| Last Course started | Mar 2017 |
| Next Course starts | 23 June 2018 |
| Times | Saturdays 12:00 to 2:00pm |
| Ages | 18 years and over |
| Costs | £90.00 (£60.00 for students) - all inclusive |
| Status | Reservations being taken for next course (23 Jun 2018) |
| | (Late entry onto the course up to week 4 may be considered at our discretion if you are prepared to work hard to catch up) |
| Pre-Pay | To reserve a place use the paypal link below to pay either a deposit or the full amount |
| |
|
|
| Contact | Email us at Beginners for any beginner-related enquiries |
| | (Or meet us for drinks after a session - Tuesdays at Great Expectations Hotel, London Street from 10:20pm - Saturdays at The Turks, London Road/East St from 2:30pm) |
| | |
Reading Kendo's sister club (ShoShinKai Kendo Club) runs regular beginners courses on Saturday afternoons at Kendrick School, with two beginners courses each year. Courses typically last 10-12 weeks and are designed to take attendees to a point where they can wear armour and take part in the regular sessions.
|
Courses are for adults (18+) only. We regret that Shoshinkai Kendo Club does not have the capacity to admit juniors.
|
ShoShinKai sessions take place from 12:00 to 2:00pm on Saturdays, with new beginners classes generally every 6 months. Saturday sessions in between courses operate as an intermediates session for people to develop on from the beginners'’ training or for people who wish to return to kendo after they have been absent for some time. Once you have completed a beginners course you are welcome to continue with intermediates sessions and also join the weekday practices at our other dojos (Reading and/or Sanshukan). Session fees become applicable at this point.
Equipment
You will receive a shinai (bamboo sword) inclusive of your course fee. Towards the end of the course you will borrow and practise in a set of club armour (bogou). This consists of tare (hip/groin protector), dou (breast-plate), kote (gloves) and men (helmet). This can be worn over usual clothing. The club armour will be available to you for a reasonable period after your course, we simply ask that you return the club armour in time for the following beginners class to use it. Should you decide to continue training after this point you will need to purchase your own armour, hakama (pleated trousers), kendo-gi (jacket), and a bokuto (wooden sword styled on the katana and used for kata). You may also wish to purchase a zekken (personalised name plate which fits over the tare). Club members are a friendly approachable lot and will gladly offer you advice on buying new or second-hand armour.
Costs
The course fee is currently £90.00 (£60.00 for students) and includes all session fees and a complimentary shinai.
The fee includes temporary (3-month) membership of the British Kendo Association. On completion of the course you will need to upgrade to full adult membership of the BKA. (Please refer here for more information and up-to-date BKA prices). Club session fees also become applicable from this point but are reasonably set at £7.50 per session or £15 per calendar month.
Kendo armour can be expensive so we would strongly advise against purchasing your own until you are certain you will continue your kendo training past the beginners course. Towards the end of the course you will have the opportunity to wear, and practise in, armour owned by the club. You will therefore get the full "kendo experience" with all its weird and wonderful feelings (and smells!) before making any financial commitment.
When you are ready to purchase your own bogou, for an invaluable guide to kendo equipment and its maintenance, visit the kendo equipment manual page, where you can download a pdf version (follow the link at the bottom left of the page)
|
| |