Eishinjuku Dojo 

Eishinjuku Dojo is a member of the British Kendo Association and, by extension, the European Kendo Federation, The International Kendo Federation and is aligned with the All Japan Kendo Federation.  This means that Eishinjuku is an official kendo dojo and is approved for the practice of kendo, iaido and jodo. Members are free to study, attend seminars, compete and grade both locally, nationally and internationally. Eishinjuku is a voluntary organisation and therefore is not run for profit or as a business. 

 

Members are also encouraged to attend other local kendo dojos: Kashi no ki Kenyukai (North Nottinghamshire),  Gaku Shi Juku (Leicester), Kagami-Shin (Stoke), Nagamitsu (Birmingham), Shozankan (Birmingham) being the closest.  There are regional monthly training sessions for students who want to learn Iaido (See Mercian Sword Group) in the West Midlands and Monthly kendo group sessions in Loughborough. Becoming a member of Eishinjuku Dojo means joining a wider group of people who are dedicated to traditional Japanese swordsmanship.  Eishinjuku was founded to pursue the Concept of Kendo by recognising kendo's roots in traditional Japanese swordsmanship and by embracing the competitive aspects of modern kendo.

 

Eishinjuku Dojo was founded in 2008 to bring kendo and related arts back to central Nottingham. The dojo was inspired and named by Hiroshi Ozawa Sensei using three of the kanji from the name of his own dojo: Eishingijuku Kobukan in Tokyo. Ozawa Sensei is a very influential kendo teacher and we are privileged to train under this name. Ozawa Sensei has written (Kendo Nippon Feb 2019) about the origins of the Eishinjuku and Eishingijuku names so it is now appropriate to publish what was known informally before.  Please read the page in the "Pre-covid" folder.

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The carp symbol was chosen for the dojo by Jumpei Matsumoto Sensei  who was GB National Kendo Coach at the time of the dojo's founding. Matsumoto Sensei explained his reasoning at the time: "Fish that swim upstream are very strong."

 

The background of the in-yo (yin-yang) symbol was chosen by Dojo Leader Robert Wix