Spokane Kendo Club

New students at Spokane Kendo Club start together in the 8 Week Beginners’ Class. Everyone in it begins at the same time, so the teaching stays on what a beginner needs, and new material comes week by week: missing a class or two doesn't put anyone behind. The class starts gently and builds slowly, with relaxation, solid basic sword skills, an introduction to the mental side of traditional training and injury prevention at its center. Classes are for teens and adults, from age 12.

Beginners train on Monday and Wednesday evenings and late on Saturday mornings, and the armor-prep and armored training follows each of those sessions. Students can come to as many classes a week as they like on one membership. The move into armor usually comes after about five or six months of basic sword handling and footwork, and the first matches and tournaments after about eight months, for those who want them.

Three training tracks run side by side: general training for students who enjoy the matches in each session and don't want to enter tournaments, the same training for those who do, and a much harder track for members preparing for national-level competition. Members compete on the Pacific Northwest Kendo Federation team, and the region has tournaments nearly every month. The club holds rank tests several times a year for 10th through 4th Kyu; higher grades test in Seattle.

Chief instructor Russ Sinclair is also Shihan 8th Dan in traditional Karatedo, and his profession includes injury prevention for athletic programs and exercise therapy for injury rehabilitation, which he has made part of the training. Wendy Sinclair, a 3rd Degree Black Belt in kendo, is one of the dojo leaders and teaches many of the classes. Off the floor, the club's social events include a Christmas party, a summer barbecue, summer and winter camps, hikes and local running events.

The beginning class trains without kendo uniforms, in a T-shirt and sweatpants or shorts. Two practice swords, a hardwood bokken and a bamboo shinai, are part of the beginners' class cost, and the class and swords are paid for before it starts, which reserves a place. A kendo uniform is optional after the eight weeks and needed from the fifth month of training. The club doesn't mention a trial class or when the next beginners' class begins; a call or text to Russ or Wendy Sinclair settles both.