To contact our instructors, send Contact Form from here, or send emails to John Konopka (in English) or Masaru Oghihara (in Japanese) for more details.

To find more details to join our dojo including the fees, please refer the downloadable Brochure/Registration Form (pdf) above.

Before starting kendo, we strongly advice to observe our practice and tryout the one for beginners. Feel free to drop in to observe it which is scheduled above. No prior registration required and free of charge for the tryout. Our instructors have a time before and after the practice to answer your questions and accept the applications. All you need to try is gym clothes. You can borrow a shinai (bamboo sword) until you get your own.

After you sign up our class, minimum requirement to participate is to bring your own Shinai (bamboo sword).
If you need one, contact some distributors of kendo equipmentsuch as KendoStyle.
Email: arthur@kendostyle URL: www.Kendostyle.com

Later, when you are hooked on kendo, you will need a uniform and eventually a suit of armor. You can order those (and shinai too) from a variety of vendors, when you are ready. Sometime rental amor (bogu) which belongs to San Mateo dojo are available.

Discuss more details at the practice or contact the instructors for a full list of the pricing structure.

See Resources for useful information.

We have a single class with a mix of children, teenagers, and adults which is common practice of kendo. We give common instruction at the beginning and then we split the class between beginners and advanced students half-way through.

We usually start at the age of 10. We have had children start as young as 8 or 9 years old, and a very few as young as 7.

Before starting kendo, we strongly advice to observe our practice and tryout the one for beginners. Feel free to drop in to observe it which is scheduled above. No prior registration required and free of charge for the tryout. Our instructors have a time before and after the practice to answer your questions and accept the applications. All you need to try is gym clothes. You can borrow a shinai (bamboo sword) until you get your own.

Participants use a bamboo stick and they need to have enough discipline to provide a safe environment for everyone. We need to make sure young children have enough maturity to last through the two hours of instructions.

Of course! If you want, you can come and watch us practice to get a feel for the dojo and for kendo. Parents and kids are welcome too. You don't have to stay for the whole two hours, but it does get more interesting in the second half, and especially in the last half-hour. We practice on every Tuesday in San Mateo and Saturday in Foster City.

The doors open at 5:55 pm on Tuesdays and 2:25 pm on Saturday. We have time to answer a few questions before and after the practice.