good idea.

So....now to recruit people! Whats the best way?!

Any brilliant ideas?

[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.

[xIuvyAuT]

My sensei at bethany has told me that he thinks it is a great idea, and has encouraged me to start a Kendo club at WVU if at all possible. He hasn't, however, given me any pointers, or commited himself to driving down to instruct us or anything like that.

[regfortruegoo]

Thanks Phil, Neil, Charlie, and Alex.

I appreciate the reassurance that I can act as a leader outside the dojo but not so much inside. That was my initial intention... but I haven't really been around any University clubs so I wasn't sure how things are supposed to work.

As far as how I am going to set things up with the University....who knows! I move in to my apartment on Friday...and classes start Monday. Things may be a bit hectic for a while, but I want to get going with this Kendo thing ASAP. I'll talk to our Rec Center and see what I can figure out.

I'll update you guys on the progress and I'll be sure to pass along any questions come up with along the way!

Thanks again!

[aabbaDE]

P.S. Keep your questions coming, because I am from a university dojo, too!